Joined to decide on new ereader

[Tenchy]

Hi all.
I've been using a Sony PRS-505 ereader for some time and mostly happy with it.
It has apparently died now, last use I had corruption on the screen and battery no longer seems to keep any charge.

I'm after a replacement.

I like a decent sized screen like the Sony had. I do most of my reading on the beach so resistance to sand ingress was key. So I always had it in a ziploc bag.
All current options seem to be touch screen and someone with a kindle paperwhite said trying it in a bag sent it haywire as it detected the bag as touches.

I have been looking at the Kobo waterproof ones. The aura sounds good but I think I gleaned it has no cover on the USB port, is that so? Seems mad as sand will love that.

Also in my research detected that the Kindle platform is a "closed shop" like Apple. This is not endearing to me.
I also like to put technical documents that will never be in Amazon's library onto my ereader. The Sony would accept pretty much anything.

So Kobo seem to fit me better. Any advice?
I'm UK based.

[Cinisajoy]

Yes, ask in the What should I buy forum.
This is the introduction forum.
Welcome to Mobileread.

[Pajamaman]

Kobo sounds right for you. The H2O probably as it's water-proof. The Kobo's need a bit of pactching to display epubs right but once its done it's okay. Fonts are very good on it. Dictionary is apparently not as good as a Kindle (or a Sony).

You could probably also get a new T2 or T3 on ebay. I wouldn't bother with a T1 unless it's dirt cheap. IMO the sonys are better than the Kobos, though they have no front-light.

[MickeyC]

Hi Tenchy and welcome to MobileRead.

[Dr. Drib]

Welcome to Mobileread.

Your thread has been moved OUT of the Introduce Yourself Forum, where members introduce themselves and moved to this forum, since you are asking a question about calibre.

Why not go back to the Introduce Yourself Forum and properly introduce yourself? Tell us a bit about yourself.


Don
(Moderator)

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Tenchy

I like a decent sized screen like the Sony had. I do most of my reading on the beach so resistance to sand ingress was key...

I have been looking at the Kobo waterproof ones. The aura sounds good but I think I gleaned it has no cover on the USB port, is that so? Seems mad as sand will love that...

I also like to put technical documents that will never be in Amazon's library onto my ereader. The Sony would accept pretty much anything.

So Kobo seem to fit me better. Any advice?

Sounds like you should look at the Kobo Aura H20. It has a slightly larger than average screen at 6.8". It has a flap that covers the ports to keep out water and dust. It has an SD card slot in case those technical documents are particularly large.

I'm not sure how well Kobo handles PDFs. I don't really know that any e-ink device is especially good with PDFs though.

[church mouse]

The H2O pretty much fills the bill but Kobos are poor handling pdfs.

[Hemmi]

I had a Kobo Touch for a while. It could not handle PDFs.

I would seriously look on Ebay for Sony T2 or T3. Both are excellent.

[Tenchy]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Yes, ask in the What should I buy forum.
This is the introduction forum.
Welcome to Mobileread.

Thanks

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Kobo sounds right for you. The H2O probably as it's water-proof. The Kobo's need a bit of pactching to display epubs right but once its done it's okay. Fonts are very good on it. Dictionary is apparently not as good as a Kindle (or a Sony).

You could probably also get a new T2 or T3 on ebay. I wouldn't bother with a T1 unless it's dirt cheap. IMO the sonys are better than the Kobos, though they have no front-light.

Thanks for the reply. I couldn't find a t2 or t3 with a brief look but I saw they are touch screen. If they are not sealed from water and sand I need to put the reader in a ziplock bag. Somebody tried it for me on a kindle paperwhite and she said it went haywire detecting many touches from the bag.

What is the H2O like to use in terms of user experience?
I will use calibre to put the books on. Don't need wifi etc.
I do want it to remember what page I was on if I power it down, so I can pick up where I was before.
I would like to be able to turn off any light if not required as most of the time it will be used in bright sunlight.

Originally Posted by MickeyC

Hi Tenchy and welcome to MobileRead.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Welcome to Mobileread.

Your thread has been moved OUT of the Introduce Yourself Forum, where members introduce themselves and moved to this forum, since you are asking a question about calibre.

Why not go back to the Introduce Yourself Forum and properly introduce yourself? Tell us a bit about yourself.


Don
(Moderator)

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=281830

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Sounds like you should look at the Kobo Aura H20. It has a slightly larger than average screen at 6.8". It has a flap that covers the ports to keep out water and dust. It has an SD card slot in case those technical documents are particularly large.

I'm not sure how well Kobo handles PDFs. I don't really know that any e-ink device is especially good with PDFs though.

Originally Posted by church mouse

The H2O pretty much fills the bill but Kobos are poor handling pdfs.

Thanks for the replies both. The other file format handling is secondary requirement really, be good to have the option at least.
The H20 does seem the best fit. Do you know if it covers my couple of points above? The sales pages never tell you what it's like to actually use.

Originally Posted by Hemmi

I had a Kobo Touch for a while. It could not handle PDFs.

I would seriously look on Ebay for Sony T2 or T3. Both are excellent.

How do you mean with the pdfs? Couldn't show them properly or just didn't work at all?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hemmi

I had a Kobo Touch for a while. It could not handle PDFs.

I would seriously look on Ebay for Sony T2 or T3. Both are excellent.

Not any more. The T series is far from excellent. The H2O is excellent. I own a T1 & H2O.

[Hemmi]

The Kobo Touch just did not display a PDF in a readable format at all. Tiny print that was unreadable and enlarging just made it more unreadable.

I can read PDFs on my Sonys. It's not very pretty but definitely readable.

[church mouse]

"I will use calibre to put the books on. Don't need wifi etc." - The H2O works really well with Calibre - including management of collections with the extended Kobo driver plug-ins within Calibre. You can also, if you wish, have the driver convert your epubs to kepubs as you transfer them, if you want some of the "added" features which come with kepubs.

It comes with wifi, but you can set this to be switched off.

"I do want it to remember what page I was on if I power it down, so I can pick up where I was before." - No problem with the Kobo (or any modern ereader)

"I would like to be able to turn off any light if not required as most of the time it will be used in bright sunlight." - No problem with the H2O.

The H2O does have a cover over the USB port.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Tenchy

Thanks for the replies both. The other file format handling is secondary requirement really, be good to have the option at least.
The H20 does seem the best fit. Do you know if it covers my couple of points above? The sales pages never tell you what it's like to actually use.

I think most of your technical points have been answered. As to what it's like to actually use, I like the Kobo firmware a lot. I like the tiles on the home screen, as you can dismiss anything you don't care about. It shows tiles for functions you actually use, so the information there remains relevant to you.

I like the control over fonts and the easy ability to sideload my own.

And you can endlessly tinker with the software through Calibre drivers and unofficial patches to change most anything about the reading experience you don't like out of the box.

Try going to YouTube and watching a few Kobo reviews. The model doesn't matter as the software is about the same on all of them.

Originally Posted by Tenchy

How do you mean with the pdfs? Couldn't show them properly or just didn't work at all?

I've never read a PDF on an e-ink device, but from the reviews I've watched, PDFs are just slow.

Though I wouldn't normally recommend them, on YouTube watch any of the GoodEreader Kobo vs. Kindle videos. They invariably compare the PDF experience. (Their reviews tend to be sloppy/inaccurate. But at least you can see PDFs in action on these videos.)