MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Glo Need a Kobo to read my own PDF files.

davidfor · 04-26-2016, 01:49 AM

Sorry, but Kobo devices are not a good choice if you are only reading PDF files. I don't think you will find anyone here that will be using one only for PDF files. Or even largely for PDF files.

The firmware displays the files well, but the problem is size. As a rule, PDF files are formatted for larger screens/page sizes. Fitting these on a 6" screen doesn't work well. You need to zoom in on the page and that is where the Kobo devices fail. The zooming is OK, but once zoomed, the navigation is clumsy. And that makes it impractical for anything except the occasional use.

Performance is also a problem. The CPU is slow and the RAM is relatively small. There is no problem with smaller or simple books. But, anything complex tends to be to slow.

The recommendation to get a tablet for PDF is a serious one. I don't think that any of the current e-ink dedicated ereaders will give a satisfactory reading experience. The 8" or larger Android based e-ink devices might be OK, but I have never had a chance to try one. These are the Onyx devices that eschwartz suggests.

Note: Someone will come along and say to try Koreader on the Kobo devices. Reports are that it is better for PDF than the Kobo application. I don't know as I don't use it. I expect the improvements are in navigation, but it still suffers from the underlying issues of CPU and screen size.

04-26-2016, 01:49 AM	#5
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	Sorry, but Kobo devices are not a good choice if you are only reading PDF files. I don't think you will find anyone here that will be using one only for PDF files. Or even largely for PDF files. The firmware displays the files well, but the problem is size. As a rule, PDF files are formatted for larger screens/page sizes. Fitting these on a 6" screen doesn't work well. You need to zoom in on the page and that is where the Kobo devices fail. The zooming is OK, but once zoomed, the navigation is clumsy. And that makes it impractical for anything except the occasional use. Performance is also a problem. The CPU is slow and the RAM is relatively small. There is no problem with smaller or simple books. But, anything complex tends to be to slow. The recommendation to get a tablet for PDF is a serious one. I don't think that any of the current e-ink dedicated ereaders will give a satisfactory reading experience. The 8" or larger Android based e-ink devices might be OK, but I have never had a chance to try one. These are the Onyx devices that eschwartz suggests. Note: Someone will come along and say to try Koreader on the Kobo devices. Reports are that it is better for PDF than the Kobo application. I don't know as I don't use it. I expect the improvements are in navigation, but it still suffers from the underlying issues of CPU and screen size.