Aura NEW Kobo Aura Impressions Thread!

[canuck100]

Received as gift (purchased from Chapters) a week ago. Love it so far.

In super bright sunlight yes there is a extremely faint pattern of slanted lines at the top inch (scant) of the screen but only visible at an odd angle that I would not normally use for reading. Doesn't bother me at all.

With light at 100% in pitch darkness there is no light leakage at all visible at the edge of the frame.

I had a wifi problem after a few days use. I did a factory reset this AM and the wifi problem seems to have gone. Hope it does not recur as I have many downloads from gutenberg.org that do not sync with the reset. If I reset again I'll have to remember to back these up on my computer first.

Love Pocket - so nice to read on line articles in this format.

I regularly borrow eBooks from my library to read on iPad4. Very pleasant to read these on eReader instead.

Also used Calibre to convert some large pdf files to epub. Again really appreciate reading big articles on the Kobo.

So all in all I'm a happy camper.

[Solicitous]

I see JBHiFi for us Aussies have the Aura (only Pink online) for sale now at $188. Pity I don't have a JB store nearby to go and have a look at one.

[kingjain]

I've had my Aura for about 2 weeks now (shipped from Canada to the US). So far, everything has been perfect and I couldn't be more satisfied.

[thomasn75]

Me too. I just realised that i read an 80 page chapter with no page refresh and i was not disturbed by any ghosting. Great

[paola]

the Aura in pink is now for sale in the UK
http://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/ko...oduct/36861613

[Nightyume]

Okay, some impressions:

Love it. The "brushed" pattern on the top of the screen is present but only annoying when looking at the screen at odd angles.

I find the contrast more or less the same as my old, and now dead, Glo. The screen doesn't look as "printed on" as the Glo. There is a sense of depth to the screen (you can even see the bezel's shadow at the edges) but you get used to it quickly and since it's still e-ink it is a thousand or more times better than any LCD screen for reading black and white or grayscale text/images.

The screen is plastic which makes it more susceptible to scratches. Mine is already presenting some (I carry it with me all around the city, on the bus, street, cabs, in bed, etc. so it's has major exposure) so I have to be more careful with it. I have bought a case online now I hope it gets here quickly and fits well.

The new screen refresh tech is funky. It doesn't do the whole refresh thing but it does refresh like every other pixel. The transition makes it look like a ben day image for a second and is very reminiscent of cloth. I have gotten used to it now and like it but at first it made it seem "softer" somehow.

It is MUCH faster than the Glo (I think mine was on 2.8.x when it died but can't remember with any certainty) despite the same processor (incl. speed). I assume this has something to do with the 1GB of RAM. They never said how much RAM the Glo had but as they did highlight the amount on the Aura I am assuming it is more. Books load faster, pages turn faster, I can go back to home faster, the dictionary works faster, everything is faster. Well, maybe the connect to WiFi isn't but I think that's more of an energy saving feature.

Highlighting works better as does text selection. Still not perfect by any means but definitely better.

The screen is also much more precise thanks to the capacitive tech.

The illumination on mine is almost perfect. My only complaint is that the lowest setting can flicker, pulsing between two intensities. If I turn up the brightness and then lower it to the minimum again it can fix this but doesn't always. I don't mind because I get the impression that to truly avoid this they would have to make the minimum brightness setting higher and I don't want that. The truly lowest setting is perfect for reading in bed in total darkness while on the Glo it was a bit too bright to be truly comfortable. That of course means that the lowest setting is not good enough for reading on the street at night since you hold it farther from your face and have a bit more ambient light, enough to "diffuse" that coming from the reader. But this is why you can turn up the brightness and then read perfectly comfortably on the street at night (as long as you're in a safe neighborhood).

The new edges do remind me of holding a paperback book (the ones that I didn't care about or were old and worn and so I curved the cover back) but only if I hold it so my fingertips rest along the edge. I normally don't hold it that way... :/

I like the new power button. I originally thought I wouldn't because of how the red breaks up the black and how it looked in pictures but in person it's nice, it's easy to hold and move and has an organge semi-metallic sheen when the light hits it just right. The LED to show the device is turning on is now located beneath the powerbutton, lighting up the depressed rhombus that allows it to slide. This makes it easy to see when looking at it without the "harshness" of an LED when it shines directly in your eye. Personally I wish the light button were closer to the power button but that's because of how my fingers naturally rest when holding it in one hand (it would make it easier to press for me).

As the screen is plastic it feels good ("papery") and looks good with comparable glare to other ereaders but as I mentioned before is susceptible to scratches especially if anything lays on top of it or is placed face down there's a good chance it's making contact with the screen (the casing is higher than the screen, technically providing protection, but it's higher by but a fraction of a millimetre). The scratches, based on your usage, could vary between fine lines barely visible at the right angle to gouges. I definitely recommend some sort of protection (I have bought one from AliExpress, mentioned in the case threads, since buying the Kobo one would require too many hoops and would be too costly due to my location).

