Trying to love Kobo, but...

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

It's the first one. Fortunately searching is very fast on newer Kindles.

I imagine if I had that many books on a Kobo, finding a new book to read would not be much faster. Either I'd have hundred collections or hundred books in a collection. I'd still have to flip pages, select books one by one to read the synopsis, etc. Or perhaps I'm wrong?

If I know what I want to read, then I use the search. If I don't know, I just flip through the list until something catches my eye. Then I look at the synopsis and see if that is what I want to read and either open it from there or return and keep looking. After looking at a few, I usually either find something, or it triggers what I do want to read. I do use some collections and filtering or sorting to help me.

With that method, I don't need a separate catalogue as the device shows the info for me.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by davidfor

If I know what I want to read, then I use the search. If I don't know, I just flip through the list until something catches my eye. Then I look at the synopsis and see if that is what I want to read and either open it from there or return and keep looking. After looking at a few, I usually either find something, or it triggers what I do want to read. I do use some collections and filtering or sorting to help me.

With that method, I don't need a separate catalogue as the device shows the info for me.

Thanks for the info. It's not so very different from a Kindle, then. Except I have to do a separate search for the book I've decided to read, but I have to do it only once, after browsing my catalog, so it's not all that onerous.

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by davidfor

With that method, I don't need a separate catalogue as the device shows the info for me.

The catalog can be handy because you can make one for books that are part of a series so that you start at the first one in a series. (Alternatively you could change the book's name to include the series information.) I haven't done this but I think you can also make a catalog that has them grouped by tags or genres.

It would definitely be nice if they were links but it's merely an ebook. Besides which, do e-readers support links to other books?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

I think you can also make a catalog that has them grouped by tags or genres.

Yes. You can put the groupings by Author, Title, Series and Tags/Genres all in one catalog. Very handy.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

The catalog can be handy because you can make one for books that are part of a series so that you start at the first one in a series. (Alternatively you could change the book's name to include the series information.) I haven't done this but I think you can also make a catalog that has them grouped by tags or genres.

Why would you need an extra catalog on a Kobo to pull together all books in a series? Surely the Series field in the main GUI booklist does a good job of displaying this info - and it's a searchable field. Also I can't see why you'd need to change a book's name to include the series, for the same reason

Originally Posted by lumpynose

Besides which, do e-readers support links to other books?

I don't think so. I haven't seen an eink device or an Android ereading app which can do that.

@Sirtel,
When it comes to viewing a book's synopsis I do think a Kobo may have an advantage over a Kindle. On a Kobo you do not need to actually open a book to see its synopsis - which probably means it's a bit faster. This also has the added benefit of not affecting the list of 'recently opened' books in the GUI.

Having said this I'm pretty sure no eink device comes close to the abilities of the Calibre Companion app when it comes to ease/speed of swiping from one book's synopsis to the next when hunting your next read.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

@Sirtel,
When it comes to viewing a book's synopsis I do think a Kobo may have an advantage over a Kindle. On a Kobo you do not need to actually open a book to see its synopsis - which probably means it's a bit faster. This also has the added benefit of not affecting the list of 'recently opened' books in the GUI.

Having said this I'm pretty sure no eink device comes close to the abilities of the Calibre Companion app when it comes to ease/speed of swiping from one book's synopsis to the next when hunting your next read.

Yes, I know that. For synopsises I also use the catalog. You can click through synopsises there just like in the CC. Viewing them on a device while looking for the next read takes too much time.

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Why would you need an extra catalog on a Kobo to pull together all books in a series? Surely the Series field in the main GUI booklist does a good job of displaying this info - and it's a searchable field. Also I can't see why you'd need to change a book's name to include the series, for the same reason.

Yes, on the Kobo Calibre's catalogs aren't very helpful, I was responding to the general question of their utility, especially on the Kindle or other e-readers that aren't as functional as the Kobo. I'm always perplexed when people say that the Kindle is just as functional as the Kobo; that's always an eye-roll moment for me.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

Yes, on the Kobo Calibre's catalogs aren't very helpful, I was responding to the general question of their utility, especially on the Kindle or other e-readers that aren't as functional as the Kobo. I'm always perplexed when people say that the Kindle is just as functional as the Kobo; that's always an eye-roll moment for me.

Sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying

[anacreon]

I have frequently updated catalogs on my readers:
* the complete one, with lists by authors, series, tags, recently added, and a prefix on the title line that says whether the book is in the archive (which information isn't available on the devices otherwise), or on the Forma only etc.
* a detailed catalog for a couple of subsections of my books with synopsis too - a complete catalog would be too heavy to compile since I have 10000+ items of which 4000+ are on the Forma.

I find that with as many books as I have, catalogs are very useful.

[heyman]

tried koreader? do it man!!

[homesikalien]

For those that have the light bleed issue, you're in for a treat... Just go on the official Kobo site and chat online with customer service about it. Once they've determined that your device is probably from a bad batch by asking you to perform a reset, they will issue you a new one WITHOUT having to send the old one back. I gave my old Clara to my nine year old daughter who wouldn't know or even care about any light bleed.