Current Kindle owner with questions about Pocket on Kobo

modified · 05-06-2015, 12:22 PM

I'm a longtime and frequent user of Amazon's Send to Kindle feature, specifically the ability to send web pages to the Kindle (via the official Chrome extension). It is almost entirely due to this feature that I have been extremely reluctant to switch to another ereader (currently using a PW1).

I recently learned about Kobo's Pocket support. This got me interested and the new Kobo Glo HD looks to be a great device.

Questions for Kobo owners, in particular those who use the Pocket feature frequently...

How is your experience so far? Is it reliable? Are the pages formatted well for the Kobo?

How often do you encounter a page that does not get sent to the Kobo? (And can you tell why it fails?) Do you have problems with image-heavy pages?

If you have experience with Send to Kindle, how does Pocket on a Kobo device compare?

Would love to hear about your experiences. Thanks!

patrik · 05-06-2015, 12:29 PM

I use it every now and then (guessing about 100-150 articles over 2 years) and I am constantly amazed how well Pocket works. I know some here have problems with Pocket not recoqnizing a particular text as an article, maybe I have been lucky but I have yet to not receive the choosen web page to my Kobo.

It's an awesome feature.

barryem · 05-06-2015, 08:09 PM

I have Kindles and Kobos and I use Send to Kindle with Chrome and I use Pocket. Send to Kindle seems a bit easier to use since Chrome seems to no longer support the Pocket extension. I'm not sure why and I'm not sure it's not just something on my system.

It's a pretty minor problem though since I have a simple shortcut to Pocket that makes it almost as easy to use. I click that shortcut and a browser window opens with a place to put a link to the page I want to copy.

Also Send to Kindle gives me some minimal formatting options. I like those. Again, though, they don't amount to much and I don't really miss them in Pocket.

On the devices the differences are even smaller. They both work well. Send to Kindle gives me a personal document when I sync. Pocket pops up a list of saved documents and I can quickly download whichever I choose.

All in all I don't think the differences are enough to matter, at least for my uses. There are a lot of differences. They're pretty different systems. It's hard to have strong feelings about one over the other, though.

Barry

modified · 05-07-2015, 05:38 AM

I've read a few posts here and there about people being unable to load certain articles on the Kobo. It seems like Pocket is mostly okay on the Kobo or the feature isn't really widely used.

To test out Pocket's general parsing capability, I've revived my Pocket account and installed the Chrome extension. It seem to work okay, so if you're having problems, maybe an update or reinstall of the extension will help.

I just have to figure out the best way to get Pocket content on to the Kindle (before I decide whether to get a Kobo or stay with Kindles). Pocket doesn't offer that right out of the box, and the third party solutions I've found has a significant interval lag (Send to Kindle takes only few minutes tops).

Thanks for your replies so far. And just in case I've missed it, the Kobo doesn't have a native send to device via email feature does it?

HarryT · 05-07-2015, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by modified

Thanks for your replies so far. And just in case I've missed it, the Kobo doesn't have a native send to device via email feature does it?

No. Kobo don't have an equivalent of Amazon's "Personal Document" service.

jbcohen · 05-07-2015, 08:54 AM

After speaking with some Kobo users about the best features of their chosen ereader there are a few things that Kobos do better than Kindles or anyone else. If you buy one do it for one of the features that they do best:

- It's the premier ebook reader for epub formated books, Kindle does not use epub
- If you want to read under water or in the bath tub the Kobo Aura HD H2O is the only thing in town
- If you want choices of different models of ereaders thatn Kobo is the best way to go, amazon has only three models available, Kobo has a lot more than that.

meeera · 05-07-2015, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbcohen

After speaking with some Kobo users about the best features of their chosen ereader there are a few things that Kobos do better than Kindles or anyone else. If you buy one do it for one of the features that they do best:

- It's the premier ebook reader for epub formated books, Kindle does not use epub
- If you want to read under water or in the bath tub the Kobo Aura HD H2O is the only thing in town
- If you want choices of different models of ereaders thatn Kobo is the best way to go, amazon has only three models available, Kobo has a lot more than that.

The prime features I hear people saying about their Kobos is the fine control you can have over fonts, display, formatting; and the open nature and tweakability of the device.

Also Calibre-controlled collections.

But Pocket is good too. I use it for SF stories from online magazines, and have not had any trouble with it not recognising them or displaying properly.

PeterT · 05-07-2015, 10:21 AM

Whether a page is added to Kobo or not is not up to Kobo; rather its dependent on how Pocket classifies the content.

Kobo will only display what Pocket has classified as an ARTICLE, which I think means what Pocket has stored as a cleaned up, simplified version of the content.

If you see stuff that does not get stored as an article, get in touch with Pocket support and have them investigate the issue.

John F · 05-08-2015, 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbcohen

...

