What next after a Kobo Aura One.

[Hydronaut]

Just curious what anybody who had an aura one upgraded to and what their experience was like. My aura one has some teeth marks (16 year old Dachshund who can barely see) probably thought it was food and my daughter probably had something to do with it. My fault since I had it laying around without a case and it already was showing it’s age.

I do miss physical buttons and am thinking going that route next.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Hydronaut

My aura one has some teeth marks (16 year old Dachshund who can barely see) probably thought it was food and my daughter probably had something to do with it.

I'm picturing the Dachshund and your daughter with the opposite corners in their mouths having a tug-of-war over it.


From the Aura ONE, especially as you miss buttons, the obvious upgrade is to either the Forma or Sage. They are both 8" devices with buttons for turning the page. The Forma was the replacement for Aura ONE, and the Sage the replacement for the Forma, but the Forma is still available. Both are excellent devices with different advantages (Forma is lightweight, plastic screen substrate. Sage supports Audiobooks and stylus highlighting and has the latest screen). Both use the same software that you are used to, so they take little to get used to.

Alternatively, you can go down to the 7" Libra 2 (which replaced the Libra H2O which is still available). Basically the same as the above devices in a smaller size. It supports Audiobooks (but not the stylus) and seems to have the best screen around at the moment.

For other manufacturers, I can't help. I do not pay much attention to them and have no experience with them to be able to make suggestions.

[Hydronaut]

Originally Posted by Hydronaut

Just curious what anybody who had an aura one upgraded to and what their experience was like. My aura one has some teeth marks (16 year old Dachshund who can barely see) probably thought it was food and my daughter probably had something to do with it. My fault since I had it laying around without a case and it already was showing it’s age.

I do miss physical buttons and am thinking going that route next.

Originally Posted by davidfor

I'm picturing the Dachshund and your daughter with the opposite corners in their mouths having a tug-of-war over it.


From the Aura ONE, especially as you miss buttons, the obvious upgrade is to either the Forma or Sage. They are both 8" devices with buttons for turning the page. The Forma was the replacement for Aura ONE, and the Sage the replacement for the Forma, but the Forma is still available. Both are excellent devices with different advantages (Forma is lightweight, plastic screen substrate. Sage supports Audiobooks and stylus highlighting and has the latest screen). Both use the same software that you are used to, so they take little to get used to.

Alternatively, you can go down to the 7" Libra 2 (which replaced the Libra H2O which is still available). Basically the same as the above devices in a smaller size. It supports Audiobooks (but not the stylus) and seems to have the best screen around at the moment.

For other manufacturers, I can't help. I do not pay much attention to them and have no experience with them to be able to make suggestions.

Thanks, not sure what transpired but they are clearly teeth marks that closely match whatever teeth she has left. She thinks everything is food at this point in her life. Gotta love old dogs.

I am seriously considering the the Libra 2 as the price is right. Just not sure how I will like the smaller screen. Would like to hear some people's experience with that aspect.


The Forma and Sage just seem huge with the buttons. I will go see them in person but even the Libra 2 seems to quite an upgrade from the Aura One. Nothing in the Kindle line really interests me or need for a stylus as I would just use IPad and pencil at that point.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Hydronaut

The Forma and Sage just seem huge with the buttons. I will go see them in person but even the Libra 2 seems to quite an upgrade from the Aura One. Nothing in the Kindle line really interests me or need for a stylus as I would just use IPad and pencil at that point.

Depending on how important buttons are to you, you might be interested in the PocketBook InkPad 3. It's got a 7.8" screen in the "traditional" format, plus the buttons. Priced at about the price of the Forma ($240) and currently available on Amazon (if you live in the U.S. at any rate).

https://www.amazon.com/Pocketbook-PB...s%2C281&sr=8-5

[mezzanine]

Originally Posted by Hydronaut

Thanks, not sure what transpired but they are clearly teeth marks that closely match whatever teeth she has left. She thinks everything is food at this point in her life. Gotta love old dogs.

I am seriously considering the the Libra 2 as the price is right. Just not sure how I will like the smaller screen. Would like to hear some people's experience with that aspect.


The Forma and Sage just seem huge with the buttons. I will go see them in person but even the Libra 2 seems to quite an upgrade from the Aura One. Nothing in the Kindle line really interests me or need for a stylus as I would just use IPad and pencil at that point.

In terms of value, the new Paperwhite is in a class by itself. I will only use 8 inch devices, otherwise I'd have one already.

I'm Canadian and there is a big market of used Kobo ereaders. I picked up a couple of used Aura Ones a couple months back for $60 each. A new Sage after taxes here is $340. It sounds as though I'm getting better battery life on my used KA1s than Sage users are seeing.

[Hydronaut]

Originally Posted by mezzanine

In terms of value, the new Paperwhite is in a class by itself. I will only use 8 inch devices, otherwise I'd have one already.

