Why do you like the Kobo Aura One?

[Pajamaman]

Without wishing to be provocative, but I don't see much point in it.

The biggest use I could see is as a pdf reader, but apparently the pdf reading software is poor. Perhaps you use Koreader? Is that why you like it?

As a simple novel reading device, I don't see the point. 6" seems adequate and is easier to hold. I imagine the Aura One would be quite ungainly in bed at night!

So what's the point in it? I'm glad you like it, but I don't see why. Please enlighten me.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

As a simple novel reading device, I don't see the point. 6" seems adequate and is easier to hold. I imagine the Aura One would be quite ungainly in bed at night!

A 6 inch screen is adequate up to a certain font size, but the larger the font the less adequate it becomes.

I probably wouldn't go for a 7.8 inch screen myself yet, but having used a 6 inch ereader for a while I know a bigger screen would be better and my next ereader will probably be a 6.8 inch model. When I get older I might well go to 7.8 inch or larger.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

A 6 inch screen is adequate up to a certain font size, but the larger the font the less adequate it becomes.

I probably wouldn't go for a 7.8 inch screen myself yet, but having used a 6 inch ereader for a while I know a bigger screen would be better and my next ereader will probably be a 6.8 inch model. When I get older I might well go to 7.8 inch or larger.

I can see bigger fonts would help a smallish sector of readers, but I find it hard to believe that that is the reason most people buy it.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

I can see bigger fonts would help a smallish sector of readers, but I find it hard to believe that that is the reason most people buy it.

Bigger fonts with the same amount of text on the screen or keeping the font size the same and getting more text on the screen so fewer page flips. For my old eyes, the bigger fonts is great.

Waterproofing. I've seen too many devices toasted by water not to feel that waterproofing is a great idea.

Light weight. The KA1 weighs less than than the 6.8" Aura H2O.

Variable light temperature. Not something that bothers me but the XYL is much happier with the front light set to what I would call a very warm white when reading at night.

Overdrive integration. I like being able to checkout a library book and have it synced to my KA1 without having to download the ebook using ADE on a computer and then transferring it over an USB connection to my KA1.

Fonts. My KA1 lets me add/remove fonts very easily. No jailbreaking needed.

Standards. An item that may matter to very few people -- the Kobo devices use the open standard epub format in contrast to Amazon where the .mobi/AZW3/whatever other alphabet soup formats are proprietary and Amazon can and does modify them without any advance notice.

As for the size? While I might be considered as having larger hands, the XYL has fairly small hands and has no issues using the KA1 in bed at night (other than listening to grumbling about whose device is it anyways? ).

[JoOrwick]

Big screen, thin, light, adjustable light color, customizability, waterproof etc.
What's not to like? The biggest reason I upgraded from my old PW3 is the screen size. Sometimes I like to use larger fonts, but I don't like having 15 lines per page and 5 words per line.

[robko]

Most of the stuff others have said, but really for me, even though I read a fairly small font, I just like the bigger screen. One of the books I'm currently reading has margins that won't go below about 1cm space and I find that bothers me that I'm losing the space. I don't like it right to the edge, but this is just too big for my preferences. Ironically the top and bottom margin space that lots of people complain about don't bother me at all. I really notice the lack of size when I go back even to just the H2O.

[ballfresno]

I love the screen size. I do use mine to read technical documents in PDF by first converting them using k2pdfopt.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[JSWolf]

Here are some reasons people buy the KA1.

Larger screen at 7.8" and 300dpi using Carta eInk which is very good if you need larger text size
Comfortlight so you can adjust how warm the front light is
Overdrive integration
ePub
Better typesetting without the need for some other format as in kerning, ligatures, variable spaces between words, & hyphenation
More storage at 8gb
Ability to patch the system to do some things the way you want
No need to jailbreak
It's not Amazon
It's easier to get in the US and Canada than some other brands with a similar screen size
IPV6 waterproofing
Light weight
Very good Calibre integration
very good support on MR
Flush bezel because it's capacitive touch
You can use your choice of fonts

Is that enough to answer why the KA1 sells?

[anacreon]

Here is why I MUCH prefer the One:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...&postcount=181

The One does allow me to read PDFs I couldn't read otherwise, though it could do much better, but the main reason why I would find it difficult to go back to my Glo HD or even the H2O is that I find it much more pleasant to read a book with a decent "real estate".

It seems to me obviously better for poetry or any fiction or non-fiction with long sentences. Sure my preference might have something to do with my aging eyes - by the way pajamaman we retired old folks are not a "smallish" sector for the readers market: all the studies I've seen show that many young people read on phones or tablets or computers, and most don't read all that much, while retirees like me have time to read for hours and eyes that don't tolerate backlighting. And some of us love Kobos for the possibility to add our preferred fonts and play with their thickness.

