Portable eBook reader + Debian OS
 

For the past year, I have successfully used FBReader on my computer (Debian Lenny OS). But I have failed in my search for a modestly-priced tablet/eBook reader that will recognise my computer and load copies of eBooks that have already been downloaded onto my computer.

I am not interested in eBook readers that:

1. only accept downloads via WiFi; or
2. only claim to be compatible with non-Linux OS; or
3. are built with hardware of unknown quality.

Am I asking for the moon?

felixk

Check out the Archos 101. For $329, you get a very highly Linux compatible device. You can even format internal and external storage as EXT3.

There are a number of great ebook readers for the platform, including: Aldiko, Moon+, and FBreader.

You also get a great Android tablet. I have one, my wife has one, my two brothers in law have one, and a friend of ours has one. We've all been very happy with them. It's also available from Amazon and Newegg, if you prefer. The device has been in very high demand since its introduction a few months ago, so they go in and out of stock.

I have been trying to make sense of the Archos offerings for some 9 months.

Archos is a reputable (French) company that supplies a world market with its products, So I have presumed that its hardware is reliable.

But there are penalties to living in Australia. The Australian list-price of the Archos 101 (16 GB, with Android 2.2) is currently S449. It is a fully-fledged tablet and offers a great deal more than a simple eBook Reader - such as "Kindle 3 WiFi"(list price - $139).

Archos EBook readers are in the pipeline and are foreshadowed to be marketed in the next few months - and then they will probably take another 12 months before they get to Australia :-( !

I guess that I will have to learn to be patient and wait to see if the new releases include a Linux-compatible version.

Thank you for the advice.

Felixk

If you are flexible on requirement #2, look at the nook. I have one and it hasn't given me any problems I didn't create.
Mine shows to the OS just like a flash drive, so loading books can be done that way.
I have the original, but since the color is close to an android tablet, I would guess that to work in a similar way. You should probably confirm that though.
A friend of mine has the archos 101 and it is a nice tablet if that is what you think you would want.

Alas, no! Windows 98 is my last purchased Microsoft product; it refuses to load on my current computer.

I presume that the OS is a Microsoft OS. Is there a published track record of using Nook in conjunction with a Linux OS? I failed in a quick Google search; but I may have asked the wrong question.

Thank you for the pointer to Barnes and Noble.

felixk

sorry for the confusion, the OS is debian
what I meant by flexible is that it will not say linux compatible on the box, only windows.
the way I read it was that you wanted it to say linux compatible on the box.

And I could not ask for more!

I should have been more specific. It is the performance that counts. And, although I did a Google search, I failed dismally in my attempts to find Nook's published specifications. But I looked in the wrong place! I have now found (and downloaded) the Nook User Guide (223 pages).

By the time I have come to grips with the content of the Guide, I suspect that all my queries will have been answered.

Thank you for pointing me in the Nook direction.

felixk