Aura HD Kobo Aura HD Impressions Thread

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by evanft

I own a nexus 7. It's a great tablet, but not a reader, IMO. The screen's refresh rate and backlight make reading books on it uncomfortable for many people, myself included. I actually bought my kindle because reading on the nexus caused such bad eye strain for me.

The kpw uses a similar lighting technology to the Aura, but with much worse results, in my humble opinion.

Agree. But I was addressing the OP's specific statement of being "sick of front-lit readers" and wanting a back-lit reader, hence the recommendation.

[evanft]

Originally Posted by Skydog

Agree. But I was addressing the OP's specific statement of being "sick of front-lit readers" and wanting a back-lit reader, hence the recommendation.

Ah, I see. Very good.

If I recall correctly, e-ink readers can't be backlit. I don't think the technology allows for it.

Updated Impressions
After reading with the light for a large portion of today, I think I'm just going to leave it off altogether. The eye strain is too much, although it is much less than with the Nexus 7.

Overall, I absolutely love the device and plan on keeping it. The increase in screen resolution and size really makes it much more like reading a physical book,

[drew2720]

Mikeyboards..reset didn't do anything. Any luck on your end?

[Canuck_in_Japan]

I would really love to know where this slow page turns rumor started. The Aura does not have slow page turns! I don't have a Kindle but I'm tempted to take my Aura into the store and record a comparison video with the store's PW.

[evanft]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

I would really love to know where this slow page turns rumor started. The Aura does not have slow page turns! I don't have a Kindle but I'm tempted to take my Aura into the store and record a comparison video with the store's PW.

I think it started with me. I'm used to a basic Kindle 2012, which has physical page turn buttons, so the turns seem slow when compared to it.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

I posted a video of the the 650 vs Aura page turns before but here's a proper one with the correct aspect ratio. I'm not sure how the last one got screwed up. It's a little blurry, sorry. The Galaxy Note is a great phone but it has a HORRIBLE camera. Also I took the opportunity to add a little music from Youtube's editing page. Sorry!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz8gHcETVvM

[Mikeyboards]

Originally Posted by drew2720

Mikeyboards..reset didn't do anything. Any luck on your end?

Drew, just now tried it after getting home from work. (Tried to test it at work, but 2 different micro-USB cords failed to fit my Aura properly! My Kobo cord is here at home.) Well, I used ADE to transfer an eBook from Axis 360 to my Aura, and the cover shows up perfectly when I open the book. (The book first shows on my homescreen as "1 Library book added" or something like that, and it just has a generic white cover with the title, I think... it was rather small. But as soon as I pressed and opened it, the whole cover filled the screen!)

So, the book I tested it on is "Raven's Gate" by Anthony Horowitz. What title(s) failed to work for you... did it happen on more than one?
When I go back to my homescreen, I do now see the cover art, as is usual once I've gone into and out of a newly loaded book.

Ah, but wait.... interestingly, when the Aura went to sleep (having left that book open), I got a white frame on the screen with no art, just this:
Raven's Gate
(9780545474023)
EPUB

Is that what's happening for you? But if so, it doesn't happen that way on your other Kobo ereader?
Ah, but wait again... after waking and sleeping again, it now shows the cover art fine!
What are you seeing, and what's the title? (Maybe I can borrow the same ebook if my library carries it in Axis 360.)

[guitarizt]

Originally Posted by Skydog

Uh, you do realize that the Aura's ComfortLight = front-light? From Kobo's site:

If you are looking for a back-lit reader I highly recommend the Nexus 7.

Sorry I mean like an external light hitting the screen. I'm not sure what term to use. I would really like even lighting and the high res display of the Aura looks awesome and would likely alleviate eye strain if even from the placebo effect it would give me. =)

My Sony T1 is great, but since I'm reading an insane amount lately I need to have an even backlit/frontlit/whatever screen like the PW/Kobo. I've seen the PW in stores and it looked great. The Kobo looks even better even on Youtube videos. The Nook Glowlight bar at the top of the screen was annoying to me when I viewed it in store, the reviews aren't as good, and it's the most outdated ereader now anyways.

That being said I'm planning to stick with the PW and my T1 for now and maybe get the PW2 when it comes out. They'll probably make it look a little bit better.

