paperwhite vs. aura hd vs. ....?

[STIPPPOX]

Hi, I hope you are not bored from the different help requests . I would appreciate all kind of help with my choice:

So I decided to buy a new reader, after a check in the local stores and internet the options are 2(3?)

Kindle Paperwhite-the best model for the last year, well known, proved and tested
The new KOBO Aura HD - released 8 months after PW, has the best screen and glowlight on the market now. 6.8 " against Kindle's 6" Also it's slightly heavier and thicker. The Kobo designers made it in really strange shape. The price is $40 more than PW
In addition, the new models ereaders are usually released in the autumn. Should I wait 3 months for a newer and probably better device? I'll call this "the future option". Which would you choose? Which is better in your opinion?

Many thanks in advance

[jersysman]

I always recommend that one gets the unit they feel would be right for them. You cannot go wrong with either device.

I will address the waiting of the three months for something better. The way that electronics are coming out now, there will always be a "probably better device" on the horizon. Get what you want now. Enjoy the device. Heck, you might not even like the newer device and then will be kicking yourself for waiting.

[JSWolf]

At this late stage, I would wait and see what Amazon and Sony do for their next Readers and then make your choice.

If you have a tablet, use that to read with until later this year when Amazon and Sony release new models. But until you do choose and if you want to buy eBooks, go ePub as that's better for converting to KF8 or Mobi then Mobi is converting to ePub.

[STIPPPOX]

The superior screen is a huge point for Aura HD and I think it is the best for studing and reading now. But I'll wait for the next gen Kindle, Sony, Kobo and B&N (if they release a new model, of course) and make my choice.

jersysman, JSWolf thank you very much for the quick replies

[geormes]

I am not familiar with 2 of the readers you mentioned. My experience is with the Aura.

I had a Kobo Touch and when the Aura came out ordered it. My wife had a Nook Simple Touch and was very pleased with it. She read a couple of pages on my new Aura and ordered one for herself.

The Aura with its resolution and lighting is the best ereader we have had for reading the epub format.

[Rizla]

The Aura has the better screen, Higer-def and better lighting system. But I'd wait a bit too. I wonder if Sony are going to come up with something interesting.

[STIPPPOX]

I read rumors about Sony's politics, they won't intend to release a reader with glow light. According to them, it decreases the quality and the contrast, so the company will develop better screens without lighting. These are just rumors, of course
I hope we will see something interesting soon

[forster01]

Hello all, I have same question about ereader choice. Seems to me that aura is the best on the market, but before i order one, i have a few questions:
1. on screen text utilization, on some video reviews i saw that text has huge spacing between the lines. if that is the case what is the purpose of having 0,8" more screen. When in that case there can be only few words more on the screen then on the PW.
2. Is the support for east European languages settled for this one (Cyrillic, and Latin with special characters)?
I'm using kindle 4, and I'm looking for newer option.
Thank you in advance for you advices.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by forster01

Hello all, I have same question about ereader choice. Seems to me that aura is the best on the market, but before i order one, i have a few questions:
1. on screen text utilization, on some video reviews i saw that text has huge spacing between the lines. if that is the case what is the purpose of having 0,8" more screen. When in that case there can be only few words more on the screen then on the PW.
2. Is the support for east European languages settled for this one (Cyrillic, and Latin with special characters)?
I'm using kindle 4, and I'm looking for newer option.
Thank you in advance for you advices.

1. Line spacing in any given standard epub can be dependent on the styling coded inside that particular epub. If your epubs are not copy-protected and you are proficient with an epub editor (e.g. Sigil) you can change undesirable publisher line/paragraph spacing to anything you want. Kobos do have a font menu option to change the line spacing, however the current minimum (1.3) is larger than some people would like. To put that number in context many retail epubs seem to have an internal setting of 1.2. The very large spacing between each paragraph seen on most of those video reviews bears no resemblance to how my epubs look.

2. Kobos have 10 (or is it 11???) built-in fonts. Most of them do not have good coverage of Cyrillic or East Euro special characters. However, Kobo allows you to easily load any fonts you like just by drag-drop to a particular directory on the device (with a Kobo naming convention). No hacking is required. This gives you lots of flexibilty and it should not be a problem to find free ones with good coverage of Cyrillic etc. (e.g. Charis SIL, Linux Libertine). A word of warning though, the Advanced font setting options (weight and sharpness) only work with built-in fonts not your sideloaded ones.

[Latinandgreek]

I haven't yet tried out a Kindle Paperwhite, but I am very happy with the screen on my Kobo Aura. My husband, who has had no desire to upgrade his PRS-505 said that he wanted to purchase an Aura when he saw the screen on mine.

@forster01. I will try to load up Croatian and Serbian (Cyrillic) books / articles on my Kobo and see what it looks like. I'll try to get that done tomorrow (I assume that will cover most, if not all of the characters that you would find in East European languages, other than perhaps Romanian). I'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow. In general, I had the best luck with Croatian books and articles in LRF on my Sony reader, actually. With my PRS-T1 I found that the diacritics (č, š, ž, ć, đ) would come out find in certain fonts in epub but not in others. I don't know if that is an epub think or a Sony thing. I'll have to ask my husband how the epubs look on his 505. I'm not sure that I have any Cyrillic epubs, though, I'll have to check; I may only have PDFs of articles and the like.

[forster01]

@Latinandgreek, it would be great if you can try it on your device! (for sure, i didn't expect this kind of affability and kindness) thank you in advance, for your time and effort to help me choose.

@Jackie_w, thank you for your helpful and detailed reply. I was sure that something was wrong on that videos i saw, may be reviewer wasn't that proficient with his new device The spacing was so huge that letters looked like snowflakes on the screen
Also thanks for a great tips for text formatting. It is useful to know that kind of stuff.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by forster01

@Latinandgreek, it would be great if you can try it on your device! (for sure, i didn't expect this kind of affability and kindness) thank you in advance, for your time and effort to help me choose.

@Jackie_w, thank you for your helpful and detailed reply. I was sure that something was wrong on that videos i saw, may be reviewer wasn't that proficient with his new device The spacing was so huge that letters looked like snowflakes on the screen
Also thanks for a great tips for text formatting. It is useful to know that kind of stuff.

No problem! I'm curious myself to see how it will turn out.

[Latinandgreek]

Here is an example of an HTML website in Serbian that I converted to epub and loaded on the Aura.

[pidgeon92]

I like both my PW and Aura, and would be hard pressed to pick one over the other. I think the defining factor between the two is: do you prefer to buy from Amazon, or do you prefer ePubs. The Amazon store integration and ebook backup is very, very nice on the Kindle. If you prefer to get your books elsewhere, the Aura is probably the better choice.

[forster01]

As i'm already a user of kindle 4, i know what are you talking about. i think i will settle for Aura. Thanks everybody all replies were extremely helpful.