Help wanted, looking for my first Kobo, interested in COMICS performance

[jubuttib]

Hello,

I've been wanting to get into e-readers for years now, mainly being prevented by Amazon refusing to sell Kindles to my home country (currently still using my old ZTE Blade and Aldiko for ebooks), and have finally decided that I will buy a Kobo as my first unit, if only because aside from most of my collection being in ePub (which I could easily convert to mobi if needed) I also want to read comics on the same reader, and Kobo is really the only one that caters to that. I'm tired of the backlit displays of tablets, they're not good for reading, so I want a decent e-reader that can support comics properly as well.

That said, I'm at an impasse: The Aura is lower resolution, the Glo HD only has the very small built in memory, the Aura HD is simply not available at all, and the Aura H2O is ridiculously overpriced where I live. Looking at Amazon.com right now the cheapest Aura H2O I can see is about 160 USD, over here I'd need to pay almost 240 USD for it...

So what I'm looking for mainly is opinions on the Kobo Aura for comics. I know the display of the Glo HD would be great for them, but the memory is an issue. The extensible memory of the Aura would be a godsend (4 GB, or about 3 GB with the preinstalled stuff taken into account in the Glo HD is a very small amount, I'd need to be constantly swapping stuff in and out of the unit via USB) but on the other hand so would the high resolution of the Glo HD... Basically, is the screen on the normal Aura good enough for reading comics? It helps somewhat that I almost solely read manga, so I'm working in simple black & white for 99% of the time.

If anyone could take pictures of the Aura showing how it renders comics, especially proper closeups that'd show all the flaws, I would be immensely grateful, but any advice on the subject is more than welcome. =)

[GERGE]

Internal memory can be changed easily. But if you plan to read comics from DC and such, don't hope fot much. eReaders are great for manga, but for not much else in the medium.

[jubuttib]

Originally Posted by GERGE

Internal memory can be changed easily. But if you plan to read comics from DC and such, don't hope fot much. eReaders are great for manga, but for not much else in the medium.

You mean the internal memory on the Glo HD? Yeah, I saw that thread a bit later, and it seems like an interesting prospect, though I want to see someone actually pull it off before making it a big part of the decision making process. Shouldn't be too hard to get it to work as long as you clone the contents of the card properly, unless Kobo has tried being really clever...

And like I said, I read almost solely manga when it comes to comics, and most non-manga I read is also black and white, so that in itself wouldn't be an issue. For any DC & Marvel stuff I'd still use my Win 8.1 tablet just to get the colors. =)

How is the normal Kobo Glo (not the HD one) for reading comics on? Is the resolution high enough?

[karc04]

I would also like to know the answers to the OP's questions. I'm torn between Kobo Aura and Kobo Glo HD. I've read somewhere that Glo HD is considered an entry level device, and like the OP said the really high resolution is tempting. But the small memory is really an issue.

I'm also worried about the eink technology they use. Is there any noticeable difference between Glo HD's eink Carta and Aura's Pearl?

One more question, is it worth upgrading to Kobo Glo HD if you already have a Kobo Aura?

[jubuttib]

Originally Posted by karc04

I'm also worried about the eink technology they use. Is there any noticeable difference between Glo HD's eink Carta and Aura's Pearl?

From what I've read Carta is supposed to be significantly better than pearl, but based on the Kindle Paperwhite that my friend owns (he bought it on his trip to the States, Kindles are not available here) the quality already seemed quite decent. Hence the thread, trying to figure out whether the improved resolution and the newer Carta tech are enough of an upgrade to overcome the lower built in memory.

Though if it turns out it won't be too difficult to replace the internal SD card with another one for someone who knows their way around Linux and can clone the card properly, then it's mostly a moot point, Glo HD would be the easy choice then. Until that is demonstrated to work though I'll try to keep it from affecting the decision making process...

[filmo]

You do not need Linux or Linux expert to copy image to you windows computer from Kobo internal SD card plugged into windows computer using Flash Drive Image Creator. Then copy this image to new same size or larger SD card. Easy to download the 2 programs below and use them. To make it fool proof and ease you mind set write protect on SD card while copying image to you computer.

If the image you copied from a smaller SD card and writing to a larger SD card the image is still same size as it was on the smaller SD card. I used Parted Magic to expand out the last partition of the image on the new larger SD card to use all of the unallocated area of the new larger SD card.
Parted Magic is ISO image you write to CD or DVD and have your computer boot up from this disc to run the utilities on the disc. It boots up to a live linux operating system that only runs in you computer's ram until you turn off you computer. The other option is to down load and use a "windows partition tool" for you computer. This is easy to find with web search.

Parted Magic and other disc utilities have nice graphic image showing what you are trying to do then you tell it to make the changes. If you don't like the results try again. No harm done. Worst case you reinstall original internal card. Save the original card so you have a backup image and don't have to ask for one from someone on this forum.



Flash drive image creator
http://www.vconsole.com/client/?page=page&id=28

Flash drive image writer
http://www.vconsole.com/client/?page=page&id=29

PartedMagic
http://partedmagic.com/

[PeterT]

Or see https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=209122 for instructions. This was written for a Glo but apart from differences in how to open the device, the steps will be the same.

