Kindle Paperwhite vs. Kobo Glo

[Liesse]

Thank you very much for the replies: they help a lot!

[vitor.fernandes]

Originally Posted by maxbookworm

I can at least answer the question about the touchscreen.

The Kobo Glo uses Infrared technology, which means you just need something to physically touch the screen (or get very close) in order to register the touch. Gloved hands would work fine.

The Paperwhite uses capacitive touch, which is like a Smartphone, so it will need bare fingers (or a stylus designed for capacitive screens) to work.

It's a shame the Kobo doesn't have capacity touch as it prevents accidental page turns. Still I will put up with it.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Zetmolm

If they only mean that there is no glass on top of the screen the Glo is no different from any other reader in that respect, so why use it as a selling point unless you want to mislead prospective customers? If they mean that there is no glass layer at all - we're talking about the new "flexible" screens.

The selling point is to distinguish themselves from tablets, which have glass screens and a lot of glare. There are still people buying e-readers who haven't had one before.

If Kobo were really using the "flexible" screens, they'd make more of it.

[Shurup]

I pre-ordered Kindle PW last night, most likely (like 99.9%) my GF is going to "steal" it from me as she reads books too.
Before I put an order, I was looking at the Kobo Glo, still looking at it as I might get another one.

At the moment I'm reading on my Samsung GS2 with a Kindle App and I have a lot of books on my phone purchased from Amazon, I like the simplicity of 1-click purchase and their selection. I checked kobo bookstore and they don't have many titles I own now, so I would like to stay with Amazon for book purchases.

Here's the simple question: is it possible to download Amazon books into Kobo reader without a computer and conversion? Just go to the bookstore, find a book, buy and download it straight to Kobo?

[JxK]

Originally Posted by Shurup

Here's the simple question: is it possible to download Amazon books into Kobo reader without a computer and conversion? Just go to the bookstore, find a book, buy and download it straight to Kobo?

Simple answer: No.

Not-so-simple answer: Amazon's books are in the .mobi format (or maybe it's kf8 now?) while the rest of the world uses epub. They aren't cross compatible without conversion. Typically, a reader that reads epub won't read mobi. Tablets are the exception, but you need different apps for each eco-system.

[Patient]

I'm also looking at Glo vs PW (as I get older I'm finding my PRS-505 just doesn't have the contrast and I have to put the light on earlier and earlier).

In fact i'm getting the kids readers for xmas so i'm in the market for three.

I'd really like to get the Glo. A reward for Kobo for bringing it to the UK and a punishment for Amazon for not doing so.

The only thing holding me back is a niggling suspicion that the Glo just won't have the polish of the PW. I'm going to wait until I can hold the Glo in my own hands and give it a go. I assume they'll be at WH Smith shortly.

[Zetmolm]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

The selling point is to distinguish themselves from tablets, which have glass screens and a lot of glare. There are still people buying e-readers who haven't had one before.

If Kobo were really using the "flexible" screens, they'd make more of it.

You're probably right that that is the explanation.

But I still think they're crossing the fine line of truthfulness.

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by Zetmolm

You're probably right that that is the explanation.

But I still think they're crossing the fine line of truthfulness.

Personally I think it's more of a language translation thing than truth and lies.

[Frankr]

Any idea which has a whiter screen, the Kindle PW or the Kobo Glo?

[Avwriter]

Originally Posted by Frankr

Any idea which has a whiter screen, the Kindle PW or the Kobo Glo?

I'm afraid you will have to wait until release to find that out. I have need seen any previews published that directly compare the two against each other.

[robko]

Originally Posted by Frankr

Any idea which has a whiter screen, the Kindle PW or the Kobo Glo?

Theoretically they have an identical Pearl e-ink screen, so barring slight manufacturing differences between batches (this could occur Kindle vs Kindle as much as Kindle vs Kobo) they should be the same. The question will probably be how the light diffusion "covering" over the base screen effects it and until a bunch are out and about in hands it's hard to say.

[Zetmolm]

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

Personally I think it's more of a language translation thing than truth and lies.

A bad translation job may very well be the cause, but Kobo cannot hide behind that. They are still not telling the truth.

[Barneyabz]

Hi all, like many here waiting to decide between paperwhite and glo. Currently on Kindle 3 wifi.

Leaning towards Glo as its here in UK and paperwhite isn't. Also something concerning me, and I am not sure if people have really picked up on this, is Kindle moving towards capacitive screens, means that you can't turn pages with gloves on (I know this was mentioned in a previous post but not many people have commented). This will really annoy me in the Winter months. Not sure what the advantage of capacitive is in this instance, I know that one reviewer that got a chance to play with both said one is not appreciably faster then the other. Against that though is the real dependability of the Kindle, found it a great piece of kit, not sure that Kobo is up to the same hardware and software standards. Really hate any software slowdowns or crashes. Also really interested to see how glo light compares to paperwhite, read that PW is more white whilst Glo is bluish white.

Oh well, guess we will have to wait for some side by side comparisons.

Cheers

Barney

[rlowe]

I still haven't got a chance to handle both of these two, but I found this article: http://www.techfragments.com/1632/ko...le-paperwhite/

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by robko

Theoretically they have an identical Pearl e-ink screen, so barring slight manufacturing differences between batches (this could occur Kindle vs Kindle as much as Kindle vs Kobo) they should be the same.

I don't believe they do. Amazon claim that the PW's screen has a 25% contrast improvement over a standard Pearl screen.