Kindle Paperwhite 2 or Kobo Aura

[STIPPPOX]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for my first e-reader and have two main options, but need a little help with the choice The devices are Kobo Aura and PW2. I'll use the reader mainly for e-books, but also for some architectural pdf-s.The books are on my PC, so I don't care about customer ecosystem. Against Calibre all formats are equal and this doesn't matter, too. I live in Bulgaria, EU and the reader will be bought from UK or Germany online and hope it the quality will be good enough- a return to UK would be expensive.
I watched many reviews, but still can't make my choice- http://goodereader.com/blog/electron...e-paperwhite-2 for example.

Kobo- better build quality, better tehn specs (1Gb vs 256 Mb RAM), better form factor and light for night reading , faster pdf rendering, card slot, more fonts.

Kindle-new gen e-ink display and better contrast for naked eye on the videos, many useful options especially for pdfs, more text on the display with the smallest font (smaller margins, spacing and borders)

I hope didn't annoy you with my noob questions and bad English. Thanks in advance for all help and comments

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by STIPPPOX

Kobo- better build quality, better tehn specs (1Gb vs 256 Mb RAM), better form factor and light for night reading , faster pdf rendering, card slot, more fonts.

Kindle-new gen e-ink display and better contrast for naked eye on the videos, many useful options especially for pdfs, more text on the display with the smallest font (smaller margins, spacing and borders)

I wouldn't be so sure about saying the Kobo has a better build quality. A lot of folks seem to be having quality issues with the Aura.

Both have a light and they seem to be about on par with each other.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Don't they both have 1GB RAM?

[mystika1]

I am going to wait it out. When I got my Kobo Glo it was perfect. I rarely heard anyone complain about the hardware. I have read lots of threads discussing defects on the Aura. "Dots" of light shinning through the light guide layer. Some people have returned their units three times only to settle for a unit with a few defects in the margin area. I am sorry to say that I find this unacceptable. No way would I spend that kind of money on a unit that is flawed. I will stick with my glo for now. The light layer is very even and no dots. I have also read of people saying that the paperwhite is not much better than the original. So....that doesn't really help you .


Penny

[mr_nihilism]

Originally Posted by mystika1

I am going to wait it out. When I got my Kobo Glo it was perfect. I rarely heard anyone complain about the hardware. I have read lots of threads discussing defects on the Aura. "Dots" of light shinning through the light guide layer. Some people have returned their units three times only to settle for a unit with a few defects in the margin area. I am sorry to say that I find this unacceptable. No way would I spend that kind of money on a unit that is flawed. I will stick with my glo for now. The light layer is very even and no dots. I have also read of people saying that the paperwhite is not much better than the original. So....that doesn't really help you .


Penny

+1 for the Glo being a really nice reader.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by mr_nihilism

+1 for the Glo being a really nice reader.

The downer with the Glo is that the light cannot be turned down far enough to make it usable for most people in a totally dark room.

[samhy]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I wouldn't be so sure about saying the Kobo has a better build quality. A lot of folks seem to be having quality issues with the Aura.

True, but in all fairness so did the first Paperwhite. The pink/green light on the screen was a real concern for those interested in a Paperwhite at that time.
And from what I have seen in another thread, some buyers of the Paperwhite 2 had also to ask for replacement(s).
I blame the quality controls of both Amazon & Kobo. What's all about? Rushing the production to deliver before the competition? Trying to lower the price so much that the basic quality standards can't be meet each and every time? I'm baffled that the average buyer has to jump through hoops to make sure to have a properly working device (well, at least screen).

To be even fairer, CS is way better on the Amazon side but the Kobo one is alright if you can deal with a store.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by STIPPPOX

Kobo- better build quality, better tehn specs (1Gb vs 256 Mb RAM), better form factor and light for night reading , faster pdf rendering, card slot, more fonts.

Kindle-new gen e-ink display and better contrast for naked eye on the videos, many useful options especially for pdfs, more text on the display with the smallest font (smaller margins, spacing and borders)

Tech specs on both are similar (both have 1GB CPU, the 256MB is the system memory of the PW, I assume the Aura is the same but its memory doesn't seem to be stated anywhere?), PW has the newer e-ink screen which does give it better contrast with light low/off, but both have the same screen resolution & the light on both is very evenly matched. Also, there is nothing to suggest the build quality of one is better or worse than the other. There are quality control issues with both however (pinholes, light leaks etc).

