Aura ONE Kobo Aura One owners thread

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by emilov

Ordered there yesterday and received it today, fantastic!

I am glad you had a good shopping experience.

Originally Posted by emilov

Now I have it as I want it, in all of its full-7.8"-screeny glory.

It is spectacular, isn't it? Like reading a book. I am not sure, I'll ever be able to love my 6" Aura again, which will live in my pocket from now on.

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by anacreon

... I am one of those (a minority???) who prefer header, footer, and some margin on the sides. I think any book, and more particularly poetry, looks better this way. I like that the increased real estate allows bigger margins - and longer lines.

I like the reading stats at the bottom too: so comfortable for deciding when to interrupt (before sleeping or whatever).

Ditto.

I like a book feel when I read a book. Weird this, I know

[Katsunami]

I've just counted the number of characters on one line.

A Google Search says this:

Search Results
“Anything from 45 to 75 characters is widely regarded as a satisfactory length of line for a single-column page set in a serifed text face in a text size. The 66-character line(counting both letters and spaces) is widely regarded as ideal. For multiple column work, a better average is 40 to 50 characters.”

With my current font size and type (Georgia), the KA1 displays 62 characters per line: that is close to perfect. To match the font size of the paperbacks I still have lying around, I would need to go one step smaller, and to match the font size in the Musashi hardcover which I used for text area comparison, I'd need to go two steps smaller, compared to the size I'm now using. Thus, it's easily possible to obtain a line 60-70 chars long on the KA1, without making the fonts smaller than those in a normal book; chances are, they're a bit bigger.

Therefore, I think the KA1 is as close to the ideal size e-reader as you can get at this time. A reader like the KA1 is still small enough to transport without too much hassle. 8 inch would be the perfect size for an e-reader: perfect line length, and still a big font size for people who would need or want it.

[MGlitch]

That's good to know, with my settings using Literata and the full screen patch I seem to get 66 characters per line. I could probably go a font size smaller, but as I'm at the ideal number I don't think that's needed.

[CatherineStewart]

Originally Posted by SCION

I still have the original one. Haven't received any instructions on what to do. They will probably get around to responding to my last inquiry (status of replacement) and provide that information.

Kobo is sending me me a replacement with a return package for my old one. So I won't be without a reader and I can inspect it first to make sure my replacement is not worse than the original.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

That's good to know, with my settings using Literata and the full screen patch I seem to get 66 characters per line. I could probably go a font size smaller, but as I'm at the ideal number I don't think that's needed.

GeoffR posted instructions regarding the patches. I'm going to install the "Font Freedom patch" and see what happens with one of my favorite fonts for printed paper: Deja Vu Sans (which is free). I'll also try Literata, and maybe I can scrounge up Bookerly somewhere as well. The Font Freedom patch is needed to be able to set font thickness; most fonts at their defaults are not heavy enough for e-ink.

The full screen bugs seem to be fixed by CSS, so I'll leave that as is.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

GeoffR posted instructions regarding the patches. I'm going to install the "Font Freedom patch" and see what happens with one of my favorite fonts for printed paper: Deja Vu Sans (which is free). I'll also try Literata, and maybe I can scrounge up Bookerly somewhere as well. The Font Freedom patch is needed to be able to set font thickness; most fonts at their defaults are not heavy enough for e-ink.

The full screen bugs seem to be fixed by CSS, so I'll leave that as is.

I've tried Bookerly, wasn't very impressed. It's a pretty font, but I found the distinctiveness of italics in Literata to be preferable. I may give Bookerly another shot on the KA1.

I know you're adverse to patching, but you may want to look at the margin patches. They run independent of the full screen tweak. I'm not sure if Geoff or one of the others mentioned them to you. Though I suspect you could add more to the CSS to get the result.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

I know you're adverse to patching, but you may want to look at the margin patches. They run independent of the full screen tweak. I'm not sure if Geoff or one of the others mentioned them to you. Though I suspect you could add more to the CSS to get the result.

Normally I don't really mind patching or modding, if software is finished. The Kobo firmware isn't: that means that patches often need to be ported from version to version. If the maintainer doesn't have the time or even quits, I'd be either stuck with an old firmware and miss out on new functions, or have to ditch a patch I became dependent on.

