Touch New Kobo Touch - initial experience

[WS64]

Peakcrew, not that I know of.
I had the other non-western 2.0 firmware on my German Kobo before, nothing bad happened.
I don't see many changes, the home screen looks slightly different, the clock pops up when you go to the settings within a book, nothing major.
But it's worth alone for the fast page turns in EPUBs.

[Peakcrew]

Thanks for that, WS64. I'll bear that in mind. If it cures the grasshopper behaviour of the selection tool, as I read in another post, then I'll have a go!

[filmo]

4. I use my finger nail on the protruding switch symbol now.

6. When reader is turned off it uses fair amount of processor power to load data base with power on. For this reason I have auto turn off reader set to never. I manually turn reader off when I will not use it for 8 hours or days.

[Peakcrew]

[QUOTE=filmo;2200089]4. I use my finger nail on the protruding switch symbol now. [/QUOTE

Again, it might just be the way I interact with the screen, but I can't get anything smaller than a finger-end to register a touch. I've tried fingernail, pen, blunt end of a pencil - all to no avail.

Originally Posted by filmo

6. When reader is turned off it uses fair amount of processor power to load data base with power on. For this reason I have auto turn off reader set to never. I manually turn reader off when I will not use it for 8 hours or days.

Thanks for that confirmation of what I'm seeing. My measuring of the length of time between need to recharge has been confounded by attaching the KT to the computer for Calibre-ating, but it certainly seems to be much easier on the power just to let it sleep most of the time.

[tshering]

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

Somewhere on the forums yesterday I found someone who had done a batch file for extracting the annotations to text, but I cannot remember where it was. I'm not ignoring murg's suggestions (thanks, mate), but I'm a bit wary about playing with the database yet . I need a clear day to have a fiddle with a copy (which I have just made).

mayby it is this one https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...65&page=57#851

[Peakcrew]

Originally Posted by tshering

mayby it is this one https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...65&page=57#851

That's the one! Yesterday was a public holiday here in the UK, so I had been forced out of the house by my wife, and hadn't had a chance to look. Thank you for the reminder, and your cleverness in writing it - I am woefully ignorant about coding.

[Peakcrew]

I finally have a few minutes to revisit old friends, such as this site! I haven't had much time to do anything more complicated with my KT but use it as a reader, what with house moving and job-changing (again!), but I thought it would be worthwhile just reviewing how the seven months of ownership have gone.

I'm currently running firmware 2.3.1, which is okay, but it has the old problem of displaying the wrong book-cover - not a huge problem, but it has chosen the most boring cover in my collection! Ah well - I only read one book at a time, so I know what it is!

Beyond that, it has been largely problem-free, with the exception of hanging once just when I was settling down to a comfortable read in the bath, requiring a reset and a download of my books again - that has been the extent of my interaction with Calibre, so I'm out of date with developments.

Battery life is good, especially since I have stopped annotating and just got on with reading! Three to four weeks is about the length of time it will go before shutting down and telling me to recharge - why isn't there an earlier warning than that!!

Overall, I'm delighted with it. I sometimes wish I had a Glo when my wife wants to sleep and I am still awake (if there are any clip-on lights that don't have a huge amount of spill I haven't found them yet), but in terms of reliability, it is great. My biggest argument is not with the KT itself, but with airlines that insist on it being turned off when there are still several minutes reading time left. No-one ever tells you to close a dead-tree, do they?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

I finally have a few minutes to revisit old friends, such as this site! I haven't had much time to do anything more complicated with my KT but use it as a reader, what with house moving and job-changing (again!), but I thought it would be worthwhile just reviewing how the seven months of ownership have gone.

Welcome back. It is always good to hear from someone who actually uses their reader for reading

I'm currently running firmware 2.3.1, which is okay, but it has the old problem of displaying the wrong book-cover - not a huge problem, but it has chosen the most boring cover in my collection! Ah well - I only read one book at a time, so I know what it is!

With 2.3.1, if it got the wrong cover, it never seemed to pick up the correct one. But, the problem was usually solved by making sure you returned to the home screen before the device went to sleep after opening a new book.

Beyond that, it has been largely problem-free, with the exception of hanging once just when I was settling down to a comfortable read in the bath, requiring a reset and a download of my books again - that has been the extent of my interaction with Calibre, so I'm out of date with developments.

