💾 Archived View for altesq.net › ~evenfire › posts › pocketbook-basic-4-review.gmi captured on 2023-01-29 at 03:17:21. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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I read lots of books, so I bought an e-reader for myself, the PocketBook Basic 4, also known as the PocketBook 606 in some regions. It was one of the cheapest options available, while not selling your data to Amazon or Kobo. This is a review after 2 months of usage.
It has no touch screen, being navigable using a 4-way touch pad. That was one of the selling points for me, as I didn't want this to be a glorified phone, and besides, less screen wiping. It's made out of plastic, which makes it really light at around 140g, perfect for carrying around. The e-ink display is HD, perfect for reading any sorts of books. It supports all popular e-book formats and PDFs. Best of all, it runs Linux! More specifically, the kernel version is 3.0, I don't think the interface is FOSS though. It doesn't connect to the Internet whatsoever, which is a huge plus for me, it helps you stay disconnected. The battery is rated at around one month, although personally at my reading-rate, I see it lasts around 2 weeks. If you put an SD card in, then plug it into a computer, it'll act as an SD card reader which is really awesome! For example, on Linux it adds two new devices, the internal memory which is 8GB, and the SD card. This way you don't need a converter in order to load your favorite books.
The only issue I've encountered with it is that when you try skipping 10 pages by holding the right button, for example, it skips 20 or 30, sometimes not stopping at all. Asides, the e-ink screen is great, and it's amazing for avoiding blue light, perfect for being disconnected.
It's a great choice if you want an e-reader that's cheap (to clarify, it has no touch screen, no back lighting, no internet connection and so on. I think that's what makes it good.), while not sponsoring monopolies such as Amazon or Kobo. Due to it running Linux, it can probably be modified and re-flashed, although I haven't yet tried. Not connecting to the Internet is great, along with not featuring touch screen, giving it the feeling of reading a traditional book.
I avoid buying products unless I really need one and my current one broke. In this case, I got fed up with my eyes getting all tired and sore when reading before bed, so it's a great investment. It also allows me to be disconnected, whilst reading on a smartphone does not. I hope to get a lifespan of many years from it, having a quite sustainable e-reader. All in all, it has been great so far.