But in summary, I LOVE having an ereader again and I love the Aura in and of itself despite its shortcomings.

P.S. I had the same problem as Canuck100 but I didn't need to reset to fix that problem. I just erased the WiFi access point from memory and then added it again and then it seemed to work. Although I did do a factory reset but I honestly can't remember why.

One more note of a bug. On the epub I am currently reading (converted from Kindle format) if I highlight incorrectly and then try repeatedly to "fix" the highlight it will sometimes glitch still selecting text despite the selected text menus disappearing. Apparently as a result the bottom part of the text is cut off and requires a reset (soft, as in turn off and then turn on) to work properly again. It's a small glitch and easy to live with as it has a relatively painless workaround (thanks to faster boot and load times.)

[Nightyume]

Oh, and for the record though not directly related to the Aura. I like minor ghosting. It reminds me of printed books and seeing the shadow of the text from the other side. But like I said MINOR ghosting. Anything more and it becomes bothersome.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Nightyume

One more note of a bug. On the epub I am currently reading (converted from Kindle format) if I highlight incorrectly and then try repeatedly to "fix" the highlight it will sometimes glitch still selecting text despite the selected text menus disappearing. Apparently as a result the bottom part of the text is cut off and requires a reset (soft, as in turn off and then turn on) to work properly again. It's a small glitch and easy to live with as it has a relatively painless workaround (thanks to faster boot and load times.)

I have seen that with 2.9.0 on my Glo. Putting the Glo to sleep will clear the highlight. And closing and opening the book should fix the missing text.

Originally Posted by Nightyume

Oh, and for the record though not directly related to the Aura. I like minor ghosting. It reminds me of printed books and seeing the shadow of the text from the other side. But like I said MINOR ghosting. Anything more and it becomes bothersome.

That's been my feeling as well. To much gets harder to read, but when it is completely clean, it seems wrong.

[Crhis]

Is anyone using a Micro SD card with their Aura? I was looking on Amazon and found this Sandisk Ultra 32GB Class 10 Micro SD Card but wasn't sure if it was compatible with it being an 'SDHC' card.

In general though are you finding the expanded memory worthwhile? Any slowdown compared to the internal memory or other weird issues?

[Nightyume]

Originally Posted by Crhis

Is anyone using a Micro SD card with their Aura? I was looking on Amazon and found this Sandisk Ultra 32GB Class 10 Micro SD Card but wasn't sure if it was compatible with it being an 'SDHC' card.

In general though are you finding the expanded memory worthwhile? Any slowdown compared to the internal memory or other weird issues?

That shouldn't be a problem. All (micro)SD cards above 4GB are SDHC or SDXC (SDXC is for 64GB and above so you don't have to worry about that either for the Aura).

In other words it was designed specifically with microSD in mind.

Edit: Hey! I just realized this is my hundredth post

[samhy]

When I look at the pictures I can't seem to see the same pattern on a pink Aura as on the black's back.

Has anyone seen/hold a pink Aura? Does it feel the same as a black one?
That might be a weird question, but somehow from the pictures it reminds me of the Aura HD.

[Lennier]

Feeling the need to share my disillusionment with the Kobo Aura. I purchased one from WHSmiths about a month ago. I'd been a bit dimissive of ebooks but I was finding some of the books I wanted to read weren't available in book form and I was taken with the way the Kobo Aura looked and operated. It seemed much smoother than the other Kobos on display and I didn't want to get tied into only purchasing books from Amazon. So I took the plunge and bought one. As soon as I tested the light I was struck by the pin pricks of light - several of them - which were dotted about the screen. Seemed odd and after a bit of online research I found a few references to this problem.

I took it back the following day and was offered an exchange without any problems and they allowed me to check out the new one there and then (turning on the light). It seemed fine. Took it home and tried it again and this time noticed the pin pricks. Only a few this time and they were near the bottom of the screen and unless you set the light to its fullest setting and viewed the screen from certain angles (angles that you couldn't possibly read from!) it was fine. I was prepared to live with it but decided I'd go back to Smiths out of curiosity and ask if anyone else had had this issue. The branch manager happened to be at Kobo desk and I explained the dots, showed him the device and he looked me as if I was a bit odd. He'd never heard of such a thing and couldn't see any such spots of light but if I wanted to exchange it I had a month to do so. Feeling a bit embarrassed I said I was fine with the model I had. And that was that for a couple of weeks. I wasn't going to obsess with the light issue, I was fine with it. I even went back a week or two later and purchased a sleep cover, several books and considered myself a convert.