That is just proof that all gadgets are actually sentient an know when to fail to cause the most troubl.

No idea what calibre you are using, but the recent changes have been about series support and fiddling with covers and the Kobo collections (Read, Recommendations etc).

Battery life is good, especially since I have stopped annotating and just got on with reading! Three to four weeks is about the length of time it will go before shutting down and telling me to recharge - why isn't there an earlier warning than that!!

Overall, I'm delighted with it. I sometimes wish I had a Glo when my wife wants to sleep and I am still awake (if there are any clip-on lights that don't have a huge amount of spill I haven't found them yet),

I can't imagine using a clip-on after using the Glo's light. I think you need to leave pictures of the Glo lying around where your wife will see them. Hopefully she will take the hint. Though my wife's reaction would more likely be "That's nice, I'd like one for my birthday".

[Mrs_Often]

Peak! Welcome back! You don't mean you've changed jobs AGAIN after the earlier recent job change to the teaching thing that made you leave MR, do you? And how's the new town? I remember saying it doesn't matter if it's boring because you'll be out of there in a year again anyway

Glad you're happy with your Touch. I couldn't go back to mine since I've used a Glo. The light is just delicious and it's much snappier and the resolution is wonderful. But eehh... the Touch is nice too...??

What do they think will happen if you leave your eink reader on during take off?? The ink will jump out of the screen and strangle someone? The battery will radiate interference? Pfff come on. Stupid stewards/esses.

You could upgrade to 2.4.0 to be rid of nonsense covers. As far as I remember the only real fat bugs in 2.4.0 are the Sudoku selection numbers being blacked out and Chess getting angry when you win.

[Peakcrew]

No idea what calibre you are using, but the recent changes have been about series support and fiddling with covers and the Kobo collections (Read, Recommendations etc).

I've just updated to 0.9.22 - another part of my relaxation is to check for updates of software that has been working well ... if that makes any sense at all!

I can't imagine using a clip-on after using the Glo's light. I think you need to leave pictures of the Glo lying around where your wife will see them. Hopefully she will take the hint. Though my wife's reaction would more likely be "That's nice, I'd like one for my birthday".

Well, I might get away with it if I'm crafty - she has just texted to say she is on a six-hour train journey in Germany with nothing to read! I might offer her my KT if I am allowed to get a Glo! The answer is likely to be "You've just had a new camera, and you want a new (as in new to me) car, so you can just wait. Of course, she does have an argument - we are soon to be in the bit of the year where it doesn't really get dark here in Scotland (the new home - for now!)

[Peakcrew]

Originally Posted by Mrs_Often

Peak! Welcome back!

Thank you!!

You don't mean you've changed jobs AGAIN after the earlier recent job change to the teaching thing

Yes - plans didn't work out as everyone had hoped down in Coventry, so I'm self-employed for a while, and looking for someone that would like to supervise a PhD.

And how's the new town? I remember saying it doesn't matter if it's boring because you'll be out of there in a year again anyway

Well, it's okay, but nothing special. It's like the city I grew up near - the industry has gone, but 10-15 years later than where I came from, and it is still regenerating and deciding what it wants to be. Frighteningly high unemployment, though, and it shows in some areas. We've got a year's lease on the house, but since I have absolutely no intentions of moving in December again, it will be longer than that (landlord willing, of course - oh, and depending on if any exciting jobs come along!)

Glad you're happy with your Touch. I couldn't go back to mine since I've used a Glo. The light is just delicious and it's much snappier and the resolution is wonderful. But eehh... the Touch is nice too...??

As I said to David above, I've had a lot of gadgets in the last six months - new Galaxy Note, new Galaxy Camera - so I'm not likely to get another one soon, at least until we decide on suitable cars for the area - we've had enough snow to make it a bit tricky a couple of times, but nothing as bad as southern England and northern Europe (has it been bad in the Netherlands?)

What do they think will happen if you leave your eink reader on during take off?? The ink will jump out of the screen and strangle someone? The battery will radiate interference? Pfff come on. Stupid stewards/esses.