There isn't a lot to choose between the two, if you look at two 'good' examples without any QC issues.

Don't know anything about the PDF capabilities of either, but where one is better than the other is that the Kobo has better font, margin customisation and a smaller & lighter form factor. Although it has wasted space on the screen and you need to hack to improve that. While on the other hand, the PW is backed by the far superior customer support of Amazon, and rarely suffers from the kind of bug/firmware woes of Kobo.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Rizla

The downer with the Glo is that the light cannot be turned down far enough to make it usable for most people in a totally dark room.

That may have been true of the original firmware. However I have no issues with it being too bright on firmware version 2.8.1.

[Chi Cygni]

I had Kobo Aura in my hand yesterday in a shop. While it is very small and thin it had the top scratched effect on screen clearly visible. Contrast worse than my Paperwhite 1. Aura looked very greyish to me and frankly reading experience not that appealing. Also I personally found it difficult to adjust weight of font exactly as the slider wasn't too cooperative.
I'd go for Kindle.

I hope OP realises that unless he asks someone in UK or Germany to buy Kindle for him and send it to Bulgaria he can only order directly from Amazon.com - if (they should) deliver to Bulgaria.

[mystika1]

Originally Posted by booklover6

That may have been true of the original firmware. However I have no issues with it being too bright on firmware version 2.8.1.

I agree. I can't read on my Glo with the light all of the way down....it is too black.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by samhy

True, but in all fairness so did the first Paperwhite.

I didn't say Amazon was better, I said Kobo didn't have superior quality. They both have issues, but really the Kobo has so many different issues (pin holes, light leaks, cross hatch, etc.) and when you pile on the bugs/glitches that pop up all of the time, many of them inconsistent, I think the Kobo has more issues overall. I haven't been able to go a week on my Aura HD without some little glitch or problem happening. Not too keen on the Paperwhite either as I don't like that the light can't be turned off completely.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by l_macd

Tech specs on both are similar (both have 1GB CPU, the 256MB is the system memory of the PW, I assume the Aura is the same but its memory doesn't seem to be stated anywhere?)

The Kobo Aura has 4gig onboard memory and a microSD card slot.

Other specs Here.

I was lucky, I guess. Mine had two tiny specks, one I only noticed after a week. The other has since disappeared. I can't find it even though I know where it was. Maybe some internal glue finally dried? The other doesn't bother me since I can't see it most times and never think of it being there.

I do have a bit of the crosshatching at the top. It's only visible at certain angles. A bit annoying, but not enough to mess with sending it back.

No light leaks at the edges. The light is very even, and a lot less splotchy than the (1st gen) Paperwhite.

[soulfuldog]

No they both have 1GB processor & the PW has 256MB RAM, which is internal system memory that is used by the device while it is running any software/processes, and is wiped when the device is switched off. The Aura must have some RAM (otherwise it wouldn't work), but it is NOT stated in any of the tech details or elsewhere.

Yes you are correct that the internal/on-board flash memory or storage is 4GB on the Aura, and can be increased to 32GB with an SD Card. The PW only has 2GB and as it doesn't have an SD Card, you have to rely on cloud storage on Amazon's servers as their answer to extended storage space.

[STIPPPOX]

Originally Posted by Chi Cygni

I hope OP realises that unless he asks someone in UK or Germany to buy Kindle for him and send it to Bulgaria he can only order directly from Amazon.com - if (they should) deliver to Bulgaria.

Originally Posted by I_macd

No they both have 1GB processor & the PW has 256MB RAM, which is internal system memory that is used by the device while it is running any software/processes, and is wiped when the device is switched off. The Aura must have some RAM (otherwise it wouldn't work), but it is NOT stated in any of the tech details or elsewhere.

Wrote this "specs" from the GoodEreader review, obviously they weren't right or I misread something. Thank you for the correction

I saw Kobo Aura yesterday, too, a friend bought it and we compared it with his PW1 . The contrast is almost the same as in old Kindle and I was a bit disappointed. I'll buy the new PW2 mainly because of the better pdf software than Kobo.
The shopping from UK or Germany was for the Kobo, but since I'll go for Paperwhite - www.amazon.co.uk/

Thanks to all who wrote in the tread and helped me