Limitations of moving to kindle PW from kobo?

[AnemicOak]

Okay, I can see that and yeah you don't need a Kindle for that.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That makes it sound like you need a physical Kindle to have access to Amazon's eBooks.

So I made a little error. I didn't realize you used the Amazon bookstore. I figured you avoided it due to your anti-kindle posts.
No one does not really need a kindle if they have a pc. Though there are a few books that cannot be sent to a kindle for PC. And I did forget about Kindle for PC.

The OP was asking specific questions about kindles. He was not asking if he should buy a kindle or a kobo.

If he wants a PW which is what he wants, he should buy it.

Now I should tell the OP that the book files come in with a number not a name.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't think your wife is going to be happy with a Kindle when she sees how limited it is is features and typesetting. Also, you make things more difficult for yourself as you then have to deal with two different formats especially if your wife wants to read the same books as you. You could get her an H2O and that would work just fine.

I have Kobos and Kindles and my preferred reader is the Voyage. Yes the Kobo has more features but of the two the Kobo is also the more limited. Limitations aren't just about features. They're also about what doesn't always work; what works well, etc.

The Kobo is a very nice device and I'm glad I have mine. It's not at all unreliable. Neither is it rock-solid like the Voyage.

Barry

[JSWolf]

The issue here is that Kobo reads ePub and Kindle reads KF8. The OP would have to deal with conversions left & right. If he & his wife read the some of the same books, then he'll have to strip DRM and convert to/from ePub & KF8. It's a lot easier if both use a Reader that supports the same format. In this case, it would be ePub given that it sounds like the OP has a Reader and his wife does not. That means he already has ePub eBooks. So it would be easier to stick with ePub.

If the OP had a Kindle, then the wife should get a Kindle. But given that the OP has a Kobo, the wife should get a Kobo.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The issue here is that Kobo reads ePub and Kindle reads KF8. The OP would have to deal with conversions left & right. If he & his wife read the some of the same books, then he'll have to strip DRM and convert to/from ePub & KF8. It's a lot easier if both use a Reader that supports the same format. In this case, it would be ePub given that it sounds like the OP has a Reader and his wife does not. That means he already has ePub eBooks. So it would be easier to stick with ePub.

If the OP had a Kindle, then the wife should get a Kindle. But given that the OP has a Kobo, the wife should get a Kobo.

Last time I looked Kindles also read mobi and azw. And not all Kindle books have DRM.
I was under the impression that Calibre makes converting from epub to kindle format fairly easy. It isn't rocket science. My sources tell me that it is just as easy to convert both directions.
Quit twisting things to make a Kindle look bad.

Maybe his wife wants a PW. We don't know. Are you saying that a wife should only have what her husband has? We don't know the situation. It is entirely possible that the PW is the closest to her discontinued Kobo.
He asked about limitations. There is nothing wrong with a kindle. Some people like them better.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Last time I looked Kindles also read mobi and azw. And not all Kindle books have DRM.
I was under the impression that Calibre makes converting from epub to kindle format fairly easy. It isn't rocket science. My sources tell me that it is just as easy to convert both directions.
Quit twisting things to make a Kindle look bad.

Maybe his wife wants a PW. We don't know. Are you saying that a wife should only have what her husband has? We don't know the situation. It is entirely possible that the PW is the closest to her discontinued Kobo.
He asked about limitations. There is nothing wrong with a kindle. Some people like them better.

AZW & Mobi are the same thing.

The OP did not say his wife wants a PW. He said that he wanted to get her a Glo HD and Kobo no longer makes the Glo HD and he doesn't care for the Aura Edition 2. I did suggest getting an H2O. The PW is an afterthought due to the Glo HD not being available.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Quit twisting things to make a Kindle look bad.

<SNIP>

He asked about limitations. There is nothing wrong with a kindle. Some people like them better.

C'mon, Cin, fair's fair. The OP specifically in his first post asked:

Originally Posted by richstant

So can I just check - as regards ease of sideloading & organising in calibre, are there any limitations of going to the kindle PW?

There was a simple answer to that question: yes. It's not as easy to organize books on a Kindle with Calibre as it is on a Kobo. It can be done, but it requires jailbreaking, which can be problematic. In your first lengthy response, you didn't address his specific issue.

I thought we had got past the bad old days when people got defensive about devices. We're all in the same boat here, really. Each device has advantages and disadvantages and we should be willing to admit that the precious isn't perfect. It's good that there's more than one flavor of ice cream.

I always hope it's useful to OPs to see people make the case for a device, and that they can see what's applicable to their own issues. But I also think it would be useful if people could step back and make the case for the devices they don't own. There's (almost) always a case. I also wish people could be less combative; it's not illuminating.

Speaking personally, I've never owned an eink Kindle in my life and have no interest in having one, but I'm giving one to a nephew for Christmas, because it's best for his situation. I had to convince him at that, because he still likes the Nook Glowlight I gave him a few years ago.

My apologies to the OP for hijacking his thread. Speaking solely as a member, I'm tired of the wrangling in these threads, where people lose sight of the primary goal of addressing the OP's issues and instead use the thread as a springboard for their personal platforms and grievances and where infighting takes precedence over helpfulness.

