Touch Kobo Touch - Good for manga?

Gundisalvus · 11-18-2011, 09:39 PM

Hello,

Lately I've been thinking about buying an ebook reader and the Sony PRS-T1 seemed to be a good choice ... until I read several negative reviews about the software in it (freezing\crashes). I have waited for an update on the PRS-T1 but it seems it will take a long time which led me to think about other options.

After some research, the Kobo Touch seemed to be the substitute for what I am looking for: an ereader for books and manga. I've seen several videos on youtube about its features and it sounded pretty good (and unlike Sony, Kobo seems to update its firmware quite oftenly, which is a big plus to me). However, I did not find videos about its potential in reading manga. I know that a bigger screen is better to read manga, but I really want to have a 6 inch screen, like Kobo Touch or PRS-T1.

So what is your opinion about the Kobo Touch as a manga reading device? Is it practical? Does it take a lot of time to load the manga especially when changing the page? What's the best way to read manga on Kobo Touch? Converting the manga to PDF, EPUB or RTF? Or it does just fine with JPEG, CBZ, CBR, ZIP and RAR files?

Thank you all for the attention

morgancooper · 11-18-2011, 10:25 PM

I've tried reading some manga on my Kobo Touch and it works fairly well. I have manga in jpg/png format in zip/rar archives and renamed them to cbz/cbr. I've loaded them directly on the device as well as loaded them on a microSD. There's no noticeable difference in either methods and pages turned in less than half a second for grayscale images and maybe a whole second for pages that were in full colour. I tried entire tankoubons as well as individual chapters to see if there would be a difference in speed and found none.

I haven't tried manga in pdf, epub, rtf (can you even do that?), jpg, zip/rar. But cbz/cbr work fine. One thing I need to try is to see if Kobo will recognize the file if the filename had Japanese text (hiragana, katakana, kanji), but I'm not too worried since I have most of my manga files in english letters (romaji).

I'd say that I've spent less than two whole hours loading and flipping through manga on the Kobo and I'm quite satisfied with its capabilities, but right now I'm really focused on reading a series of books so I haven't really tested its comic reading ability.

One bad experience I've had with the Kobo was when I loaded about 1GB of about two dozen poorly formatted cbz/cbr files on a microSD. There were a few archives that had pdf files instead of jpg/png and the Kobo crashed as it scanned what was on the microSD during startup. I think the problem was due to poor formatting of the files or having a few archives that had pdf files in them and not because it crashed processing too many files. I hope anyways. I'll have to try loading a whole bunch of proper cbz/cbr next time.

Another thing that I would like changed is the ability to delete files on the microSD on the device. I'm not sure if a firmware update has changed this, but the version I had allowed me to delete the files, but restarting device restored them to my library. It was bothersome because I had to remember which chapters I had finished when I went back to continue reading.

Overall, it's a good device for both reading comics and books, but as it's still a newish technology there is plenty of room for improvement. That's just how technology works though.

Edit: One more thing. The zoom function isn't very useful. I had certain comics where the words were very small and I had to squint to read them. Zooming in just stretches the image larger, but doesn't redraw the image to make the words clearer. I'm not sure if it's just the original file that is small or the zoom function is a simple/crappy one. So make sure you have good eyes or you're loading comics with decent font size.

SmokeAndMirrors · 11-19-2011, 12:23 AM

I've loaded some manga onto my Kobo Touch in CBZ format. It's decent, but your guess is right - a bigger screen would be better. The text is readable but a little small sometimes.

I haven't had issues with it running slow or crashing. But CBZ files are much bigger than ebook files, so be aware of how much storage you're using. You can upgrade the storage with a microSD card if you need to.

If you're going to be doing more manga reading than book reading? Consider a bigger screen. If you're going to be doing more book reading than manga reading, or you really want to stick with a 6" screen? The Kobo Touch is a pretty good option.

Gundisalvus · 11-19-2011, 12:40 PM

Thank you both for the reply.

So, it seems that Kobo Touch is a good option to read manga and I will definitely take that into account when I finally decide to buy my very first ereader!

JD Gumby · 11-19-2011, 02:31 PM

It's not really that good for it, especially for .cbz/.cbr versions (and .cbr is broken at the moment, it seems) due to being unable to switch them to landscape mode, slow panning & redraw if you switch to fit-to-width, loss of horizontal space in the the default fit-to-height view if the images aren't 3:4 (to scale to the 600x800 screen; looking at vol. 1 of Junji Ito's excellently creepy "Uzumaki" right now on my Touch, the images in the .cbz are 750x1113, which translates to 539x800 fit-to-height for 61 pixels of whitespace, and 600x890 fit-to-width for slow panning). In either case, text will be blurry and, if there's a lot of it, possibly unreadable - especially if the original image was color.

SmokeAndMirrors · 11-19-2011, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gundisalvus

Thank you both for the reply.

