Choosing a 8" reader with open formats

[mouha]

Hi,

I'm just new to this forum and I've been looking to the wiki and some thread like
this thread
as it's mainly about Manga I then didn't found out any corresponding answer to my questions, here is the situation :

I don't own any ebook reader whereas I have a Galaxy note (2014) tablet which is quite nice for comics but not for daily readings.
It's been about a year that I follow the news about ebook readers and didn't got really convinced, mostly by the 6" size.
Lastly a friend of mine just bought a Kobo Glo HD and it had changed my point of view: character are very clear and nice, but I'm still wondering if for someone
who regularly read paper books it's not too small and incomfortable ? the Kobo Aura with 6.8" screen may not still be enough for me.
Therefore, it's been some time I've looked for 8" readers and found some candidates :

• Cybook Ocean: read some bad reviews, mostly the screen have been said to be shiny
• Onyx eboox i86 : pros :speed, functionalities,open formats & cons (some crashes, not available in France)
• Pocketbook inkpad : pros : interface, available , open formats cons : a bug with empty pages sometimes (more ?) . for the Bug I've been quesitoning the manufaturer that said a fix (through firmware I suppose) would be available end of September/October.

Knowing that closed formats readers like Kindle is excluded for me, did the previous assumption are true and what are your advices for a regular reader like me ?

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by mouha

Lastly a friend of mine just bought a Kobo Glo HD and it had changed my point of view: character are very clear and nice, but I'm still wondering if for someone
who regularly read paper books it's not too small and incomfortable ? the Kobo Aura with 6.8" screen may not still be enough for me.

I have a Kobo H2O, and while |I wouldn't go back to a 6", I have also handled an Inkpad and decided that's a tad too large. The 6.8" of first the Kobo HD (which I also still have) and now the H2O is the sweet spot for me, so I'd try getting to handle one of those and see how you like it.

[mouha]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

I have a Kobo H2O, and while |I wouldn't go back to a 6", I have also handled an Inkpad and decided that's a tad too large. The 6.8" of first the Kobo HD (which I also still have) and now the H2O is the sweet spot for me, so I'd try getting to handle one of those and see how you like it.

Firstly, thank you for your feedbacks.
I don't have any use of the waterproof side of the H2O (this is the only addition I've found), so I'd look more for a AURA HD for the bigger screen. May I ask you what do you mean by "too large" ? is it not because you were used to a 6" ?
I thought the inkpad weight would be more a difference between the both.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by mouha

Firstly, thank you for your feedbacks.
I don't have any use of the waterproof side of the H2O (this is the only addition I've found), so I'd look more for a AURA HD for the bigger screen. May I ask you what do you mean by "too large" ? is it not because you were used to a 6" ?
I thought the inkpad weight would be more a difference between the both.

I just found the overall size a bit too much. I wouldn't get an Aura HD nowadays; even if you have no use for the waterproofing, the H2O has a Carta screen, and the HD is Pearl. The difference is quite visible, when you have used an H2O for a while.

[mouha]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

the H2O has a Carta screen, and the HD is Pearl. The difference is quite visible, when you have used an H2O for a while.

ah ok : there is a quality difference too, indeed I've read many good feedbacks for the Carta, from the wiki there are some slight differences :

Grayscale Capability 600 ms (grayscale) 450 ms (grayscale)
Image Update Time 120 ms (1 bit) 120 ms (1 bit)
Resolution 200 ppi plus 300 ppi plus

but the more I know about ebook readers the more I think there is a subjective part in it.

I have to compare H2O with Inkpad then....

[Rizla]

There's a current thread about this in this sub-forum. In short, I would get the biggest e-reader you can with the most choice of software. The Onyx runs Android.

[mouha]

Originally Posted by Rizla

There's a current thread about this in this sub-forum. In short, I would get the biggest e-reader you can with the most choice of software. The Onyx runs Android.

You mean not the thread about reading Mangas ? if so please point me there, so I'd close this one.

Anyway, I've read that Onyx have crashes quite often.

[susan_cassidy]

I don't know why you think mobi is a closed format. It has been around longer than ePub, and many publishers use it. You can easily convert docs to mobi format yourself, using tools like Calibre, Mobipocket Creator, etc. How is that closed?

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

I don't know why you think mobi is a closed format. It has been around longer than ePub, and many publishers use it. You can easily convert docs to mobi format yourself, using tools like Calibre, Mobipocket Creator, etc. How is that closed?

The myth of the Open EPUB strikes again.
MOBI/AZW3 has been reverse-engineered for a long, long time, cf. calibre and KindleUnpack.
Even without that, the tools for creating MOBI/AZW3 have been around and freely available for even longer.


