Aura HD Kobo Aura HD

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by aceflor

It is better in overall size, which is not necessarily an advantage
The display real estate is bigger BUT not used properly.
It is heavier, and thicker.
It has a weird, weird back.
The Light is as good as the second series of Glo.

So globally, it only comes to : it has a bigger dpi.

Nope, that is not worth the $.

Yes, it's heavier and thicker, but the "weird" back makes it nice to hold - at least for me.

Also it's faster, has a nicer (and more useful) homescreen, some nice games (yeah, I know, some people won't consider that important in an ereader - me neither, but it's nice anyway )...

And I don't think that the display is not properly used.

PDF support is much better. I can even read some of my PDF without a problem on my Aura (which I could not on my Touch and would not have been able on a Glo). The higher resolution helps a lot with that.

The higher dpi makes it possible to read at a much smaller font size in general - more text on the screen (not that it matters to me...).

It's okay that the Aura is not worth the $ for you, but it's a much nicer device than you make it sound.

Originally Posted by aceflor

Nope, that is not worth the $.

It depends upon what you're looking for. In my books, the Glo wasn't worth the money because the light and minor improvement in the technical specifications didn't justify it. Other people were absolutely in love with it because of the light, the very thing that I wouldn't pay extra for.

The Aura comes out, and I snatch one up on the day it hits the stores. The DPI and larger screen size are things that appeal to me because it is a huge improvement while reading PDF files. It is something that I was willing to pay for.

The thing is, a lot of the value in a product depends upon how a particular person uses the product. Sometimes this is objective, such as the higher DPI enhancing the readability of small text. Sometimes this is subjective, like the amount of text we want to have displayed on one page. (Just the be clear, the amount of text displayed is an objective criteria but some of us are okay with less text being displayed at one time.) Ultimately individuals have to decide if a product is worth it based upon what they want from the product. What makes sense to you may not make sense to me, and vica versa.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

It depends upon what you're looking for. In my books, the Glo wasn't worth the money because the light and minor improvement in the technical specifications didn't justify it. Other people were absolutely in love with it because of the light, the very thing that I wouldn't pay extra for.

Indeed... I jumped from a Kindle Touch to a Paperwhite.

The KPW is a strange reader to replace the KTouch: it has some plusses like, the front light and higher DPI, but it also has minuses (for some people), such as losing the Home button, and Text to Speech.

Still, if the only difference between the KTouch and KPW was an added front light, I'd still have made the jump. My poor eyesight makes that a can't really see any DPI increase over 150 or so, but the light is DA SJIT, as it enables me to read in about any circumstance.

And I couldn't care less about losing the Home button or Text To Speech. If I'd wanted the latter, I'd go looking for an app for my phone; there's bound to be one.

[Nil Einne]

Just a quick note, from, what I gather Monday is a holiday (Victoria day) in most of Canada so it's likely there will be no action for any orders, help requests etc.

Originally Posted by aceflor

It is better in overall size, which is not necessarily an advantage
The display real estate is bigger BUT not used properly.
It is heavier, and thicker.
It has a weird, weird back.
The Light is as good as the second series of Glo.

So globally, it only comes to : it has a bigger dpi.

Nope, that is not worth the $.

I don't really understand the point about 'The display real estate is bigger BUT not used properly'. Are you complaining about the header and footer? Or the interface when browsing your books or doing stuff with them? If it's the former, as I understand it, the Glo also has the same thing and while we can debate whether or not it's useful and should be able to be easily disabled, it doesn't seem that you can really say the Aura isn't using the extra display real estate properly, AFAIK it's not like they've made the header or footer bigger so you lose all the real estate. In other words, you still gain the extra compared to the Glo.

If you meant the later, ultimately the primary purpose for these devices and what most people are going to spend most of their time on is reading books. The other stuff is useful and definitely Kobo should always consider how they can improve things particularly with the bigger screen andd it's going to be rather annoying if it isn't used effectively but I don't see that many people are going to want the bigger screen and all that entails just for the benefits when it comes to doing other stuff. And the real estate is there and used when reading, whether it's PDFs, manga, large fonts or just fewer page turns or personal preference. Now whether you would actually want this real estate is another matter, obviously some people don't care or would prefer the smaller size reader. But that doesn't mean the Aura isn't using the real estate, it is it's just that not everyone wants it.

