The new Kobo Aura - good purchase?

[Muyfa666]

Well, as the title says - would the new Kobo Aura be a good purchase?

I have started reading ebooks recently and I love it. Made me start reading again.

I was dead-on set for the new Kindle Paperwhite, but the specs for the Kobo Aura made me reconsider.

All the books I have so far is ePub. I mostly buy books from independant stores in my native language (Swedish) which makes any big international service more or less redundant, since I only read english ebooks if I can't find them in Swedish.

So - the Aura. I read many good things about it, but then some review said the screen was kind of bad while others say it's really good. What is it? For someone who never even seen a e-ink screen in real life, would any do?

Price is not really an issue. I intend to buy one unit and use it for a really long time. I'd rather spend a little extra and be completely satiesfied.

EDIT: I forgot, right now I am reading on my iPhone 5. Could a tablet with high resolution be an option? I'm thinking maybe the new Nexus 7? Or will the backlight maybe be bothersome to the eyes? I don't read for long periods of time on the iPhone...

[booklover6]

None of us has an Aura in hand yet, but many of us have the Glo and the HD and highly recommend them. I plan to get the Aura. I find the specs etc to be superior to the Paperwhite. I am looking forward to the smaller size and the larger internal memory. So yes I think you should get one!

[meeera]

If I didn't already have a Glo, I'd be all over it. As it is, I'm just quietly lusting, but have no concrete reason to upgrade, dangit. Maybe I should take my Glo out of its cover and stop being so nice to it...

Originally Posted by Muyfa666

So - the Aura. I read many good things about it, but then some review said the screen was kind of bad while others say it's really good. What is it? For someone who never even seen a e-ink screen in real life, would any do?

I've not seen any review saying the new Aura's screen has issues, only one or two saying the hardware is best in class. Do you remember where you heard that?

As for e-ink screens in general: if you don't have any shops or libraries near you where you can try one out, look for good quality video reviews to get the general idea.

[Muyfa666]

Here it is:

http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/ere...kobo-aura.aspx

It mentions light leakage. Maybe all screens have that to a degree thou...?

[owly]

Hej på dig :-) Kindle can't handle epubs so I'd say the Kobo Aura is a better choice. If you need a reader with menus in Swedish then the Cybook Odyssey HD is a nice choice http://www.bookeen.com/en/cybook-odyssey-hd-frontlight. You do know about Elib http://elib.se/ don't you?

Originally Posted by Muyfa666

Well, as the title says - would the new Kobo Aura be a good purchase?

I have started reading ebooks recently and I love it. Made me start reading again.

I was dead-on set for the new Kindle Paperwhite, but the specs for the Kobo Aura made me reconsider.

All the books I have so far is ePub. I mostly buy books from independant stores in my native language (Swedish) which makes any big international service more or less redundant, since I only read english ebooks if I can't find them in Swedish.

So - the Aura. I read many good things about it, but then some review said the screen was kind of bad while others say it's really good. What is it? For someone who never even seen a e-ink screen in real life, would any do?

Price is not really an issue. I intend to buy one unit and use it for a really long time. I'd rather spend a little extra and be completely satiesfied.

EDIT: I forgot, right now I am reading on my iPhone 5. Could a tablet with high resolution be an option? I'm thinking maybe the new Nexus 7? Or will the backlight maybe be bothersome to the eyes? I don't read for long periods of time on the iPhone...

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by Muyfa666

Here it is:

http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/ere...kobo-aura.aspx

It mentions light leakage. Maybe all screens have that to a degree thou...?

That's an extremely poor review. Any review that mentions "backlight" should be thrown in the garbage because it's obviously written by someone who has no idea what they're talking about.

[EowynCarter]

All the books I have so far is ePub. I mostly buy books from independant stores in my native language (Swedish) which makes any big international service more or less redundant, since I only read english ebooks if I can't find them in Swedish.

That seam to be an argument not to get a kindle.
And do amazon have Swedish books ?

[Muyfa666]

Amazon have very few swedish books as far as I know.

The Cybook Odyssey HD looks nice enough, but I don't need a swedish interface and it seems a bit expensive. I am quite fluid in english, but some books tend to be too hard to read in english for me. I will buy and read english books, but not if I have the choice of getting them in swedish.

I know the Aura is not out yet, but it does seem like a very nice reader, doesn't it? :-)

EDIT: I didn't know about elib. Very nice!

The new Kindle Paperwhite seems like a very good choice also. I have no problem navigating calibre, so that shouldn't really be a problem, but I still like the many positives about Aura.

Would be great if there were a "best" e-reader out there. :-)

[Jdschi]

Originally Posted by Muyfa666

EDIT: I forgot, right now I am reading on my iPhone 5. Could a tablet with high resolution be an option? I'm thinking maybe the new Nexus 7? Or will the backlight maybe be bothersome to the eyes? I don't read for long periods of time on the iPhone...

