Kindle Voyage vs Kobo Aura H2O

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

I'm experiencing the same frustration with the Aura HD. Since the touch sensor is IR, I tried using an old palm pilot stylus, but that did not work for end notes either.

If your epubs are DRM-free have you considered using the calibre Editor (or Sigil) to improve matters? I usually find that expanding the target area of the tap-able hyperlink text fixes the problem. It can be done by:
- editing the css to make the font-size of the links a bit bigger.
- if the tap text is only single character, e.g. '*', expand it to '[*]' with a bit of careful search & replace.
- even better, do both The links display as light grey on eink so they don't really interfere with the text flow for me.

It doesn't take me very long but I know some people don't want to bother editing their books.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Unfortunately it led to me selling my H2O. I'm doing a part-time degree in Egyptology, and a number of the books I need for the course are available as ebooks. They have numerous footnotes, and it was an exercise in frustration trying to read the footnotes on the H2O. I just don't have that problem at all on my Kindle.

Selection in kepubs does work faster. Why, I don't know. Maybe the code has been optimised as Kobo do have access to all of it rather than relying on the RMSDK for some things. But, it could be the bookmarking method. Kepubs need spans added with ids. They usually wrap each sentence, but can be larger or smaller. These are used for the bookmarking. It's possible getting that is quicker than calculating the location in the RMSDK method.

And links for footnotes work a lot better. The accuracy needed for selecting the link is a lot lower. I have tested this with the same book loaded as epub and kepub to see. I needed to increase the font size of the epub to open the footnotes, but the kepub worked at my usual reading size. Plus, footnotes will be displayed in a popup. This shows the first sentence or so with a button to go to the footnote. That makes reading books with lots of footnotes a lot easier.

[JSWolf]

It's not an issue of IR vs. capacitance. My T1 is IR and it works very well for footnotes/endnotes. I was reading a Discworld novel recently and I had no trouble going to and from the footnotes and this is using some version of Adobe's RMDSK.

If anything, it's a software issue.

[Dinosour23]

Quick question... If there's no definitive answer I'll just go by hunch....
Here goes: Which one is better for OCRed PDF's ? I love how my old Sony can reflow to different sizes, making each book comfortable to read.... Without having to use software like K2PDF for each book.

Is one of the above, H20/Voyage better than the other handling such a task ?

[gauchomigo]

Right now (ending Sunday) you can buy an Aura from Kobo for $99. My question is; Is the Kobo Aura HD worth the extra $70 it costs? I have the HD myself, but was looking to buy an Aura as a gift. I've never seen one. Any Aura owners wish to opine?

[ottdmk]

Depends, really. I love my Aura HD, so the money was worth it to me. I will say that you should spen $10 more and get an Aura H2O if you go for an HD screen. The Carta screen and IP67 certification is worth it.

[supermighty]

I currently have a Kindle Keyboard and am interested in the Voyage vs the H2O.

Even though I have the KK I do most of my reading on a Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4. I enjoy the Kindle but the Tab is so much faster to use. I love the idea of the Kindle as a single use device, just reading. As there are times when using the Tab I get distracted by apps, or I go down the web surfing rabbit hole.

I am heavily invested in the Kindle ecosystem, so I am partial to the Voyage, but there are features about the H20 that are compelling. Such as left justification, SD Card, the font varieties. I backup my Kindle purchases already, so I'm not adverse to sideloading.

I really like the high DPI of the Voyage, but I'm concerned that the Voyage's software has not seen improvements in organizing and reading quality. Srsly how hard is it to add left justification.

I don't at all mind reading on the Tab, it's got a great screen, but it would be nice to have something more immersive; where I would be distracted less by quick access to apps. A longer batter life would be nice too.

What are your experiences that are similar to mine?

[judith009]

Originally Posted by supermighty

I currently have a Kindle Keyboard and am interested in the Voyage vs the H2O.

