[DNSB]

Originally Posted by embryo

Well, AFAIK koreader reads the ebook's CSS also (to a certain degree), but has an 'option' to turn this off.
And the patcher that you use is not part of the reader but a great effort of people that liked the 'option' to use all of their screen for reading.
Option that the reader does not gives you.

Actually, the full screen reading option is one the reader does give me. Adding FullScreenReading=true under [FeatureSettings] in the Kobo eReader.conf file allows me that option. Though I seldom use that option, Screenshots=true is the one I use more often.

And I personally do not like the way that koreader can and will disregard parts of the ebook's CSS while misrendering other parts. I am not sure if it is an issue with koreader code or the crengine renderer that koreader uses for epubs. Either way, it's annoying.

Originally Posted by embryo

But you see, this is the problem with the nickel approach.
You live with a ticking bomb.
If the reader needs a factory reset, the nickel re-index (for hours) the library.
If the reader connects to the PC, eventually the database will be corrupted and it will re-index (for hours) the library.
Your only hope is the backup of the database, something you have to do with every library update, is not the easiest thing to do, and its not an option of the nickel.
I don't want to know what will happen if a corruption occurs on a trip away from your PC.

Given that I probably do more factory resets than the average person, I have never had a factory reset triggered by database corruption after connecting a Kobo ereader to my PC, updating my library either manually or by using Calibre and safely ejecting the ereader. Installing alternate readers, start menus, screen savers, playing with patched firmware and unsafely removing the ereader have triggered issues. And yes, koreader has caused issues on a couple of occasions.

The database backup can be done automatically using Calibre with davidfor's KoboUtilities plugin -- plug your ereader in and let Calibre mount it. Has a database backup been done in the last 24 hours? No, do a backup. Easy peasy.

Personally, I tend to do the backup manually but that's a personal preference.

As for what happens when I get corruption away from home? Most database corruption I've run into has had little effect on being able to read -- more issues with covers, being able to update metadata and adding new ebooks. The one time I was away from home and ran into a severe issue, I removed the external uSD card, did a factory reset, updated firmware and re-inserted the uSD card. I then let processing the ebooks on the uSD card run overnight while I hit a nightclub with other conference attendees and had a good night's sleep. I then connected the ereader to my laptop and used KoboUtilities to update the metadata so series info was visible. And yes, when I am on a business trip, my laptop travels with me. When on a pleasure trip, I'll bring a tablet as well as my Kobo ereader with me so I do have alternatives for ereading.

Originally Posted by embryo

Maybe for you the price of the reader is "nickels and dimes" (pun intended), but to pay for a 6" reader and use a 4.5" one, is not a good deal in my book.

Hmmm... I read mostly epubs so top margin is pretty minimal and bottom margin without patching is about 1 cm. A quick measurement says 16cm diagonal corner to corner with the default bottom margin or a 6.3 inch diagonal on my Aura H2O. Even on a 6" ereader, the diagonal measurement with the default bottom margin is 14cm or 5.5 inch from a quick measurement on the wife's Aura.

Just how big a botton margin are you using to drop the diagonal to 11.43cm? A quick calculation given the Aura has a screen approximately 9cm by 13cm and using the Pythagorean theorem where one side is 9cm and the hypotenuse is 11.43cm gives me the other side as 7.01 cm so close to a 6cm bottom margin.

As for the cost comparison, with the average cost of the ebooks in my library being around $4.17Cdn over the last 5 years, the 2782 books currently in my elibrary cost ~$11,600Cdn. My Aura H2O cost $202Cdn (taxes and shipping included) so about 1.7% of the cost of my ebook collection.