Mini A New Toy!

[milady133]

If you are new to Kobo and you like configuring every thing to your preferences I would recommend loading a few books at first and testing different configuration options. I think with a lot of books the special Calibre plugins to manage the library can be handy. One to automatically assign books to shelves, and another to backup your Kobo database so if it gets corrupted, you can restore a backup and get the majority of your books on their shelves.
The plugins may take some time to configure toyour liking, so that's why I recommend try ing first with a few books.
The pluging names are Kobo Touch Extended and Kobo Utilities.
Learn about the differences between epub and kepub format, so you can use the one you prefer

[freekobo]

I ordered a broken mini from ebay. cost me 99 cents, plus $10 shipping. it apparently flashes a black screen, then nothing. I am hoping replacing the sdcard fixes it

Update: Lucky me, it just needed a new SD card works great!

[Calenorn]

I got my Mini! Although it's a bit late for an 'unboxing,' I thought I'd share my first impressions, and also compare the Mini to my old standby NOOK Simple Touch.

For a while the only vendor selling these new in the US has been Family Christian Books. As the Mini has been discontinued by Kobo, and as Family Christian just declared bankruptcy, it was now or never!

I had to email Family Christian's customer service to get the tracking numbers. And when I got them they didn't work, but that may be the US Postal Service at fault. Anyway, it didn't matter, as I placed the order on Wednesday and got the Mini in Friday's mail! So, good job shipping by Family Christian Books.

The initial set up and updates went as advertised. Kobo does not demand a credit card number like B&N does, so the first point goes to the Mini.

The initial sync took a very long time, more than an hour! I think the reader was choking down all those polyglot dictionaries. (Which I just turned around and deleted anyway.) But eventually all seemed well.

As promised, the Mini sold by Family Christian downloaded THREE different versions of the Bible, but there were no other sample books. So, somehow the Kobo servers know which ereaders are sold by which vendor. THAT'S interesting.

The vaunted Kobo adjustable fonts seem to work fine, but side-loaded epubs will not allow any adjustment to the line spacing. This is rather annoying. A long paragraph displayed on such a small screen can easily become a mind-numbing solid wall of text.

Does anyone know why that happens? Is line spacing a privilege reserved for kepubs? Is there something in the css that prevents (or enables) this feature? Anyway, NOOK never had any trouble adjusting the line spacing, so one point goes to Barnes & Noble.

Kobo scores a point for the Beta features. Barnes & Noble really is very Grinch-like to prevent games and other features on their e-ink machines.

The Sketch Pad works OK, though I can't see using it much. I did discover that you can save other image files in the "drawings" directory, so you can stash a few family photos on your Mini to view later. The Simple Touch, however, does that nifty screen saver that turns your reader into a digital photo frame when resting. We'll call this one a wash.

One point to Mini for the chess game, which works well. VERY well. It crushed me both times, even on the "beginner" setting! I'm afraid to try "grandmaster," I just do not have a chess-style brain.

The Sudoku puzzle will get more use. Another point to Mini.

The web browser is, of course, problematical. I was able to download a book from Gutenberg, so that's one big point for Kobo over Barnes & Noble.

However, other internet uses are impractical. Even checking email is terribly tedious. Most commercial web pages are running so much video in the ads nowadays that the web browser will crash. I locked the Mini completely once already doing that, no screen response, no sleep by the slider. We had a very bad moment there but were able to wake it back up by plugging it into the PC. So, no more web browsing!

Side-loading books was easy. The Simple Touch's expandable memory gives it one point, but I don't think I'll try to put my entire library onto the mini. Especially if I have to modify each book to make the line spacing work out! Ugh!

The jury is still out as to whether my Mini's years-long wait on a store shelf has injured its battery. I had a charge indicated at 100% yesterday, but after I unplugged it the unit showed 90%. The WiFi really seems to draw the power down rapidly; far worse that the Simple Touch. But with WiFi off and reading normally I don't think battery life will be a problem.

So, all in all I am glad to have the Mini. It can do a few tricks the NOOK can't, and once I work out the formatting for comfortable line spacing and get a cover this reader will get a great deal of use.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

... but side-loaded epubs will not allow any adjustment to the line spacing. ...

Does anyone know why that happens? Is line spacing a privilege reserved for kepubs? Is there something in the css that prevents (or enables) this feature?

It's not reserved for kepubs, it's purely down to the internal css of each epub - specifically the existence of line-height: xxx in the 'wrong places' - a little css surgery will fix non-DRM'd epubs.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

The jury is still out as to whether my Mini's years-long wait on a store shelf has injured its battery. I had a charge indicated at 100% yesterday, but after I unplugged it the unit showed 90%. The WiFi really seems to draw the power down rapidly; far worse that the Simple Touch. But with WiFi off and reading normally I don't think battery life will be a problem.

Bear in mind the initial set-up and loading of books will use up more battery than normal. So if the battery runs down rather quickly initially, wait until you charge it up a second time and just read on it before you judge it's battery life.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

It's not reserved for kepubs, it's purely down to the internal css of each epub - specifically the existence of line-height: xxx in the 'wrong places' - a little css surgery will fix non-DRM'd epubs.

Thanks, Jackie! I will try that. Looks like I will have to scrub each book before putting it onto the Mini. Fortunately, I haven't added too many yet.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

Bear in mind the initial set-up and loading of books will use up more battery than normal. So if the battery runs down rather quickly initially, wait until you charge it up a second time and just read on it before you judge it's battery life.

Thanks, SFD! I hope that's the case with mine. That initial update / sync cycle DID take a long time. I'll keep an eye on it for the next few days.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

Thanks, Jackie! I will try that. Looks like I will have to scrub each book before putting it onto the Mini. Fortunately, I haven't added too many yet.

If you already use the Modify Epub calibre plugin you may be interested in this recent 'special version' discussed in post #897 onwards. It is a bit of a blunt instrument but it would mean you could bulk scrub your epubs.

[freekobo]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

....
As promised, the Mini sold by Family Christian downloaded THREE different versions of the Bible, but there were no other sample books. So, somehow the Kobo servers know which ereaders are sold by which vendor. THAT'S interesting.

Interesting indeed. Just out of curiosity, after plugging in your mini into your pc, what does your affiliate.conf say in the .kobo folder? (you can open it in notepad)

Originally Posted by Calenorn

....The vaunted Kobo adjustable fonts seem to work fine, but side-loaded epubs will not allow any adjustment to the line spacing. This is rather annoying. A long paragraph displayed on such a small screen can easily become a mind-numbing solid wall of text...
...

Patching the firmware (3.4.1) may make all epubs look better for you, see here

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=238175

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by freekobo

Interesting indeed. Just out of curiosity, after plugging in your mini into your pc, what does your affiliate.conf say in the .kobo folder? (you can open it in notepad)

Here's the file you asked about:

[General]affiliate=FamilyChristian

Is there anything in these files that should be deleted periodically? I know that the NOOK kept cover images even when the book had been deleted. This started to really hog memory after a while.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

Here's the file you asked about:

[General]affiliate=FamilyChristian

Is there anything in these files that should be deleted periodically? I know that the NOOK kept cover images even when the book had been deleted. This started to really hog memory after a while.

You can use davidfor's Kobo Utilities plugin with Calibre to clean up abandoned cover images among it's many other useful functions.

You can change the affiliate to any valid affiliate name such as KoboIndigo and BestBuyCa (currently a popular choice as it seems to be an early recipient of firmware updates), etc.