[aceflor]

As a matter of fact I was complaining about both. I also have a mini, and although it also shows title and page number on every page, and although I think the proportion of real estate taken for that should be the same whether Aura, Glo or Mini, it seems much smaller, or annoys me less, on the Mini. I also much prefer the Mini interface to the Aura. I can't speak about the Glo, I have never seen it live. But I meant that imho, having seen the Aura and the Mini, and supposing the Glo would be a bigger Mini, I'd go for that one instead of the Aura if I were to make the choice again today.

[Breid]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

It depends upon what you're looking for. In my books, the Glo wasn't worth the money because the light and minor improvement in the technical specifications didn't justify it. Other people were absolutely in love with it because of the light, the very thing that I wouldn't pay extra for.

I completely agree.....beauty is in the eye of the beholder, springs to mind. My Kobo Touch was only 6 months old when I upgraded it for the Glo. I was finding it hard to read the touch in low lighting conditions and had to crank up the font to a really big size for comfort. I could not find a cover with an inbuilt light and I was about to buy a clip-on light when the Glo was released. I bought it purely for the glo-light. Yes, somewhat extravagant since my Touch was in perfect condition, but worth every cent for the joy of being to be able to ready anywhere I wanted without the need to carry a clip-on light with me

Originally Posted by BWinmill

The thing is, a lot of the value in a product depends upon how a particular person uses the product. Sometimes this is objective, such as the higher DPI enhancing the readability of small text. Sometimes this is subjective, like the amount of text we want to have displayed on one page. (Just the be clear, the amount of text displayed is an objective criteria but some of us are okay with less text being displayed at one time.) Ultimately individuals have to decide if a product is worth it based upon what they want from the product. What makes sense to you may not make sense to me, and vica versa.

I got the Aura because of the slightly bigger screen and increased DPI. Another extravagant decision, but I am glad I did because I am enjoying the reading experience even more than on my Glo due to these enhancements. But that's it for me with ereader upgrades for quite a while. Unless someone proudces one that will do my shopping and make my coffee, I cannot justify another purchase in the immediate future

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Breid

I But that's it for me with ereader upgrades for quite a while. Unless someone proudces one that will do my shopping and make my coffee, I cannot justify another purchase in the immediate future

Famous last words

[Breid]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Famous last words

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by aceflor

As a matter of fact I was complaining about both. I also have a mini, and although it also shows title and page number on every page, and although I think the proportion of real estate taken for that should be the same whether Aura, Glo or Mini, it seems much smaller, or annoys me less, on the Mini. I also much prefer the Mini interface to the Aura. I can't speak about the Glo, I have never seen it live. But I meant that imho, having seen the Aura and the Mini, and supposing the Glo would be a bigger Mini, I'd go for that one instead of the Aura if I were to make the choice again today.

For me, the Aura interface is head and shoulders above the Mini/Touch/Glo interface. Just a few items I prefer:

1. I regularly add multiple books and now I get a library tile with the number of books added which opens the library in recently read mode so I see those books at the top of the list. My current reads remain on the screen. With the Mini/Touch/Glo interface, the newly added books would replace the currently being read books on the carousel and I would be forced to dig into the library and re-open them.

2. When you finish a book, the tile remains on the home screen marked as finished. Very handy when you want to go back to an earlier book in a series to check whether the author indeed screwed up the continuity. You can dismiss the finished tile or just leave it to roll off the screen as you read more books. Currently, I have 8 books, the reading stats and the sync tile on screen.

3. When I open an application, it get a little tile so I can re-open it without having to dig into the settings/extras menu.

4. You can dismiss any tile other than Sync. Why that tile was made a protected tile between 2.5.1 and 2.5.2 is a mystery to me.

Regards,
David

[simond]

Originally Posted by DNSB

For me, the Aura interface is head and shoulders above the Mini/Touch/Glo interface. Just a few items I prefer:

1. I regularly add multiple books and now I get a library tile with the number of books added which opens the library in recently read mode so I see those books at the top of the list. My current reads remain on the screen. With the Mini/Touch/Glo interface, the newly added books would replace the currently being read books on the carousel and I would be forced to dig into the library and re-open them.

