Kinde Voyage vs Kobo Glo HD

[Mike the best]

I'm thinking of buying a new E-Reader and I believe Kindle Voyage and Kobo Glo HD are the beast choices so far. So, I'd love to buy the Kindle, but its price and the ads make skeptical. The Kobo is almost as good as Kindle, but it lacks some really useful features, such as automatic Light brightness, and generally the conveniency of Amazon. Which one should I buy?

[HarryT]

They're both good readers, and I'm sure you'd be pleased with either. I'm extremely happy with my Voyage; others are equally happy with the H2O. It basically comes down to which "Ecosystem" you prefer. Amazon have by far the better bookstore and customer service; Kobo offer a wider range of options for changing the appearance of the book in terms of adjusting fonts, margins, etc. Amazon have better dictionaries.

Neither device is clearly "better" than the other; each has its individual strengths.

[booklover6]

I don't find the automatic brightness feature very useful. If you are concerned about price, get the Paperwhite 3 and get it without ads, or buyout of the ads at any time. I like the Kobo device better, but I side load everything. If you like to get things straight from the store, go with Amazon.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by booklover6

I don't find the automatic brightness feature very useful. If you are concerned about price, get the Paperwhite 3 and get it without ads, or buyout of the ads at any time. I like the Kobo device better, but I side load everything. If you like to get things straight from the store, go with Amazon.

I sideload everything on my Voyage, too. That is an area where I think the Voyage has the advantage in that, if you load a lot of books onto the Kobo, you get the "Processing Books" screen that can take literally hours to churn its way through the new content you've added. I prefer the background indexing of the Kindle, in that it doesn't prevent you from using the device while it's happening. No big deal either way, though.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I sideload everything on my Voyage, too. That is an area where I think the Voyage has the advantage in that, if you load a lot of books onto the Kobo, you get the "Processing Books" screen that can take literally hours to churn its way through the new content you've added. I prefer the background indexing of the Kindle, in that it doesn't prevent you from using the device while it's happening. No big deal either way, though.

I also side load everything on my Voyage, but of course, the average consumer doesn't, so a Kindle may be easier.

Recent firmware upgrades on the Kobo have considerably speeded up the "processing books" screen.

[issybird]

If you're indifferent between the Voyage and the Glo HD, then the Glo HD, which is $70 cheaper (from the US; similar savings elsewhere), is clearly the better choice, IMO. If you're ordering from Kobo, don't forget to use the code PERKOPOLIS, which will get you 10% off, more than offsetting shipping charges.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Recent firmware upgrades on the Kobo have considerably speeded up the "processing books" screen.

That's good to hear. When I sideloaded about 700 books onto my H2O from Calibre when I first got it, it took something like 5 hours to process them. As you say, though, that's probably something that the average user wouldn't do!

[meeera]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I sideload everything on my Voyage, too. That is an area where I think the Voyage has the advantage in that, if you load a lot of books onto the Kobo, you get the "Processing Books" screen that can take literally hours to churn its way through the new content you've added.

To be fair, this only happens if you put on thousands of books. A typical user in everyday use is unlikely to put more than a dozen or so on at a time.