Kobo Mini dropped to $40 in Kobo Webstore

[delph]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Scared of what?

I misread a previous message. I thought someone mentioned having trouble sideloading, and the vast majority of my collection would be sideloaded. Reading again, it looks like it was just ADE's, and non-DRM'd sideloaded epubs are fine.

Can I blame the heat?

[booklover6]

Oh ok. Yes I sideload 100%, that way I can have Calibre send them the way I want them sent. I wouldn't do it any other way.

[Elfwreck]

Received it. Every worry I had about touchscreens turns out justified. Can't find a way to hold it in my left hand and flip pages consistently. Also, went through much frustration trying to figure out how to operate it, because it came with no manual (and no link or url for one in the paperwork); had to Google for instructions for "now that I've opened a book... how do I find the home page again?"

And I hate that I had to give them an email address just to set it up to sideload.

Turned wifi off. Don't intend to turn it back on, ever.

Library listing for RTF doesn't show the author, even if it's part of the RTF. RTFs don't have paragraph indents; this is BAD. I don't want to have to insert tabs or 5 spaces in front of the paragraph text.

Navigation from inside a book back to the list of books is very clunky. It seems to require going back to the beginning of the library and shows 5 per page. I don't see a way to sort by date; it looks like this'd be useless with a library of over 50 books, much less 500. (Maybe there's collection options built into the software that I'm not using.)

Text clarity is variable. About one page in five is crisp, clear, gorgeous. The rest are spotty, with ghosting through the letters--I guess that's the problem with a lack of complete page-blink. The "spotty" pages aren't bad, just a tiny bit worse than the PRS-600 I'm otherwise using.

Good things: I like the font options; I love Caecilia; I love that I can turn off the margins on ebooks that have them in the settings. (Don't care if this is not possible on ADE books; I don't read ADE books.)

It'll sort by filetype or file size. Good? I guess? I like that it shows the percentage read in the library list, and the doct ype; I don't like how much space the listings take. (Is there a way to shut off covers so more books will fit on a page? I'm mostly reading fanfic from <a href="http://archiveofourown.org">AO3</a>; there are no covers.)

For $40, it's a fine price for a backup/minimal-purpose ereader. I'm still on the lookout for a full-function reader to replace my stolen PRS-505.

[DomesticExtremis]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Received it. Every worry I had about touchscreens turns out justified. Can't find a way to hold it in my left hand and flip pages consistently. Also, went through much frustration trying to figure out how to operate it, because it came with no manual (and no link or url for one in the paperwork); had to Google for instructions for "now that I've opened a book... how do I find the home page again?"
.

Google 'kobo mini user guide'

First link:http://download.kobobooks.com/magent...erguide_en.pdf

[booklover6]

I can address a couple of your concerns -

You can go into settings (the lines at the top right of the page), reading settings, Page turning, and change it so that the middle zone can turn the page forward. Then it should be easy to turn the page while holding it in your left hand. That same screen is where you can change the page refresh to 1.

I don't plan to turn my wifi back on either.

Yes collections can be managed using a free program called Calibre. There is a forum devoted to it.

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Received it. Every worry I had about touchscreens turns out justified. Can't find a way to hold it in my left hand and flip pages consistently.

Turned wifi off. Don't intend to turn it back on, ever.

Library listing for RTF doesn't show the author, even if it's part of the RTF. RTFs don't have paragraph indents; this is BAD. I don't want to have to insert tabs or 5 spaces in front of the paragraph text.

Navigation from inside a book back to the list of books is very clunky. It seems to require going back to the beginning of the library and shows 5 per page. I don't see a way to sort by date; it looks like this'd be useless with a library of over 50 books, much less 500. (Maybe there's collection options built into the software that I'm not using.)

Text clarity is variable. About one page in five is crisp, clear, gorgeous. The rest are spotty, with ghosting through the letters--I guess that's the problem with a lack of complete page-blink. The "spotty" pages aren't bad, just a tiny bit worse than the PRS-600 I'm otherwise using.
.

[filmo]

In reader settings number of page turns before refresh with settings from 6 to 1 will reduce ghosting. I'm told 6 has worst ghosting and 1 has least ghosting.

To easily find books in library use search by title, author or shelf.

When viewing BOOKS, tap on by Title: brings up listed by options; Recently Read, Title, Author, File Size, File Type.

When looking at list of LIBRARY content right side of each book listing select 3 line icon. This brings up 4 options: View Details, Mark as Finished, Add to Shelf, Delete. Use add to shelf option to create new shelf and add a book to a shelf.

Calibre can create shelves and assign books to shelves. I don't use shelves and only played with this when it was first available. It might not be as slow now with lots of books on shelfs in large library. I still think Kobo data base is to use shelves is too slow for my use.

Mini small screen size makes home screen even more imposable to read Author and Title on tiny book covers. These book covers must have author and Title captions below each cover to be legible. Library book listing use captions to make it usable why not same on home page.

[Dr. Drib]

Reducing the flash from 6 to 1 will also reduce the battery, too.

One must find a happy equilibrium in this matter in order to deal with one's reading habits.




