Post November 1st Purchase Date Aura Impressions

[Nanopr]

For those of us considering the purchase of a 6" Aura... It would be helpful to hear from people who have purchased and received an Aura recently (thus the 11/1 date I suggest). This in order to assess if initial quality issues have been addressed or if the product is still unstable. Thanks in advance

[Canuck_in_Japan]

I'll be getting one when the come out in early December so I'll report back then.

[harristoyles]

Got my Aura a week ago and its my first e-reader. So far I've enjoyed it- The quality feels pretty good, its comfy to hold and very responsive. I've encountered a few issues though- the first of these being that the glowlight flickers slightly when turned down at its lowest setting (1%) so I have to turn it up a few notches to get it to stabilize. Another is a firmware bug that keeps showing up- sometimes half the text at the bottom of the screen will dissappear after opening and closing the menu- you just have to close and reopen the book to get it to fix itself. Other than these two things everything seems to be in order, no dead pixels or anything. There is more glowlight bleed than I was expecting though, its definitely not as even as shown in pictures. Nevertheless- I'm happy with the purchase. Hope that helps!

[samhy]

Originally Posted by harristoyles

There is more glowlight bleed than I was expecting though, its definitely not as even as shown in pictures.

Do you mean from the sides? All of them?
Thanks for your feedback

[Nightyume]

Originally Posted by Nanopr

For those of us considering the purchase of a 6" Aura... It would be helpful to hear from people who have purchased and received an Aura recently (thus the 11/1 date I suggest). This in order to assess if initial quality issues have been addressed or if the product is still unstable. Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by harristoyles

Got my Aura a week ago and its my first e-reader. So far I've enjoyed it- The quality feels pretty good, its comfy to hold and very responsive. I've encountered a few issues though- the first of these being that the glowlight flickers slightly when turned down at its lowest setting (1%) so I have to turn it up a few notches to get it to stabilize. Another is a firmware bug that keeps showing up- sometimes half the text at the bottom of the screen will dissappear after opening and closing the menu- you just have to close and reopen the book to get it to fix itself. Other than these two things everything seems to be in order, no dead pixels or anything. There is more glowlight bleed than I was expecting though, its definitely not as even as shown in pictures. Nevertheless- I'm happy with the purchase. Hope that helps!

Remember that just because it was bought post november first there is still the possibility that they are first/early batch models, especially if they are bought in-store. Where did you buy yours harristoyles?

[Lennier]

Had my third Kobo Aura yesterday from WHSmiths. Same issues (scratches on screen, pin prick of light) as October purchases. I'm assuming it was from the same stock as the ones I had in October.

[mr_nihilism]

By the time there is certainty that the QC issues are ironed out, the next and best shiny and new Kobo something-or-other will be ready for retail.

[harristoyles]

Originally Posted by samhy

Do you mean from the sides? All of them?
Thanks for your feedback

Yeah from the sides- top and bottom are the main offenders, though I think I can see some on the other sides as well.

Originally Posted by Nightyume

Remember that just because it was bought post november first there is still the possibility that they are first/early batch models, especially if they are bought in-store. Where did you buy yours harristoyles?

I bought mine online directly from Kobo (I'm Australian and they aren't in stores yet) so I'm pretty sure that it would have been the latest batch. And I've had no issues like Lennier mentioned (scratches, pin pricks etc)

[thymaster]

I don't think a new batch is on it's way soon. If the current new batches aren't moving because of the quality control complaints, then people are either holding off or gave up and went with the Aura HD.

Last I checked at a Chapters store, the manager says they still continue to have high returns and she encourage the staff to push the HD or Glo sales to avoid customer complaints.

[gryphonreader]

Picked up my Aura on Nov 8th from Staples (Canada) So far so good. There are a couple of things that I've noticed and am still ambiguous about.

Screen is no where near as "white" as my Old Sony PRS1 and consequently seems to be lacking contrast and so far the only "contrast" seems to be with the light on.

At times the font (most notable Kobo Nickel) seems to change, becoming thicker or thinner. At the top of the page Kobo Nickel is sharp and crisp but then about half way down it seems to "thicken and get much less crisp. Most of the fonts seem thick in comparison to my Sony PRS1 - and I am comparing the default font on both readers side by side on the same page of the same book.

The back light is quite nice and the feature that I purchased the Aura for. I have it turned down to about 60%. 100% was way too bright and harsh to read on and lit up the bedroom. I haven't read enough with it to notice the bleed that others have mentioned. I really do like the fact it has an on/ off switch though.

I haven't been able to find any documentation or figure out if you can send ebooks across wifi from computer to Aura. Finally just used the usb this morning. I was really hoping that would be a viable feature for ebook transfer. Tried it from Calibre with Connect Share - Content server and wireless device server but neither seem to work SO if anyone out there knows if/ how to do that I would be delighted to hear about it.