Having done some work in this area, it sort of makes sense if you take into account the lowest common denominator passenger, who may well have wifi etc switched on and not know anything about it. However, on every flight I've been on for years, there is at least on person who completely ignores the request anyway - just like the folks who are on the phone before they are off the plane, despite having been asked to wait until in the terminal. As to whether any of it it makes any difference - who knows, but with fly-by-wire planes, I'd rather the amount of potential interference with key systems is kept to a minimum!

You could upgrade to 2.4.0 to be rid of nonsense covers. As far as I remember the only real fat bugs in 2.4.0 are the Sudoku selection numbers being blacked out and Chess getting angry when you win.

Aha! I didn't know 2.4.0 was out - applying the principle that it was working for its primary function, and I didn't want to have to mess with new firmware that has a new set of bugs - or are they "features"? I'll trundle off and plug the KT into a usb socket and let the desktop do its stuff.

Are there any other interesting threads at the moment?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

Well, it's okay, but nothing special. It's like the city I grew up near - the industry has gone, but 10-15 years later than where I came from, and it is still regenerating and deciding what it wants to be. Frighteningly high unemployment, though, and it shows in some areas. We've got a year's lease on the house, but since I have absolutely no intentions of moving in December again, it will be longer than that (landlord willing, of course - oh, and depending on if any exciting jobs come along!)

Moving in December would be a mistake here as well. But for the opposite reason: far to hot to do al that work.

As I said to David above, I've had a lot of gadgets in the last six months - new Galaxy Note, new Galaxy Camera - so I'm not likely to get another one soon, at least until we decide on suitable cars for the area - we've had enough snow to make it a bit tricky a couple of times, but nothing as bad as southern England and northern Europe (has it been bad in the Netherlands?)

If she really loved you she'd let you have all the gadgets you wanted

Aha! I didn't know 2.4.0 was out - applying the principle that it was working for its primary function, and I didn't want to have to mess with new firmware that has a new set of bugs - or are they "features"? I'll trundle off and plug the KT into a usb socket and let the desktop do its stuff.

Personally, I think 2.4.0 is better than 2.3.1. The only bug that I am finding annoying is the reader will go to sleep about 60 seconds after being woken if you don't touch the screen. After that it uses the correct timeout value.

Are there any other interesting threads at the moment?

Interesting threads? Well, we have found out a lot about Mrs_Often in the last few days in https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=206200. Among other things, she's is a Tiny Tim fan.

[Peakcrew]

Originally Posted by davidfor

If she really loved you she'd let you have all the gadgets you wanted

And then I'd have another pile of stuff to move next time! As it is, I'm seriously thinking about copying all my music to data files and getting rid of the physical media, but some of my vinyl albums have been with me for over three-quarters of my life - it doesn't seem right!

Personally, I think 2.4.0 is better than 2.3.1. The only bug that I am finding annoying is the reader will go to sleep about 60 seconds after being woken if you don't touch the screen. After that it uses the correct timeout value.

I haven't noticed that yet, but I haven't had the update for 24 hours yet. Thanks for the warning.

Interesting threads? Well, we have found out a lot about Mrs_Often in the last few days in https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=206200. Among other things, she's is a Tiny Tim fan.

That's a fun thread, and informative too! Now I'm going to have to stop just using the KT for reading and fiddle in the settings ...

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

Yes - plans didn't work out as everyone had hoped down in Coventry, so I'm self-employed for a while, and looking for someone that would like to supervise a PhD.

Oh my! I'd hate to move to far away just for a job only to find out the job's not going to work out At least Scotland is nice Good luck finding a PhD position.

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

Well, it's okay, but nothing special. It's like the city I grew up near - the industry has gone, but 10-15 years later than where I came from, and it is still regenerating and deciding what it wants to be. Frighteningly high unemployment, though, and it shows in some areas. We've got a year's lease on the house, but since I have absolutely no intentions of moving in December again, it will be longer than that (landlord willing, of course - oh, and depending on if any exciting jobs come along!)

Sounds like lots of room for improvement

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

As I said to David above, I've had a lot of gadgets in the last six months - new Galaxy Note, new Galaxy Camera - so I'm not likely to get another one soon, at least until we decide on suitable cars for the area - we've had enough snow to make it a bit tricky a couple of times, but nothing as bad as southern England and northern Europe (has it been bad in the Netherlands?)

