Aura Is there any reason NOT to buy a Kobo Aura One?

JawadLeLogeur · 06-19-2017, 10:41 AM

I'm 90% certain I will buy this model, but are there any problems I should know about? Apparently the screen quality can be uneven depending on the device you receive.

kndlewis · 06-19-2017, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JawadLeLogeur

Apparently the screen quality can be uneven depending on the device you receive.

This is true to some degree with nearly all devices.
With the natural light setting you can blend some off-white into the frontlight and vastly minimize any shading or off-color patches.

petercreasey · 06-19-2017, 11:33 AM

J, if you don't have some other device that you prefer to buy, then the KA1 is for you.

. . . . Pete

lensmann · 06-19-2017, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JawadLeLogeur

I'm 90% certain I will buy this model, but are there any problems I should know about? Apparently the screen quality can be uneven depending on the device you receive.

The main issues I can think of are:

Uneven quality control in relation to backlighting (however, this is no worse than other electronic devices, and you should be able to get a replacement if it is unbearably bad)
Slow with PDFs with complex layouts, and in general poorer PDF handling than Kindles.
(Relatively) poor performance on highlighting and annotations.
Firmware updates sometimes break things (although the most recent release is stable, and it is trivially easy to roll back to an older firmware)

There are many, many pluses to weigh against these - the large and beautifully sharp screen, the ability to set an orange hue to your light at night-time, the ability to sideload fonts, the ability to sideload books, Overdrive integration... and so on and on. I certainly haven't regretted my purchase one bit, even though I personally find the PDF and annotation issues quite irritating.

Stevex · 06-19-2017, 05:14 PM

Everything Lensmann says is exactly correct, but I would only add that highlighting and annotating have got steadily better with each firmware release and ot'snothing like as bad as it was say 6 months ago. Hopefully will continue to improve.

Braid · 06-19-2017, 05:47 PM

I also agree with what Lensmann wrote.

I keep my Kindle Voyage and/or my Kobo Aura H2O on me pretty much wherever I go. I keep my Aura One at home. Because it is so big and thin, and the screen is so big and flush, I think I would worry about carrying it around in my bag. For a reader to carry about with me everywhere, I think I would choose something else.

MGlitch · 06-19-2017, 07:08 PM

Honestly I carry my KA1 around with me wherever I go. I'm no more worried about it breaking than any other ereader or device I've had.

Question Mark · 06-19-2017, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lensmann

[*]Slow with PDFs with complex layouts, and in general poorer PDF handling than Kindles.

I agree that the PDF handling on the native Kobo software is very poor. That said, it is very easy to install Koreader which handles PDFs much better.

Reading a PDF on the large KA1 screen using Koreader is remarkably painless. And if I can install Koreader, then just about anyone should be able to do so.

(The other thing about Koreader is the ability to sideload a greater variety of readily available dictionaries.)

Question Mark · 06-19-2017, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Braid

I keep my Aura One at home. Because it is so big and thin, and the screen is so big and flush, I think I would worry about carrying it around in my bag. For a reader to carry about with me everywhere, I think I would choose something else.

Never have had any problems carrying my KA1 anywhere. It lives in its sleepcover and regularly gets thrown into any bag which I happen to be using. Never a problem.

davidfor · 06-19-2017, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Question Mark

I agree that the PDF handling on the native Kobo software is very poor. That said, it is very easy to install Koreader which handles PDFs much better.

Just a comment on this. As far as I can tell, there is no problem with the rendering of PDF by the Kobo devices. The page matches what I see when I open the PDF on my PC (minus the colour). The performance is a problem. There is no problem with simple text pages, but complicated pages can be slow. But, the real issue to me is navigation. If you need to zoom into the page, then turning the page is clumsy. And moving to another part of the page is also clumsy. But, I have a couple of books, including a train timetable, that are designed with a page size roughly the same as my Glo HD, and they work very well.

meeera · 06-19-2017, 11:05 PM

The reports and photos of green splotches have put me off - I'm sensitive to colour stuff like that. I'm waiting for the H2O2 to see if that's better. Either way, I'll be buying my next reader in a local B&M store and opening it to check colouration before leaving the store.

Silverty · 06-19-2017, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meeera

The reports and photos of green splotches have put me off - I'm sensitive to colour stuff like that. I'm waiting for the H2O2 to see if that's better. Either way, I'll be buying my next reader in a local B&M store and opening it to check colouration before leaving the store.

I was wondering about this too. The store models at Chapters were perfect and I have found my new H202 to be the same. It's positively orange and very even. I just checked now to make sure again. (Mostly to reassure myself lol).

graycyn · 06-20-2017, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Braid

I also agree with what Lensmann wrote.

