Looking to possibly move from Kindle PW2 to Kobo

[devong67]

I currently have a Kindle Paperwhite 2nd gen and like it. I do use Calibre and would like to get me ebooks 'organized' withing Calibre, the problem is, this organization cannot be easily transferred to the Kindle. My Kindle PW is on the 5.6.1 firmware and cannot be jailbroken at the moment (if ever???).

Anyway, I read in the Calibre docs that they recommend the Kobo ereaders because they are more 'open' and Calibre can send the collection/series info to the devices and so I am thinking about making the switch.

Here's my main questions:

1) Is it worth switching for this feature? I think it is, but just wanted to make sure that I'm not thinking that the Kobo devices are going to be able to do something that they can't. Basically I am looking to group books together in a collection and have it show on the device like that instead of just in a list of books. I know I can have Calibre change the name of the ebooks to include series/volume info when it sends to the kindle so they will appear 'together' but to have them in their own 'folder' would be nicer.

2) Which Kobo device would you recommend? Is there another device that I should look in to. Right now I am not sure if I should look at the Aura, Aura HD, or Aura H2O. Not sure I need the H2O but I do go to the beach on vacation once a year and read a lot while there, plus it looks like the Aura is not available from Kobo at the moment.

3) If I decide to get the Kobo, as I am in the US, where would be the best place to purchase it from?

Thanks,

Devon

[robko]

Originally Posted by devong67

1) Is it worth switching for this feature? I think it is, but just wanted to make sure that I'm not thinking that the Kobo devices are going to be able to do something that they can't. Basically I am looking to group books together in a collection and have it show on the device like that instead of just in a list of books.

Whether it's worth is is really something only you can decide, and if it's important to you it's probably worth it. Kobo will allow you to have collections of books in the manner you are looking for.

Originally Posted by devong67

2) Which Kobo device would you recommend?

Personally I would go for the H2O (it's what I have). It is a bigger device which some people don't like, but personally I wouldn't want to go back to a 6" screen. The Aura 6" (aka the Kobo Aura) has a flat screen rather then the recessed screen of the HD or H2O. It is also capacitive vs IR for the HD/H2O. The H2O screen (carta) is an improvement over the HD so I'd go with it for that reason alone.

Originally Posted by devong67

3) If I decide to get the Kobo, as I am in the US, where would be the best place to purchase it from?

Ordering from the U.S. consensus seems to be ordering on-line from Chapter/Indigo in Canada (www.chapters.ca) is the best option. Faster service, better tracking and potentially a little cheaper than going direct to Kobo (and with the falling Canadian $ you'll probably be getting a better deal still ;-)).

[meeera]

Originally Posted by devong67

[Calibre collections/shelves management]
1) Is it worth switching for this feature? I think it is, but just wanted to make sure that I'm not thinking that the Kobo devices are going to be able to do something that they can't. Basically I am looking to group books together in a collection and have it show on the device like that instead of just in a list of books. I know I can have Calibre change the name of the ebooks to include series/volume info when it sends to the kindle so they will appear 'together' but to have them in their own 'folder' would be nicer.

2) Which Kobo device would you recommend? Is there another device that I should look in to. Right now I am not sure if I should look at the Aura, Aura HD, or Aura H2O. Not sure I need the H2O but I do go to the beach on vacation once a year and read a lot while there, plus it looks like the Aura is not available from Kobo at the moment.

Like robko, I can't tell you if it's worth the switch for you, but it's up there in the set of dealbreaker features for me.

I'd rec the H2O, unless very-small or capacitive touch are must-have features for you. There's no point buying the Aura HD in my opinion: the H2O costs little more, and has a better display as well as the dustproofing/waterproofing.

[TonyGamble]

My wife and I are new to e-readers. We started with the PW2 and tried a Kobo H2O.

I thought it would be easier to organise but my wife found it noticeably bigger. OK, if you do the measurements of size and weight the differences is only about 10% - but I report what she felt.

What I did not like about the PW2 was the way the 'collections' had to be created on the machine and not within Calibre. Kobo seemed much easier. Then I discovered how easy it was to create Catalogues for the PW2 on Calibre and now I do all my organising by creating Catalogues. I have abandoned Collections on the PW2.

I see the advantage of the H2O being water and sand proof - but I cannot see that being a problem in our lives.

That's my 2p. FWIIW.

Tony

[meeera]

TonyGamble: It should come as no surprise that the H2O is noticeably bigger, since it has a significantly bigger display - from memory it's about a 30% increase in screen area (can anyone correct me?). The Aura, on the other hand, has the same size display as the Paperwhite but is smaller and lighter (a little lighter than the Voyage, even). Hence my rec for that if small size is a high-priority feature.

[devong67]

Originally Posted by meeera

TonyGamble: It should come as no surprise that the H2O is noticeably bigger, since it has a significantly bigger display - from memory it's about a 30% increase in screen area (can anyone correct me?). The Aura, on the other hand, has the same size display as the Paperwhite but is smaller and lighter (a little lighter than the Voyage, even). Hence my rec for that if small size is a high-priority feature.

Thanks for the info so far. Small size is not that much of a priority. I probably would not want to go too much bigger than the size of the Aura H2O, but I don't think the H2O will feel 'too big' to me.

[devong67]

Originally Posted by TonyGamble

What I did not like about the PW2 was the way the 'collections' had to be created on the machine and not within Calibre. Kobo seemed much easier. Then I discovered how easy it was to create Catalogues for the PW2 on Calibre and now I do all my organising by creating Catalogues. I have abandoned Collections on the PW2.