Don

[shanghaichica]

I have to have it set to refresh every page because I cant stand ghosting. I know it will effect battery life but I need it.


I didnt realise how much I would use the mini. The form facfor is just so good. Im gonna pick up another one in black.

[JD Gumby]

Strange. I have my Mini set to 4 and there's no visible ghosting... There *was* a little at 6, but I only noticed 'cos I tend to be a close-reader (regardless of the size of the ebook reader or the pbook's font).

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by shanghaichica

I have to have it set to refresh every page because I cant stand ghosting. I know it will effect battery life but I need it.


I didnt realise how much I would use the mini. The form facfor is just so good. Im gonna pick up another one in black.

I have mine set on 1, also. I didn't like the ghosting or artifacts or whatever. On my Glo it's set at 6 and I never notice anything off with the text. Maybe it has to do with higher resolution.

The form factor is awesome. I am waiting for the lighted version, though.

[Elfwreck]

I will cope with less battery life by full refreshing after every page. After all, that's what my previous e-ink readers used. If it starts to be a problem, I'll switch back.

So far, I really don't like its HTML and RTF support. Which is annoying, because one of the main features I'm looking for is support for easily-editable formats--doc, rtf or html. I don't always have access to Sigil to edit epubs, and editing the raw formatting code in epubs is often troublesome for me.

[roc]

Originally Posted by delph

I didn't see anything about a donation for that purpose, but that's pretty cool.
. . .
:-/

It is still there, at least on the page for the Mini, but is way down in it, after the "Details" section:

http://www.familychristian.com/kobo-...der-white.html
. . .

Product Details:
Dimensions: 5.2"(L) x 4"(W) x 0.4"(D)
Weight: 0.3lbs
Processor: 800 MHZ Processor
Display: 5" E Ink touchscreen; Vizplex V110 display; 16 level gray scale
Screen: Non-glass touchscreen for glare-free, fingerprint-resistant reading
Connectivity: Wi Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Micro USB
Storage: 2GB
Battery Life: One month with WiFi turned off

For every Kobo device purchased, $5 will be donated to sponsor a girl rescued from the sex trade in Cambodia.

Additional Information

Product type: Default
. . .

[teija]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

Strange. I have my Mini set to 4 and there's no visible ghosting... There *was* a little at 6, but I only noticed 'cos I tend to be a close-reader (regardless of the size of the ebook reader or the pbook's font).

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but although I am usually fine setting my refresh to every 4-6 pages, when I'm reading outside in the sun, I notice a HUGE difference - as in, I pretty much need to set it to refresh every page. Odd...I guess perhaps UV/sunlight plays a factor. Maybe the full light allows the little white side of the e-ink plastic bits to show up more clearly and therefore blurs the text?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Library listing for RTF doesn't show the author, even if it's part of the RTF. RTFs don't have paragraph indents; this is BAD. I don't want to have to insert tabs or 5 spaces in front of the paragraph text.

RTFs don't have usuable metadata so no way to specify the author. RTFs don't have paragraph indents? Neither do epubs, PDFs. DOCs or any other format unless you specify one. Open your RTF in your favourite editor and change the EOL to EOL<tab> for a quick and dirty answer.

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Navigation from inside a book back to the list of books is very clunky. It seems to require going back to the beginning of the library and shows 5 per page. I don't see a way to sort by date; it looks like this'd be useless with a library of over 50 books, much less 500. (Maybe there's collection options built into the software that I'm not using.)

Did you check the Recently Read sort option? After your recent reads, it will show the rest of your library by added date.

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

It'll sort by filetype or file size. Good? I guess? I like that it shows the percentage read in the library list, and the doct ype; I don't like how much space the listings take. (Is there a way to shut off covers so more books will fit on a page? I'm mostly reading fanfic from <a href="http://archiveofourown.org">AO3</a>; there are no covers.)

As far as a Kobo ereader is concerned, the first page of the book is the cover. The most books I can see in the library is by using the cover view which shows only the covers which is rather useless for you. Otherwise, using the hide covers item doesn't recover any space.

As for the ghosting, that is, unfortunately, inherent in eInk displays. You can set the page refresh lower to see if that helps. Often, if you have a dark graphic on the page, it will show noticeably on the next page. See settings/reading settings/page refresh.

You might want to look into Calibre for managing your collection. It will allow you to create shelves with a lot less effort than on the ereader itself.

Regards,
David

[samhy]

Originally Posted by teija

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but although I am usually fine setting my refresh to every 4-6 pages, when I'm reading outside in the sun, I notice a HUGE difference - as in, I pretty much need to set it to refresh every page. Odd...I guess perhaps UV/sunlight plays a factor. Maybe the full light allows the little white side of the e-ink plastic bits to show up more clearly and therefore blurs the text?

Me too! It happened to me for the first time this afternoon. The Mini became sluggish too No idea was that, but I'm going to investigate further. Also since the Mini had a strange behaviour last night, I'm not sure if it's related to the sun or something else.

Someone once said having troubles reading on an Aura in the sun light. I don't whether he had his exchanged, though.

However I'll put those updates in another thread, one related to device troubles.