Aura ONE Kobo Aura One owners thread

[twenty5th_night]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

By the way, I have reported that I feel that I read faster on the KA1 than on the KPW1.

It seems to be 'officially' confirmed by both readers. I've been reading the same book on both of them. I read on the KPW1 in public transport, and on the KA1 at home (if I have time to read), until I get a cover for the KA1. Thus, I'm leapfrogging chapters, from one reader to the other.

When I now set them to the same chapter, these are the results:

At this point, the KPW1 says Time to Read, 6 hours, 12 minutes. (6.25 hours).
The Kobo Aura ONE says Time to Read, 5.2 hours.

I know the Kindle is spot on, as long as it isn't hit with the "From now on, I'll show you HALF the time you ACTUALLY need"-bug. Assuming that the KA1 is correct as well, that would mean that I'm reading 17% faster on the KA1.

Spoiler:

Setting the Kindle's 6.25 at 100%, would mean 5.2 hours on the KA1 is 100/6.25*5.2 = 83.2%, so that would be about 17% faster.

Do you think that you read faster because the larger screen = fewer page turns, or that the pages actually turn faster?
I'm definitely thinking about buying one this weekend when Best Buy officially gets some units, but page turn speed is something I'm sort of on the fence about with this reader.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by twenty5th_night

Do you think that you read faster because the larger screen = fewer page turns, or that the pages actually turn faster?
I'm definitely thinking about buying one this weekend when Best Buy officially gets some units, but page turn speed is something I'm sort of on the fence about with this reader.

It's not because of page turn speed or fewer page turns that I read faster, it's because the lines are longer. (But not so long that they're too long.) The only way I can describe it is like this.

===

Kindle, 6 inch.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur (stop)
adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor (stop)
incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. (stop)
Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud (stop)
exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip (stop)
ex ea commodo consequat.

Aura ONE, 7.8 inch

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequa. (stop)

===

If that makes sense Because the lines are much longer, I can 'read forward' much better: read something, and process it, while you read the next few words already. Thus I can continue on the next line, very often without breaking the flow of my reading. On the Kindle, that is much harder because the lines are short.

Compare sheet music. Think that your sheet music would look like this, with two bars per line on a very small page:

|o o o o | o o o o |
|o o o o | o o o o |
|o o o o | o o o o |
|o o o o | o o o o |

That would be very hard to play; at least, it would for me. There's no flow, you're going back and forth from left to right very rapidly. Now look at this:

|o o o o | o o o o |o o o o | o o o o |o o o o | o o o o |o o o o | o o o o |
|o o o o | o o o o |o o o o | o o o o |o o o o | o o o o |o o o o | o o o o |

That is much easier. It's actually the reason why some classical music is written in A4 landscape (think music with long runs, for example, such as up and down scales), and not in A4 portrait. It puts the same number of notes on one page, but the lines are MUCH longer with fewer breaks.

An Aura ONE in landscape would be too wide though. For my chosen font size, the KA1 is about the perfect size.

[cine1952]

The usb connection (at the bottom of the Aura One) does not have a small "cover" to protect it from water!

I am missing something?
How can the Aura One be water resistant with this wide open connection?

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by cine1952

The usb connection (at the bottom of the Aura One) does not have a small "cover" to protect it from water!

I am missing something?
How can the Aura One be water resistant with this wide open connection?

All the electronics inside is coated in a water resistant substance. Even if water gets into the device, it won't be a problem. At least, that's what Kobo claims. I'm not going to put any reader into a bucket of water myself. I have no reason to.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by cine1952

The usb connection (at the bottom of the Aura One) does not have a small "cover" to protect it from water!

I am missing something?
How can the Aura One be water resistant with this wide open connection?

Unlike the Aura H2O which was environmentally sealed, the Aura One has an coating on the electronics which protects them from liquids. See HZO's web page at HZO for more information on their process.

[Ksquared]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

|o o o o | o o o o |
|o o o o | o o o o |
|o o o o | o o o o |
|o o o o | o o o o |

That would be very hard to play; at least, it would for me. There's no flow, you're going back and forth from left to right very rapidly. Now look at this:

|o o o o | o o o o |o o o o | o o o o |o o o o | o o o o |o o o o | o o o o |
|o o o o | o o o o |o o o o | o o o o |o o o o | o o o o |o o o o | o o o o |

That is much easier. It's actually the reason why some classical music is written in A4 landscape (think music with long runs, for example, such as up and down scales), and not in A4 portrait. It puts the same number of notes on one page, but the lines are MUCH longer with fewer breaks.

An Aura ONE in landscape would be too wide though. For my chosen font size, the KA1 is about the perfect size.

That is a very smart analogy. I play classical Horn (commonly the French Horn to the English speakers), and I know that phrasing can really be messed up when something is broken up over lines or pages, especially when sight reading. I've never considered how that would impact reading speed. Good thinking!

Now, I want an e-reader big enough for Orchestra music, with the ability to go back to the right location for repeats!

[alizarin]

Originally Posted by Ksquared

I want an e-reader big enough for Orchestra music, with the ability to go back to the right location for repeats!

