Bad experience with Aura HD

[John F]

My apologies if I perpetuated an internet urban myth. The Amazon Voyager page also says "... specially-reinforced glass front ...".

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by John F

My apologies if I perpetuated an internet urban myth. The Amazon Voyager page also says "... specially-reinforced glass front ...".

That I did notice. Not sure just what that means but likely not gorilla glass. Checking Corning's customer list is little help since many companies that are using "Corning Gorilla Glass" are not listed.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by DNSB

That I did notice. Not sure just what that means but likely not gorilla glass. Checking Corning's customer list is little help since many companies that are using "Corning Gorilla Glass" are not listed.

Actually, Gorilla Glass is chemically-strengthened glass. The process should be similar, even if the branding is different. Apple used ion-strenghtened glass, which is also essentially the same. Here you can find an overview of different methods of glass-strenghtening: http://www.procurveglass.com/Procurve_CSvsHS.pdf

As to Kobo Aura's quality, looking at the Best Buy Canada comments, out of 13 comments, two are complaining of damaged screens and Kobo's canned "physical damage" (A.K.A. "it's your fault, so no warranty") response:

Here is an example:

I bought this for my wife for Christmas, and while she loved it, after a month of use the screen broke while sitting overnight on a flat surface inside the sleepcover. Customer service diagnosed it as "physical damage" due to the radiating lines and denied warranty coverage, so I opened it up to take a look and found the cracks radiating from a spot on the edge of the screen behind the bezel. So, either this had some sort of pre-existing defect, or the screen is so flimsy that it can crack from normal use. Even if it had fallen from that spot (which there was no evidence of), it's a two foot fall onto carpet! I won't be buying anything Kobo any time soon.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/.../10319775.aspx

Based on my experience and on what I have read, I do believe that the Aura HDs are inherently more prone to screen damage than other mainstream ereaders and that Kobo has worse customer service policies.

[randomzombie]

Funny, just returning to this site for related reasons.
Jumped ship a while ago from Kindle to the Aura HD, which I liked for the larger screen and improved resolution.
It *does* squeak and feel flimsy, more now than it did initially.

Anyway, I was at the store today, unaware of the PW2015 unit's existence. Held it in my hands and was reminded of the comparatively super-solid feel of the modern Kindles. That in addition to the fact that the resolution has much improved (I like reading a small font, so that matters) now has me wanting to jump ship back to Kindle.

I was also reminded of how much I dislike the straight lines of the screen placement in the Aura HD unit - much prefer the bezel of the Kindle.

Will also add that my Aura HD flickers at various light levels below 30, thus aggravating my night reading.

Hate to take over/sidetrack the thread, but outside the larger screen, is there any reason to chose the H20 over the PW2015? Yet to see the former in stores, but I imagine its feel is much the same? Can't quite make out what's going on with the H20 screen edges, even from hi-res pics? My forum search didn't turn up a PW2015 vs H20 thread - did I overlook one somehow?

But yeah - Aura HD squeak = progressing dislike (for me). I read my e-readers without a cover or case (just a sleeve!), and as a somewhat tactile person, the actual build "quality" is less an issue than the way the device feels in my hands...

ETA: wha - the PW2015 is unjailbreakable? ugh.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by randomzombie

Hate to take over/sidetrack the thread, but outside the larger screen, is there any reason to chose the H20 over the PW2015?

The waterproofing, openness/tweakability, library borrowing outside of the USA, the kobo firmware if it has things you value - fine control of display/fonts, sideloading of fonts, Calibre-managed collections?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by meeera

The waterproofing, openness/tweakability, library borrowing outside of the USA, the kobo firmware if it has things you value - fine control of display/fonts, sideloading of fonts, Calibre-managed collections?

Don't forget the larger screen. 6.8" may not seem like that big a difference to 6", but it is noticeable.

[Desdinova]

Originally Posted by meeera

The waterproofing, openness/tweakability, library borrowing outside of the USA, the kobo firmware if it has things you value - fine control of display/fonts, sideloading of fonts, Calibre-managed collections?

The Calibre collections is a big thing for me, Its just something that seems so natural to storing large amounts of books..

It seems weird that Amazon, who pride themselves on doing books right, make this so bloody difficult on the Kindles. It made me sell my 7th Gen Touch to buy my Aura.

[doubleshuffle]

My Aura HD has never squeaked a single squeak. It's been sitting in its sleep cover all the time though.

[doubleshuffle]

Nice necropost. Great occasion for an update: My Aura HD still hasn't squeaked a single squeak.