Kindle Voyage vs Kobo Aura H2O

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Comparing the Voyage and the H2O side, by side, even though the H2O's screen is a little larger, with the "out of the box" settings, the Voyage actually displays a little more text on the screen than the H2O, due to the very large bottom margin on the H2O.

I know I don't yet have an H2O, but would not the H20 display more text on screen with a sensible line height?

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I know I don't yet have an H2O, but would not the H20 display more text on screen with a sensible line height?

Well, of course. After you adjust everything, and get rid of header and reduce the footer on H2O, it can display more text. Nobody doubts the more sophisticated options on H2O vs Voyage without manipulating the books themselves. Sometimes I wish the Kindle had the header optional - I like it on the Android Kindle tablet app, but unfortunately on the phone version there is no header.

As for line height to ask for "sensible", we will have to agree to disagree. While I set margins on lowest, I like the line height at biggest on my phone.

[Techno]

I heard the Kobos (even older models) have more fine tuning of the lighting at lower levels. When I'm in the dark, PW2 is too bright for me at one level, but too dim if I go one lower, and I want finer tuning.

Could someone compare the Voyage's light settings with the PW2's? Are they the same around levels 6-9? If so, I may not get the Voyage.

[Techno]

How is the H20's refresh when you turn the page -- any worse or better than Voyage? How bad are the H20's delays/hiccups, or are they no big deal? I guess I don't mind the occasional pause and overall being a tad slower, but sometimes I like to flip through many pages quickly (rapidly getting an overview of a chapter or two)... would I be frustrated by it taking much longer than on the Voyage? Thanks.

[Lemons]

I had a question more based on one device, but keeping a open mind toward the voyage and H20, what one would be more of an upgrade from the Aura, in for the light mostly and refresh page (ghosting) and how much bigger is the H20 than the Aura thanks

[karter]

Hello again. I noticed that changing the refresh rate from 6 pages to 1 page made the letters look much better. Can you tell me which are the pros and cons of doing that change? If there were no cons i guess the device would come with 1 page refresh rate configuration by default. I have to say that, with Georgia, 6 pages refresh rate and a normal font size(the smaller the worse), there is a considerable graying, and the graying / discoloration depends on the page turn. Different page turns bring different grayings to different letters in the same page. Thanks in advance

[xtine]

karter, I think there are really no pros and cons to changing refresh rate, it's all a matter of preference. Personally, I also have refresh set to every page, I like a clean screen every time.

Techno, sorry I don't have a PW2 to compare the H2O to. I have a PW1 though, and I've always had the light set at around level 3 in complete darkness. With the H2O, I usually set it between 3-5%. Re H2O refresh rate, I really haven't noticed it to be any faster/slower than my PW1. The IR screen could be a bit more responsive (especially when selecting options in settings) but is perfectly fine when tapping/swiping to page forward and back.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by karter

Can you tell me which are the pros and cons of doing that change? If there were no cons i guess the device would come with 1 page refresh rate configuration by default.

Refresh every page:
Pros: Cleaner image, no ghosting
Cons:slightly slower page refresh, more battery drain

And then there is the flash itself which can be a pro or a con depending on how you look at it. Virtually all people get used to the flash on eink - many don't even notice any more. If the flash was bothering you too much, eink wouldn't be for you. It can also be an advantage to have the page refresh every page as it is possible to detect the refresh out of the corner of your eye. So if at the end of the page you take the time to look up very shortly and refocus your eyes, it is a visual clue when it is time to look at the page again. It will also give you a little feedback that you actually turned a page. So it is a toss wether the more frequent (each page) flash is a pro or a con, mostly a pro though.

The battery drain is only splitting hairs - I mean it is real, as eink uses a lot more power on a full refresh compared to the no flash. If you don't object to plug your ereader in once a week, you should be fine though, depending on how much you read (most people can probably go much longer than a week, and some very few will need to charge more often). There is theoretically cases where battery life really matters - e.g. if you go on a camping trip without any outlet or car close by, YMMW.

Why is it not default to refresh every page? The majority of people are not bothered by the little bit of ghosting, and it is still good enough. Makes it look better on the spec sheet to be able to claim a longer battery life. Seriously, who reads only 30 minutes a day. That may be the average time people read per day, but I would think that it is more likely that an above average reader buys a dedicated eink reader than the below average ones. So claiming months or weeks of battery life and then comparing it to how many hours of continues use a tablet lasts is not a fair comparison.

