I'm looking in to buying an ereader for books such as the Diana Walstad book(s) and other biology and fishkeeping books. This means that it needs to be in colour and have a good format for picture display.

The two brands I seem to be interested in are Kobo and Kindle. It looks like I can't get colour display without buying a tablet, though. I mean, I have no use for a tablet whatsoever and it's just extra money but the colour thing is really important to me. It also seems that I can't get colour format with a matted screen (like the "paper" textured screen which doesn't hurt your eyes when reading at night).

It also looks like Amazon have some BS "anti piracy" policies where it's hard to get compatible books outside of their store. And it looks like you can't buy things from their store and use it on other brand ereaders - which is an issue because most books are available on Amazon.

Is it easier to find biology & fishkeeping books available on Amazon as torrents (reluctant to not pay for some of these) so you can read them on ereaders like Kobo - or is it easier to convert or find Kindle-compatible books elsewhere and get a Kindle? Are there any free books compatible for Kindle?

I feel pretty unwilling to give Amazon any of my money as I don't like their policies around ereaders and ebooks one bit. However, if I can only find "uncommon" books on Amazon it might be my only option.

Ereaders for me are far more efficient - I looove flicking through a nice hardcover biology book but not at $80 a book (vs. $10-$20 an ebook). I also don't have the space for many books and this means I can read "on the go".

Does anyone here have any experience on using ereaders for the purpose of non-fiction and what is their preferred brand? What's your favourite site for non-fiction books? Are books like the one by Diana Walstad available outside of Amazon?

I have a Sony and buy kindle ebooks. They can be converted on a programme called Calibre. I am sure there are others that do the same job but we find this works well.

That is the only bit I can help you with as I have not used an ereader for anything but reading without pictures.

I have the kindle app on my iPad.

It will satisify most of your requirements, except the whole Amazon thing.

I find it excellent for reading, and you can set the page colour to sepia, which is the brown shade you mentioned.

Additionally you can zoom on all pictures.

I really like being able to send PDF format and a few others to it.

I have a mate who is a real eReader nut, and from what I have seen, if you have pictures, graphs and other technical diagrams, then the kindle app on a proper tablet is the way to go.

(And you can browse the forum at the same time)

Cheers

I have the kindle app on my iPad.

It will satisify most of your requirements, except the whole Amazon thing.

I find it excellent for reading, and you can set the page colour to sepia, which is the brown shade you mentioned.

Additionally you can zoom on all pictures.

I really like being able to send PDF format and a few others to it.

I have a mate who is a real eReader nut, and from what I have seen, if you have pictures, graphs and other technical diagrams, then the kindle app on a proper tablet is the way to go.

(And you can browse the forum at the same time)

Cheers

Thanks guys - that's what I suspected. I think I'm deciding between a Kobo tablet or another tablet - probably not an iPad knowing their price! Definitely decided I don't want to give Amazon any of my money at the moment.

I have a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, and use it a lot for e-books. However, most of those come via our public Library app, Overdrive. Works well with colour pics, table etc in non-fiction books. Have a few books via the Kindle app as well, which works OK but have not tried it in colour. It also came with a built-in app for Kobo books, Zinio magazines and Press Display which does newspapers, although haven't really worked with that much, downloaded a few free 'classic' (Darwin's Origin of Species!) books.

Great little machine, and wasn't too expensive either. I was a bit hesitant about how much I would use it when I first bought it, but I would really, really miss it now. Had some sort of basic e-book before that & was disappointed with how little it could do.

Both my sister and mum both have the sony ones which imo are much better than the kobo and kindle which is lock in with Amazon. But then there is always the torrent option

The Caliber app lets you ignore DRM and read anything on a Kindle, so no Amazon lock-in. I love my Paperwhite - the backlight is fantastic for reading in bed without annoying the missus.

No good for what OP wants though.