For me love of litterature is also love of good typography, and you need space to make a good-looking book.

Before readers, I went from mass paperbacks to trade paperbacks for my favorite books, and even bound books for those special ones, just because they deserved good typography, and it made reading them again so much better. I belong to the re-readers. For those who read French, I recommend "Relire" by Laure Murat.

[graycyn]

Screen size!

6" has never been adequate for my taste. I started with a classic Nook WiFi with a 6" screen, but I always felt there was too much page turning and not enough text on the screen compared to a paper book. And my close vision was much better then!

Anyway, I had several dissatisfactions with the Nook besides screen size, so I moved to a Sony 950. That was better on the text front, since it has proportions similar to a paperback. However, I never had an official cover, and though I loved the Oberon cover I put it in, it was a bit bulky. Then front lights came out, and that was something I knew I'd like!

When Kobo went to the 6.8" Aura HD, I was totally on board! Front light AND a bigger screen! And better dpi! Which is something I absolutely notice! Plus the proportions were closer to a hardback book. I've read happily on the Kobo Aura HD for 3 years.

I've always been near-sighted and have had no trouble reading without glasses, but as I get older, my close vision is going south, to read comfortably, I need a slightly larger font. Paper books are not real comfortable for me to read these days, although I still can. Although the 6.8" screen of my Aura HD is adequate, a larger screen gives me more text on the page, fewer page turns and a more immersive experience. I love to read!

Other pluses are the comfort light, which I'm already loving and I also like the flush screen and ability to clean it with water and no worries.

Overdrive integration is a HUGE plus, because when you are retired and read 100+ books yearly, you USE your library access! Library use has been part of my life ever since I learned to read!

I should mention the vast majority of what I'll read on the Aura ONE will be epub. If I need to read PDF, I generally use a tablet. Most PDFs I need to view are things like hardware manuals, and I'm not reading for long, so it doesn't bother me.

Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

The biggest use I could see is as a pdf reader, but apparently the pdf reading software is poor. Perhaps you use Koreader? Is that why you like it?

NO, I read my PDFs on my tablet.

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

As a simple novel reading device, I don't see the point. 6" seems adequate and is easier to hold. I imagine the Aura One would be quite ungainly in bed at night!

I love the bigger screen, it makes my reading experience so much more like reading a book and not reading on a device.

I like that I don't have to turn pages so often.

I am either reading at home or if I'm out I carry a purse/handbag so pocketing it is not an issue for me.

The reader is very light and balanced, so it is easy for me to hold it and I always read lying either in bed or on the couch.

I don't know if the orange light real helps me sleep better but I like it a lot as I read with the lights out at night and the orange is softer and makes reading at night much more pleasant for me.

And why exactly would it be ungainly in bed at night? It is lighter than a paperback, so what makes you think so? And even if someone doesn't like to hold this size of reader or its weight, this doesn't make it a universal experience. Some do and som won't, like all things on earth. Maybe you should just go into a shop and try reading on one before you jump to conclusions about its ease of use, then you can decide if it is easy to hold for you or not.

[dmapr]

I'm basically in the same boat as graycyn, except I never had a 6" reader. Started with PRS-900, then 950, then Aura HD and now One. I definitely love the extra real estate on One, but the ppi increase going from Sony to Kobo was much more noticeable than from HD to One. I guess reading in the larger font makes it less pronounced, smaller font sizes do appear smoother on the One.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Bookworm_Girl]

There are three main reasons that I like the KA1 for novel reading.

1) The larger screen makes it more like a typical physical book size. I read on smaller fonts but like fewer page flips. Like others I loved my Sony 900 and 950. I have also had similar sized tablets (Nooks, Kindle Fires and iPad Minis). The iPad Mini is my favorite tablet for reading.

2) Overdrive integration.

3) Comfort light. I like the warmer tone at night compared to my Kindles which are cooler. I didn't think I would like the orange, but it's easy to get used to it.

[ballfresno]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

2) Overdrive integration.

Yes! I'd forgotten that this is new in the KA1. I have been using this a lot. Very nice.

Back to the OP:

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

The biggest use I could see is as a pdf reader, but apparently the pdf reading software is poor. Perhaps you use Koreader? Is that why you like it?

I already mentioned k2pdfopt. Do look at it. With the extra screen size on the KA1, PDF documents are now readable on the Kobo. For me, they were not on the smaller devices, even the Kobo Aura HD.

I am currently reading a 150 page thesis on the Kobo. With the PDF reformatted by k2pdfopt, I don't have to zoom or pan so the built-in PDF software on the Kobo is okay.

Koreader is another option, of course, but I found I prefer to stay with nickel.

[cerem0ny]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

but I don't see much point in it.

are you sure you're on the right forum???