Thinking of getting a Kobo, but I have some questions

[SlowRain]

Hi. I'm not new to ebooks, but I've never had a dedicated ereader. I've always used my (Android) phone and tablet, using Moon+ Reader and Dropbox for my reading, note-taking, storage, and syncing. I'm now thinking of getting a Clara HD, so I'd like to know how I would theoretically set it up to manage my ebooks.

All of this is based on sideloading ebooks.

1. What software/apps will I need to install--on the Kobo, my phone, my PC--to set up an environment where I can store, install, read, and sync my reading progress and notes? (I'm not a software developer or extremely tech-savvy, so any "hacking" will have to be kept simple.)

2. Is it recommended to use a finger or stylus on the screen? If a stylus can be used, what kind?

3. Is the SleepCover useful? It seems bulky.

4. Do I need a credit card to set it up? I can't see myself buying from the Kobo store very often.

5. How good is it at searching Google and Wikipedia/Wiktionary? I often look up words, places, people, items when I'm reading, but I don't know how good the built-in browser is. (At least I *think* there is a built-in browser.)

Thanks. I may have more questions later, but I think this is a lot already.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by SlowRain

1. What software/apps will I need to install--on the Kobo, my phone, my PC--to set up an environment where I can store, install, read,

For all of the above, you need no software on the Kobo. You don't need special software on your PC either, but still, I would recommend looking in to Calibre. It is wonderful for managing sideloaded content on a Kobo.

and sync my reading progress and notes? (I'm not a software developer or extremely tech-savvy, so any "hacking" will have to be kept simple.)

I don't know that you can sync reading or notes on sideloaded content. But I never bother with that, so listen to someone that knows more than me.

2. Is it recommended to use a finger or stylus on the screen? If a stylus can be used, what kind?

Just use your fingers.

3. Is the SleepCover useful? It seems bulky.

Sleep covers are great. Look into third party covers instead of the Kobo ones. I use the Fintie Slimshell cases. They add very little bulk.

4. Do I need a credit card to set it up? I can't see myself buying from the Kobo store very often.

No, just an email address. It doesn't even have to be a real email address. But unless you are extremely sensitive, I would recommend using your real email address in case you ever need it down the road.

5. How good is it at searching Google and Wikipedia/Wiktionary? I often look up words, places, people, items when I'm reading, but I don't know how good the built-in browser is. (At least I *think* there is a built-in browser.)

The built-in browser I never use.

You can long press on a word and the built-in dictionary will pull up with a definition. In the bottom left corner of the dictionary window, there are links to Wikipedia and the web.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by SlowRain

Hi. I'm not new to ebooks, but I've never had a dedicated ereader. I've always used my (Android) phone and tablet, using Moon+ Reader and Dropbox for my reading, note-taking, storage, and syncing. I'm now thinking of getting a Clara HD, so I'd like to know how I would theoretically set it up to manage my ebooks.

All of this is based on sideloading ebooks.

1. What software/apps will I need to install--on the Kobo, my phone, my PC--to set up an environment where I can store, install, read, and sync my reading progress and notes? (I'm not a software developer or extremely tech-savvy, so any "hacking" will have to be kept simple.)

Strictly, you don't need anything to sideload books. Just copy the book to the device and read. But, as you collect books, a tool of some sort becomes useful. And as @ZodWallop said, calibre is the answer to that. But, syncing reading progress and notes between disimilar devices or apps is not going to happen. There is no support for it.

2. Is it recommended to use a finger or stylus on the screen? If a stylus can be used, what kind?

I just use my finger. The Clara HD uses capacitive touch. You can use any stylus that works with that if you want.

5. How good is it at searching Google and Wikipedia/Wiktionary? I often look up words, places, people, items when I'm reading, but I don't know how good the built-in browser is. (At least I *think* there is a built-in browser.)

The browser works, but, it is a relatively primitive browser. As @ZodWallop said, you can lookup words or selected text in the dictionary, Wikipedia or Google. I use Wikipedia frequently and it works fairly well. Google does as well, but, the page the search finds, might not work.

[Uncle Robin]

Since you're going to be sideloading, you may want to consider installing another reader on your Kobo, like KOReader. That does offer synching between devices, iirc

[John F]

Originally Posted by SlowRain

Hi. I'm not new to ebooks, but I've never had a dedicated ereader. I've always used my (Android) phone and tablet, using Moon+ Reader and Dropbox for my reading,

storage, and syncing. I'm now thinking of getting a Clara HD, so I'd like to know how I would theoretically set it up to manage my ebooks.

...

I don't do note-taking, so have limited knowledge. You might want to ask about what you want to be able to do (for note taking). If you aren't using Kobo purchased books, then there is no 'note taking' syncing (I think).

[anacreon]

Originally Posted by SlowRain

5. How good is it at searching Google and Wikipedia/Wiktionary? I often look up words, places, people, items when I'm reading, but I don't know how good the built-in browser is. (At least I *think* there is a built-in browser.)

I tend to save any "long" results of my search in Wikipedia to Pocket, sync Pocket in the reader and then read it offline.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by SlowRain

I don't know how good the built-in browser is. (At least I *think* there is a built-in browser.)

I use the browser only for downloading public domain books.

