Libra Colour Long time Kindle user thinking of jumping ship

[BHerrera]

Hi everyone!

So I am in the researching phases, but I am thinking of upgrading to a Kobo Libra Colour. I am a long time Kindle user. I've been using kindle since the Kindle Keyboard and I currently have a Paperwhite 11gen and an Oasis that doesn't work but is still registered to my account. I am NOT getting any of the new new kindles because of the removal of the Download to USB from the website. Every e-book I've purchased on Amazon gets downloaded and ran through Calibre and stored on my computer for safekeeping and so I can change covers (I detest movie and tv show covers) and formatting. The fact that this is no longer possible with the new kindles means my current paperwhite is my last kindle. I will probably only use my kindles for KU books that I want to read and that's about it.

Now what are the pros and cons of the Kobo Libra Colour? I've been really wanting a color ereader as I have some reference books and non fiction books that would be great in color but I don't want to read on my iPad. I also like to highlight and annotate which really draws me to the Kobo. I do get a lot of my books from the library and I have several library cards as all the libraries have mutual agreements among them, so pretty much any new release I can get at the library as well as audiobooks. The big thing I worry about is ebook selection, as I know Kobo's store is smaller and Amazon forces alot of indie authors to be exclusive to KU but I plan on keeping my current kindle just for that.

I'm super nervous about jumping ship after like 14 years of kindles, but being even more trapped in Amazon's walled garden of weeds is not very appealing anymore. I

[Sirtel]

If you're still keeping some of your Kindles, then you're not jumping ship so much as testing the waters.

IMO it's always a good idea to try different brands; this gives you a clearer picture of what's available and what your true preferences are - you might not know the latter until you've tried something different.

Personally, I also was a Kindle-only user for 8 years; then I bought a Nook and a Kobo. I was not very impressed by either right away and continued using my Oasis alternately with the other devices; but after a couple of years I was entirely won over by Kobo. Nook, regrettably, proved not to be my cup of tea.

Now I feel no desire at all to go back to Kindle.

As to the pros and cons:
A Kobo reader is far more customizable than a Kindle; in addition to the stock options there are patches and custom applications (like KOReader). No need to jailbreak or root, a Kobo can be modded right out of the box.

Kobo also is one of the best devices for working with Calibre. You can create collections and edit metadata on your Kobo automatically with Calibre - meaning, once you've set everything up correctly, you need only to edit your collections and metadata in Calibre and when you connect your Kobo via USB, everything gets updated on the device without any need to resend the books. You can transfer your reading progress back and forth between Kobo and Calibre - a good option to have, if you need to factory reset your device for some reason.

There is no sync option for sideloaded books between different Kobo devices and apps, like Send to Kindle - that's the only major disadvantage that comes to mind. There are a few options to get your non-Kobo books to your Kobo wirelessly, but you cannot sync your reading progress.

[BHerrera]

Thank you for your insight! I agree it isn't completely jumping ship but I definitely want to test the waters preferably before my paperwhite kicks the bucket and before Amazon puts the last few bricks in to completely lock in purchased books. The sync issue probably wont really affect me as I never use Whispersync on my kindle as I stick to reading just on the one device. The other thing I've been reading about is the stats that Kobo gives you, which I enjoy stats so will probably want to play around with that. I did read though that you need to send the epubs as kepubs to be able to use the stats? I'll probably have a bunch more questions lol, but I think I will be asking for the Kobo Libra Color for Christmas and watch how all the amazon issues play out.

[cgsmom]

I agree with Sirtel. As long as you have a Kindle or Kindle app you are not really jumping ship, just expanding your experiences. I currently have 2 Nooks and 2 Kindles so I am not in the market. If I were looking to buy a new reader, I would give Kobo a try. I am interested in color but I won't buy another reader without page turn buttons.

[ownedbycats]

Kobo is very sideload-friendly compared to what I've heard about Kindle— there's even a dedicated sideload-mode.

Originally Posted by BHerrera

I did read though that you need to send the epubs as kepubs to be able to use the stats? I'll probably have a bunch more questions lol, but I think I will be asking for the Kobo Libra Color for Christmas and watch how all the amazon issues play out.

If you use Calibre, the KoboTouchExtended driver can convert them on-the-fly when transferring to device. The Kobo Utilities plugin is also very recommended, if only for the database backup.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by cgsmom

I agree with Sirtel. As long as you have a Kindle or Kindle app you are not really jumping ship, just expanding your experiences. I currently have 2 Nooks and 2 Kindles so I am not in the market. If I were looking to buy a new reader, I would give Kobo a try. I am interested in color but I won't buy another reader without page turn buttons.

You’re in luck! The Kobo Libra Colour has page turning buttons!

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by BHerrera

Hi everyone!

So I am in the researching phases, but I am thinking of upgrading to a Kobo Libra Colour. I am a long time Kindle user. I've been using kindle since the Kindle Keyboard and I currently have a Paperwhite 11gen and an Oasis that doesn't work but is still registered to my account. I am NOT getting any of the new new kindles because of the removal of the Download to USB from the website. Every e-book I've purchased on Amazon gets downloaded and ran through Calibre and stored on my computer for safekeeping and so I can change covers (I detest movie and tv show covers) and formatting. The fact that this is no longer possible with the new kindles means my current paperwhite is my last kindle. I will probably only use my kindles for KU books that I want to read and that's about it.

Now what are the pros and cons of the Kobo Libra Colour? I've been really wanting a color ereader as I have some reference books and non fiction books that would be great in color but I don't want to read on my iPad. I also like to highlight and annotate which really draws me to the Kobo. I do get a lot of my books from the library and I have several library cards as all the libraries have mutual agreements among them, so pretty much any new release I can get at the library as well as audiobooks. The big thing I worry about is ebook selection, as I know Kobo's store is smaller and Amazon forces alot of indie authors to be exclusive to KU but I plan on keeping my current kindle just for that.

I'm super nervous about jumping ship after like 14 years of kindles, but being even more trapped in Amazon's walled garden of weeds is not very appealing anymore. I

If you are clear about the limitations of colour e-readers (pastel colours, very dark screen both outdoors and indoors without the lighting on, slight background graininess, and loss of contrast and sharpness, some say) and you are clear that Kobo e-readers are also not listed as an option for downloading and USB transfer of Amazon books, I would also recommend the Kobo Libra Colour (which does very well for the other things you mention), as an alternative to the Kindle Paperwhite. I like them both, although they are very different. Personally I'd go with the Kobo Libra for the colour (although I'd prefer to buy the Kindle Colorsoft if they fix their lighting problems in future shipments).