So, it seems that Kobo Touch is a good option to read manga and I will definitely take that into account when I finally decide to buy my very first ereader!

Ehhh, it's *ok* for reading manga, depending on how the file turns out. I've been lucky and mine have turned out well. But if you want it mostly for manga, again, I'd consider a bigger screen.

Gundisalvus · 11-19-2011, 09:46 PM

Bigger screen is not an option for me, because I want a small device that I can easily carry around. I will be reading ebooks as much as manga, so if Kobo Touch is decent for both, then I might get one. As long manga is "readable" on Kobo Touch, then it is fine. I also think that you can resize the images to 600x800 so that it will fit on the screen.

GoingDown · 11-20-2011, 01:45 PM

My biggest (and only) gripe for reading comics on KT is its missing landscape mode function.

TonyToews · 11-20-2011, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gundisalvus

Hello,
So what is your opinion about the Kobo Touch as a manga reading device? Is it practical?

Using Calibre put several of you manga on a micro SD card. Then pop the card into the Touch at a store or a library and see how it works. A number of libraries in Alberta now have the Kobo Wifi and Touch available to borrow for folks to try them out.

PeterT · 11-20-2011, 03:09 PM

Tony; the only issue in trying the Touch in a store is there is no guarantee it will have the most current firmware on it.

Gundisalvus · 11-20-2011, 03:36 PM

They do not sell it in my country so I can not really try it. I can only get it if I buy it from ebay or any other website that ships worldwide, but I think I already got an idea of how the Kobo Touch works when reading manga.
I will have to decide on choosing the Kobo Touch or the Sony PRS-T1, since I read now that an update to correct the firmware bugs on the T1 is going to be released at the end of the month. It is not going to be easy to choose one of them though...

TonyToews · 11-20-2011, 06:00 PM

Peter, good point.
Gundisalvus, that's also an excellent point. Maybe someone here can load one of your favourite manga's and do a Youtube video?

Latinandgreek · 11-20-2011, 07:15 PM

I will try to read a manga on my Sony PRS-T1 and let you know how it works out. I used to read manga on my PRS-505, and it was not bad at all. I imagine that it would be better on the PRS-T1, as I can zoom in if the text or a picture is too small.

I've even read manga on my PRS-350, which has a 5 inch screen, and I didn't have any problems.

11-18-2011, 09:39 PM	#1
Gundisalvus Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Lisbon, Portugal Device: none	Kobo Touch - Good for manga? Hello, Lately I've been thinking about buying an ebook reader and the Sony PRS-T1 seemed to be a good choice ... until I read several negative reviews about the software in it (freezing\crashes). I have waited for an update on the PRS-T1 but it seems it will take a long time which led me to think about other options. After some research, the Kobo Touch seemed to be the substitute for what I am looking for: an ereader for books and manga. I've seen several videos on youtube about its features and it sounded pretty good (and unlike Sony, Kobo seems to update its firmware quite oftenly, which is a big plus to me). However, I did not find videos about its potential in reading manga. I know that a bigger screen is better to read manga, but I really want to have a 6 inch screen, like Kobo Touch or PRS-T1. So what is your opinion about the Kobo Touch as a manga reading device? Is it practical? Does it take a lot of time to load the manga especially when changing the page? What's the best way to read manga on Kobo Touch? Converting the manga to PDF, EPUB or RTF? Or it does just fine with JPEG, CBZ, CBR, ZIP and RAR files? Thank you all for the attention

11-18-2011, 10:25 PM	#2
morgancooper Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2011 Device: Kobo Touch	I've tried reading some manga on my Kobo Touch and it works fairly well. I have manga in jpg/png format in zip/rar archives and renamed them to cbz/cbr. I've loaded them directly on the device as well as loaded them on a microSD. There's no noticeable difference in either methods and pages turned in less than half a second for grayscale images and maybe a whole second for pages that were in full colour. I tried entire tankoubons as well as individual chapters to see if there would be a difference in speed and found none. I haven't tried manga in pdf, epub, rtf (can you even do that?), jpg, zip/rar. But cbz/cbr work fine. One thing I need to try is to see if Kobo will recognize the file if the filename had Japanese text (hiragana, katakana, kanji), but I'm not too worried since I have most of my manga files in english letters (romaji). I'd say that I've spent less than two whole hours loading and flipping through manga on the Kobo and I'm quite satisfied with its capabilities, but right now I'm really focused on reading a series of books so I haven't really tested its comic reading ability. One bad experience I've had with the Kobo was when I loaded about 1GB of about two dozen poorly formatted cbz/cbr files on a microSD. There were a few archives that had pdf files instead of jpg/png and the Kobo crashed as it scanned what was on the microSD during startup. I think the problem was due to poor formatting of the files or having a few archives that had pdf files in them and not because it crashed processing too many files. I hope anyways. I'll have to try loading a whole bunch of proper cbz/cbr next time. Another thing that I would like changed is the ability to delete files on the microSD on the device. I'm not sure if a firmware update has changed this, but the version I had allowed me to delete the files, but restarting device restored them to my library. It was bothersome because I had to remember which chapters I had finished when I went back to continue reading. Overall, it's a good device for both reading comics and books, but as it's still a newish technology there is plenty of room for improvement. That's just how technology works though. Edit: One more thing. The zoom function isn't very useful. I had certain comics where the words were very small and I had to squint to read them. Zooming in just stretches the image larger, but doesn't redraw the image to make the words clearer. I'm not sure if it's just the original file that is small or the zoom function is a simple/crappy one. So make sure you have good eyes or you're loading comics with decent font size. Last edited by morgancooper; 11-18-2011 at 10:27 PM.

