My Voyage v Kobo H2O experience - Page 5

pghaworth · 11-05-2014, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josieb1

The web is under settings, beta features. I find it works better than the one on my PW2 for example I can upload an epub into Dropbox and easily access Dropbox on my H20 and download it. Dropbox no longer works for the kindle browsers.

I've also got an 8gb SD card installed. I only have 600 books installed but I can have thousands more if I want. The Kobo H20 has 4gb onboard storage just like the Voyage and recent PW2s

It also has Chess, Sketchpad and Sudoku as well as the ability to sync with pocket. I have over 400 unread articles in pocket.

Thank you! I saw a post about "pocket" and did some research. I liked what I saw. I also like that Dropbox works with the H2O. I use Calibre through the browser and hopefully that works equally as well.

I created a Kobo folder on my pc and downloaded all the support docs. I'm starting to think the H2O won't be far behind. LOL

pghaworth · 11-05-2014, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chi Cygni

whoooo, meeee? *bats eyelids*

oh well, time for bed here

Sleep well and be thankful you are there. I miss Europe and have been trying to get back ever since I left. :sigh:

sparklemotion · 11-06-2014, 01:27 PM

I have just popped in to see if Pg has the H20 yet. Well... well??

pghaworth · 11-06-2014, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

I have just popped in to see if Pg has the H20 yet. Well... well??

I would love to. Just to say I did, if nothing else. Now just isn't the time, no matter how much I want it to be.

Latinandgreek · 11-06-2014, 01:31 PM

Thanks OP for the great review!

Chi Cygni · 11-06-2014, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pghaworth

Sleep well and be thankful you are there. I miss Europe and have been trying to get back ever since I left. :sigh:

aww, thanks. Yes, I don't think I'd do well on another continent. Too set in my ways by now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

I have just popped in to see if Pg has the H20 yet. Well... well??

hee hee

mgmueller · 11-06-2014, 02:30 PM

I seem to be a tiny minority.
I have my Aura H2O for about 3 weeks.
I've used it maybe 2 hours in total.
I find it inconveniently bulky.

So, my personal verdict, comparing Aura HD, Aura H2O, Paperwhite 2 and Voyage:

a.) Form factor
I wasn't too enthusiastic about Aura HD. Its design somewhat reminded me of a digital watch from Eastern Germany around 1990. To me, it did look a bit dated and somewhat on the ugly side. But if I compare to Aura H2O, I actually prefer Aura HD. Now I've come to value the "fold" on the back of Aura HD. Aura H2O to me, without the fold, simply feels blocky and bulky and slippery to hold.
I've always liked Paperwhites 1 and 2 and now even prefer Voyage. I love the display being even with the bezel. I don't care much about the page turn buttons, though.

b.) Micro SD
At first, I liked the idea of the Micro SD on both Kobos.
Not for sideloading, I'm not spending my time anymore with fumbling around.
But my original libraries from the respective merchants simply are too big: About 1000 books from Amazon, about 350 from Kobo and so on.
One might think, at least the 350 from Kobo should fit into the internal memory. But unfortunately, I've got a few dozen huge travel companions.
I'd rather have my entire library with me, instead of relying on the cloud. So the Micro SD did seem a good idea. But actually, you can't manage it at all. Kobo simply fills the internal memory and then the rest to the SD card. I'd like to decide myself, for example small text books to internal memory and huge travel companions plus Garfield comics to the SD card. I could do so, by manually downloading book by book in the respective order. But even for only 350 books that's a PITA. Why not offer some simple file management in the Kobo OS? Like "download by size" or "click for download to internal memory, unclick for SD card"...

c.) OS & user interface
I consider them on par. Maybe I've missed it on Kobo. But on Kindles I love to add my own dictionaries. Buy them and then define them as the standard. Else, both are quite similar to me.
On Kobo, I love that I can see the size of the files in list view.

