Aura HD Kobo Aura HD Impressions Thread

[Mikeyboards]

Originally Posted by drew2720

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

Actually, Drew, I forgot about this article I read recently... where Nathan indicated that weird problems (such as cover art not showing up) were solved by checking the date and time on the device! Have you double-checked that your Aura has the correct date and time for your area? (Odd as that may seem as a cause...).

Here's a link to the article:
http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/201...-ebook-reader/

[AnemicOak]

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.

The Aura's page turns are slow compared to my Kindle Touch. In a side by side I can almost get a second page turn in on the Touch before the page turns on the Aura. As I said previously I don't know if this is related to specific books or what.

[93terp]

Originally Posted by PeterT

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

Super!

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

The Aura's page turns are slow compared to my Kindle Touch. In a side by side I can almost get a second page turn in on the Touch before the page turns on the Aura. As I said previously I don't know if this is related to specific books or what.

I managed to find one condition that would cause slow page turns by using Sigil to merge all the separate files in the Text folder of the epub into a single file so instead of 47 files averaging 17Kbytes, I had a single 812Kbyte file.

This was also mentioned as an issue much earlier and the recommendation was to split the file into smaller files at chapter breaks -- the chapter break part comes up since the ereader will break and continue on a new page at the end of file/start of new file transition.

Regards,
David

[drew2720]

Mikeyboards, thank you for the interesting article, but no, my aura has had the correct time/date since setup. I am going to download other books that I have that aren't from the library and see if I get any covers. Thank you for all your help!

[drew2720]

Mikeyboards, just saw your other post... I'm getting a blank screen outlined in black on both the home screen and after I open the book. All the text is there, just not the cover art. The books are by Jo Nesbo: Devil's Star and Redbreast. Thanks again for your help and suggestions!

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by 93terp

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

DecalGirl has told me they have added the Aura to their list and to check their website in about 3-4 weeks. It may be a good solution for the back of the Aura.

[Mikeyboards]

Originally Posted by drew2720

Mikeyboards, just saw your other post... I'm getting a blank screen outlined in black on both the home screen and after I open the book. All the text is there, just not the cover art. The books are by Jo Nesbo: Devil's Star and Redbreast. Thanks again for your help and suggestions!

Drew, I just tried downloading a Jo Nesbo epub from Axis 360. (Our library system didn't have the 2 titles you mentioned, but I found "The Leopard" from around the same time period.) Although I do get the cover art... most of the time... I noticed it's much smaller than any of the other books I have on my device, including the Horowitz one I'd recently downloaded from Axis 360. The cover art from the Nesbo book only takes up, oh... maybe a third of the top half of the screen or something. (Not looking at it now.) It is always visible if I open the book to its very first page (the cover page), though it varies as to whether the cover art shows up when put to sleep. (I think the more often I open and close, wake and sleep, etc., the more consistently the cover art shows up upon sleeping.)

I assume that in your Settings, under "Light, sleep and power" you have "Show current book cover" checked. (And maybe you can play with whether "Full screen" is checked or not, and whether it makes a difference.) Still, those settings shouldn't disallow your viewing of the cover art within the book itself!

Maybe another thing to look at is whether the thumbnail for the cover art in your case is in the same place as mine. When I connect my Aura, and open the icon that shows up on my Mac desktop, I see a bunch of folders. I go to "Digital Editions" to find the stuff that, I think, has been brought in via ADE. Within that Digital Editions folder is a Thumbnails folder, which contains different folders for different books (usually named by author). However, the library loans from Axis 360 show up instead as free-floating files amongst those folders. I see "Leopard (9780307958778).epub.png", and I can open (double-click) that and see the cover art in the Preview function on my Mac.

Are you seeing the same type of thing for the Nesbo books you've downloaded?

[drew2720]

Mikeyboards, downloaded another Jo Nesbo bk and a bk. not from the library and both have book covers on aura. Go figure. Maybe something wrong with library's formatting of the other Jo Nesbo books? Just glad my aura is working properly...sigh.............

p.s. yes, the one Jo Nesbo cover is quite smaller than the one I have for the non-library book and I have both 'show current book cover' and 'full screen' checked.

[Mikeyboards]

Originally Posted by drew2720

Just glad my aura is working properly...sigh.............

Yay! That's the bottom line
At least we (or others who read this) will have a heads-up if they encounter the same inconsistencies.
And now you (and I) can get back to reading, without those nagging questions lingering!

[drew2720]

lol...ain't that the true...Happy Reading and thank you again!

[93terp]

Originally Posted by Skydog

DecalGirl has told me they have added the Aura to their list and to check their website in about 3-4 weeks. It may be a good solution for the back of the Aura.

That's great news, Skydog!

[Mikeyboards]

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.

While awaiting a good solution for a textured back (gel-skin, whatever) to make the back of the Aura less slippery, I remembered there was a clear sheet over the screen when the device first arrived. I dug it up and slapped it on the back of the device (where it covers most, though of course not all of the back area). It actually adds a smidgen of texture/resistance, making the back ever so slightly less slippery. Though it doesn't look wonderful (is hard to get rid of bubbles, etc.), it's adhering well enough naturally, and I'm sure won't leave any residue when removed. (I don't know if it's a combination of static and microbubbles or what that makes those thin protective shipping sheets stick, but they're nicely reusable.)
I normally read in bed in the dark, so nobody's noticing that it looks a little funny

[evanft]

Does anyone know how to avoid that extra bit of space on the bottom of the page that seems to randomly pop up sometimes? I can't seem to figure out where it comes from or why it happens. I tried the widows and orphans CSS in calibre, but it didn't seem to really fix it. It's not a big deal, but I'd like to fix it, if possible.

[PeterT]

Look for discussions on Widows and Orphans in these 'ere forums