New Kobo Elipsa ereader

[Uncle Robin]

The G-ereader review does highlight the one thing that does excite me about this device, Kobo leading rather than following Amazon. This device may help raise Kobo's profile in the ereader market space, where "kindle" is basically the generic term for an ereader.

[Pajamaman]

https://www.slashgear.com/kobo-elips...vice-20673655/

[Uncle Robin]

Pretty lazy reporting at the end of that article:

. However, it’s unclear if the Elipsa can turn handwritten notes into digital notes

That exact feature is actually shown on video in one of Kobo's promo vids.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

https://www.slashgear.com/kobo-elips...vice-20673655/

It’s worth noting that while it has a similar feature set compared to the reMarkable 2, and a similar price, the reMarkable 2 doesn’t include the stylus or folio cover. That potentially makes the Elipsa more appealing than the computing offering. However, it’s unclear if the Elipsa can turn handwritten notes into digital notes.

And yet the video just above this paragraph shows handwritten text being converted to digital text.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

Plus it will just be way better at reading ePubs out of the box. I've only tried the Boox side but Neoreader is still way way far behind Kobo's. I also haven't found an app on Android that supports ePub features as well as Kobo does, works well on eInk and has a good UI. Not to mention you can't use the pen for markup in an ePub outside Neoreader anyways.

I have more than 14,000 ebooks - it is not possible to manage them with the rather stupid Kobo software.
I need Calibre in the workstation for that, Calibre Companion on the reader and the one-time set Alreader is much more convenient to use than the Kobo reader software.
And to create handwritten notes in pdfs, a NeoReader, or the Likebook reader software is excellent - I don't need it for anything else anyway.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

I have more than 14,000 ebooks - it is not possible to manage them with the rather stupid Kobo software.
I need Calibre in the workstation for that, Calibre Companion on the reader and the one-time set Alreader is much more convenient to use than the Kobo reader software.
And to create handwritten notes in pdfs, a NeoReader, or the Likebook reader software is excellent - I don't need it for anything else anyway.

And I have a number of books with MathML or in Japanese that Neoreader can't handle and neither can most Android apps let alone in a pleasant way, yet even a Kobo Nia will handle perfectly. There is no perfect device AFAIK.

How do you even have 14,000 ebooks? Even if you've been collecting for 20 years that's 700 a year or 2 a day almost. That's just insane and I'm not surprised most readers can't handle that...surely that's 0.01% of eBook owners?

[GERGE]

Nice but I think these devices doesn't really fill a niche. I use Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 to take notes, and it is much more usable in meetings and such.

This would offer an inferior experience at every level but reading books.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

How do you even have 14,000 ebooks? Even if you've been collecting for 20 years that's 700 a year or 2 a day almost. That's just insane and I'm not surprised most readers can't handle that...surely that's 0.01% of eBook owners?

• - I own app 25.000 paper books - if I want to read one of them, I look it up on pirate sites and if I find it, I download it.
• - There is a lot of literature on Gutenberg.
• - And of course I also bought a lot.

[Pajamaman]

The Elipsa is quoted $400 USD, including stylus and case.

A 10" Onyx Note / Note Air goes between $500-550, depending on the model. They also come with case and stylus.

The Likebook 10" Alita goes for $400, with a stylus, but without a case.

I don't know, but I assume the Onyx and Likebook come with faster processors, which I think is a big deal. At the same time, maybe the Kobo performs as well as it is Linux dedicated to a single task. I assume battery life is better. The Onyx and Kobo both come with 32GB. I assume the Likebook has an SD card slot.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by GERGE

Nice but I think these devices doesn't really fill a niche. I use Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 to take notes, and it is much more usable in meetings and such.

This would offer an inferior experience at every level but reading books.

Given the number of manufacturers already making similar devices, there clearly is a market for them. Even aside from the note-taking, one of the most common questions asked about any e-ink reader is "what's it like for PDFs?" 10.3 is incontestably better for PDFs than anything smaller, so for those whose reading is mostly PDFs, devices like this one will appeal. It may well also be that the ability to annotate more easily will be more relevant to the sort of reading material normally published as PDF. And I say all of this as one who has less than zero interest in buying any device of this sort.

[93terp]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

How do you even have 14,000 ebooks? Even if you've been collecting for 20 years that's 700 a year or 2 a day almost. That's just insane and I'm not surprised most readers can't handle that...surely that's 0.01% of eBook owners?

I have no intention of getting into a flame war on this issue, but honestly, why do you care? Live and let live; just because someone else has a different use case than yours doesn't make theirs wrong and yours right, and vice versa. Diversity is the spice of life, IMHO.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

. I assume the Likebook has an SD card slot.

Yes, and I use my Alita with 512 GB.

[Paperbackstash]

Looks like a nice device from Kobo to me. It doesn't fit my needs due to the size and such, but I can see the appeal for those who need a larger screen or a stylus and more advanced note taking.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

the automatic app whitening which is more of hinderence than a help to be honest, the different modes, having to fiddle with refresh settings etc.

I find the the refresh settings essential to make the most of the Onyx's functions. Using non-refresh makes note-taking and text-based web page browsing almost comparable to LCD. I wonder if Kobo will implement a no-refresh mode. This is an asset for note-taking and zooming/panning pdf files.

Edit: I note that on the video document reading and annotation only occur in portrait. To read a normal size pdf, you will have to put it in landscape. In portrait, you will probably have to zoom/pan. I am interested to see how smooth this is.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

• - I own app 25.000 paper books - if I want to read one of them, I look it up on pirate sites and if I find it, I download it.
  

And you accused others of being thieves because they didn't buy the same book twice for a Kindle and a Kobo? Not that I want to stir that old discussion up, but this must be the very pinnacle of hypocrisy.

Otherwise I agree with you that it isn't particularly difficult to amass a huge number of ebooks. I have well over 20 000 ebooks. Yes, I buy A LOT.