Do note that MP3, DOC, DOCX, XLS, PPT are all proprietary formats. PDF was and still is in some ways, although the specification has pretty much always been available free of charge.


If it is the technical definition of proprietary vs. open formats that bothers you, then you are already doomed elsewhere.
If it is the practical definition of proprietary vs. open formats that bothers you, then MOBI/AZW3 is fully open, because it has long been 100% reverse-engineered.


If anything, EPUB isn't open for the simple reason that no 2 vendors implement EPUB the same way. Maybe EPUB is just a starting schema.
And iBooks and Kobo KEPUB mutate it in scary derivative closed ways.

Originally Posted by mouha

Lastly a friend of mine just bought a Kobo Glo HD and it had changed my point of view: character are very clear and nice, but I'm still wondering if for someone
who regularly read paper books it's not too small and incomfortable ? the Kobo Aura with 6.8" screen may not still be enough for me.

Most people who buy 6" ereaders regularly read paper books. My Kindle has always served perfectly for me in that regard.
I think you will find the Kobo Aura is more than big enough too.

Some people complain that 6" is too big, they want the Kobo Mini to return.


Why don't you ask your friend if you can borrow his Kobo Glo HD for a day or two, and try reading on it to see if you are comfortable reading on something that size?

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

I don't know why you think mobi is a closed format. It has been around longer than ePub, and many publishers use it. You can easily convert docs to mobi format yourself, using tools like Calibre, Mobipocket Creator, etc. How is that closed?

It is closed because it is undocumented and the format is not released. It has been reverse engineered but Amazon (nor mobipocket) has ever published the format.

Dale

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

It is closed because it is undocumented and the format is not released. It has been reverse engineered but Amazon (nor mobipocket) has ever published the format.

Dale

Like I said, it is an ideological split.

And one that rightfully disqualifies most industry standards from use.

[johnnyb]

Just a word: whatever you try, do not go for the Pocketbook! People on German boards constantly complain about the flawed firmware and a Pocketbook rep has openly stated that since the Inkpad is one of their niche products, they are not intent on pouring too much energy into fixing it (but they still promise an update eventually). And since they just lost their partnership deal with too larger German book retailers (who switched to a different platform that is huge in Germany, tolino, for quality reasons), it Is possible that Pocketbook will at some point leave the e-reading space (they already invested in a pet training tool, partnership announced at IFA).

[mouha]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

I don't know why you think mobi is a closed format. It has been around longer than ePub, and many publishers use it. You can easily convert docs to mobi format yourself, using tools like Calibre, Mobipocket Creator, etc. How is that closed?

Susan,

I'm lost : I don't understand when I've been talking about the mobi format, what do you mean please ?

[shalym]

Originally Posted by mouha

Susan,

I'm lost : I don't understand when I've been talking about the mobi format, what do you mean please ?

I think Susan is referring to your categorizing the Kindle as a "closed format reader" in your first post. What was the closed format you were referring to, if not mobi?

Shari

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by mouha

You mean not the thread about reading Mangas ? if so please point me there, so I'd close this one.

Anyway, I've read that Onyx have crashes quite often.

Sorry, I thought you were talking about manga.

What exactly do you plan to read on the device? If you just want to read normal books (not pdf), I think a normal 6" would be okay. I felt this way but I got used to a 6". The Kobo 6.8" H2O would give you a bit more space. It needs some configuring but it's not a huge deal. I had the smaller model, the Glo HD I think it's called, but I found it slow. I think you'd be fine with the H2O once you configured it okay. I don't think you really need an 8", but that's your privilege of course

The Kobo does need some messing about, but it is a very open device that will read any format.

Re: the Kindle, you are quite correct that it is the most closed device. You can convert epubs and other formats to .mobi using Calibre and load them onto the device. The Kindle is fast and works simply, but it is very limited. You cannot use custom fonts and the other options like the margins are very limited.
Another point is that Amazon has brought in a new format called kfx that remains impossible to convert to other formats.

re: the larger devices, I suggest you check the reviews on the digital reader and on Amazon.com. I believe the digital reader liked the pocketbook more than the Onyx. As far as I know, the Onyx is rather old. The Cybook seems unpopular.

The main reason people buy bigger e-readers is to read pdf and for other non-reading functions. For that, the Onyx is better because it runs Android, which allows much more software, and so more functionality. So maybe the Pocketbook is best for you. But based on my own experience I think you'd probably find a 6.8" reader adequate.