A counter argument for Kobo libra

[jamesbond]

A Counter criticism for the kobo libra


Ok, so I just picked up a kobo libra H2O a few days ago. I have been using e-readers since about 2007 with the sony prs-505 and I have owned many Sonys, kindles, kobos and two Nooks throughout the year so I think that makes me somewhat uniquely to be a position to give a high quality post here.


A few things out of the way first , though : I am going to be candid and upfront with everyone here. I am motivated to write this because of what I found to be a solipsistic myopic (in the abstract sense) undue focus on the lighting system of the kobo libra. However, in using the term solipsistic I must admit that I believe there is no object reality and that truth only exists in the mathematical world of ideas. So I think that allows wiggle room for me to be somewhat more caustic in my criticism without unduly offending people since my reality is not necessarily your reality.


So let us get the elephant the elephant in the room out of the way first by discussing the lighting. First of all there is the issue that no one seems to be bringing up here and that is the issue of indented screens versus flush screens. Some people have compared the kobo libra lighting system to the kindle oasis but this makes no sense because they use completely different technologies for the screen.


In favor of the indented screens like found on the Libra and Nook Glowlight 3 the text rendering is absolutely superior , in the sense that it is more crisp, to the more expensive flush screens like found on the Forma, Aura One and Oasis. I owned a kobo Aura One and Kindle Oasis 2, BTW so I am not just talking out my arse here. I also currently own a Nook glowlight 3 and Kobo Libra H20.


So, is the lighting absolutely perfect and uniform on the Kobo Libra ? Absolutely not ! Is that a big deal ?I don’t believe so. I believe the lighting system has a more natural feel to it and it emulates reading by the candlelight or lamp but in a much more superior way. For instance, if you are reading a physical book by candlelight or lamp is the lightning going to be perfectly distributed across the pages ? No !


So what is the reasoning behind the lighting issue ? The issue is twofold 1.) it is harder to get perfect lighting evenly across the technology used for indented screens and 2.) the battery and sidelip with the physical page turn buttons cast a slight shadow,


Does this shadow affect the text rendering ? Not that I have found at least not by default but kobos are so configurable that perhaps you could configure the text to extend into the shadowy region in a significant way but why would you do that ? Do you have bad eyesight (caveat I have 20/20 vision) then you should probably be looking for a reading with at least a 7.8 inch screen instead of this one.


The lighting issued bothered me for a grand total of 10 minutes, at most, before I got used to it. If I did not get used to it I would criticize myself as being unduly perfectionist in a anal rententive Obessive Compulsive Disorder way.


A few other things of note :


1.) The Kindle Oasis has inferior battery life compared to the Nook and Kobo and I believe this is due to the fact that it uses a multiple core processor for no good reason. Maybe the Forma needed a multiple core CPU because it lags but the Kobo Libra , and probably also the kobo clara HD, is the most reponsive kobo I have ever used. It used to lag behind kindle in this respect but no more. I wonder how much that has to do with software/firmware hacks/improvements vs internal improvements , however ?


2.) The Kobo now is he de facto leader for scholars , students and non-fiction readers due to a new scrubber feature etc…


The other pros and cons of Kobo vs Kindle are more well known so I will cut it short here otherwise my post will be long in an unwieldy fashion.