Quote:
Originally Posted by Poppaea
How do you like it so far? Is the cover staying shut in your bag? And do you love your ONE now or not? I am dying to know, me being nosy and all, ya know  |
Well, it's serviceable.
Good points:
- The cover works 100% of the time, up until now.
- It stays shut as far as I've been able to see.
Bad points:
- On the lower edge, the cover just grabs the corners. It should have been full length, except for a small cut-out for the USB-port. Because the cover has a soft back, it's very easy to just pull it back, and the cover comes off the reader.
- The cover is not 100% straight. When shut, the lower right corner sticks out half a millimeter or so while the upper right one doesn't. (The KPW1 often sits askew in its cover as well, despite the retaining flap, so I concede this point.)
Taste-dependent points:
- It could have been thicker. A lot thicker as far as I'm concerned. I'm used to my KPW1 reader+cover, and that combination is twice as thick as the KA1+cover. (Also, the KPW1 cover has two magnets: one at each corner, while the KA1 cover has only one, slightly below the middle.) I feel as if I can literally throw the KPW1 across the street without damaging the reader, when in its cover. I don't think I can do this with the KA1 in the official cover. It does work to keep the reader from getting damaged when it's in a bag, though.
The one point I don't like is that the cover can be removed so easily.
I could still return it, but then I'd have to go and play the third party cover lottery again, trying to get a cover with a stable sleep function, and one that doesn't shut the reader off when folded back.
I think I'm going to 'fix' the official cover by putting some strips of double-sided tape on the top and bottom. I have some stuff that's quite strong, but still removable.
So, is this cover worth the €50? No, IMHO it's not. It shouldn't have cost more than €20 at the most. If you have a working China-cover you like, stick with it.
With regard to the KA1, I hate the fact that I have to set it up over Wifi or Kobo Desktop. I don't want to do it over wifi because my Kobo account password is an abomination (it looks a bit like "kdo@#$1445FI&*&*924"), and Kobo Desktop is unstable, and doesn't respect high-dpi settings in Windows; so the buttons and text are tiny.
MS fixed / did something with regard to USB in Windows 10 version 1607 (anniversary update), and the KA1 using its default firmware has great problems connecting through USB. It connects once. Kindly use the opportunity to upgrade it, or it won't connect ever again, without resorting to third party utilities (Nirsoft USBDeview, to be precise, to remove and reset the USB connection.) None of other devices has a problem with the changes MS made, so Kobo was doing something with regard to USB it shouldn't have been doing all along.
I also don't like the fact that after years and years, the full screen option is still not official, and when you use it, you need CSS-fixes that can (fortunately) be injected into the books by Calibre and the Extended driver.
Let's just say that there are a few redeeming points which make me use the KA1 instead of the KPW1:
- 7.8 inch screen instead of 6.0 inch
- More font size options (Kindle is often too small at 4, too big at 5, and unusable at 6).
- I can now actually put a selection of books onto the reader, so I can choose what to read when finishing a book, because Calibre can manage collections.
- The KA1 reading/progress stats are more extensive and more accurate than the KPW1's. The KPW1 often sometimes cuts Time To Read into half, for no apparent reason.
So, with regard to reliability and cover selection, the Kindle is superior.
With regard to actual reading, the Kobo is better.
I like the reader as it is working now, so I think I'm going to archive firmware version 4.2.8110 and keep it at hand if there are upgrades. If I don't like something (for example, full screen mode breaks even with the CSS fixes), I can return to it.
So yes, after I smack some double-sided table between the reader and that horrendously overpriced, but working cover, I think I'm going to switch to the KA1 permanently; running firmware 4.2.8110 forever, if necessary. The KPW1 will become a backup reader.