[Patricius]

Being a Aura H2O owner, I feel obligated to inform you some bugs & inconveniences beforehand to save you from some possible nuisances:

1. Screen size: The reading experience is acceptable even ( and only ) in portrait mode using official viewing software only if the comic book is well trimmed, or some 漢字 and 振り仮名will be unreadable. Install koreader is a good solution to these problems but it makes nickel database somehow unstable with calibre.

2. Software bugs: The default cbz viewer have the exactly same bug as evince: without KSM installed, archives that with names or containing folders with char '[' will fail the neckel thus cause an infinite reboot. ( It segfaults after entering home screen, ergo infinite ) To avoid this, use cbr instead.

[PeterT]

I'd never heard of that issue; the '[' in the name / folder causing issues. Do you have a cbz that demonstrates this?

[jubuttib]

Thanks for the info. @Patricius, I'm talking translated manga here so kanji legibility isn't a massive concern. That does make it sound like the higher resolution of the Aura H2O (and by extension the Glo HD) would be really desirable.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by jubuttib

From what I've read Carta is supposed to be significantly better than pearl, but based on the Kindle Paperwhite that my friend owns (he bought it on his trip to the States, Kindles are not available here) the quality already seemed quite decent. Hence the thread, trying to figure out whether the improved resolution and the newer Carta tech are enough of an upgrade to overcome the lower built in memory.

The Paperwhite has a Carta e-ink screen (at least the PW2 does, maybe your friend has the older original PW?). And the difference between Pearl & Carta is there (the text is darker and clearer, the contrast is improved), but it's not hugely significant. It's a combination of the Carta screen and the higher resolution on the Kindle Voyage and Aura H2O that makes the text/images on them both look a lot clearer and crisper when you compare them to other ereaders.

If you can't afford either the H2O or the Voyage (and the H20 would be my first choice due to the bigger screen for reading comics), then I'd go for the Glo HD over the standard Aura as the screen on the latter isn't that great. Any possible bugs aside, if I read a lot of comics, I'd be saving my cash for the H2O if at all possible (or just using a tablet for them ).

[jubuttib]

Yeah, he has the older, original one.

It's not about the H2O being too expensive as such, it's about it being nearly 100% overpriced here. I refuse to support scalping like that.

Kindles are not available here at all. =(

Tablet reading is an option I already have, but I hate reading comics when using a backlight if I can avoid it. Same reason I'd rather get an ereader for books as well. Though color comics are another issue obviously. =)

Yeah, I'm starting to lean towards the Glo HD even despite the memory issue.

EDIT: Also I forgot to mention, despite comics factoring in heavily to the decision making process because I want to be able to use the unit for those as well, they will not be the MAIN use for the reader. I do intend to mostly use it for reading books. =)

[RZetlin]

Personally, I have used the Glo and Aura HD to view manga and the Aura HD is much better viewing experience. On the 6" eReader I found on some panels are too small to read.

If you are planning to go with the Glo HD you have a few options available:

• Unofficially upgrade internal memory with a larger SD card.
• Store your comics in Calibre.
• Use Kobo cloud storage for books bought on the Kobo site.
• Use Kobo desktop to save your Kobo books locally.

[Patricius]

Originally Posted by PeterT

I'd never heard of that issue; the '[' in the name / folder causing issues. Do you have a cbz that demonstrates this?

Sorry for the delay... Gmail has blocked the mails.
I'm not sure if it's proper to post non-public domain cbzs here, so I will give the procedure to generate one :

(on Archlinux with Evince version 3.16.0 and Zip 3.0)
1. Having some images under dir '[井上雄彦]バガボンド'/
2. $ zip -r test.cbz '[井上雄彦]バガボンド'/
3. $ evince test.cbz
4. If an error of 'no pages in this file' shown up, then you have a poisoned bcz now :P

I dare not to try putting this on my H2O again because I didn't do the KSM patch. The thing surprised me is nickle and evince share the same bug, but not with mcomix. Maybe it has something to do with the libraries they are using.

Also, the paging issue is annoying if you've got an archieve with '1.jpg ~ 200.jpg' numbering style. It forces me to use some regex to do the zero padding, which didn't work well every times.

[Patricius]

I have had the same concern with you before inquiring the H2O ( mainly reading, casually comix ), but soon found out there is no merit except for mobility, which could be achieved with tablets as well. Reading comix on e-readers has many downsides even with a ~7 inch screen :
1. Fiddling with formats like cbz & cbr like I did, ending up with installing koreader.

2. Delay of page turning being not obvious in the first place, but for the reading speed of mine ( approx. 200 pages in <20 mins ), the nuisance grows.

3. Need a sdcard once the collection grows, which drains power when initializing.

4. To counter previous disadvantage, you use calibre to manage the collection, which halves the advantage of mobility.

After all these, I've moved my comic-reading back to my box with 1080p screen, skimming through 2~3 comic books in an hour with instant page turning seems to be enough for me.