Kindle Voyage vs Kobo Aura H2O

[leaston]

Originally Posted by Loknor

In other words, the market for a color e-ink screen simply isn't there. It would never be able to compete on price and utility with cheap led tablets.

That these Leds are terrible to read with is just not that important for sales.

Not being well up on how the tech works, this may be a dumb question from me;

What's the best alternative to e-ink? I'm thinking specifically about the user experience here, lack of flicker, no danger of eye strain, performance in different lighting environments, battery life etc. Is there a viable, marketable alternative or are we to be stuck with whatever junk the manufacturers think we should buy?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Loknor

3. The portability difference between 6.8 versus 6 inch is marginal (he difference is a few MM widt/length).

The size difference is actually reasonably significant: see the picture below for a size comparison difference between my H20 (left) and Voyage (right). I'm sure you'll agree that the difference is more than "marginal". I can easily carry the Voyage in my trousers' pocket; I can't carry the H2O that way.

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The size difference is actually reasonably significant: see the picture below for a size comparison difference between my H20 (left) and Voyage (right). I'm sure you'll agree that the difference is more than "marginal". I can easily carry the Voyage in my trousers' pocket; I can't carry the H2O that way.

Exactly. I own an Aura HD and although after patching it it turned out to be better than I first thought, its format is a pain for me (small hands, small handbags). Plus, it handles notes and highliting not too well, and transferring notes is impossible which does not work for me, but I will admit that the ability to choose fonts and such is awsome.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The size difference is actually reasonably significant: see the picture below for a size comparison difference between my H20 (left) and Voyage (right). I'm sure you'll agree that the difference is more than "marginal". I can easily carry the Voyage in my trousers' pocket; I can't carry the H2O that way.

I know this isn't your point, but as an aside, that screen looks good on the Voyage. Do you think Amazon is already getting their screen problem solved?

As for the screen size -- for fiction at any rate -- I can't see the advantage of the bigger screen size. It seems like it results uncomfortably longer line lengths -- as usually the font sizes seem to be the same. Probably doesn't mean anything, but at one point I think I learned the ideal line length was 35 to 40 characters. I find that's usually about where my eReaders line lengths end up for me. (Of course they're not fixed characters so it's just a approximation.)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I know this isn't your point, but as an aside, that screen looks good on the Voyage. Do you think Amazon is already getting their screen problem solved?

You might like to take a look at recent posts in the "Voyage - First Impressions" thread in the Kindle forum, in which this very thing has been discussed. My Voyage screen looks excellent to me, but when I posted a photo of it in that thread, many people said that they could see colour hues in it. I honestly think that in the majority of cases, the perception of a "bad" or "good" screen is simply down to variations in the individual's sensitivity to colour changes. Fortunately for me, I seem to be completely insensitive to such issues .

As for the screen size -- for fiction at any rate -- I can't see the advantage of the bigger screen size.

I agree. I didn't buy the H2O for the screen size, but for the high resolution (and because I wanted an ePub reader for testing my books with).

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The size difference is actually reasonably significant: see the picture below for a size comparison difference between my H20 (left) and Voyage (right). I'm sure you'll agree that the difference is more than "marginal". I can easily carry the Voyage in my trousers' pocket; I can't carry the H2O that way.

Mine look exactly the same.
On your picture it's pretty obvious, that the H2O is more yellow-ish than Voyage.
Some may describe this as "warmer", which probably is just a matter of taste. Personally, I prefer the "colder", more white tone of Voyage.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

On your picture it's pretty obvious, that the H2O is more yellow-ish than Voyage.

Yes, it is. I rather like the yellow tint of the light.

[cct1]

Originally Posted by Loknor

And you base this on what exactly?

Let's look at the sad reality: Book reading is declining and thus E-Reading is on the decline. On the other hand tablet technology is cheap and full color. There's a reason the market for e-readers is shrinking and competitors are falling left and right.

In other words, the market for a color e-ink screen simply isn't there. It would never be able to compete on price and utility with cheap led tablets.

That these Leds are terrible to read with is just not that important for sales.


I certainy hope you realize that your opinion isn't the universally supported technology driver.

I doubt that perfect lightning would somehow increase the marketshare of Kobo. It seems that people choose between Amazon and Epub. Screen quality counts a bit, lightning counts a little bit... but it's minor (this is logical considering the lack of progress in the technology and the slight quality differences in reading experiences between brands).

A similar situation: in Televisions image quality is paramount to your expereince.. Yet the consumer prefers cheap leds. Pioneer, king of quality, ended it's best TV lines due to lack of demand. Image quality is not nearly as decisive in succes as you think.



See above. What you fail to state is the business case behind this. E-INK progress has been slow for a reason. The death of many manufacturers is another sign on the wall. Your wished for technology simple doesn't have a viable market.

