Forma New Kobo reader: The Forma/Shape

[beespeckled]

Originally Posted by Nightyume

That's actually something to remember about the forma, it has a plastic substrate so you shouldn't get a broken screen.

I know that the Forma is expensive, especially outside of Canada or the US (I got mine in Mexico), but for me, not having to worry about a broken screen again was totally worth it.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Will a plastic substrate crack, deteriorate so the screen looks foggy or get brittle as it ages?

I like the looks of the white caseing, but wonder if it will yellow with age?

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by beespeckled

Thanks for your thoughts.

Will a plastic substrate crack, deteriorate so the screen looks foggy or get brittle as it ages?

I like the looks of the white caseing, but wonder if it will yellow with age?

The substrate shouldn’t show any more wear and tear than the glass one it’s replaced. It’s actually more durable it can stand up to drops that would shatter the glass. Not that you should throw the ereader around.

I’d think that white of the Libra would eventually show some discoloring but how much and how soon are up to environmental factors. For example if it’s around a heavy smoker it’s going to yellow faster. I wouldn’t worry about it much though the surface shouldn’t be too porous so keeping it clean is probably going to be easy

[lkmiller]

I've never liked white ereaders because it makes the background of the screen look greyer. Black ones always look like they have higher contrast between black text and white background.

[frostschutz]

Originally Posted by beespeckled

I like the looks of the white caseing, but wonder if it will yellow with age?

define age... my old white iriver story HDs (2011) still look the same as always. nobody uses these more because technology advanced much faster than the plastic could show signs of age ;-)

I think the yellowing with age was a problem in particular with 70s/80s plastics, you find it on ancient computers but anything semi-recent doesn't usually suffer this issue

(and it's not like black is impervious either... my black H2O attracts fingerprints and smudges like crazy. clean it every other week. my black cherry MX 3.0 keyboard soaks up finger grease in a way that cannot be cleaned, it just stays extra shiny forever)

[maddz]

The bezel of my white Kobo Touch is fine; however, the soft-touch back has got reddish dye marks from the case. My white Studio Proper case for my iPad Mini has discoloured especially around the rim. It's also crazed a bit. So I guess it depends on the plastic.

[kyôdai]

Back in the day, my white Oyo also suffered some discoloration in places where your fingers hold the device.

The most recent e-reader with such quality issues is last years Pocketbook Touch HD 3. According to some users, the colored backside is quite fragile and can react to sun cream or other hand lotions. Or be easily damaged by hard shell cases.


(Source of the second attached picture: https://www.e-reader-forum.de/ebook-...ng-loest-sich/)

[mathil]

We have an old Kobo Glo in the family from 2012, that's still in use, white and blue. The reader has always been in a case as long as it's been in use, but the case doesn't cover the border of the device, just the corners, and it still looks great. No sign from finger grease or anything else. I think that as long as it's hard plastic it should be okay.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

I've never liked white ereaders because it makes the background of the screen look greyer. Black ones always look like they have higher contrast between black text and white background.

I have a Nook Glowlight Plus (2015) with a white bezel and I think the screen looks just fine. It doesn't appear to be any grayer than the screens on my Glowlight 3 or Clara.

[kyôdai]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I have a Nook Glowlight Plus (2015) with a white bezel and I think the screen looks just fine. It doesn't appear to be any grayer than the screens on my Glowlight 3 or Clara.

You should notice a slightly darker screen on ANY e-ink device with a white (or light coloured) case, because it is an optical illusion not a technical issue. (At least with the frontlight turned off.)

I have attached a good example.

The smaller rectangle in the middle of the picture appears to be darker on the left and brighter on the right. But that is just an optical illusion created by the gradient in the background. The middle rectangle actually has one solid grey colour (#989ba0), the same on the left as on the right.

You can check this with Photoshop, GIMP or another photo editing software.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by beespeckled

Thanks for your thoughts.

Will a plastic substrate crack, deteriorate so the screen looks foggy or get brittle as it ages?

I like the looks of the white caseing, but wonder if it will yellow with age?

The substrate is not visible at all. It is under the screen. See E Ink Mobius in our wiki. See also TFT. The screen itself can a plastic or glass layer that you see. You might also want view front light. Touch screen is also important to the screen view. Plastic top screens are subject to scratches.

Dale

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by kyôdai

You should notice a slightly darker screen on ANY e-ink device with a white (or light coloured) case, because it is an optical illusion not a technical issue. (At least with the frontlight turned off.)

I understand the optical illusion.

To be fair, I never turn the light off on my readers. The frontlight is always set at somewhere around 20-25%. Doing that, the screen on all three readers looks the same. Honestly, black or white, the bezel does what it is supposed to do: fade away.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I understand the optical illusion.

To be fair, I never turn the light off on my readers. The frontlight is always set at somewhere around 20-25%. Doing that, the screen on all three readers looks the same. Honestly, black or white, the bezel does what it is supposed to do: fade away.

Yeah, that's the trick. I don't use the light much though. So those white Nooks are the ones I never got. The original Nook avoided the issue by having a black frame around the screen and the body was slightly grey too.

[ratinox]

So.

After a three week long succession of careless mistakes and willful negligence across multiple people at Kobo customer (dis)service trying to get a defective Kobo Forma 32GB replaced I have given up and requested, in writing, a full refund.

[lkmiller]

@ratinox
Last we heard you were happy with the Forma after one day with it. What did you discover was wrong?

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

@ratinox
Last we heard you were happy with the Forma after one day with it. What did you discover was wrong?

It would freeze for no apparent reason and needed a hard power off and restart to get it working again. Sometimes it would happen while transferring files, sometimes just rotating it. Clearly a hardware defect of some sort.

I intend to post a summary of events once I get my refund. Kobo are currently (still) ignoring my emails about it so it might be a while.