Yep it's been snowy and icey and freeeeezing. But we're used to irregular weather so no huge problems or anything. And I like freezing so it's been fun

Originally Posted by davidfor

If she really loved you she'd let you have all the gadgets you wanted

Yes indeed. Because love is giving each other gadgets.

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

Having done some work in this area, it sort of makes sense if you take into account the lowest common denominator passenger, who may well have wifi etc switched on and not know anything about it. However, on every flight I've been on for years, there is at least on person who completely ignores the request anyway - just like the folks who are on the phone before they are off the plane, despite having been asked to wait until in the terminal. As to whether any of it it makes any difference - who knows, but with fly-by-wire planes, I'd rather the amount of potential interference with key systems is kept to a minimum!

Well alllllright then. Sigh. Still annoying though. Lucky I don't fly around much

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

Aha! I didn't know 2.4.0 was out - applying the principle that it was working for its primary function, and I didn't want to have to mess with new firmware that has a new set of bugs - or are they "features"? I'll trundle off and plug the KT into a usb socket and let the desktop do its stuff.

Yes 2.4.0 is quite nice and I agree with David, better than 2.3.1. There are some bugs, but not everyone experiences them and I actually haven't seen any, apart from the Sudoku and chess tantrums.

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

Are there any other interesting threads at the moment?

Oh quite. Laalalaaa tulips... laalalalaaa tip-toeing... oh such fun. My clogs are wearing down though, I need to make a new pair.

But the main threads at the moment are about battery issues during sleep mode in some of the newer devices. So far, in some Glo's and in newer model Touches, but only for some people. Threads started out here and here and a few others which have now merged into here.

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

That's a fun thread, and informative too! Now I'm going to have to stop just using the KT for reading and fiddle in the settings ...

BE CAREFUL! You might end up only fiddling. I honestly cannot remember the last time I actually sat down to have a good old reading session. It's all about testing and messing about nowadays. Sigh.

[Peakcrew]

Originally Posted by Mrs_Often

Oh my! I'd hate to move to far away just for a job only to find out the job's not going to work out At least Scotland is nice Good luck finding a PhD position.

Well, the move here was because my wife got a good job. My plan was to commute to Coventry at least until the end of the academic year, but it is probably for the best that it didn't work out - if only because I haven't had to travel in the bad weather. The PhD is quite exciting - I might get my doctorate in time to use it before I have to retire!

Sounds like lots of room for improvement

I'm sure it will get there eventually. There are plans to build one of the Victoria and Albert museum outreach places here, which might get some tourists from Edinburgh - not that I want to live in a tourist town. However, looking at the levels of deprivation, something is needed.

Yep it's been snowy and icey and freeeeezing. But we're used to irregular weather so no huge problems or anything. And I like freezing so it's been fun

Yep, me too - I don't like warm weather, and I'm much happier when it is below 10 degrees outside.

Yes indeed. Because love is giving each other gadgets.

Not here - one-off days out and pointless rubbish are the way to say "I love you", apparently.

Yes 2.4.0 is quite nice and I agree with David, better than 2.3.1. There are some bugs, but not everyone experiences them and I actually haven't seen any, apart from the Sudoku and chess tantrums.

I didn't even know there is a chess program!

My clogs are wearing down though, I need to make a new pair.

Surely that's what Mr_Often should be doing!

[/QUOTE]But the main threads at the moment are about battery issues during sleep mode in some of the newer devices. So far, in some Glo's and in newer model Touches, but only for some people. Threads started out here and here and a few others which have now merged into here.[/QUOTE]

I'll have a look. As I said earlier, I don't have a problem with battery life, but it is useful to know. It also puts into context your comments about not wanting to plug in your Glo because it would mess up your test. I'm surprised you forgot about the SD card option, though ...

BE CAREFUL! You might end up only fiddling. I honestly cannot remember the last time I actually sat down to have a good old reading session. It's all about testing and messing about nowadays. Sigh.

I know - it is always a temptation to do something practical when I have time on my hands. So far this week I've upgraded one computer to Windows 7, serviced the car, tidied my study (at last!), and now I'm running out of jobs. The laptop will probably get the Win7 treatment next week, and then I suppose I'll have to tackle the garden. Oh, and I've been learning Android too - lots of fiddling to do there! However,the KT will end up becoming toy not friend again soon - I can tell!!