Now onto the woes of Kobo:

The reason Karter was dismissed out of hand was the lack of knowledge combined with his tendency to see his own ideas as universal truths

1. Kobo does not develop it's own screens and simply does not have the money to do just that.
2. Thin bezels are not that practical on an ereader. Where would you put your fingers? The usage is quite different from a tablet.
3. The portability difference between 6.8 versus 6 inch is marginal (he difference is a few MM widt/length). Opinions there vary quite a bit (for example I can pocket my Aura in my coats with no issues). On the other hand some prefer a bigger screen to read. It's contention, not consensus. 6" inch is better pocketable, so why not 5"? 6.8 reads better, so why not 8"? This is all taste, not universally held gripes with a product.

What stands is the annoyance with Kobo's software, but even there he forgets that many people have absolutely no issue with it (most likely the majority!)

Add to that the derigotary remarks on people who like their devices and you can only conclude that Karters post was lacking merit and his abbrasive style was a surefire way to lead to dismissal.

You're spending way too much time on this...It's just an ereader. Nobody died. I'm sure is we all put on our big boy (or big girl, as the case may be) pants, we can all manage our way through this epic crisis.

I'm so done with this. So was everybody else, two days ago....

[cct1]

Got my H20 yesterday and I love it. Lighting is not perfectly even, but it's a nice white, and much more even than the Voyage. The ability to weight the fonts makes a huge difference. I still like the Voyage for portability, but for at home reading, the H20 is going to win out. The main reason--it approaches the feel of a book moreso than the Voyage--it LOOKS like a book, with the header and footer, and increased screen space. It's like reading a small paperback, the Voyage is like reading on a small device.

I do like the UI of the Voyage better, the H20 isn't as intuitive, but I'm getting used to it. I love the easy left screen swipe for adjusting the brightness. I miss the haptic buttons of the Voyage--they'd work really well on the H20 with the slightly wider bezel. The increased PPI of the Voyage, especially at low light, is noticeable, but the two screens are pretty close.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The size difference is actually reasonably significant: see the picture below for a size comparison difference between my H20 (left) and Voyage (right). I'm sure you'll agree that the difference is more than "marginal". I can easily carry the Voyage in my trousers' pocket; I can't carry the H2O that way.

I know this photo is only to show the size difference, but it is being used in another thread for gradient comparison. Is the H2O frontlight at about the same level as the Voyage? It seems significantly darker. (Maybe not on at all?)

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

I know this photo is only to show the size difference, but it is being used in another thread for gradient comparison. Is the H2O frontlight at about the same level as the Voyage? It seems significantly darker. (Maybe not on at all?)

Those pics perfectly are in line with my own comparison.
With light settings both to full, H2O is quite a bit darker. And the background is not as "snow white", which even heightens the impression.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

I know this photo is only to show the size difference, but it is being used in another thread for gradient comparison. Is the H2O frontlight at about the same level as the Voyage? It seems significantly darker. (Maybe not on at all?)

No, in the picture the Voyage's frontlight is set higher than the H2O's. The purpose of the picture was to compare the sizes, not the lighting.

[cct1]

Read a fair amount on both today. I'm liking the H20 more and more with each passing day. The screen is the main reason--I like the 6.8, more the extra width than the length, it's more like reading from a page, the Voyage is more like reading from a newspaper column. I love the color of the Kobo screen, mine is a cream white, it's so gentle in the eyes. The Voyage screen is kind of grayish in comparison with the light low, and as you turn the light up, the two tone issue becomes more pronounced. It makes the letters at the top of the screen less sharp than the letters on the bottom, they're ever so slightly blurry. The H20 does not have this issue; the letters look exactly the same anywhere on the screen.

Decided to keep the Voyage though--it fits nicely (actually barely) into my jacket pocket, in a tight sleeve. it's the one area that it's got the H20 beat. Much better than reading on my iPhone. It's kind of an extravagance having both, but what the heck.

[Xanthe]

I'd just like to say a word from those of us who carry pocketbooks and backpacks: it doesn't matter if the eReader fits into a pocket, so a fraction of a size larger or smaller makes no difference.

My criteria has always been: is it designed to be used (and convenient to use) one-handed?

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by cct1

Read a fair amount on both today. I'm liking the H20 more and more with each passing day. The screen is the main reason--I like the 6.8, more the extra width than the length, it's more like reading from a page, the Voyage is more like reading from a newspaper column. I love the color of the Kobo screen, mine is a cream white, it's so gentle in the eyes. The Voyage screen is kind of grayish in comparison with the light low, and as you turn the light up, the two tone issue becomes more pronounced. It makes the letters at the top of the screen less sharp than the letters on the bottom, they're ever so slightly blurry. The H20 does not have this issue; the letters look exactly the same anywhere on the screen.

Decided to keep the Voyage though--it fits nicely (actually barely) into my jacket pocket, in a tight sleeve. it's the one area that it's got the H20 beat. Much better than reading on my iPhone. It's kind of an extravagance having both, but what the heck.

After all I said about not going near the Voyage I've bought one too now. I love the size of it, the smooth screen, the clear fonts and the crisp display. I have the H20 as well and I read so much they are both worth the cost.