11-20-2011, 06:00 PM	#12
TonyToews Evangelist Posts: 490 Karma: 351398 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kobo Vox and Glo	Peter, good point. Gundisalvus, that's also an excellent point. Maybe someone here can load one of your favourite manga's and do a Youtube video? Last edited by TonyToews; 11-20-2011 at 06:02 PM.

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11-19-2011, 12:23 AM	#3
SmokeAndMirrors Addict Posts: 280 Karma: 2064388 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: MN, US Device: Kobo Touch, Asus Eee Pad Slider	I've loaded some manga onto my Kobo Touch in CBZ format. It's decent, but your guess is right - a bigger screen would be better. The text is readable but a little small sometimes. I haven't had issues with it running slow or crashing. But CBZ files are much bigger than ebook files, so be aware of how much storage you're using. You can upgrade the storage with a microSD card if you need to. If you're going to be doing more manga reading than book reading? Consider a bigger screen. If you're going to be doing more book reading than manga reading, or you really want to stick with a 6" screen? The Kobo Touch is a pretty good option.

11-19-2011, 12:40 PM	#4
Gundisalvus Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Lisbon, Portugal Device: none	Thank you both for the reply. So, it seems that Kobo Touch is a good option to read manga and I will definitely take that into account when I finally decide to buy my very first ereader!

11-19-2011, 02:31 PM	#5
JD Gumby Cynical Old Curmudgeon Posts: 1,085 Karma: 8495696 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Halifax, Canada Device: Kobo Mini, Kobo Arc, HTC Desire C	It's not really that good for it, especially for .cbz/.cbr versions (and .cbr is broken at the moment, it seems) due to being unable to switch them to landscape mode, slow panning & redraw if you switch to fit-to-width, loss of horizontal space in the the default fit-to-height view if the images aren't 3:4 (to scale to the 600x800 screen; looking at vol. 1 of Junji Ito's excellently creepy "Uzumaki" right now on my Touch, the images in the .cbz are 750x1113, which translates to 539x800 fit-to-height for 61 pixels of whitespace, and 600x890 fit-to-width for slow panning). In either case, text will be blurry and, if there's a lot of it, possibly unreadable - especially if the original image was color.

11-19-2011, 09:46 PM	#7
Gundisalvus Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Lisbon, Portugal Device: none	Bigger screen is not an option for me, because I want a small device that I can easily carry around. I will be reading ebooks as much as manga, so if Kobo Touch is decent for both, then I might get one. As long manga is "readable" on Kobo Touch, then it is fine. I also think that you can resize the images to 600x800 so that it will fit on the screen.

11-20-2011, 01:45 PM	#8
GoingDown Zealot Posts: 114 Karma: 1274 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Finland Device: Kobo Touch	My biggest (and only) gripe for reading comics on KT is its missing landscape mode function.

11-20-2011, 03:09 PM	#10
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,379 Karma: 78877538 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	Tony; the only issue in trying the Touch in a store is there is no guarantee it will have the most current firmware on it.

11-20-2011, 03:36 PM	#11
Gundisalvus Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Lisbon, Portugal Device: none	They do not sell it in my country so I can not really try it. I can only get it if I buy it from ebay or any other website that ships worldwide, but I think I already got an idea of how the Kobo Touch works when reading manga. I will have to decide on choosing the Kobo Touch or the Sony PRS-T1, since I read now that an update to correct the firmware bugs on the T1 is going to be released at the end of the month. It is not going to be easy to choose one of them though...

11-20-2011, 07:15 PM	#13
Latinandgreek Warrior Princess Posts: 5,038 Karma: 9724231 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-505; PRS-350, PRS-T1, iPad, Aura HD	I will try to read a manga on my Sony PRS-T1 and let you know how it works out. I used to read manga on my PRS-505, and it was not bad at all. I imagine that it would be better on the PRS-T1, as I can zoom in if the text or a picture is too small. I've even read manga on my PRS-350, which has a 5 inch screen, and I didn't have any problems.

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