[davidfor]

Originally Posted by pricciar

I tend to keep Airplane mode on at all times, and sideload books using Calibre. I have books that I have gotten from places like Tor (the sf publisher) that are in Epub format, or even when I get a book from the library (these are usually in mobi, or azw format), I download them to my computer, and copy it to the device.

Does the H2O work as well with Calibre as the Kindle does? Is it reasonable to expect to be able to maintain my library as I have been doing it?

It's probably a bit immodest of me to say it, but, calibre works better with Kobo devices than any other. The absolute basics are the same (send books, convert as necessary). But, it can also maintain collections and update metadata without updating the book. That includes series info. Then there are ways to get the reading status from the books on the device. Plus lots of other tricks.

When I read I often use the touch screen to select text for 3 major reasons. 1) To make note of interesting quotes. 2) To check the dictionary to see the meaning of a word. 3) To search the rest of the book for a character name, to remind myself if I missed who a character was halfway through the book.)

I've never been particularly happy with highlighting text to make note of it on the Kindle. It always takes me a few tries to get the exact words I want. Sometimes it is so frustrating I just forget the whole thing.

Does this work any better on the H2O? I realize that touch screens with e-ink can't be expected to be as good as on a tablet, but I was hoping for perhaps an easier to use interface. Or, maybe I just need to lose weight in my finger tips.

The annotation system is basically the same. In the past, I think people said selecting text on Kindles was better than on a Kobo. This has improved in recent firmware.

On the other hand, the dictionary and search features work flawlessly on the Kindle. I click on the word, and it's dead simple to get either a definition,

This is the same. But, the dictionaries supplied by Kobo are not as extensive as those on the Kindle.

or click on the magnifying glass to search the book. Sometimes, when I add a new book and try a search I have to wait a while, because it hasn't been indexed, yet. But, I've never come across an unsearchable text.

How does this activity compare on the Kobo Libra H2O? Does searching/spell checking work in all formatted books, or only books that were specially formatted for the Kobo?

Kobo doesn't have a way to search for text across books. I think that is what you are asking. Within an open book, it works well.

3) I've heard the lighting sometimes doesn't work quite right.

The only "doesn't work quite right" that I can think of for the light in the Libra H2O, is that some people say it is uneven. I agree it isn't perfectly even across the full screen, but, I don't see it as an issue. I tend to see the shadows on the screen external sources causing more problems than the light. But, this is personal thing.