Even though I have the KK I do most of my reading on a Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4. I enjoy the Kindle but the Tab is so much faster to use. I love the idea of the Kindle as a single use device, just reading. As there are times when using the Tab I get distracted by apps, or I go down the web surfing rabbit hole.

I am heavily invested in the Kindle ecosystem, so I am partial to the Voyage, but there are features about the H20 that are compelling. Such as left justification, SD Card, the font varieties. I backup my Kindle purchases already, so I'm not adverse to sideloading.

I really like the high DPI of the Voyage, but I'm concerned that the Voyage's software has not seen improvements in organizing and reading quality. Srsly how hard is it to add left justification.

I don't at all mind reading on the Tab, it's got a great screen, but it would be nice to have something more immersive; where I would be distracted less by quick access to apps. A longer batter life would be nice too.

What are your experiences that are similar to mine?

I was in the exact same situation as you: going from KK to either KV or H2O. I had both of the new ones at the same time, and I greatly preferred the H2O.

It's not that much of a hassle to leave the Kindle ecosystem if you already know how to sideload books. I don't have any regrets about it.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by judith009

I was in the exact same situation as you: going from KK to either KV or H2O. I had both of the new ones at the same time, and I greatly preferred the H2O.

It's not that much of a hassle to leave the Kindle ecosystem if you already know how to sideload books. I don't have any regrets about it.

I, on the other hand, made the opposite choice. I had both the H2O and the Voyage, and chose the Voyage, due to the very inaccurate touchscreen and poor dictionaries of the H2O.

[supermighty]

Thank you both.

The H2O sounds better on paper, but it would be nice to play with one in person. Unfortunately I can't; they don't sell them in stores in the US. I'm hesitant, especially because of the stories that Kobo has poor customer services.

I played with a Voyage and it was nice. Loved the high DPI. I've been waiting for a nice hi-rez eink device. Still, something makes me hesitant.

[sparklemotion]

Supermighty, my feeling is the same as Judith's. I would go for the H20. I did and I love it. I went with it due to having issues with the screen on the voyage, but it ended up being the best decision for me, not only for the great even screen, but the customization as well. I still buy kindle books, I just side load them.

[MikeyLNG]

I own a Voyage, and have had a bit of a play around with the H2O in a store.

My thoughts are that if the H2O were a bit more responsive, and if the dictionary were better (or you could easily load in your own dictionaries), I would easily hands down buy that. Those are literally the only 2 things that I are making me keep the Voyage.

There are many things I really like about the H2O, like the quick frontlight adjustment by sliding along the left edge, the size of the bezels (the Voyage is a little awkward to hold, especially one handed), the ability to have the cover of the book you're reading as the screensaver, the much more extensive font options (although to be honest I'm fine with the Voyage's, but option is always nice) and the ability to show "page x of x" for each chapter (which I really wish Amazon would implement in the Kindles).

As much as I'd like those though, the H2O definitely seemed to freeze a bit more and was generally less responsive, and everyone says Kobo's dictionary is nothing compared to Kindle's.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by MikeyLNG

There are many things I really like about the H2O, like the quick frontlight adjustment by sliding along the left edge

Little bit off topic, but did you know that you can adjust the brightness of the Kindle app on Android by two finger sliding up and down? Found that by accident - not sure if that is documented or not. :-)

[khalleron]

I've only had my H20 for a few days, but I've been reading on it extensively, and I have had no freezes at all, nor any problems with 'inaccurate touchscreen.' Its far more responsive than my old Sony T1 and just as accurate.

I bought mine from Chapters in order to avoid Kobo CS, because I've had problems with them on book purchases. It was the only con I had on the 'pro and con' side of buying the Kobo. It's a really nice machine and very customizable.

But of course, the most important thing about an ereader is the reading experience, and I have to say the Kobo is aces in that department. I just disappears as I'm reading.

[tencloudsx]

I can suggest you to get Kindle white paper it is the best