Aura HD Kobo Aura HD

[Fourl29]

Undoubtedly the kobo looks lovely, what with the screen real estate and the increased resolution.

I am barely holding off a purchase, maybe soon I 'll just pull the trigger and suffer through their poor software and customer support for the beautiful display.

I still think amazon's implementation of the light guide, and what other tweaks they might have performed, give it a better contrast.

That's from what I 've seen so far in pictures and video, I 've not put them side by side in version, so I could be wrong.

I'd suggest that if anyone's going to buy the aura they should be looking to buy the black version instead btw, as the perceived contrast will be improved, as with every device using a black instead of a white bezel.

Originally Posted by RZetlin

There are two that I know of:

Amazon Kindle DX - $235.00
ECTACO JetBook Color 2 -$499.95

The problem both of these eReaders are over $200. Too expensive for the average consumer who can easily get an Android tablet that can do more.

These are hardly comparable to a Kobo Aura. The Aura is only slightly larger than the popular 6" ereaders. Looking at the specifications on the Kindle Paperwhite, the resolution is only slightly higher (265 ppi for the Aura vs. 212 ppi for the Paperwhite). The only reason why I'm considering it is the resolution is significantly better than my Kobo Touch's 167 ppi and the front light may be nice, but I'd have to check it out in the store first because I need to find out if it's good enough to handle sanely formatted PDF documents. Even then I'm not expecting the world on PDFs, just enough to read technical documents.

Don't get me wrong, Kobo makes great readers. I'm even excited about the Aura, but I'm still scratching my head over why anyone would order it sight unseen.

[ShellShock]

I have a white bezelled Glo and would never have thought that there was a perceived lack of contrast problem. I am much more bothered by the general tackiness of black plastic, and the fingerprint magnet effect. Each to his own I guess.

[Mostly Math]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

snip

Don't get me wrong, Kobo makes great readers. I'm even excited about the Aura, but I'm still scratching my head over why anyone would order it sight unseen.

I ordered it sight unseen because:

1) I am a bit of a KOBO fangirl
2) I knew I could return it if I didn't like it.

S

[lioslaith]

Originally Posted by Mostly Math

I ordered it sight unseen because:

1) I am a bit of a KOBO fangirl
2) I knew I could return it if I didn't like it.

S

I don't find it too risky a purchase. I own a Glo which is my fave. of the 'lit' readers, and my Mum owns a Kobo Touch. We love our Kobo readers and use them every single day. Now purchasing my very first reader in 2009, which cost a heck of a lot more than the Aura, now that was a risk as I had never seen let alone used any type of eInk device before that.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

Don't get me wrong, Kobo makes great readers. I'm even excited about the Aura, but I'm still scratching my head over why anyone would order it sight unseen.

Because for many people there is no opportunity to actually see one.

It's no different for Amazon and they sell millions sight unseen. But this is where good customer service is important and that customers know a device may be returned if not liked.

[chrisparker]

It's shipped! Just received the email from WHSmith (UK). With any luck it will be here tomorrow.

[lioslaith]

Originally Posted by chrisparker

It's shipped! Just received the email from WHSmith (UK). With any luck it will be here tomorrow.

Snap. My Aura is marked 'Sent' on the order page and the order is now marked complete. I got my email at 4.30pm to confirm this.

[Sharkey]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

The only reason why I'm considering it is the resolution is significantly better than my Kobo Touch's 167 ppi and the front light may be nice, but I'd have to check it out in the store first because I need to find out if it's good enough to handle sanely formatted PDF documents. Even then I'm not expecting the world on PDFs, just enough to read technical documents.

I'm about the same. I have a Kobo Touch that works great for basic EPUBs, but my Kobo purchases (Original, Touch) have always been with the hope to read technical PDFs.

I tried an Aura HD at my local Chapters branch, and the PDF I tried looked great ("Latin For Beginners", available here: http://www.textkit.com/latin_grammar.php) . Easily readable, no need to zoom. Page turns were a bit slow, but well within my tolerance. Haven't tried any of my math PDFs, but I'm confident they'll look good too.

Now I just need to convince myself that the upgrade is worth the price tag

[bookwurm70]

Originally Posted by lioslaith

I don't find it too risky a purchase. I own a Glo which is my fave. of the 'lit' readers, and my Mum owns a Kobo Touch. We love our Kobo readers and use them every single day. Now purchasing my very first reader in 2009, which cost a heck of a lot more than the Aura, now that was a risk as I had never seen let alone used any type of eInk device before that.

Hard to believe I got my first e-Ink for Christmas 2009, also sight unseen. That was a huge gamble. I wasn't sure I would like it at all. But I sure loved it the fall of 2010 when I was commuting an hour on the subway every day and got to read the whole time. So much easier to hold an ereader on the train than a book.

Now, almost 3.5 years later, I know more about what I want in an ereader. When I saw the specs on the Glo, I figured that would be my perfect reader, but I'm even more excited about the Aura. So glad I waited on buying the Glo.

Originally Posted by Sharkey

I'm about the same. I have a Kobo Touch that works great for basic EPUBs, but my Kobo purchases (Original, Touch) have always been with the hope to read technical PDFs.

(snip)

Now I just need to convince myself that the upgrade is worth the price tag

Thankfully Kobo has made some dramatic improvements to the PDF reader in recent firmware releases (for the Touch), so I'm prepared to believe that the Aura will be an amazing reader.

But yeah, the question is: is it worth the price? With so many of the improvements in ereaders being incremental, it is often difficult to tell when to buy and when to hold off.

[jiminrussell]

Originally Posted by Sharkey

I'm about the same. I have a Kobo Touch that works great for basic EPUBs, but my Kobo purchases (Original, Touch) have always been with the hope to read technical PDFs.

I tried an Aura HD at my local Chapters branch, and the PDF I tried looked great ("Latin For Beginners", available here: http://www.textkit.com/latin_grammar.php) . Easily readable, no need to zoom. Page turns were a bit slow, but well within my tolerance. Haven't tried any of my math PDFs, but I'm confident they'll look good too.

Now I just need to convince myself that the upgrade is worth the price tag

That book doesn't look great, it is scanned from a text book I take it is why the text looks so bad, it looks even worse on my computer though. Lines of text are curved at the beginning or end of the line depending on if the scanned paged is from the left or right hand page of the book, pages are slanted, some of the text is even cut off, really a bad job of scanning, but better than nothing I guess and it is free after all.

Your eyesight must be better than mine as I would soon have a headache reading text that small even if it was a good scan.

[Breid]

@lioslaith and @chrisparker, mine's on it's way from WHSmith UK also. I doubt very much that I will have it tomorrow as it has to take a little trip across the Irish Sea first

[bookwurm70]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

Thankfully Kobo has made some dramatic improvements to the PDF reader in recent firmware releases (for the Touch), so I'm prepared to believe that the Aura will be an amazing reader.

But yeah, the question is: is it worth the price? With so many of the improvements in ereaders being incremental, it is often difficult to tell when to buy and when to hold off.

That is a tough question. For me, definitely, since my only eInk reader is over 3 years old and does not have a lot of features I want. I was ready to buy a new eReader anyway, I was just waiting for the right one. The Aura will be leaps and bounds above what I have. But, if I had bought the Glo when it came out (like I wanted to), I would not be buying the Aura now. I don't think I could justify the upgrade.

[ballfresno]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

For someone who needs large size text to be able to read, the HD 6.8 screen is going to be a lot easier to read from then the Glo.

This is my motivation for getting one as well. I am hoping that there will actually be one available at the local WH Smith tomorrow... fingers crossed!