[SlowRain]

Thanks, everyone, for the replies!

[Nightyume]

Originally Posted by SlowRain

Hi. I'm not new to ebooks, but I've never had a dedicated ereader. I've always used my (Android) phone and tablet, using Moon+ Reader and Dropbox for my reading, note-taking, storage, and syncing. I'm now thinking of getting a Clara HD, so I'd like to know how I would theoretically set it up to manage my ebooks.

All of this is based on sideloading ebooks.

1. What software/apps will I need to install--on the Kobo, my phone, my PC--to set up an environment where I can store, install, read, and sync my reading progress and notes? (I'm not a software developer or extremely tech-savvy, so any "hacking" will have to be kept simple.)

2. Is it recommended to use a finger or stylus on the screen? If a stylus can be used, what kind?

3. Is the SleepCover useful? It seems bulky.

4. Do I need a credit card to set it up? I can't see myself buying from the Kobo store very often.

5. How good is it at searching Google and Wikipedia/Wiktionary? I often look up words, places, people, items when I'm reading, but I don't know how good the built-in browser is. (At least I *think* there is a built-in browser.)

Thanks. I may have more questions later, but I think this is a lot already.

Just one thing others ignored. Two of Kobo's newest readers DO have stylus support: the Elipsa (stylus included) and the Sage (stylus sold separately). The stylus you can get from Kobo but any that use MPP (Microsoft Pen Protocol) should work. Annotations on sideloaded epubs/kepubs will not be synced in any way or exported. Annotations on PDFs will be preserved if you sync the PDF (using the integrated Dropbox sync for example) or if you copy it from your device to the computer. It's one of the main reasons I bought the Elipsa personally but it also depends a lot on what kind of note-taking you do.

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by SlowRain

3. Is the SleepCover useful? It seems bulky.

The sleep cover is bulky and heavy, but not noticeably so when just carrying it around. I always use the sleep cover when I'm traveling. But if I'm just at home reading, sometimes I remove it so I don't have to hold it up for hours.

5. How good is it at searching Google and Wikipedia/Wiktionary?

I haven't used it with Wiktionary, the internal dictionaries it comes with are pretty good. And if you don't like those, there are open source ones available that are pretty easy to add to supplement the internal ones.

Wikipedia can be used with the internal browser. As others have said, the browser is pretty klunky, but it is good enough to do a quick read, and then bookmark it to pocket if you want to do more extensive reading.

I strongly recommend you set up a pocket account once you get your kobo. Reading wikipedia with pocket on the kobo is great!

[rtiangha]

FYI, there are Kobo formatted versions of Wiktionary that you can install to do lookups offline whenever you want. They are updated a few days after whenever Wiktionary dumps their database (usually on the 1st and 20th of the month) so they are current.

[Joliet Jake]

Originally Posted by SlowRain

Hi. I'm not new to ebooks, but I've never had a dedicated ereader. I've always used my (Android) phone and tablet, using Moon+ Reader and Dropbox for my reading, note-taking, storage, and syncing. I'm now thinking of getting a Clara HD, so I'd like to know how I would theoretically set it up to manage my ebooks.

All of this is based on sideloading ebooks.

1. What software/apps will I need to install--on the Kobo, my phone, my PC--to set up an environment where I can store, install, read, and sync my reading progress and notes? (I'm not a software developer or extremely tech-savvy, so any "hacking" will have to be kept simple.)

If you want to store, install, and read, I suggest Calibre. You don't have to get it (it's free), but it is a fantastic organization tool. Otherwise you tend to get a jumble of book titles, which is only useful if you only keep a small number of books on your e-reader at a time.

To sync your reading progress, you would want to use books purchased from the Kobo store (not sideloaded). You don't need extra software for this, but you might find Kobo Desktop (for PC) useful. There is a Kobo app for the smartphone, but if you're not buying books from the Kobo store it will not help you.

2. Is it recommended to use a finger or stylus on the screen? If a stylus can be used, what kind?

1. Many people like using their finger, but some people (like me) hate using it to turn pages.
2. You only need a stylus for notetaking. Note that a stylus is not free, and unfortunately (due to capacitance/electric charge issues you can't just use a stick). If you're not taking notes, don't bother buying one.
3. Page turn buttons! You have to use your finger for features such as picking out a book you want to read, but I find using the page turn button to be vastly superior for actually reading a book.

3. Is the SleepCover useful? It seems bulky.

It depends on how strong your memory is. I use one, because otherwise I'll forget to set the e-reader to sleep. But if you don't want one, just set your e-reader to go to sleep after a short period of time (which I have done in case I forget to use the sleep cover). The sleep cover, well, covers the screen, which is a useful property in of itself IMO, but you only need a cover for that function, not a sleep cover.

4. Do I need a credit card to set it up? I can't see myself buying from the Kobo store very often.

Unlike a Nook, no, you don't need one.

5. How good is it at searching Google and Wikipedia/Wiktionary? I often look up words, places, people, items when I'm reading, but I don't know how good the built-in browser is. (At least I *think* there is a built-in browser.)

It has a primitive browser. I would suggest using something else. Note that you can use Kobo's own dictionary to look up words, and get dictionaries in other languages, etc.

There's some info on that here: https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/artic...r-Kobo-eReader