e-ink reader problem
 

I've owned three different e-ink readers and had problems with all of them.

What I want to do is download free classics from gutenberg and read them. I can do this perfectly well on my tablet, using moon+ reader, but reading burns battery and is less portable. Ideally I would like to put a book on an sd card and pop it into an e-ink reader to carry with me.

But the e-ink readers don't permit this. You need to register, log in, etc via a system which is absolutely impossible to use before you can even switch it on. Dunno how many times I went round the loop of entering my wifi key via a miniscule, very slow keyboard, trying to create an account, getting dropped, losing connection and starting all over. All this to gain access to their dictatorial centralised system which I don't want.

All I need is a reader which lets me plug in an sd card with an epub on it so I can read it. Is there a reader that does this? Or can a Kindle, Kobo or whatever be rooted to do it? Ideally sd card but 'orrible umbilical if pushed.

Calibre might fit your needs. If you must have a card slot, you're probably limited to Nook, Sony PRS-T1, Kobo.

Indeed as Bushfiva says Calibre is the answer, it's the only thing I use with my Sony reader, I can download an E-Book from anywhere, add it into Calibre and squirt it to my Sony, either into it's main memory or to it's card. It'll even convert Mobi to Epub automatically.

Thanks guys!

I followed Bushfiva's advice and looked at all the card-in-slot machines at varying prices and availabilities.

Went to our local Dixons and they had a version of Kobo with a card slot and, hurrah, it runs without creating an account or logging in.

Within five minutes of getting home I had put a book on card and was reading The Picture of Dorian Grey at the same point I left off when reading on my tablet.

Sorted! Thanks! :ok:

Raspberry Pi supports SD Cards and can also be used with a Kindle as a screen.

Details here

New Kobo up and running, nice lady at Currys set it up, support team reopened my account, and former books flooded in by wifi.

Curiously it seems to prefer the bt free-for-all wifi rather than my paid-for service from the same hub.