Advice Regarding Kindle PW2 and Kobo Aura

[Crimmers]

I'm having trouble deciding between the new lighted e-readers. I know there's a million threads about this so I feel bad about posting another one, but I promise I've read the other ones already!

Anyway I currently have a Sony PRS-505 that I'm very happy with. The design is great, and the physical buttons for both right and left handed use work perfectly. I also like the way it handles page numbers (shows x of y pages, repaginating as you change font sizes) I do want to move to a lighted reader, and I realize that physical button aren't going to be an option. So I had a few questions about the two main choices, hopefully people have some insights!

Kindle PW2:
- It seems like there's no way to get the kind of page numbers I'm used to. Do people get used to this over time? I guess it shouldn't be a big deal but it seems like it might bug me.
- I have a lot of books in .lrf, .lit, .epub, etc. I've mainly used e-book-designer but I have no problems with using calibre. How do most people get books like this to the kindle, using Calibre, or using the email system? Does Amazon ever get upset about DRM free copy-written material on your "cloud" account?
- If I want to send a text file using unicode fonts (in Chinese or Japanese) to the device, is this easy to do on Calibre, and will they display correctly?

Kobo Aura (or maybe Aura HD?)
- I'm in the US, so I haven't been able to get my hands on one of these, is this a big risk to take ordering it?
- The dictionary seems similar to the kindle, but I believe there is no wikipedia. Can it do translations like the kindle?
- Same question regarding unicode text files with Chinese or Japanese fonts, will they show correctly?

If anyone has any insight about what someone like me would be happy with, I'd appreciate it. Basically I already have a pretty huge "to read" pile so I'm not looking to buy any new books from either source for a while, I just want the better device to read on.

Thanks so much!

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by Crimmers

Kindle PW2:
- It seems like there's no way to get the kind of page numbers I'm used to. Do people get used to this over time?

Kindles show "locations" by default, but some commercial books have "real page numbers." You'll get used to it.

Originally Posted by Crimmers

- I have a lot of books in .lrf, .lit, .epub, etc. I've mainly used e-book-designer but I have no problems with using calibre.

If you select AZW3 as the target format, books with fancy layout will look pretty much the same if you convert them with Calibre.

Originally Posted by Crimmers

How do most people get books like this to the kindle, using Calibre, or using the email system?

You can connect the PW2 via USB and simply copy new books to the PW's document folder or use Calibre.

Originally Posted by Crimmers

- If I want to send a text file using unicode fonts (in Chinese or Japanese) to the device, is this easy to do on Calibre, and will they display correctly?

Kindles support both Simplified and Traditional Chinese and Japanese books. The Kindle compiler also partially supports the Japanese XMDF format.

[davidfor]

I'm using a Kobo Glo, but the firmware is the same.

Originally Posted by Crimmers

Kobo Aura (or maybe Aura HD?)
- I'm in the US, so I haven't been able to get my hands on one of these, is this a big risk to take ordering it?

Personally, I am still a hands on before buying, but I don't think there is to much risk.

- The dictionary seems similar to the kindle, but I believe there is no wikipedia. Can it do translations like the kindle?

The dictionary on the Kobo devices works well, but isn't the largest. People who have Sonys and Kindles, say they have the better dictionary. There is a way to replace the dictionaries.

- Same question regarding unicode text files with Chinese or Japanese fonts, will they show correctly?

Yes, with a but. Kobo uses two readers. One is based on Adobe RMSDK. The other is based on ACCESS. The latter handles Chinese and Japanese and other languages a lot better. You can easily sideload books using calibre to take advantage of this. You can also sideload fonts if you don't like the supplied fonts.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by Crimmers

- The dictionary seems similar to the kindle, but I believe there is no wikipedia. Can it do translations like the kindle?

You would believe wrong. I've never actually tried it because I tend to read on the road with no Internet connection but whenever I highlight a word a "Wikipedia" option shows up.
As for translations, I don't know whether it will translate actual sentences but I'm pretty sure you can look up individual words. Kobo's dictionary is functional but could be better.
I really love my Kobo Aura (and HD), especially the form factor of the Aura.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

You would believe wrong. I've never actually tried it because I tend to read on the road with no Internet connection but whenever I highlight a word a "Wikipedia" option shows up.

I completely forgot to add that in my post. And there is a Google lookup as well.

As for translations, I don't know whether it will translate actual sentences but I'm pretty sure you can look up individual words.

There is an undocumented option that adds a phrase translation. It needs a net connection so I think it uses google translate.

Kobo's dictionary is functional but could be better.

Yes, it is missing some words and definitions. From memory, it uses the smallest (ie. cheapest) Mirriam-Webster dictionary. I don't think that has changed. Kobo are missing out on an opportunity here. They should be selling bigger and better versions of the dictionaries. I probably wouldn't buy them, but I could see others choosing to.

[Crimmers]

Thanks for all the helpful information! Not that it necessarily makes it easier to choose one, but its good to know that both of them do pretty much just what I want.

Out of curiosity, can the units be charged while reading? The Sony had a trick that you could do it with a PSP charger, but not with a normal USB charger. I sometimes find the feature pretty useful.

[meeera]

The Kobo can be charged while reading.

[Crimmers]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Yes, with a but. Kobo uses two readers. One is based on Adobe RMSDK. The other is based on ACCESS. The latter handles Chinese and Japanese and other languages a lot better. You can easily sideload books using calibre to take advantage of this. You can also sideload fonts if you don't like the supplied fonts.

Can you go into this a bit further? Is it simply a matter of a *.epub file uses one renderer and another file type uses a different renderer?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by meeera

The Kobo can be charged while reading.

As can the Kindle, too.

[Abtacha]

Originally Posted by Crimmers

Can you go into this a bit further? Is it simply a matter of a *.epub file uses one renderer and another file type uses a different renderer?

Yes. Books bought from Kobo and synced either over WiFi or the Kobo desktop app will be kepubs (mostly epub with some modifications and support for some epub 3 features) which are rendered by the ACCESS reader.

Sideloaded epubs are displayed by the Adobe renderer that is also used by Sony.

Should you prefer the way ACCESS looks you can use Calibre with the KoboTouchExtended plugin to convert epubs into kepubs upon sending them to the device.