Aura HD Kobo Aura HD

[paola]

Originally Posted by Uschiekid

Already replied to by DNSB, and as he says, you can use the kobo desktop app to get the kepubs on your device.

But your case is a bit unusual having three kobo accounts with books bought on, that you obviously don't want to merge (which is possible) since I'm assuming 3 countries was to get better prices or to get books otherwise unavailable. I'm pretty sure you can't get three accounts worth of kepubs on your kobo at once...and changing accounts when you want to read a book isn't really viable either. My only advice (if this is possible in your case) is to use the account with the most books bought on it (or conceivably the one you think you will buy most on in the future) and sideload the other 2 accounts, either as epubs or using Joel's kepub converter plugin with calibre.

one other thing to bear in mind is that you can buy books with any account as gifts to another account: in fact, you can gift it to any email. Then you accept the gift by logging into "the" main account. This won't solve the problem with the books you already have (personally I'd follow Uschiekid advice: download the epubs then koboify them with Joel's plugin), but will allow you to combine future purchases in a single account. I think you could also ask Kobo to merge the three accounts, but perhaps that is not what you want to do...

[jmilica]

Paola, are you sure I can buy gifts from one country account for another country account? I don't think that's possible, because then I would be able to buy any book without geo restrictions?
Thank you for your responses.

[lkodk]

Originally Posted by lkodk

Hi all,

I currently own a Glo which I really like, but I am intrigued by the new Arua. The question is if it is worth the upgrade.
Where I live it is not possible to play around with Kobo ereaders in store before deciding as the are sold from web shops only.

So I would really like your opinion, if you have bought a Aura even though you own a Glo.

As I wrote, I really like my Glo. The bluish light doesn't bother me as I rarely read in complete darkness.
I actually also like the size of it. Even though I mostly read at home, I occasionally use public transport where I prefer spending the time reading as well. And there I like the fact that it's easy to bring along as it fits my jacket pocket easily.
But at the same time I definitely wouldn't mind a larger screen and crisper text that the Aura seem to provide.

Do you find the larger screen improves your reading experience compared to the Glo?
Is the text noticeably crisper than the Glo, or is it really only marginal?

I am a bit worried about the added weight as it, at least on paper, seems noticeably heavier, but how does the difference feel in real life?
I know it is still much much lighter than a good old fashioned paper book But I like my ereader to be as light a possible.

Also, how is the battery life compared to the Glo?

My Glo is only 6 months old and is in perfect condition, and since there's not really anything I dislike about it (hardware wise) I really don't need a new ereader, so can I justify the 200 €?
I would really like to hear the pros and cons from those of you who have rushed to part with a perfectly working Glo and jumped on the Aura bandwagon

No Glo owners fallen for the Aura?

[johnsnow]

I held out for 1 month before I bought my Glo to replace my Touch which I absolutely loved. I liked the better resolution and loved the functionality of the sleep cover. I also preferred a white case because the black Touch showed too many fingerprints. There was a small defect with the screen which I was not really happy about. Also I was never really satisfied with the light because it was always too bright to read comfortably in a dark area.

I bought the white Aura the first day it was released after seeing the black one in store. The black is an absolute nightmare of greasy fingerprints. The build quality is good and the plastic feels nice. It does not make my fingers sweat. The case does however make a few creaks now and then when I grab it. I can live with it.

The larger screen definitely improves my reading experience. I do find the text crisper at smaller sizes and the light is much more useful and pleasant to look at. I use it without a case because I read mostly at home and it is not any heavier than my Glo with sleepcover on. The battery life seems amazing so far...still at 100% after 2 days.

Yes I love it and I wish I never bought the Glo.

[paola]

Originally Posted by jmilica

Paola, are you sure I can buy gifts from one country account for another country account? I don't think that's possible, because then I would be able to buy any book without geo restrictions?
Thank you for your responses.

yes, you can definitely do that - I won a prepaid card in the US, so I setup an account with a different email and gifted a book to my main account, and I can confirm it works. Interestingly, from my main account I also had the option to refuse the gift and get the equivalent in money. When you gift a book, you only give out an email, which receives a link, so I think you could even use a third email - but I did use the one linked to my "main" account. When you click the link in the email you are re-directed to the Kobo website and asked to sing up or sign in, at which point I signed in with my main account login. I have done this for only one book, so it may be a coincidence, but I am aware of other users who do this pretty regularly.