Im not sure such a product exists, the one that comes closest is probably the Sony DPT-S1, if you can get past the sticker shock. It is about as wide as the KA1 is tall.

[gibletpie]

Originally Posted by Ksquared

Now, I want an e-reader big enough for Orchestra music, with the ability to go back to the right location for repeats!

https://www.engadget.com/2016/06/16/gvido-eink-reader/

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Ksquared

That is a very smart analogy. I play classical Horn (commonly the French Horn to the English speakers), and I know that phrasing can really be messed up when something is broken up over lines or pages, especially when sight reading. I've never considered how that would impact reading speed. Good thinking!

Thanks I came upon it because at the moemnt I'm experimenting with music layout while enlarging pieces to compensate for poor eyesight.

Off Topic:

Spoiler:

I've been getting into classical music on the piano lately. I started out on classical organ, decades ago (damn, I feel old now ), but switched to popular organ/keyboard later, and didn't touch classical music since then.

Because of my poor eyesight, I've been experimenting with enlargement, and putting enlarged music on one a4 just doesn't work. Therefore I now scan a piece, crop as much white space away as possible, and reprint it on a3.

I actually selected a (digital) piano in upright stand, because it has the music rest as close and low as possible; right above the keyboard. A music rest on top wouldn't work with an a3 page. Way too high up and too large.

On my stage piano, which has many buttons on the top face and thus needs the music stand to be behind it, I use a 40 inch TV and a mini-computer with a bluetooth foot pedal as a sheet music 'stand'...

Now, I want an e-reader big enough for Orchestra music, with the ability to go back to the right location for repeats!

Originally Posted by gibletpie

https://www.engadget.com/2016/06/16/gvido-eink-reader/

That looks like great piece of kit. Pity they don't have that in A3. Normal sheet music is too small for my eyesight.

[emilov]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

It's not because of page turn speed or fewer page turns that I read faster, it's because the lines are longer. (But not so long that they're too long.)

I was reluctant at first but now after finishing two books on my KA1 I fully agree with this statement. I didn't measure it but atm I'm above my usual average (and I don't spend more time reading compared to my kindle before).

In any case, this is great explanation and a big ass "plus one" for taking the time to measure this! Wouldn't it be cool to have a 10-12" reader displaying two columns of text? Afaik, the ipad can do that but it's not an eReader.

[booklover6]

That doesn't work for me, maybe if it was English? I tend to read blocks of text, so a longer line means my eyes have to move more, at least in your examples.

Originally Posted by Katsunami

It's not because of page turn speed or fewer page turns that I read faster, it's because the lines are longer. (But not so long that they're too long.) The only way I can describe it is like this.

===

Kindle, 6 inch.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur (stop)
adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor (stop)
incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. (stop)
Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud (stop)
exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip (stop)
ex ea commodo consequat.

Aura ONE, 7.8 inch

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequa. (stop)

===

If that makes sense Because the lines are much longer, I can 'read forward' much better: read something, and process it, while you read the next few words already. Thus I can continue on the next line, very often without breaking the flow of my reading. On the Kindle, that is much harder because the lines are short.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by booklover6

That doesn't work for me, maybe if it was English? I tend to read blocks of text, so a longer line means my eyes have to move more, at least in your examples.

It wasn't intended as a reading example, but only to show where the breaks would fall for me.

I don't read by moving my eyes. I move my entire head a bit to the right, while moving the e-reader to the left in an arc, and then the other way around. That's because I hold my reader very close (4-6 inches), as I read without glasses because of near-sightedness. Maybe I can make a drawing when I get home

[c123]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Unlike the Aura H2O which was environmentally sealed, the Aura One has an coating on the electronics which protects them from liquids. See HZO's web page at HZO for more information on their process.

The Tolino Vision 3 HD has the same (or very similar water proofing) from HZO. I came to tthe Tolino after having spent about a moth with the Kobo Aura H20, so it was quite a surprise to me too.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I don't read by moving my eyes. I move my entire head a bit to the right, while moving the e-reader to the left in an arc, and then the other way around.

Wow!

I know different people read in different ways. One word at a time people probably read slower than people who read groups of words at a time. It's interesting to hear about different styles.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Wow!

I know different people read in different ways. One word at a time people probably read slower than people who read groups of words at a time. It's interesting to hear about different styles.

I read groups of words at a time; on the KA1 about half a line. The KPW1 makes that more difficult because the lines are too short. That breaks the flow, compared to the KA1. Thus on the KPW1, I read much less words at a time.

I hold my reader so close (4-6 inch depending on the day), the line length appears to be very long. Moving my eyes across a line would mean that I'd need to go from extreme left to extreme right and back again. It would be extremely tiring for me to read like that.

I've added an attachment with a crude drawing.

Black: The reader
Blue: My head
Dark green: read a line
Light green: back to the beginning
Red: Reader pivot point

Don't think that I'm swiveling my head from left to right, 45 degrees in each direction, and waving the reader in the air like a fan. This is a very slight motion, which entails a movement of 1-2 centimeter to each side. The Kindle, obviously, needs an even smaller movement. This is also the reason why I wouldn't use a 9.7 inch reader: the lines would be too long. The KA1 is just about perfect.