Then a week ago I was reading my Kobo Aura by lamp light and I was aware of what appeared to be scratches across the top of the screen. It was odd, but I'd never noticed them before but once I noticed them I kept noticing them. I'd never cleaned the screen before and no amount of cleaning with a microfibre cloth would shift them. So convinced was I that they'd never been there before that I wondered if it was the colder weather that had somehow affected the screen (bizarre theory I know).

Spent a day searching online and found mention of this pattern of scratches on an online review and then discovered this forum thread. It was a relief to find I wasn't the only one and I wasn't some mad compulsive returner of Kobo Auras. Having emailed Kobo (sending them a few photos and a link to the online review) they emailed me back to say that it appeared to be a fault and that it may need to be returned/exchanged and I should take it in to WHSmiths. Feeling better but vaguely apprehensive I went to Smiths yesterday, complete with the printout of Kobo's email. The chap manning the Kobo store looked at the email, had a look at the Kobo (naturally the scratches didn't show up under their florescent lights) and said that it could either be sent back to Kobo to take a look at it or exchanged for a new one (if the manager agreed as it was a day or two over their 1 month returns policy). To be fair the manager was fine with an exchange so I took my new Kobo Aura home. Apprehensively I turned on the light first and noticed a pin prick of light near the centre of the screen (and noticeable at a sensible reading angle). The held the screen in lamp light and sun light and yes - there were the scratches on the top part of the screen and more so than my last Kobo. So I'd swapped by last device for one that was even more distracting than the first.

Took it back this morning having decided I'd had enough of it. Perhaps I'd wait a few months and see if they sorted the screen issues and try again. I explained to the girl at the main set of tills that I wanted a refund (as the chap that had served me the previous day had said I could). The manager was called and took me to their Kobo counter where a few potential customers were loitering and when I started to explain the issue I'd had (3 Kobo readers, pin pricks, scratched screens), that there was a whole forum thread dedicated to the issue he cut me off, telling me (and I presume the potential Kobo customers behind me) that he'd sold several of them and nobody else had returned them or reported such issues and that he'd give me a refund as clearly Kobo ereaders were not the thing for me. He wanted shot of me as fast as possible.

Now I can understand that making my way through 3 of their Kobo Aura stock and invalidating them would not make me all that popular. However, I don't think I was being overly finicky to expect a £119 product to be free of such issues. I take some consolation in the fact that there are others here who had the same screen problems as myself and that I wasn't some time wasting nutter who was imaging such things (as I felt in Smiths). Not sure I'll be going into Smiths for anything any time soon.

Its a shame as I really liked the Aura.

[speakingtohe]

@Lennier
I would suggest getting a Kobo mini in the interim
Very easy to read on despite the small size and quite a bit cheaper usually.
No common hardware issues that I am aware of.

Helen

[Chocky]

Hi Lennier,

Yep, had the same response from both Smiths and Kobo.

Currently got an open issue with Kobo asking if these "scratches" are a fault or whether I have just been unlucky with the several I have had/checked.

All I wanted to know was if it was worth my time trying to find a good one.

Strange, but they have stopped answering me

It's been over a month from my original email.

[soulfuldog]

Sadly it seems pretty typical Lennier, but at least you got your money back ok. I don't think any of the lighted ereaders are perfect, although if you can get one without any issues, I think the Kobo Aura HD and the Kindle Paperwhite 2 are the best options - the PW suffers from just the same issues as the Aura in terms of pinholes though, it seems a complete lottery to try and get a 'good' one.

I personally don't want the bigger screen size of the Aura HD, so the choice for me is going to between the Aura and the Paperwhite. When I went into WH Smith I wasn't very confident of being able to return the Aura, the staff I spoke to made it clear they had to have valid reason to return them to Kobo, so if I bought it and it didn't have an obvious fault, I wouldn't be able to get my money back - and like the staff you spoke to, they said they had no knowledge of scratches, pinholes, or the issue that I can see in any demo model I've looked at, a bright band along the top of the screen.

So I've decided buying online is my best option because that way I should be covered under distance selling regulations to get a refund if I return it within 30 days. I don't want to have to battle to get a refund if I personally can see faults in the screen, even if the seller can't. It's my money! The fact that Kobo don't have a great customer service record means I am going to have to give the Aura a miss, and I will try buying the Paperwhite via Amazon. If I don't get success with it, I'll just wait for now, and see if these "issues" are ironed out sometime early next year.

That seems like the best option for you, wait a while and hopefully by February/March the quality control will have improved and you will have more chance of getting a good unit.

Edited to add: Your other option is to not bother with a lighted ereader, as they don't have the same issues. Did you have a look at the Kobo Mini when you were in WH Smith? If you don't like the smaller screen size, the Kobo Touch, or the basic Kindle (you can easily learn how to remove DRM and convert from epub to mobi and vice versa so you are not 'tied' to buying from Amazon). If the smaller screen isn't a problem, most people are very happy with the Kobo Mini.