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Originally Posted by martienne
Good to know. I'm not against tweaking and modding, if there are clear instructions. But I don't want to experiment or have to do complex hacks to make minor improvements.
Given this, does any other reader come to mind, that would be good for me?
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As far as modifications are concerned, you basically install a start menu to your Kobo, and set it up to boot KOReader and/or the default software, or to ask you on every boot. KOReader has automatic updates through wifi, and it's pretty seamless. It also has a huge number of settings, there are folks on the forum that use it exclusively for all their reading and library needs, and ignore Kobo's official interface. Anyway, once you learn how to handle the modifications to the official firmware, what to do and what not to, you can make sure that the start menu and KOReader stay in place even after updating the official firmware, and the whole process of keeping everything up to date after the initial setup lasts less than 5 minutes, once you know exactly what you want. Everything you need to know is written out here on the forums.
As for flicker, I know that Kobo has an adjustable limit for the full refresh, on the firmware that I use it goes up to 10 pages, and even once every chapter. That means that there will be no refresh whatsoever between the pages until a certain number of flips is reached. There are two things to worry about, however. The first is that without a full refresh every once in a while, you will lose some of the crispness of the text. Carta screens have smoothed the process a lot from what I've read, but artefacts still remain. It's not that bad if you're on a 300dpi screen, as the letters are always fairly sharp, but I believe it will be a problem on lower resolutions. On my Kobo the artefacts are very few. I really have to concentrate to see them (and I have my limit set to refresh once per 8 pages). The "artefacts" resemble books printed on bible paper - when the page on the other side of the paper leaf leaves small letter imprints on the page you're reading (it's usually called "bleed through" or "ghosting"). But honestly, I can notice it only in direct sunlight, and by looking at the blank areas of the page.
The second thing to consider is that most devices have some built-in mechanic for refreshing the screen embedded in the software that you can't alter. Certain actions will always trigger a full refresh. On the Kobo, leaving one book menu to enter another, or zooming a PDF page does this. I believe that the behaviour described is really a limitation of the current E-Ink technology and that every brand of e-reader employs some variation of hard-coded full refreshes. Personally, I would look up Onyx' new technology in more detail, as I'm a bit sceptical. I'm not bashing them, and I could be completely wrong, but it seems to me that they might have given a fancy name to the partial refresh feature that Kobo and Pocketbook already employ. A couple of videos on YouTube of Onyx devices handling PDF files seem to display exactly the kind of flicker/refresh that you see everywhere else.
Now, I believe that the InkPad 3 has the exact same screen as the Aura One, with more LEDs around for the lighting feature, so there shouldn't be any issues there. It also has more features overall - the most important being physical page turn buttons, TTS, and MicroSD card support. Setting aside things like design, Pocketbook devices generally have a more expansive software, with more apps, features, and additions, like games, available out of the box. Text reflow, for example, is also there out of the box, while on Kobo you'd have to install KOReader. I believe it also comes with Lingvo dictionary support, etc. The downside of this is that generally speaking, the official software doesn't seem to be as fast as Kobo's original firmware, but this sort of thing is extremely difficult to judge without using a device personally for an extended period of time. It would be best to look up the availability and usability of patches for the Pocketbook software on the forum, as well as some videos to get a feel for the interface.
When I was considering the purchase of an e-reader, I had to decide between the InkPad 2 and the Aura One, but the previous InkPad had the older Pearl generation screen. By this point, the Aura One has lost most of its uniqueness, and the InkPad 3 is a very good alternative. If I were you, I'd first consider the technical features and what you need based on other criteria - is waterproofing important to you, or audio-related features; how large is your library - can it fit on 8 gigs; do you mind switching between interfaces or prefer a single GUI; what are your specific local pricing and customer support like, etc. For example, if you're ordering online, you have to make sure you use a reputable seller, as many Kobo Aura One models come with poorly calibrated LEDs, resulting in an
uneven night light. It's a well-known issue that still affects people. Many also feel that a device that costs that much ought to have expandable storage, better quality control, refund/replacement policies, etc.