Kindle Voyage vs Kobo Aura H2O

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Having owned and used both, they seem pretty similar to me; the Kindle doesn't seem noticeably faster. And both are way, way faster than the horribly time-consuming act of turning the page of a paper book.

There are certainly other reasons to prefer one over the other: you may prefer the larger screen of the H2O, or the better dictionaries of the Kindle, but speed? No.

Yes, the Kindle may have better dictionaries available, but I've been finding the US dictionary that comes with the Kobo to be plenty good enough for my needs. My needs are that most words I select have a definition.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by khalleron

The Kobo processes kepubs much faster than it does epubs, but then you have that header taking up a large chunk of space on the screen.

Switching back to epubs, I do notice the slower speed, but it's still faster than my old Sony T1, so it doesn't really bother me. The kepubs turned pages faster than my eyes could travel back to the top of the screen. Nothing needs to be any faster than that.

The T1 is no slouch in terms of speed. The only thing that's slow on the T1 is the long press needed for dictionary lookup.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The Kobo's dictionaries are extremely poor. They're probably OK for a child, or someone learning English as a foreign language, but for an adult with a good vocabulary who wants to know the meaning of obscure words, they're pretty much a waste of time.

I disagree.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

When I had my H2O, I had a very poor rate of success in looking up the meaning of words, whereas the Kindle gives good results virtually 100% of the time, so for me personally, I'm afraid the Kobo's dictionary was rather a waste of time.

But are you looking up UK words or UK spellings of words? That could be where things fail more then using US words with US spellings.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But are you looking up UK words or UK spellings of words? That could be where things fail more then using US words with US spellings.

That is why Kindle has both Oxford dictionaries - the UK and the US version. You can select one or the other.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

That is why Kindle has both Oxford dictionaries - the UK and the US version. You can select one or the other.

The T1 has a UK and a US dictionary that you can select. I'm not sure if the Kobo has the ability to have a US and a UK dictionary.

[jackie_w]

I think it's certainly true that Sony and Kindle have better built-in dictionaries than Kobo but it is possible to create custom dictionaries for the Kobo. I don't think it's a trivial process, though. There's a few threads about it in the Kobo Developer's sub-forum.

Over the last few years some members have posted their ready-made custom EN-EN dictionaries. Once created, loading them is a trivial drag-drop operation. By a simple cheat with filenames it's possible to have several different EN-EN loaded simultaneously which can then be accessed from the standard dictionary drop-down menu.

I'm a Brit and not an especially heavy user of the dictionary feature but I can't say I've noticed any particular problems looking up words on my Kobos. If I can't find it in one EN-EN it's usually in one of the others. I suppose it's going to depend on what kind of words you need to look up.

[dordale]

I have to say that I haven't had a problem with the Kobo dictionaries not having definitions for the words I look up. I think JS Wolf may be on to something--maybe the Kobo only has a US English dictionary and not a British English dictionary, which would be unfortunate.

That being said, the Kindles definitely are the winner when it comes to dictionaries offered. When I look up a word on the Kobo, the definition is usually only a few words where as on the Kindle has a much more complete definition.

[JSWolf]

Currently, what is the best English dictionary? Is it one of the custom ones or is it Kobo's own? I've found out that someone has converted the Kindle Oxford dictionary for Kobo. I have no idea how easy is is to convert.

Maybe someone can come up with a program to convert Kindle dictionaries. Then we could say that Kobo is as good as the Kindle for dictionaries.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by dordale

I have to say that I haven't had a problem with the Kobo dictionaries not having definitions for the words I look up. I think JS Wolf may be on to something--maybe the Kobo only has a US English dictionary and not a British English dictionary, which would be unfortunate.

That being said, the Kindles definitely are the winner when it comes to dictionaries offered. When I look up a word on the Kobo, the definition is usually only a few words where as on the Kindle has a much more complete definition.

I've not found a problem with the definitions. I've been able to understand what the word means.