At this time, the margins are perfect; the top/bottom margins were already OK on the lowest setting, and the full screen bugfix in CSS added two small 0.2em margins to the left and right. Now the margins on the lowest setting are perfect for me. I want my text to be about one character from the edge, and now it is

[emilov]

Minor update:
- battery lost 3% in sleep mode in about 5h, wifi off, autosync off. This is ok, I don't seem to be affected by the battery drain issue (which is caused by a bug in the autosync: it tries to sync continuously even with wifi off. The fix is to disable that sync manually in the config file. You can do it in the UI but due to another bug the checkbox just gets reset back to "on" after you leave the page.)

- comfort light: suhweeet! In auto mode it adjusts nicely and the screen is very warm now at 9:16pm in a dark room which gives me a nice fuzzy feeling (Oh gawd, the subjectiveness of this statement!).

- new font recommendation: I used to love Bookerly on my PW2 and thought that it would be my font on the KA1 too. It is still great but thanks to JSWolf I now have new favourite: Charis SIL Modified Larger. It adds a whole new level of readability for me.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by emilov

- comfort light: suhweeet! In auto mode it adjusts nicely and the screen is very warm now at 9:16pm in a dark room which gives me a nice fuzzy feeling (Oh gawd, the subjectiveness of this statement!).

I've set this setting to +/- 60% (warm white), with auto off. I find that if I leave auto on, the screen becomes too orange. When reading and not looking straight exactly at the screen, it gets a milky, orange cast. I don't like that look and it impedes reading for me. (The KPW1 always has a milky cast, but in blue, if there isn't enough ambient light. The KA1 has this problem much less.)

- new font recommendation: I used to love Bookerly on my PW2 and thought that it would be my font on the KA1 too. It is still great but thanks to JSWolf I now have new favourite: Charis SIL Modified Larger. It adds a whole new level of readability for me.

I've first patched the KA1 with the "Font Freedom" patch, but I have removed it again. I've tested the fonts I liked in the past or thought I'd like now, but they didn't work out:

- Deja Vu Sans (I liked a somewhat heavier version on the Kindle): It's too jaggy on the KA1. It's also too wide: it only provides 54 characters per line, where Georgia provides 62/63.
- Literata: Linespacing too high. At the same font size as Georgia, it only provides 28 lines of text, compared to 34 for Georgia (and I don't have any problems with the small line hight Georgia uses).
- Palatino: It's the font I use on the Kindle, but for some reason, it looks weird on the KA1. I didn't use the Kindle version; I scrounged it from one of the many font sites. Maybe that version was not fit for high dpi screens.

I've unpatched the reader, and returned to Georgia. As the full screen bugs are fixed by CSS, I think I'll leave it at that.

[SCION]

Was desperate to get rid of the fullscreen bug. I'm not sideloading any books. Took a chance and installed the firmware patch. Now I'm really enjoying this device. Thanks to all who keep the updates going and provide clear instructions every step of the way!

[slayda]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

Ditto.

I like a book feel when I read a book. Weird this, I know

We want a book just like our father's book, only better.

That's a takeoff on a local barbershop commercial. "------- is just like your father's barbershop, only better." Being a literal minded person (an engineer of course), I always chuckle when I hear it. It's kinda like saying "A = B except it's bigger."


Personally I like my ebooks to look as much like I want them to as possible. Maybe just my father's books but maybe totally differently. That's the beauty of ereaders. IMHO

[Mikeyboards]

Originally Posted by slayda

Being a literal minded person (an engineer of course), I always chuckle when I hear it. It's kinda like saying "A = B except it's bigger."

Personally I like my ebooks to look as much like I want them to as possible. Maybe just my father's books but maybe totally differently. That's the beauty of ereaders. IMHO

Thanks, I needed those laffs at the end of my workday

[Mikeyboards]

Originally Posted by emilov

...but thanks to JSWolf I now have new favourite: Charis SIL Modified Larger. It adds a whole new level of readability for me.

Yes! I always use that font, too; great for standing out on the page (er... screen) and is for me a good size for reading in bed without my glasses, before nodding off.

BTW, I've not heard anyone mention how bringing up a definition for a word always results in a much smaller font (compared to the size I tend to use) in the definition. I had faint hopes that this would change with the KA1, but find that the definition font still never matches the size of the font I'm using. It makes me hesitate to request a definition, as it means I'll have to strain (or put on glasses) to read it. Has anyone heard of a patch for that?

[Terisa de morgan]

I think there were some patches for bad eyes or so which did exactly this, but I don't know the status.