I can't comment on the actual ereader question but I wanted to add something re: tablets. First of all, have a look in this thread, there is a lengthy discussion about this topic in there.
I think this is very subjective - while some people can't read on backlit screens for prolonged periods of time due to eyestrain, others don't have any problems with it. I find it much easier to read on my tablet than my old Kindle 4. I seem to have really sensitive eyes and had problems reading with the Kindle 4. The Kindle did not have enough contrast and was never light enough even with a clip on light (I imagine (hope) that I won't have this problem with the new lighted readers though). So I was really happy when I found out that I could read on my tablet without problems!

I think tablet and e-ink reader complement each other nicely - out in the sun tablets are hard to read on due to reflections but e-ink readers excel in light conditions; in darkish rooms, non lighted readers get hard to read, while the tablet can be set accordingly. Also, pdfs, comics, etc are better read on a tablet. In addition to ebooks the tablet has a lot more options than only read books. Of course, e-ink readers are much more affordable than (good) tablets and don't have to be charged as often.
As I said it is a really personal question - you have to decide for yourself what is easiest on your eyes. If you have no problems reading on your iphone for prolonged periods of time, chances are that the backlight won't bother you.

If you decide to get a tablet I think the Nexus 7 is a very good choice because it has the best display with the highest ppi of all the tablets out there, you have several nice choices for reading apps, it is light enough to hold for hours on end (but not in one hand, I only have to hold it in both), the battery lasts long enough, etc. I love my Nexus 7! I have the contrast of the reading app set just to the right amount for my eyes (sepia background and black font) and I can adjust the brightness so that it is always comfortable for my eyes in any given situation. It is also bright enough to read outside, if necessary.

Having said that, I'm still going to buy an additional eink reader because there are situations where an ereader is better than a tablet (and vice versa) - sometimes I don't want to bring my tablet because it is far more valuable than an ereader, I want to read outside etc.
HTH!

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

That's an extremely poor review. Any review that mentions "backlight" should be thrown in the garbage because it's obviously written by someone who has no idea what they're talking about.

And it's not just a slip of the keyboard, there's a whole section titled "Backlight"! Furthermore, there is this pile of nonsense:

In line with the current e-reader trend, the Kobo Aura comes with backlighting, operated by the button along the top edge. With the ComfortLight (as the company calls it) at 100 percent, we recorded an average brightness of 405 lux, which was brightest toward the top of the page. This obliterates the lux recorded on the older Kindle Paperwhite (208 lux) and the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight (102 lux). The Aura's brightness level even beats the Kobo Aura HD's 326 lux.

Who cares what the maximum brightness is? Anyone who actually reads with a frontlit ereader knows that they (well, the current majors, sorry I don't know much about the minors) all have a maximum brightness of Far Too Bloody Bright, Turn It Down Already. Who's got the brightest 100% level is irrelevant to anything.

Without a photo of the "light bleed", it's impossible to assess what they mean and whether it intrudes into the text area or affects reading. They go on to say:

And, while it's brighter than the competition, we preferred the slightly dimmer look of the Kindle Paperwhite's light for reading, assuming you always have the light at 100 percent.

*headdesk*.

They've also somehow managed to review the minutiae of all the trimmings and fripperies, but missed the key Advanced font-tweaking features. All they say is:

The Kobo Aura offers 11 font options, including Dyslexie, which was created for dyslexic readers. Readers can adjust the font to 24 different sizes, as well as manually alter line spacing and margins.

[Muyfa666]

I'm starting to think the Aura will be my choice. Are there any indications on when it might be out? I'd love to have it before winter... the reading month! A good whisky and a book. Oh the pleasure...

[soulfuldog]

If you look at the news forum you'll see a review posted from CNET Australia on the new Aura. They rate it quite highly whereas they were a bit underwhelmed by the Glo when it was released (they don't have a review for the Aura HD), that alone makes me think the Aura might well be a good choice. The only thing that puts me off is the possible bugs (check out the Fed up with the bugs! poll in the Kobo forum).

As for when you can buy it, due out later this month, and if you check the Kobo forum, someone in Sweden has ordered from Chapters Indigo in Canada and has a November delivery date. Not sure that's the cheapest way to buy it though.

For me personally, the customer support of Amazon might tip the balance in favour of the PW, but the Aura does look tempting.....

[Muyfa666]

Yes, the two choices I consider are PW2 or the Aura. Neither of them are distributed here, so it's not possible to preview them before buying...

[mr_nihilism]

While it might not mean much, I personally find it noteworthy that the Aura is both lighter and smaller than the Paperwhite. It's even lighter than the Glo.

Aura: 150 x 114 x 8.1 mm / 174 g
Paperwhite: 169 mm x 117 mm x 9.1 mm / 206 g

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by mr_nihilism

While it might not mean much, I personally find it noteworthy that the Aura is both lighter and smaller than the Paperwhite. It's even lighter than the Glo.

Aura: 150 x 114 x 8.1 mm / 174 g
Paperwhite: 169 mm x 117 mm x 9.1 mm / 206 g

As do I! I wanted a lighted Mini, but this will do!