- If you want choices of different models of ereaders thatn Kobo is the best way to go, amazon has only three models available, Kobo has a lot more than that.

Checking the Kobo U.S. site today, I see only three devices listed for sale?

rcentros · 05-08-2015, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John F

Checking the Kobo U.S. site today, I see only three devices listed for sale?

Yep, that's what I've seen also. I think the rumors are there will be a new Touch soon -- some were hoping for a new Mini also. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

eschwartz · 05-08-2015, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbcohen

After speaking with some Kobo users about the best features of their chosen ereader there are a few things that Kobos do better than Kindles or anyone else. If you buy one do it for one of the features that they do best:

- It's the premier ebook reader for epub formated books, Kindle does not use epub

http://calibre-ebook.com

Quote:

- If you want to read under water or in the bath tub the Kobo Aura HD H2O is the only thing in town

http://waterfi.com/waterproof-kindle

Quote:

- If you want choices of different models of ereaders thatn Kobo is the best way to go, amazon has only three models available, Kobo has a lot more than that.

As has been said, Kobo has only three models available as well.

Notwithstanding that, there are some actual differences between Kindle and Kobo. Chiefly spoken of is the wealth of customizable settings for most aspects of the layout.

teija · 05-08-2015, 06:52 PM

Thanks everyone for all of the feedback on Pocket - this has touched on what I was trying to ask the other day in my thread too! I have experienced quite a few articles that won't go over to my Kobo via Pocket, but assumed that's because they were either heavy in photos, had some sort of login/credentials issue that may be at the root of it, or because maybe Pocket refuses to count some blogs as "articles"? I would have to do a bit more testing to see which particular websites are the culprits.

As far as Kobo goes, I was using my Sony reader for awhile, then came back to my Kobo after many months and was once again blown away by the amount of font and customization options! To some it is not an issue, but it sure is nice to have those options available "just because".

modified · 05-14-2015, 11:02 AM

Just wanted to update with my experience so far with Pocket (in Chrome). Save for the one time when it decided to strip all the images from an article, Pocket has been working really well!

In fact, I've been using Pocket-formatted pages for sites that Send to Kindle rejected. A real easy workaround for a problem that I've encountered with image-heavy pages.

teija · 05-25-2015, 06:39 PM

Before I went on holiday last week I loaded a bunch more articles onto my Pocket account, and most of them pulled over nicely to my Kobo Mini. Quite pleased with Pocket and how it works - doesn't seem to have any problem synching between devices either, so I can use it on my tablet, eReader, phone, etc. Still prefer to read the image-intensive stuff on my tablet of course.

barryem · 05-30-2015, 02:12 PM

For a while I've been getting an email list of articles recommended by Pocket. I've gotten this sort of list in the past from other sources and I've usually been disappointed in their ideas about what might be interesting. But the Pocket suggestions include some really good articles and I'm impressed.

As for pictures not formatting properly with Pocket if I had my choice I'd get text only in the articles. Actually I think so far I have gotten only text and I'm not sure if that's because pictures haven't made it or there haven't been any. Whatever the reason I'm glad and I hope if it's a bug they'll start calling it a feature.

Barry

05-06-2015, 12:22 PM	#1
modified Connoisseur Posts: 90 Karma: 50742 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: PW5	Current Kindle owner with questions about Pocket on Kobo I'm a longtime and frequent user of Amazon's Send to Kindle feature, specifically the ability to send web pages to the Kindle (via the official Chrome extension). It is almost entirely due to this feature that I have been extremely reluctant to switch to another ereader (currently using a PW1). I recently learned about Kobo's Pocket support. This got me interested and the new Kobo Glo HD looks to be a great device. Questions for Kobo owners, in particular those who use the Pocket feature frequently... How is your experience so far? Is it reliable? Are the pages formatted well for the Kobo? How often do you encounter a page that does not get sent to the Kobo? (And can you tell why it fails?) Do you have problems with image-heavy pages? If you have experience with Send to Kindle, how does Pocket on a Kobo device compare? Would love to hear about your experiences. Thanks!

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05-06-2015, 12:29 PM	#2
patrik Guru Posts: 657 Karma: 4568205 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kobo Forma	I use it every now and then (guessing about 100-150 articles over 2 years) and I am constantly amazed how well Pocket works. I know some here have problems with Pocket not recoqnizing a particular text as an article, maybe I have been lucky but I have yet to not receive the choosen web page to my Kobo. It's an awesome feature.