I'm Canadian and there is a big market of used Kobo ereaders. I picked up a couple of used Aura Ones a couple months back for $60 each. A new Sage after taxes here is $340. It sounds as though I'm getting better battery life on my used KA1s than Sage users are seeing.

I am in Canada too. Where on earth did you pick up th Aura One's for $60 each. I would grab one to replace this one in a second for that price.

Want to stick with something I can easily sidload too. The Kindle's seem to restrictive for my liking.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Hydronaut

I am in Canada too. Where on earth did you pick up th Aura One's for $60 each. I would grab one to replace this one in a second for that price.

Want to stick with something I can easily sidload too. The Kindle's seem to restrictive for my liking.

You can sideload to Kindles as easily as to Kobos. But the PW is even smaller than the Libra and has no buttons.

[Hydronaut]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

You can sideload to Kindles as easily as to Kobos. But the PW is even smaller than the Libra and has no buttons.

Doesn’t look to be too much smaller. I do have some Amazon gift cards and they one thing is they are cheap. I also noticed that From a kobo perspective they have refurbished formats for 249 Canadian.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

You can sideload to Kindles as easily as to Kobos. But the PW is even smaller than the Libra and has no buttons.

Except support for Collections, Series, Covers, Author sort, sleep screen and annotation export is all much worse with Kindle than Kobo on Calibre because of Amazon lockdown.
I have three different Kindles but exclusively use an original Kobo Libra for epubs and all the books bought off Amazon.
I do have KOReader on a Mars eink Android but I've not felt the need to customise the Kobo at all. Previously had an original Kobo H2O which is still OK, but Libra better. I did "jailbreak" my Kindle DXG, which was my worst gadget purchase ever. The 5" Sony PRS-350 I have is more use!

[Poppaea]

I went from an Aura One to the Libra and I love it! The Aura One was my dream reader, but I do appreciate having buttons and the bezel for a more comfortable grip. The change in screen size was absolutely no problem.

ETA Had a Pocketbook before the Libra for a short time and hated the thing! The buttons on Libra are far more comfortable positioned and the Pocketbook software was meh.

[LDB]

I've been a Kindler either since Boy Scouts campfire practice or the last decade plus. I got an Aura One about 3.x years ago. I didn't use it much until recently. It seems to have more adjustment options for fonts than the Kindle. I'd like to have page turn buttons but I really prefer the "normal" shape of the A1 to the squarish shape of most (Kindle/Kobo) readers with buttons.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Except support for Collections, Series, Covers, Author sort, sleep screen and annotation export is all much worse with Kindle than Kobo on Calibre because of Amazon lockdown.
I have three different Kindles but exclusively use an original Kobo Libra for epubs and all the books bought off Amazon.
I do have KOReader on a Mars eink Android but I've not felt the need to customise the Kobo at all. Previously had an original Kobo H2O which is still OK, but Libra better. I did "jailbreak" my Kindle DXG, which was my worst gadget purchase ever. The 5" Sony PRS-350 I have is more use!

Yes, yes, of course Kobo has more customizing options and integrates with Calibre. I prefer Kobos myself these days. Still, sideloading as such is just as easy on a Kindle as on a Kobo, all the other bells and whistles aside. You drop a book on your reader via USB. The same process on both. Of course for a Kindle the book must be in a Kindle format (mobi, azw3 or kfx).

As for myself, I found the epub format practically unreadable on a Kobo without patching. Huge gaps and margins, no bolding of my favorite sideloaded fonts and so on.

[Hydronaut]

Thanks everybody. Narrowed it down to the Libra 2. Size is perfect and buttons were a must. I find the Sage/Forma just too big.

[mezzanine]

Originally Posted by Hydronaut

I am in Canada too. Where on earth did you pick up th Aura One's for $60 each. I would grab one to replace this one in a second for that price.

Want to stick with something I can easily sidload too. The Kindle's seem to restrictive for my liking.

I got the KA1s on Facebook Marketplace. They'd both been listed for over a week before I saw them, which means it wasn't overly lucky or I'd never mention it. They don't show up often is the problem.

If you're okay going to 7 inches and are determined not to get the new Paperwhite but are still looking to save money, the original Libra can be found on the used market for around $100.

Similarly, you could potentially find a used Forma for around $150. I find it interesting to look at used prices, but the timing of a particular model showing up in a particular city makes it impractical for many buyers who are looking to get something immediately.

[JFeole]

I posted this below in the Sage forum, but received no input..

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I own 2 Kobo's currently, Kobo KA1, and the original Kobo H2O..
I was wondering about this new Sage. I don't need stylus, but I prefer the larger screen size. To be honest, to my older eye, the H2O font clarity is a bit sharper/better contrast than the KA1. How is the new Sage in this regard, with the newer style screen?
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In post #2 here, davidfor noted that the option for bigger screens are: Forma, Libra, or Sage. Is the newer carta screen noticibly better sharpness/contrast than the KA1?

Thanks