Tony

So by setting up a catalog in Calibre you can access the books on your kindle? I looked in to Catalogues in Calibre briefly some time back but I didn't see them being able to organize my books like I wanted. Maybe I am just not seeing it. I will have to check in to it some more.

Devon

[TonyGamble]

What I have done is to use the Tag field to categorise my books - Fiction, Non-Fiction, Short stories, Travel Guides, etc.

I sort by Tag.

I then create a Catalogue for each category (using the drop down at the side of Convert Books) and transfer it to the Kindle. I then have a Collection on the Kindle called Libraries and put into it each Catalogue.

I have yet to find a way to click a book in the Catalogue and get to the book. But it is easy enough to find the book on the Kindle with a search or simply by scrolling.

Tony

[TonyGamble]

It should come as no surprise that the H2O is noticeably bigger,

The only reason I mentioned that is because looking at the specs I would not have expected the odd 10% extra weight or height would have been so obvious to my wife.

Tony

[dordale]

I have a Kindle PW2 and an Aura HD. I don't currently use collections on either device, so can't comment on that. I really like both devices, but if I had to choose just one, it'd be the Aura HD. I like being able to customize the fonts/margins/line spacing for what I'm reading. Honestly I don't notice much of a difference in size unless I'm picking them both up at once, although the PW does fit in the side pocket of my purse easier. :-)

The one advantage the Kindle has over the Kobo is the dictionary. I find the Kobo's adequate and it's very rare that it doesn't find the word I'm looking up. But the Kindle has far more in depth definitions.

Now, I love my HD, but I received it as a birthday present just before the H2O came out. If I were purchasing today, I'd definitely go for the H2O.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by TonyGamble

What I have done is to use the Tag field to categorise my books - Fiction, Non-Fiction, Short stories, Travel Guides, etc.

I sort by Tag.

I then create a Catalogue for each category (using the drop down at the side of Convert Books) and transfer it to the Kindle. I then have a Collection on the Kindle called Libraries and put into it each Catalogue.

I have yet to find a way to click a book in the Catalogue and get to the book. But it is easy enough to find the book on the Kindle with a search or simply by scrolling.

Tony

It sounds like all you are doing is creating a list of your books by tag and transfering that to your kindle as a book. I use Catalgues created by Calibre and thats all they are, a list. You can't get to the book by 'clicking' in the catalgue as its not a link.

[TonyGamble]

Thanks Josieb1.

I assumed that was the reason.

I simply thought there were so many clever souls around here that one person might have found a better method altogether - for the person who asked me the question and, then of course, for me.

Tony

[devong67]

Ok, once again, thanks for all the info, but it sounds like the kindle is not really going to do what I want on an ereader with 'catalogues' in caliber. I could manually do the collections thing on the PW2, but that just isn't me. I mean, if someone is using calibre, then why would they not want a device that interacts 'seemlessly' with it if they could? It sounds like even if the catalogues in calibre would work, when a new book came out in a series, I would need to re-generate the catalogue and send it to the device again instead of just adding it to the current 'collection/catalogue' on the device.

I am sure that no one device is perfect and I do like the kindle to read on, but now that I am getting more and more in to reading and having to manage more ebooks on my device/computer, I am finding out that I want some more features that the kindle just doesn't have which is why I am looking to switch.

Lastly, I guess everyone recommends buying from Chapters if you are in the US? Any other places?

Thanks again,
Devon

[barryem]

I have a Paperwhite 2 and a Kobo Aura. I use them both; the Aura fits my pocket real well so I carry it with me a lot. I do most of my reading at home on the Paperwhite.

The Aura isn't nearly as nice or well made a device as the Paperwhite. By the way, I also have a Kobo Mini, bought also because of it's small size, and the same is true of it. Their software is somewhat buggy. Not so bad that it's not usable. They're both pretty nice devices but no more than that.

Also my Aura has a defect. If, while reading, I press too hard on the bottom or side it starts turning pages very quickly. So I have to be careful how I hold it. I tried to contact Kobo support after I got it to see about exchanging it but they're so hard to get hold of I finally gave up and I just put up with it. It's not a terrible problem but it would be much nicer if it wasn't like that.

Comparing the screens the Paperwhite is a huge winner. The Aura screen is far less evenly lit with poorer contrast. The fonts aren't as good and unless the book came from Kobo, which mine don't, the font controls only work sometimes. I'm not saying it's bad. It's not. But the Paperwhite is far better.

I haven't seen the H2O so I have no idea if my comments apply to that. I'm interested in smaller devices, not larger ones.

But I think the real answer to the question your asking has nothing to do with any of this. These things are reading devices. They aren't mass storage devices. They don't need on-board organizations. I typically keep my current book, a couple of books of short stories and a dozen or so possible next books on board. That's all I need, ever. I don't have to organize a thing on the device. I can always go right to any book I want.

It would be different if these things had facilities for finding a book among many but they don't. They were obviously designed for reading a book, period. Then they gave them a lot more storage than they need because people look at numbers when they buy. That storage is about selling, not reading.

So one solution to your problem is just don't keep so many books on board. When I say this the response is usually "I like to keep a lot of books on board". It's your device and you have every right to do that. But the organization problem is the result.

Barry

[meeera]

Originally Posted by barryem

It would be different if these things had facilities for finding a book among many but they don't.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. The collections and search features work very well indeed. I have no trouble finding one book amongst thousands.