05-06-2015, 08:09 PM	#3
barryem Wizard Posts: 2,459 Karma: 68781975 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Arkansas Device: Paperwhite 4	I have Kindles and Kobos and I use Send to Kindle with Chrome and I use Pocket. Send to Kindle seems a bit easier to use since Chrome seems to no longer support the Pocket extension. I'm not sure why and I'm not sure it's not just something on my system. It's a pretty minor problem though since I have a simple shortcut to Pocket that makes it almost as easy to use. I click that shortcut and a browser window opens with a place to put a link to the page I want to copy. Also Send to Kindle gives me some minimal formatting options. I like those. Again, though, they don't amount to much and I don't really miss them in Pocket. On the devices the differences are even smaller. They both work well. Send to Kindle gives me a personal document when I sync. Pocket pops up a list of saved documents and I can quickly download whichever I choose. All in all I don't think the differences are enough to matter, at least for my uses. There are a lot of differences. They're pretty different systems. It's hard to have strong feelings about one over the other, though. Barry

05-07-2015, 05:38 AM	#4
modified Connoisseur Posts: 90 Karma: 50742 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: PW5	I've read a few posts here and there about people being unable to load certain articles on the Kobo. It seems like Pocket is mostly okay on the Kobo or the feature isn't really widely used. To test out Pocket's general parsing capability, I've revived my Pocket account and installed the Chrome extension. It seem to work okay, so if you're having problems, maybe an update or reinstall of the extension will help. I just have to figure out the best way to get Pocket content on to the Kindle (before I decide whether to get a Kobo or stay with Kindles). Pocket doesn't offer that right out of the box, and the third party solutions I've found has a significant interval lag (Send to Kindle takes only few minutes tops). Thanks for your replies so far. And just in case I've missed it, the Kobo doesn't have a native send to device via email feature does it?

05-07-2015, 08:54 AM	#6
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,025 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Piper College Device: Samsung A21	After speaking with some Kobo users about the best features of their chosen ereader there are a few things that Kobos do better than Kindles or anyone else. If you buy one do it for one of the features that they do best: - It's the premier ebook reader for epub formated books, Kindle does not use epub - If you want to read under water or in the bath tub the Kobo Aura HD H2O is the only thing in town - If you want choices of different models of ereaders thatn Kobo is the best way to go, amazon has only three models available, Kobo has a lot more than that.

05-07-2015, 10:21 AM	#8
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,166 Karma: 73448616 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS	Whether a page is added to Kobo or not is not up to Kobo; rather its dependent on how Pocket classifies the content. Kobo will only display what Pocket has classified as an ARTICLE, which I think means what Pocket has stored as a cleaned up, simplified version of the content. If you see stuff that does not get stored as an article, get in touch with Pocket support and have them investigate the issue.

05-08-2015, 06:52 PM	#12
teija Gadget fiend Posts: 354 Karma: 2111100 Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Vancouver, Canada Device: Kobo Clara HD, Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite 2021, Sony PRS-350	Thanks everyone for all of the feedback on Pocket - this has touched on what I was trying to ask the other day in my thread too! I have experienced quite a few articles that won't go over to my Kobo via Pocket, but assumed that's because they were either heavy in photos, had some sort of login/credentials issue that may be at the root of it, or because maybe Pocket refuses to count some blogs as "articles"? I would have to do a bit more testing to see which particular websites are the culprits. As far as Kobo goes, I was using my Sony reader for awhile, then came back to my Kobo after many months and was once again blown away by the amount of font and customization options! To some it is not an issue, but it sure is nice to have those options available "just because".

05-14-2015, 11:02 AM	#13
modified Connoisseur Posts: 90 Karma: 50742 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: PW5	Just wanted to update with my experience so far with Pocket (in Chrome). Save for the one time when it decided to strip all the images from an article, Pocket has been working really well! In fact, I've been using Pocket-formatted pages for sites that Send to Kindle rejected. A real easy workaround for a problem that I've encountered with image-heavy pages.

05-25-2015, 06:39 PM	#14
teija Gadget fiend Posts: 354 Karma: 2111100 Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Vancouver, Canada Device: Kobo Clara HD, Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite 2021, Sony PRS-350	Before I went on holiday last week I loaded a bunch more articles onto my Pocket account, and most of them pulled over nicely to my Kobo Mini. Quite pleased with Pocket and how it works - doesn't seem to have any problem synching between devices either, so I can use it on my tablet, eReader, phone, etc. Still prefer to read the image-intensive stuff on my tablet of course.

05-30-2015, 02:12 PM	#15
barryem Wizard Posts: 2,459 Karma: 68781975 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Arkansas Device: Paperwhite 4	For a while I've been getting an email list of articles recommended by Pocket. I've gotten this sort of list in the past from other sources and I've usually been disappointed in their ideas about what might be interesting. But the Pocket suggestions include some really good articles and I'm impressed. As for pictures not formatting properly with Pocket if I had my choice I'd get text only in the articles. Actually I think so far I have gotten only text and I'm not sure if that's because pictures haven't made it or there haven't been any. Whatever the reason I'm glad and I hope if it's a bug they'll start calling it a feature. Barry

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