Libra Kobo Libra H2O - first reviews

[French2001]

Originally Posted by DNSB

A bit weird since my Kobo ereaders including my Forma work happily with MacOSX Catalina. See attached image. I'd be more likely to suspect the USB cable or port. Kobo's ereaders do have some issues with connecting to USB3/USBC ports. I find a USB 2 port replicator is a handy gadget to keep around.

I'm not going to deviate from the theme here (I have a thread about my problem), but my Kobo Glo HD is maybe too old for Catalina, because it's not appearing on Catalina but on High Sierra its fine.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by French2001

I'm not going to deviate from the theme here (I have a thread about my problem), but my Kobo Glo HD is maybe too old for Catalina, because it's not appearing on Catalina but on High Sierra its fine.

For me, my Mini and Touch mount and appear on Catalina's desktop. Sorry but I still think it is more likely a hardware issue than a software issue unless you are dual-booting between High Sierra and Catalina on the same hardware.

[French2001]

I think the libra is the best alternative to Oasis and Forma.
You have a big screen and physical buttons.
The only options it lacks are speech text, white text and black background, USB C, better Wikipedia integration like on the kindles, and a translator, that's it.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by French2001

I think the libra is the best alternative to Oasis...

Yes. I have both and I wouldn't say the Libra is worse than the Oasis, even though it's much cheaper. They're both very, very good readers.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Yes. I have both and I wouldn't say the Libra is worse than the Oasis, even though it's much cheaper. They're both very, very good readers.

I don't have an interest in either, but in your opinion, why is the Libra worse than the Oasis?

I haven't seen either in person, but to me the Oasis with the flat front and curved back seems like it would be more comfortable to hold than the Libra's flat back and angled front.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I don't have an interest in either, but in your opinion, why is the Libra worse than the Oasis?

?? I wrote "...I wouldn't say the Libra is worse than the Oasis."

I haven't seen either in person, but to me the Oasis with the flat front and curved back seems like it would be more comfortable to hold than the Libra's flat back and angled front.

I thought so too before getting the Libra, but actually the Libra is just as comfortable to hold, for me. The angle is very small. Of course it depends on how you hold your reader, people hold them in very different ways.

[JSWolf]

I do like my Surface Pro 2. It's my take on vacation computer. Eventually I'll get a new Surface. They are great. Blows away MacBooks.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

?? I wrote "...I wouldn't say the Libra is worse than the Oasis."

I missed the n't

[Cybrand]

Got my 5th unit today but very uneven lightning too! I'm returning this one too and stick with my old H2O, old but with very even lightning. I just don't get it why this is not possible with a device that is 6 years ahead of the H2O

[93terp]

I read for several hours last night on my Libra with the light turned up to ~ 20% brightness. Maybe it's just me, but the more I use the Libra the more I'm convinced that there's not a physical "band" of light along the button side of the unit, but rather it's a shadow. And the overall lighting is very even on my unit, not blotchy at all.

[Michal Jancik]

Originally Posted by Cybrand

Got my 5th unit today but very uneven lightning too! I'm returning this one too and stick with my old H2O, old but with very even lightning. I just don't get it why this is not possible with a device that is 6 years ahead of the H2O

I agree.

When reading in the evening, H2O is much more comfortable than with the LIBRA, which has the font seemingly flowing, it is not as clean as with the previous models. (the font in LIBRA could have been sharper)

I do not understand such praise of the new KOBO device compared to the previous model.
On the contrary, it seems to me that the quality of KOBO has decreased significantly.

For me, the previous H2o 2 edition model is also more welcoming.

- Despite the lower resolution, better contrast and sharpness of the font.
- The construction of KOBO_H2O (2 edition) has a significantly better construction than KOBO_LIBRA.
- Better and more even "SmarLight"

When I look at the KOBO device today, it is only 100% plastic.
In the time of KOBO_AURA_ONE, the construction of the body was much better, rubberized back, everything was connected with a screw not witch plastic clips as today.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

I agree.

When reading in the evening, H2O is much more comfortable than with the LIBRA, which has the font seemingly flowing, it is not as clean as with the previous models. (the font in LIBRA could have been sharper)

I do not understand such praise of the new KOBO device compared to the previous model.

No sharpness issues on my Libra compared to any of my other readers. But then I use the patches for constant sharpness and advanced font control, and installed some very good custom fonts.

[Michal Jancik]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

and installed some very good custom fonts.

Could you recommend one ?
So far, I use mostly "Georgia" and "ChsisSIL".

PS : I'll try PATCH to see if sharpness helps.

During the day it is not important, but I mostly honor the evening and my eyes are tired against H2O faster, IMHO precisely because of the weak sharpness of the font.

Even compared to Libra vs Clara, Clara has a bit better contrast and sharpness:
(In the photo, the difference is not so visible compared to reality

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

Could you recommend one ?
So far, I use mostly "Georgia" and "ChsisSIL".

PS : Try that PATCH to see if it improves a little sharpness.

During the day it is not important, but I mostly honor the evening and my eyes are tired against H2O faster, IMHO precisely because of the weak sharpness of the font.

I use mostly LexiaDama on my Libra. Have found it to be one of the sharpest and darkest (with added weight via advanced font control).

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

Could you recommend one ?
So far, I use mostly "Georgia" and "ChsisSIL".

Try ChareInk, available here: ChareInk v1.1.zip

There's also DejaVu Serif E-Ink. That's a nice, dark font, but I can't remember where I got it from and I didn't see it in the summary of modified fonts thread.