I keep my Kindle Voyage and/or my Kobo Aura H2O on me pretty much wherever I go. I keep my Aura One at home. Because it is so big and thin, and the screen is so big and flush, I think I would worry about carrying it around in my bag. For a reader to carry about with me everywhere, I think I would choose something else.

My KA1 goes with me everywhere, I don't see any real problem as long as you have it in a cover.

Of course, there's always some risk, but readers can just as easily be dropped at home. In fact, the only times I've dropped devices, I've been home, LOL! Fortunately, no damage either time. Once was a Sony PRS-950, Once was my Nexus 6p phone.

Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk

JawadLeLogeur · 06-20-2017, 01:57 AM

Thank you all for your advice. I will buy this device

Quoth · 06-20-2017, 05:14 AM

No SD card slot. The only reason I would buy it (unless my eyes go bad) would be for PDF scans of very old technical material, datasheets, books, manuals etc from 1920s to 1960s. This takes a huge amount of storage. The eReader is pointless unless it can store the whole library.
This is why I switched from my Kindle DXG to Kobo Aura HD H2O (earlier version, i added a 32G micro SD card), but it's no good for old magazines and marginal for some books.

Also I would not buy ANY more Kobo products till they change their abusive Firmware update system and improve their abysmal customer support. The new home screen too makes my Kobo much less useful and the text exhortations to use Kobo store at the bottom is invasive and abusive as I bought a device with no such feature. I paid extra on Kindle devices to avoid adverts.

HW features and Firmare seems to be going backwards.

06-19-2017, 10:41 AM	#1
JawadLeLogeur Zealot Posts: 110 Karma: 7156 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Western Sahara Device: Kobo Forma 4.15.12920	Is there any reason NOT to buy a Kobo Aura One? I'm 90% certain I will buy this model, but are there any problems I should know about? Apparently the screen quality can be uneven depending on the device you receive.

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06-19-2017, 11:33 AM	#3
petercreasey Wizard Posts: 1,189 Karma: 1119516 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Sony: PRS 950 & T1, Kobo: Aura One & Forma	J, if you don't have some other device that you prefer to buy, then the KA1 is for you. . . . . Pete

06-19-2017, 05:14 PM	#5
Stevex Addict Posts: 228 Karma: 15318 Join Date: Nov 2015 Device: Kobo Glo HD	Everything Lensmann says is exactly correct, but I would only add that highlighting and annotating have got steadily better with each firmware release and ot'snothing like as bad as it was say 6 months ago. Hopefully will continue to improve.

06-19-2017, 05:47 PM	#6
Braid Groupie Posts: 184 Karma: 700000 Join Date: Dec 2016 Device: Kindle Oasis (2nd), Kobo Aura One, Kindle Voyage, Kobo H2O (1st)	I also agree with what Lensmann wrote. I keep my Kindle Voyage and/or my Kobo Aura H2O on me pretty much wherever I go. I keep my Aura One at home. Because it is so big and thin, and the screen is so big and flush, I think I would worry about carrying it around in my bag. For a reader to carry about with me everywhere, I think I would choose something else.

06-19-2017, 07:08 PM	#7
MGlitch Wizard Posts: 2,857 Karma: 22003124 Join Date: Aug 2014 Device: Kobo Forma, Kobo Sage, Kobo Libra 2	Honestly I carry my KA1 around with me wherever I go. I'm no more worried about it breaking than any other ereader or device I've had.

06-19-2017, 11:05 PM	#11
meeera Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,862 Karma: 68407974 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Libra 2, iPadMini4, iPad4, MBP; support other Kobo/Kindles	The reports and photos of green splotches have put me off - I'm sensitive to colour stuff like that. I'm waiting for the H2O2 to see if that's better. Either way, I'll be buying my next reader in a local B&M store and opening it to check colouration before leaving the store.

06-20-2017, 01:57 AM	#14
JawadLeLogeur Zealot Posts: 110 Karma: 7156 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Western Sahara Device: Kobo Forma 4.15.12920	Thank you all for your advice. I will buy this device

06-20-2017, 05:14 AM	#15
Quoth Still reading Posts: 15,004 Karma: 111111255 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	No SD card slot. The only reason I would buy it (unless my eyes go bad) would be for PDF scans of very old technical material, datasheets, books, manuals etc from 1920s to 1960s. This takes a huge amount of storage. The eReader is pointless unless it can store the whole library. This is why I switched from my Kindle DXG to Kobo Aura HD H2O (earlier version, i added a 32G micro SD card), but it's no good for old magazines and marginal for some books. Also I would not buy ANY more Kobo products till they change their abusive Firmware update system and improve their abysmal customer support. The new home screen too makes my Kobo much less useful and the text exhortations to use Kobo store at the bottom is invasive and abusive as I bought a device with no such feature. I paid extra on Kindle devices to avoid adverts. HW features and Firmare seems to be going backwards.