The second biggest factor for me is battery life. The PW seems to get about 28 hrs, the Nook Glowlight is rated at 1 month so I'm guessing it's about half that, the Aura is rated at 2 months so let's say 28 hrs, but my T1 only gets about 14-16 hours before it gets to low bars which drives me crazy. I would love to have 28 hr battery life.

Everything is so easy to convert now with Calibre that I don't mind if Kindle only supports several formats, and I don't mind if the Aura ereader store is subpar because drm is so easy to strip.

[guitarizt]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

I posted a video of the the 650 vs Aura page turns before but here's a proper one with the correct aspect ratio. I'm not sure how the last one got screwed up. It's a little blurry, sorry. The Galaxy Note is a great phone but it has a HORRIBLE camera. Also I took the opportunity to add a little music from Youtube's editing page. Sorry!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz8gHcETVvM

Thanks for the vids. The Aura looks awesome. I wonder if the problems people were having before were caused by a certain pdf book they were reading or if they just imagined the longer page turn time? It'd be nice to get the exact same files they were using.

Oh and I hate touchpads/tablets. I'd rather use my phone even for reading on which is weird probably since it's so small, but I hate reading from backlit non-eink screens because it strains my eyes.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by guitarizt

Sorry I mean like an external light hitting the screen. I'm not sure what term to use. I would really like even lighting and the high res display of the Aura looks awesome and would likely alleviate eye strain if even from the placebo effect it would give me. =)

My Sony T1 is great, but since I'm reading an insane amount lately I need to have an even backlit/frontlit/whatever screen like the PW/Kobo. I've seen the PW in stores and it looked great. The Kobo looks even better even on Youtube videos. The Nook Glowlight bar at the top of the screen was annoying to me when I viewed it in store, the reviews aren't as good, and it's the most outdated ereader now anyways.

That being said I'm planning to stick with the PW and my T1 for now and maybe get the PW2 when it comes out. They'll probably make it look a little bit better.

The second biggest factor for me is battery life. The PW seems to get about 28 hrs, the Nook Glowlight is rated at 1 month so I'm guessing it's about half that, the Aura is rated at 2 months so let's say 28 hrs, but my T1 only gets about 14-16 hours before it gets to low bars which drives me crazy. I would love to have 28 hr battery life.

Everything is so easy to convert now with Calibre that I don't mind if Kindle only supports several formats, and I don't mind if the Aura ereader store is subpar because drm is so easy to strip.

Oh, I see now.

It's good to have options and you will enjoy the PW.

[93terp]

Originally Posted by ewphoenix123

You no longer have the "black flash" effect on turning pages, it was used to clean text remnants from the screen in earlier eink devices.
Over the years the drivers for eink screens got much better, and the full page refresh is no longer necessary for every turn, which is why most newer readers offer an option to flash every 3-6 pages.
I for my part find that I don't need this big refresh at all, the normal font rendering on page turns cleans the screen up properly so far.
On both the Glo and the Aura.

Thanks for that info. I'm guessing a hack of some sort is required to change the refresh rate for more than 6 pages?

[93terp]

Originally Posted by evanft

I have another thing I don't like about the aura. The plastic could be better. It feels kinda cheap. It would be nice if the back was the same as my standard Kindle or my nexus 7. This is kind of a small complaint, though. I imagine someone here will find a suitable skin that adds sufficient texture to the back.

I'm hoping that eventually DecalGirl or Gelaskins will add the Aura to their list of supported products.

[93terp]

Originally Posted by DNSB

In some ways, I get a laugh out of the complaints from American purchasers of the Kobo Aura -- Americans are being treated to the second rate customer service that non-Americans have been used to from American firms for decades.

Regards,
David

We want it all & we want it now!!

All joking aside, I'd be ecstatic if I could deal with a company - regardless of geographic location - that had a competent, 21st century order tracking system! This seems to be the likely downfall of Kobo, which is a shame because healthy competition benefits everyone.

[93terp]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

I would really love to know where this slow page turns rumor started. The Aura does not have slow page turns! I don't have a Kindle but I'm tempted to take my Aura into the store and record a comparison video with the store's PW.

I would love to know, too. My Aura is faster with page turns than my KPW, hands down. Given the faster processor in the Aura, it seems like a no- brainier to me, but what the heck do I know?!

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by 93terp

Thanks for that info. I'm guessing a hack of some sort is required to change the refresh rate for more than 6 pages?

See https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=221