What I only just discovered is that you can have a different account located in country X but use on that account a payment card with a billing address from a different country. Check this out.

[simond]

Originally Posted by jmilica

Paola, are you sure I can buy gifts from one country account for another country account? I don't think that's possible, because then I would be able to buy any book without geo restrictions?
Thank you for your responses.

I have myself a US account setup so that I can gift myself US only books, I find it easiest to make the purchase via a VPN as otherwise I seem to see normal uk pricing etc, I really should experiment a bit more with this.

Originally Posted by lkodk

No Glo owners fallen for the Aura?

I did and havent regretted it at all. The light seems to go down further which is extremely handy for me.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by geormes

I got my Aura Wednesday morning. Today, Saturday afternoon, it is 94%. I read a lot and use the light at 35% when I read.
It was 100% both Thursday and Friday.

I got mine Thursday. Charged it to 100% same day after doing setup. The battery indicator then dropped fairly quickly, down to about 47%. But I was playing with the device a lot!

It kind of stayed at that level for a while, now, today on Sunday, is moving down and is at 42%. I'm using the light at between 4 - 15%, sometimes a little higher, depending on what room I'm in.

[JD Gumby]

Looked at the Aura when I was at the Coles at the mall yesterday. Definitely too big to hold one-handed the way I normally do (thumb on one side, fingers on the other, not actually touching the back). Stuck holding it by a corner, which would make it easier to drop - which I did because the back is far too slick. Fortunately, it was just a couple of inches over the cash register counter, so it survived and no new damage was added to the chip off the corner. Apparently they had dropped it themselves when going to set it up on the demo shelf.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

Looked at the Aura when I was at the Coles at the mall yesterday. Definitely too big to hold one-handed the way I normally do (thumb on one side, fingers on the other, not actually touching the back). Stuck holding it by a corner, which would make it easier to drop - which I did because the back is far too slick. Fortunately, it was just a couple of inches over the cash register counter, so it survived and no new damage was added to the chip off the corner. Apparently they had dropped it themselves when going to set it up on the demo shelf.

If you have a thumb on one side and fingers on the other then how do you turn the pages? I tend to have the right side of the reader in the wedge between where my thumb and index finger meet and the other fingers are applying a little pressure to the back with the thumb hovering over or sometimes resting on the bezel. Or I hold it similarly but with my baby finger under the bottom edge of the reader providing support. I was a little worried about it being slippery when I first got it but I have since gotten used to it and have no problem holding it one handed with my womanly man hands. I've read standing up on the train with one hand on the hand stirrups and had no problem whatsoever.

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

If you have a thumb on one side and fingers on the other then how do you turn the pages?

Unlike some unlucky souls, I have two hands. :P (so, especially when I'm outside walking somewhere and reading, I hold it as described in my left hand and turn with my right)

[filmo]

You can also turn pages with tongue, nose, elbow, stylus held in mouth, use corner of desk, foot, really limitless possibilities.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by filmo

You can also turn pages with tongue, nose, elbow, stylus held in mouth, use corner of desk, foot, really limitless possibilities.

Yes, but using the tongue geta a bit messy.

[hound1]

Hi! Does anyone know if the Aura HD will be made available at stores such as Futureshop, Best Buy, Walmart, etc? I'd rather not purchase it at Chapters(huge problems when trying to return/exchange an older ereader)

[PeterT]

From http://www.kobo.com/koboaurahd/wheretobuy/

Canada
Best Buy
Future Shop
Indigo, Chapters, Coles
Kobo
Staples
The Source

[TongueTied]

I just read a really really negative review on Gizmodo by some waste of space called Eric Limer, that was posted today. I always thought they did fairly professional reviews but this just so blatantly biased and Kobo bashing. This review makes it seem that the device is perhaps the worst technical device ever released. Do they get more ad revenue for posting bad reviews? I've been following this thread with interest and see lots of very happy Aura owners; not what you would expect based on the Gizmodo review. Goodereader.com also did some good reviews of the Aura and I have always thought those guys were very biased. So, I don't think I can trust any review Gizmodo does from now on. ...and, the guy has obviously never ever used any Kobo eReader before.