Kobo Clara BW v Kindle Paperwhite

[shuvashish76]

Originally Posted by Graham44

Screensavers, this is actually fairly important to me (silly I know) does the Clara have generic screensavers? I don't like to display my book covers I like a generic screensaver to show.

Adverts - again this is important, does the Clara or any Kobo display adverts? I don't like adverts and this could be a deal breaker

Any help/ advice much appreciated

Oh one more thing, I don't want colour I like my ereaders to be B+W

Actually I've tried both Clara Colour and BW before picking up BW. Only difference is Colour has dual core processor and BW has single core processor but as per my testing there is no speed difference at all. Both devices are pretty fast. Probably you'll see difference if you read heavy size PDFs.

No ads on Kobo. You can even use SideloadedMode=true method to bypass kobo signin. It will also remove all the kobo ecosystem related things from the UI.
I like this approach as it feels clean and more personal device.

As for the sleep screen KOReader offers 6 different ways to configure it. I'm sure you're already aware of this as KOReader is an universal reader. You never tried it on your Kindle or android?
Personally I use only KOReader as it has more customization especially with personal gestures and their actions.

[Graham44]

Originally Posted by shuvashish76

As for the sleep screen KOReader offers 6 different ways to configure it. I'm sure you're already aware of this as KOReader is an universal reader. You never tried it on your Kindle or android?
Personally I use only KOReader as it has more customization especially with personal gestures and their actions.

I haven't no, I've always kept my Kindles as is, I was never aware, until recently, such things could be done, officially or otherwise!

[John F]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

...

As to screensavers, that's not a hack. You just create a folder named "screensaver" in the .kobo folder on your Kobo and drag your images to this folder.

Are you sure this is stock firmware? I just tried, and I still get the book cover I am reading, or a blank screen. I rebooted. I tried a color jpg.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by John F

Are you sure this is stock firmware? I just tried, and I still get the book cover I am reading, or a blank screen. I rebooted. I tried a color jpg.

Did you check the settings?

I've not tried it myself, but all guides write

ensure that both “Show Current Read” and “Show Book Covers Full Screen” settings are turned ON.

Supposed to work any 4.x? If you are on 3.x (prehistoric) it certainly doesn't work.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Did you check the settings?

I've not tried it myself, but all guides write


Supposed to work any 4.x? If you are on 3.x (prehistoric) it certainly doesn't work.

Thank you. That did it.

[Graham44]

Well I had the bright idea of instead of buying a whole new e-reader as my Kindle is only a few months old why not just de-register it and carry on using it.

That was a bad idea

De-registered, easy enough, loaded my books back on using Calibre, wi-fi turned off, ok they loaded, yes they open up, right go back to page 253 where I was before, nope, page numbers don't show up anymore only location

*sigh* Ok I will register it again and then just keep the wifi off like I was before. Enter my Amazon account details annnnd nothing, oh a message popped up 'we are having trouble registering your device at the moment' ahhhh

*edit* managed to re-register it and the page numbers are back

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by John F

Are you sure this is stock firmware? I just tried, and I still get the book cover I am reading, or a blank screen. I rebooted. I tried a color jpg.

Yes, that is with stock firmware from version 4.15 on. Though as mentioned above you do need to have Show current read and Show bookcovers full screen checked under Settings => Energy saving and Privacy => Sleep and Power Off. Personally, I find the Show current read good for a chuckle since it does not show the current read and perhaps should be renamed to Enable screensaver

The KLC works well with colour images that are selected for it's low colour range.

[Hellmark]

I don't have the Clara, but I have the Libra 2, which is basically the same reader with a slightly bigger screen (7" vs 6") and physical page turn buttons (I am not a fan of swiping to turn the page), and I love it. Everything is pretty responsive, and the Calibre integration is great. Zero qualms recommending a Kobo reader to people.

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by John F

Is SideloadedMode an official/supported feature?

There is nothing for Kobo to support if you use sideload mode. You can't visit the store or sync your books, so you're on your own. That's kind of the whole point of using it.

[Graham44]

So if we boil it down and someone placed a Kindle Paperwhite and a Kobo Clara BW in front of you and said you could only choose one to use from now on, which would it be? (I think I can guess the answer but just in case!)

Oh and I read a review online that said with Kobo you have to have a subscription you cant just buy books???? Thats not right is it? Im sure it's not but thought I better check

[DNSB]

Kobo has a subscription program called Kobo Plus. Much like Kindle Unlimited except no limit on the number of books you can have (currently I have ~350) and the author is paid based on time spent reading not pages turned. Quite a few of my spouse's favourite authors have moved to it since unlike KU, there is no exclusivity requirement.

The existence of Kobo Plus does not stop you from buying an ebook (strictly speaking, buying an ebook license) and either syncing it to your Kobo ereaders or downloading it from Kobo's web page either as an ePub if no DRM or an Adobe ACSM file if DRM is used.

[Graham44]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Kobo has a subscription program called Kobo Plus. Much like Kindle Unlimited except no limit on the number of books you can have (currently I have ~350) and the author is paid based on time spent reading not pages turned. Quite a few of my spouse's favourite authors have moved to it since unlike KU, there is no exclusivity requirement.

The existence of Kobo Plus does not stop you from buying an ebook (strictly speaking, buying an ebook license) and either syncing it to your Kobo ereaders or downloading it from Kobo's web page either as an ePub if no DRM or an Adobe ACSM file if DRM is used.

Thanks for clearing that up DNSB, now I've just got to decide whether to give up on my Paperwhite (thats only a few months old) and go over to a Kobo or not. Whichever way I go I won't be using Amazon for ebooks anymore I will be getting them from Kobo, Hive and AngryRobot.

Having looked through everyones suggestions and carefully studying the Kobos and then thinking about it long and hard I'm struggling to justify buying a kobo right now, they look like great ereaders, it just seems a bit of a waste as my Kindle is so new. I wish I had known Amazon was going to do what they've done last September when I bought the Paperwhite (so I've only had it 6 months)

[cgsmom]

Originally Posted by Graham44

I wish I had known Amazon was going to do what they've done last September when I bought the Paperwhite (so I've only had it 6 months)

I know what you mean. I just bought a Colorsoft in January. I had intended to make Amazon my vendor of choice. However, I am now going to make Kobo my primary vendor. Using “Send to Kindle” the functionality of my Kindle will be almost the same. In the future my next ereader might need to be a Kobo, but I don’t see any reason to buy one at the moment. I am enjoying my Colorsoft.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Graham44

So if we boil it down and someone placed a Kindle Paperwhite and a Kobo Clara BW in front of you and said you could only choose one to use from now on, which would it be? (I think I can guess the answer but just in case!)

Clara BW, of course.

That said, you could always wait for the next Kobo model - maybe it will be a black-and-white 7" device? - and meanwhile go on using your PW.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Clara BW, of course.

That said, you could always wait for the next Kobo model - maybe it will be a black-and-white 7" device? - and meanwhile go on using your PW.

Ditto