As for a screen protector - that I will be ordering just as soon as I can find one. I don't have one on my Sony but the recessed screen does protect it from a lot of abuse. I really like the full flat screen on the Aura but I think it will take a lot more abuse because of it. I haven't even taken the protector it shipped with off yet.

I have to say I don't find the page turns noticeably faster than my Sony, but the Aura does have reduced "flash" between page turns.

Also, though I don't seem to be able to transfer Mobi format via Calibre to the Aura - a straight across transfer from my computer to my Aura does work AND the Aura reads MOBI format!!

So far my first impression of the Aura is pretty simple - Its a nice enough gadget and the backlight and reading both epub and mobi formats are the main reason I purchased it but it is very pricey and I'm still debating whether it was worth it or not. At $149 I think it's still $20 - $30 overpriced. It is a nice reader and I hadn't watched to see if Kobo put their ebook readers on sale for Xmas but I will be watching this year just for curiosities sake. So for anyone considering it, I would suggest waiting to see if it goes on sale during the Black friday /Xmas sales if you don't absolutely need it right now. I'm travelling soon and wanted to be able to take mine with me soooo..... it probably means I will be keeping it.

I'll add some more after I've played with a bit and read through some of the other forums for tips on using my Aura.

Cheers,
gryphonreader

[Nightyume]

Originally Posted by gryphonreader

Picked up my Aura on Nov 8th from Staples (Canada) So far so good. There are a couple of things that I've noticed and am still ambiguous about.

Screen is no where near as "white" as my Old Sony PRS1 and consequently seems to be lacking contrast and so far the only "contrast" seems to be with the light on.

At times the font (most notable Kobo Nickel) seems to change, becoming thicker or thinner. At the top of the page Kobo Nickel is sharp and crisp but then about half way down it seems to "thicken and get much less crisp. Most of the fonts seem thick in comparison to my Sony PRS1 - and I am comparing the default font on both readers side by side on the same page of the same book.

The back light is quite nice and the feature that I purchased the Aura for. I have it turned down to about 60%. 100% was way too bright and harsh to read on and lit up the bedroom. I haven't read enough with it to notice the bleed that others have mentioned. I really do like the fact it has an on/ off switch though.

I haven't been able to find any documentation or figure out if you can send ebooks across wifi from computer to Aura. Finally just used the usb this morning. I was really hoping that would be a viable feature for ebook transfer. Tried it from Calibre with Connect Share - Content server and wireless device server but neither seem to work SO if anyone out there knows if/ how to do that I would be delighted to hear about it.

As for a screen protector - that I will be ordering just as soon as I can find one. I don't have one on my Sony but the recessed screen does protect it from a lot of abuse. I really like the full flat screen on the Aura but I think it will take a lot more abuse because of it. I haven't even taken the protector it shipped with off yet.

I have to say I don't find the page turns noticeably faster than my Sony, but the Aura does have reduced "flash" between page turns.

Also, though I don't seem to be able to transfer Mobi format via Calibre to the Aura - a straight across transfer from my computer to my Aura does work AND the Aura reads MOBI format!!

So far my first impression of the Aura is pretty simple - Its a nice enough gadget and the backlight and reading both epub and mobi formats are the main reason I purchased it but it is very pricey and I'm still debating whether it was worth it or not. At $149 I think it's still $20 - $30 overpriced. It is a nice reader and I hadn't watched to see if Kobo put their ebook readers on sale for Xmas but I will be watching this year just for curiosities sake. So for anyone considering it, I would suggest waiting to see if it goes on sale during the Black friday /Xmas sales if you don't absolutely need it right now. I'm travelling soon and wanted to be able to take mine with me soooo..... it probably means I will be keeping it.

I'll add some more after I've played with a bit and read through some of the other forums for tips on using my Aura.

Cheers,
gryphonreader

The mobi issue can be fixed through settings on calibre. When you connect your Kobo to the computer, in calibre the device icon will appear. Click the arrow on the right side of the icon and choose "configure" device. Among other things a list of all the formats will appear and you can tick which ones are "authorized" for the device. Click on mobi and voila, you can send mobi to your Kobo from calibre.

[Dark Raven]

Upgraded to an Aura from my old (but still working) prs-300 and honestly I'm loving it.
Of course, upgrading from such an old device it would probably feel great any device, but I can't issue a single complaint so far: light is good and even, touch screen responsive (I'd say more than my father's Glo).

I've uploaded around 200 books in the main memory via Calibre and after having read a couple of books I haven't found any bugs either

[gryphonreader]

Thanks Nightyume

I will do that right away. Calibre is such an awesome app and I'm always learning new stuff it will do!! I don't suppose you know of anyway that I can transfer ebooks via wifi to the Aura??

Cheers,
gryphonreader

[PeterT]

Calibre content server and the Kobo web browser...

[gryphonreader]

That is very cool! Thanks. I've used that method with Marvin on my Ipad but never even thought about using the browser on the ereader. Thanks again PeterT

Cheers,
gryphonreader