Someone REALLY likes his Libra

[Uncle Robin]

A shameless plug

As contestable as some of his arguments are, it's nice to see some Libra love

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

A shameless plug

As contestable as some of his arguments are, it's nice to see some Libra love

Nice article.

[pdurrant]

A 'review' by someone who's comparing a modern ereader with a bare-bones 6-year-old Kindle! For example, one paragraph is:

"I was also drawn to the Libra H2O by its main accessory, the SleepCover. It’s a magnetic, soft-leather case that protects the sensitive E Ink touchscreen while also looking fabulous. The SleepCover’s strange fold-up design allows it to stand on a tabletop — perfect for hands-free reading while you scarf down your morning toast. I purchased the SleepCover in rose because I’m a millennial through and through. It feels great to flip it open and closed like a physical book, and the Kobo automatically sleeps and wakes when I do so."

Clearly the 'reviewer' is not making an informed comparison.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

A 'review' by someone who's comparing a modern ereader with a bare-bones 6-year-old Kindle! For example, one paragraph is:

... text removed ...

Clearly the 'reviewer' is not making an informed comparison.

OTOH, it was kinda nice to read a review where the reviewer did not start from the assumption that Amazon produces the ne plus ultra of ereaders. In one review when the Libra was first released, the reviewer compared the Libra to a Oasis II and decided the Oasis was by far the better ereader based solely on it's being able to read Amazon mobi format ebooks. I found that rather humourous since they mentioned using calibre to manage their ebooks and email them to the Oasis.

[Uncle Robin]

Exactly my point, thanks DNSB.
it was unabashedly subjective, and a reminder to all who read it that Kindle is neither the only nor necessarily and intrinsically the best game in town. A nice change from the all the myriad "Kindle is King" reviews, the vast majority of which are certainly no more objective and analytical than this one.

[Number9]

Now I want to get a Libra! 😊

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Number9

Now I want to get a Libra! 😊

Having recently migrated from an H2O2,
I would say "you won't regret it" Although in keeping with the inescapable subjectivity of such reviews, the feature the reviewer likes most is one that leaves me cold d. I am waiting for for my sleep cover to arrive, but have tried reading in landscape mode and find it too wide for my taste. If, as it appears, landscape is the only option for using the sleep cover as a stand, mine may not even get unboxed when it does get hete

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Having recently migrated from an H2O2,
I would say "you won't regret it" Although in keeping with the inescapable subjectivity of such reviews, the feature the reviewer likes most is one that leaves me cold d. I am waiting for for my sleep cover to arrive, but have tried reading in landscape mode and find it too wide for my taste. If, as it appears, landscape is the only option for using the sleep cover as a stand, mine may not even get unboxed when it does get hete

The Forma cover can be used as a stand in either portrait or landscape. I don't have the Libra here but seem to remember that it worked the same. Looking at two images in the review, the sleep cover is being used in portrait mode with the buttons on the right.

[rashkae]

It's a pretty terrible article all around. Comparing apples to oranges, (6 year old bottom tier Amazon Device vs. current generation upscale device.) and then peppers in outright lies. ("Where Amazon very much locks you into buying all your books from their shop, you can buy your Kobo books from anywhere and load them up via USB. ")

In fact, not only can you buy books for Kindle form other stores, (like Smashwords or Baen), Amazon lets you either sideload by USB or load up to their cloud service for syncing across devices,, something no other vendor offers. (maybe google books?)

I'm glad the author likes his new Reader. I certainly like my Kobo, but this kind of reporting is just .... bad.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by rashkae

Amazon lets you either sideload by USB or load up to their cloud service for syncing across devices,, something no other vendor offers. (maybe google books?)

Speaking of speaking from a lack of knowledge (I avoided reusing the outright lies phrase), From personal knowledge, Tolino and Pocketbook definitely offer cloud access to your ebooks. I seem to remember that Onyx Boox also offers a cloud service. With Kobo, the cloud service is only on the Forma and involves Dropbox but it still exists.

Originally Posted by rashkae

I'm glad the author likes his new Reader. I certainly like my Kobo, but this kind of reporting is just .... bad.

It wasn't the greatest review but as I said before, it was nice seeing a review—in English—that did not start with the author going off on how great Amazon's ereaders are and how the ereader under review failed to meet that standard.

[hobnail]

After all his gushing about how much better a Kobo is I'm surprised and disappointed that he didn't go over how much better the UI is on the Kobo; how it handles series, how you can group by author, etc. Even though I don't often use those things, to me it's inexcusable how the Kindle's UI has barely changed after all these years.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by DNSB

It wasn't the greatest review but as I said before, it was nice seeing a review—in English—that did not start with the author going off on how great Amazon's ereaders are and how the ereader under review failed to meet that standard.

The two things that irritate me most, and they’re related, are that when they compare Formas/Libras to Oases, even if they prefer the Oasis, they really need to say that, “For the same amount of money you can get a bigger screen, or you can get the same size screen for much less money” and also use the price without ads as the basis for comparison.

That’s where the bias is most obvious. Other differences between the devices can be ascribed to preference, but not cold hard cash.

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by rashkae

It's a pretty terrible article all around. Comparing apples to oranges, (6 year old bottom tier Amazon Device vs. current generation upscale device.) and then peppers in outright lies. ("Where Amazon very much locks you into buying all your books from their shop, you can buy your Kobo books from anywhere and load them up via USB. ")

In fact, not only can you buy books for Kindle form other stores, (like Smashwords or Baen), Amazon lets you either sideload by USB or load up to their cloud service for syncing across devices,, something no other vendor offers. (maybe google books?)

I'm glad the author likes his new Reader. I certainly like my Kobo, but this kind of reporting is just .... bad.

It was also unfortunate that he made that anti-Apple jab about iPhone versus Android. Even though I fully agree with that, those kinds of remarks can alienate people who might have otherwise listened.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The Forma cover can be used as a stand in either portrait or landscape. I don't have the Libra here but seem to remember that it worked the same. Looking at two images in the review, the sleep cover is being used in portrait mode with the buttons on the right.

Thanks! Learning that validates my decision to share the link, even if Amazon obviously nobbled the mods to move it to the Kobo forum, shielding Kindle users from learning about an alternative

[rashkae]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Speaking of speaking from a lack of knowledge (I avoided reusing the outright lies phrase),

Fair