OK, I'm off my own high horse now!

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by issybird

Speaking solely as a member, I'm tired of the wrangling in these threads, where people lose sight of the primary goal of addressing the OP's issues and instead use the thread as a springboard for their personal platforms and grievances and where infighting takes precedence over helpfulness.

[barryem]

I like that discussions are more general and not just simple answers to questions. That's part of the fun of tech discussions and part of the fun of this forum.

Also it's easy to overlook that fact that, while it's true that JSWolf is pretty dogmatic about Kobos and epub, etc., he's also pretty helpful when help is needed. And he knows a lot.

Keep it up Wolf! You make this fun even if you do have your blind spots.

Barry

[richstant]

Blimey, this all got to be a bit longer & more involved than I expected while I was away!

Thanks all for your various opinions - in answer to all the comments flying around:

Me & my wife read very different genres of books, so formats etc not really an issue. Added to which, calibre makes format converting & DRM stripping essentially painless. So formats & access to stores isn't that big of a deal either way.

I really like my Kobo Glo HD, and would have bought one of those if I could. But I can't, so the options (within my price range) are either a paperwhite or a kobo aura. Virtually every review I'd read said that the lower resolution of the aura made it worse value than the PW. My wife's had an ancient kindle for years, and she's fine with it, so whatever the limits of font handling etc on the kindle, they don't really affect her.

At the end of the day, she's a basic user, who just wants a newer ereader with nicer display & a light. The resolution of the PW seems to swing it for me, it's me that ends up loading the books for her, so I just wanted to check i wasn't going to be too limited.

So, after all that (perhaps I should have been more specific in my original post), it really comes down to slightly easier collection management on the Kobo Aura 2 vs slightly higher resolution on the PW. I think the resolution issue wins, but if you've got experience of devices with both resolutions and think it's no big deal, please let me know!

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by richstant

Blimey, this all got to be a bit longer & more involved than I expected while I was away!

Thanks all for your various opinions - in answer to all the comments flying around:

Me & my wife read very different genres of books, so formats etc not really an issue. Added to which, calibre makes format converting & DRM stripping essentially painless. So formats & access to stores isn't that big of a deal either way.

I really like my Kobo Glo HD, and would have bought one of those if I could. But I can't, so the options (within my price range) are either a paperwhite or a kobo aura. Virtually every review I'd read said that the lower resolution of the aura made it worse value than the PW. My wife's had an ancient kindle for years, and she's fine with it, so whatever the limits of font handling etc on the kindle, they don't really affect her.

At the end of the day, she's a basic user, who just wants a newer ereader with nicer display & a light. The resolution of the PW seems to swing it for me, it's me that ends up loading the books for her, so I just wanted to check i wasn't going to be too limited.

So, after all that (perhaps I should have been more specific in my original post), it really comes down to slightly easier collection management on the Kobo Aura 2 vs slightly higher resolution on the PW. I think the resolution issue wins, but if you've got experience of devices with both resolutions and think it's no big deal, please let me know!

Your wife has a kindle. Then buy her a new kindle.
You have a kobo. Buy you a kobo.
It is usually better to stick with what the person knows.
Can I also assume she has an Amazon account?
If so then no formatting necessary.

[jscris]

Unless I'm misreading something, Amazon has a kobo Glo HD for 129.99.
https://www.amazon.com/Kobo-Digital-...&keywords=kobo

[JSWolf]

Would your wife mind a larger screen? If not, the 6.8" Kobo Aura H2O would do in place of the Glo HD.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by richstant

Virtually every review I'd read said that the lower resolution of the aura made it worse value than the PW.

I have the latest Paperwhite and also a Voyage and the original Kobo Aura. The Aura's resolution is lower but what really makes the difference is that the light on the Aura is a lot less even. It's not nearly as good a light as the Paperwhite.

I just finished a book on my Voyage, which is just as good as the Paperwhite and I started the next book on the Aura, with it's not nearly as good light. However the light is still excellent. The resolution is just fine. I'm enjoying it.

I'm not suggesting you should get the Aura instead of a new Paperwhite. Either one is a good choice and I think the Paperwhite is the better choice. But the Aura isn't something to be afraid of. It's an excellent device for reading books.

It's not good versus bad. It's more like superb vs excellent.

Barry

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by barryem

I have the latest Paperwhite and also a Voyage and the original Kobo Aura. The Aura's resolution is lower but what really makes the difference is that the light on the Aura is a lot less even. It's not nearly as good a light as the Paperwhite.

I just finished a book on my Voyage, which is just as good as the Paperwhite and I started the next book on the Aura, with it's not nearly as good light. However the light is still excellent. The resolution is just fine. I'm enjoying it.

I'm not suggesting you should get the Aura instead of a new Paperwhite. Either one is a good choice and I think the Paperwhite is the better choice. But the Aura isn't something to be afraid of. It's an excellent device for reading books.

It's not good versus bad. It's more like superb vs excellent.

Barry

The Aura that's being mentioned is not the same Aura. It's the Aura Edition 2. The newer Aura with a Carta screen and better lighting.