I don't know if I am correct or not. I'll have to try reading a book that has some British words to see if they appear in the dictionary.

[meeera]

The Kobo dic is adequate for my needs. I'm currently reading a medieval historical, and it's had definitions for all of the words I've looked up. If it doesn't, or I need more information, I just hit the search button to search Wikipedia or Google.

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Currently, what is the best English dictionary? Is it one of the custom ones or is it Kobo's own? I've found out that someone has converted the Kindle Oxford dictionary for Kobo. I have no idea how easy is is to convert.

Maybe someone can come up with a program to convert Kindle dictionaries. Then we could say that Kobo is as good as the Kindle for dictionaries.

You do realize that there is also a copyright on dictionaries, right ? And that you cannot buy the Kindle dictionaries we are talking about, you need to have a Kindle to get them ?

Not only the Dictionaries themselves are far, far better on the Kindle, but in languages where word or verbs are being declined / conjugated (my personal experience is with German, Spanish, French and English) they always find the words/verbs I am looking for. The Kobo Dictionaries don't always, more often than I need.

If you only read in one language, you don't see it. But as soon as you read in more than one (I read in 4, and although my level is advanced or proficiency in 3 of them, I still use dictionaries once in a while, and a lot when I am reading research essays), this is evident.

But if you don't need the dictionaries, than H2O does a brilliant job. It is just that I would like you guys to be accurate in your descriptions when advising a newbie.

So, uppopn2, again. :

• Voyage is not hacked yet and might never be
• H2O and Voyage have the same glare level which is minimal if at all
• H2O allows for much customization, Voyage for very little
• H2O has a bigger screen
• Voyage has buttons and automatic lighting
• H2O has a flawless screen, Voyage can have colouring
• Voyage has a better resolution but you might see it or not depending on your sight
• H2O has a microSD slot
• Voyage is slightly quicker but you might see it or not depending on your sight
• Voyage handles footnotes and highliting better
• Voyage handles PDF better
• H2O reads ePubs
• H2O has Pocket integration
• You can send books to Voyage very easily
• Voyage has better dictionaries than H2O
• H2O is bigger and heavier than Voyage due to its bigger screen size

There you go.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The T1 has a UK and a US dictionary that you can select. I'm not sure if the Kobo has the ability to have a US and a UK dictionary.

I believe it has to do a lot with what aceflor said below about the index of the dictionary including more different word forms that link to the same entry. In my experience on the Kindle alternate spellings between US and UK are always found. Look up "favourite" in the US version will link to "favorite", vice versa in the UK version - each indicating the alternate spelling. The difference between both versions is more in the description when the meaning of the word can be different. Classic example is "trunk" and "boot". Just looked in each dictionary, and the US version will mention "luggage area in the back of a car" for "trunk" but not "boot", UK version only mentions it for the "boot" entry.

Originally Posted by aceflor

Not only the Dictionaries themselves are far, far better on the Kindle, but in languages where word or verbs are being declined / conjugated (my personal experience is with German, Spanish, French and English) they always find the words/verbs I am looking for. The Kobo Dictionaries don't always, more often than I need.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by uppon2

3. eschwartz mentioned that the PW2 and Kindle Touch are very hackable.. Excuse my ignorance, but at this point I can't seem to find a lot going on for the Voyage. If this is the case, what would be lacking as a "must have" Kindle device hack?

If hacking your device is important, there is indeed nothing to say for the Voyage ATM.

Personally, the only must-have hacks for me are the screensavers hack (current book's cover) and the collections manager hack (I hate managing collections on a six-inch screen, one book at a time).

Note: I believe the Kobos do both natively, although they don't do nested collections. (Neither does the Kindle post-fw5.4.0, one reason I love my KT.)

Most of the features I like about the Kindle are part of the stock firmware and Amazon infrastructure.

[cct1]

I read in only one language, and the Kobo dictionary is fine. What I wish it had more than a better dictionary is the Kindle's Vocabulary Builder.