2. When you finish a book, the tile remains on the home screen marked as finished. Very handy when you want to go back to an earlier book in a series to check whether the author indeed screwed up the continuity. You can dismiss the finished tile or just leave it to roll off the screen as you read more books. Currently, I have 8 books, the reading stats and the sync tile on screen.

3. When I open an application, it get a little tile so I can re-open it without having to dig into the settings/extras menu.

4. You can dismiss any tile other than Sync. Why that tile was made a protected tile between 2.5.1 and 2.5.2 is a mystery to me.

Regards,
David

For me apart from the DPI, the main screen is the best reason to get an Aura rather than a Glo, far less frustrating

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by DNSB

4. You can dismiss any tile other than Sync. Why that tile was made a protected tile between 2.5.1 and 2.5.2 is a mystery to me.

That's a mystery to me, too. And I hope they will make it dismissable again. If it was only that tile, I'd be okay, if a little annoyed... but all the wasted space under that tile drives me nuts.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Of course! And you know one will be released this fall. I keep telling myself not to buy it. hehe.

Do you really think they will? I could see them coming out with a slightly more HD 6" Paperwhite but I can't see them releasing a 6.8" Paperwhite. Kindle has done 6" all along-they've never even bothered with 5" like Kobo and Sony have done. I just don't see it.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by DNSB

For me, the Aura interface is head and shoulders above the Mini/Touch/Glo interface. Just a few items I prefer:

I had a chance to play with the interface today. Overall I like and and can see why they did it. There could be some improvements of course.

1. I regularly add multiple books and now I get a library tile with the number of books added which opens the library in recently read mode so I see those books at the top of the list. My current reads remain on the screen. With the Mini/Touch/Glo interface, the newly added books would replace the currently being read books on the carousel and I would be forced to dig into the library and re-open them.

I have to say this is good. And it will be better when I am not in "what does all this do" mood. Things were coming and going from the home screen, but I was also opening everything.

I also liked that the current books showed how many annotations and bookmarks I had made. And pressing that part of the tile opened annotation list.

2. When you finish a book, the tile remains on the home screen marked as finished. Very handy when you want to go back to an earlier book in a series to check whether the author indeed screwed up the continuity. You can dismiss the finished tile or just leave it to roll off the screen as you read more books. Currently, I have 8 books, the reading stats and the sync tile on screen.

This is something I like as well. I am also setting a rating for books on the device. This showed something that is missing. The long press menu on a tile, should have all the menu options for the item. That way I could open the details page and set the rating. Or delete the book.

3. When I open an application, it get a little tile so I can re-open it without having to dig into the settings/extras menu.

4. You can dismiss any tile other than Sync. Why that tile was made a protected tile between 2.5.1 and 2.5.2 is a mystery to me.

I can see why they do for people that buy all their books from Kobo. Or have other Kobo devices. The syncing becomes more important. But, the tile should always be the last tile. Or if they really want it in the first column, push it to the bottom of the column. That way another book or something could fit below the current book.

A function that is missing for the tiles is "pin". It would be good to pin something to the home screen so it won't get pushed off. A shortlist shelf is the obvious candidate. And being able to select a book from the lists and add it as a tile.

[FJames]

Originally Posted by DNSB

You can dismiss any tile other than Sync. Why that tile was made a protected tile between 2.5.1 and 2.5.2 is a mystery to me.

I didn't realize that. Thanks again David. I suppose there's a manual somewhere that mentions these things, but I'm probably too lazy to read it.

I like some of the little interface improvements with 2.5+ on the Aura. Lots still to wish for of course, but every improvement is appreciated.

I still have to say though that I hate the feel of the Aura anew every time I pick it up after handling my Touch. The hard slick plastic, the sharp corners and edges, and the extra size and weight tend to fade from attention while reading, but by comparison to the Touch they are very noticeable.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by FJames

I didn't realize that. Thanks again David. I suppose there's a manual somewhere that mentions these things, but I'm probably too lazy to read it.

It would nice to have a Kobo Aura for Dummies (in ebook form, of course) available.

I find myself playing "what happens if I press here, if I long press here, etc." rather often. The Aura interface as a video game?

Regards,
David