Have you seen a real paper book lately? Even a nice hardcover suffers from ghosting - the text of the other side of the page is visible, sometimes even the next page. The lower quality the paper is, the more ghosting (worst in MMPB). Ghosting may just add some authenticity when comparing to a paper book. So if switching from paper to ebook even with a little bit of ghosting it will still look better on eink while still simulating the look of paper a little. Those that want the option to have a pristine page each time got it. I doubt though that the majority is bothered by a tiny bit of ghosting.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Well, of course. After you adjust everything, and get rid of header and reduce the footer on H2O, it can display more text. Nobody doubts the more sophisticated options on H2O vs Voyage without manipulating the books themselves. Sometimes I wish the Kindle had the header optional - I like it on the Android Kindle tablet app, but unfortunately on the phone version there is no header.

As for line height to ask for "sensible", we will have to agree to disagree. While I set margins on lowest, I like the line height at biggest on my phone.

I find on a Kindle using any of the default fonts with a KF8 eBook, the line height is too big (not sensible).

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That may be true if you have a problem with the Voyage's fonts, but personally I find them to be entirely satisfactory.

The other features of the Voyage make it a winner for me: the page turn buttons, and the much more accurate touch-screen. Last week I was reading a book on my H2O which had a lot of endnotes, and trying to activate the small hyperlinks for the notes was extremely frustrating - I had to tap the screen time after time before the link would work. Most of the time it just turned the page. That just doesn't happen on the Voyage.

Getting to and back from end notes has always been easy on my K2, PB360, KDX, and K4NT, but nearly impossible on my Aura HD and the Kindle for android app on my Nook HD/HD+.

[badbob001]

Ignoring the differences in screen size, how is manga reading on HD/H2O compared to on voyage? I know that cbz support on kindle got buggy and it is highly recommended to convert cbz's to mobi for viewing using panel view. I don't think kobo offers something like panelview but I think cbz is still supported. So how is panelview on Voyage compared to cbz support on hd/h20?

I saw a video of a pdf on h2o and voyage and it was so buggy on h2o that I obviously fear it may be the same for manga formats.

[MikeyLNG]

How is the responsiveness of the H2O compared to the Voyage? I had a play with a H2O in a store on the weekend, and I don't know if it's because it had some kind of store mode activated or something, but it seemed a little sluggish, especially when doing things like adjusting the sliders or trying to get the menu up.

Also how is the dictionary? I hear it's not as good as Kindle's Oxford dictionary, but I saw one video where he said it quite often comes up with a "no definition found" on fairly common words, which is quite disappointing as I've found myself using the dictionary quite a lot on my Kindle.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by MikeyLNG

How is the responsiveness of the H2O compared to the Voyage? I had a play with a H2O in a store on the weekend, and I don't know if it's because it had some kind of store mode activated or something, but it seemed a little sluggish, especially when doing things like adjusting the sliders or trying to get the menu up.

The IR touchscreen on the H2O isn't nearly as good as the Voyage's capacitive touchscreen. It's fine for turning pages, but when it comes to selecting text, or trying to tap small hyperlinks to display a footnote, it can be a real pain. When reading a book with lots of footnotes, I've had to resort to making the text really big, so the hyperlink is big enough to accurately tap on.

Also how is the dictionary? I hear it's not as good as Kindle's Oxford dictionary, but I saw one video where he said it quite often comes up with a "no definition found" on fairly common words, which is quite disappointing as I've found myself using the dictionary quite a lot on my Kindle.

The Kobo's dictionary is nothing like as good as the Kindle's. If the dictionary is an important feature for you, the Voyage would be a better choice.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The Kobo's dictionary is nothing like as good as the Kindle's. If the dictionary is an important feature for you, the Voyage would be a better choice.

I second that. I still miss the Chambers 10th my Cybook and Kindle DXG allowed me to use, sometimes. The best integrated dictionary I've ever had, even better than the Concise Oxford.

[judith009]

I've had my Voyage for a few weeks now, and I just got the H2O today. So far I'm liking the H2O way more than the Voyage. My KV screen was badly two-toned, and the H2O's screen has very even lighting, with no discolorations.

Here's a short list of pros/cons:
Pros:
-I like the yellowish hue of the light.
-I like being able to change the brightness by sliding on the left of the screen.
-I like all the customization options, including the ability to customize the tap zones.
-Being able to make the fonts heavier is a huge bonus. It makes it much easier to read on the device.
-I like the bigger screen size. Also I think the bezel sizes are perfect.

Cons:
-It's noticeably heavier than the KV.
-The UI is noticeably slower than the KV.

Those are just some initial thoughts. I haven't played around with the H2O enough yet. I'm definitely glad I got it though. Even if my KV didn't have the two-toned problem, I think I would still prefer the H2O, mainly due to the font customization options and the warm hue of the lighting.