d.) Waterproof H2O
I won't need it much, but it actually was my main motivation to go for H2O.
I've killed 3 DECT phones a few years ago with the steam while in the bathtub.
I actually thought about ordering a customized waterproof Paperwhite from some manufacturer in the US, so H2O seems a nice idea.

e.) Customisation
I guess, that's the main reason, why many of you seem to like H2O or Kobo in general.
I've used calibre a few years ago myself. Mainly, to have all books on all readers. But at some point, I simply found it too time consuming. I couldn't stop by just converting the books (back then, I've had about 300 .lit, 300 .lrf, 250 .pdf, 300 .epub, 300 .mobi and maybe some more). Once I touched the books, I've modified metadata, covers and so on. And eventually I found, I barely ever read a book outside of its original reader. So I simply decided, to buy a few books a second or third time and to collect a few readers. Sometimes I was switching to nook Lowlight or Aura HD, mainly I've used Paperwhite 2.
If someone enjoys fumbling around and building his "perfect library", Kobo obviously has some advantages. To me, it doesn't matter anymore.

f.) 3G
To me, that's still one of the killer arguments for each Kindle.
I buy them all (10 so far) with 3G.
I don't want to use another SIM card (I've got 6 already) in a reader. I don't want to bother about WiFi in lots of places (in my standard hotels yes, but not everywhere). But I love, being able to stumble though the book store whenever I want, wherever I am. Having 3G without needing a SIM and without additional costs to me still is a stroke of genius.

g.) Bookstore
I slightly prefer Amazon.
I like the idea of coupons from Kobo, but most of the times they don't work in Germany. Probably due to the unique (dated?) book-price binding we have.
I hate B&N, I really don't want to use VPN so some merchant is friendly enough to take my money. So Kobo is my second choice, but for whatever reason still ranks behind Amazon.

h.) Display
Many (most?) of you would rate display first or at least amongst the top 3 issues. Honestly, I seem to be less critical in that area. Maybe because I've started reading eBooks in 2000 on Pocket PCs and never had a problem then either. I'm perfectly fine with all my readers. I still like my old Nook classic, which doesn't even have a Pearl screen.
Nowadays, I simply prefer Nook Glowlight, Kindle Voyage (Paperwhite 2 before that) and Kobo Aura H2O (Aura HD before that) because of the light. I've re-discovered reading in bed for 2 hours because of that great feature.
Without that, I even would be fine with my Sony 505 (which btw in my opinion still is one of the most beautifully designed readers I've ever seen).

i.) Size
I find Aura H2O too bulky and don't enjoy holding it much. But frankly, Kindle Voyage could be bigger. I'm fine with the size. But it's that compact (small bezel and such), it easily could be 1" or 2" bigger without being bulky.
I very much prefer holding Voyage over H2O. Due to the bulkiness of H2O and due to the elegant styling of Voyage. But I wouldn't mind, if Voyage would be a bit taller.

j.) Design
I find Voyage beautiful. The bezel having no gaps and being even with the housing: Absolutely great. That's the main reason for me, why Nook Lowlight ranks relatively low: The build quality (gaps in the housing) is a mild disaster. H2O is okay, but Voyage in that regard is miles ahead (for me).

k.) Customer Service
Some have mentioned customer service/support as a potential hurdle against Kobo.
I've been pissed about Kobo about 2 years ago. I did receive a book with corrupted cover and (at first) Kobo customer service did refuse a refund. One never has to discuss with Amazon, you get a refund "no questions asked".
But then, in mobileread, in my thread where I stated my frustration about Kobo, 2 employees from Kobo jumped in. And one of them actually did solve my problem and manually added the correct cover to the webstore.
So: Amazon customer service certainly is great, maybe even benchmark. But they, like most (almost all) other customer services, are reactive. Responsive, customer friendly and fast - but reactive. Kobo, in my special case, has been pro-active. I wouldn't expect that and it certainly remains the exception. But sometimes the "underdog" actually might be more responsive than the market leader and might go the extra mile for you.
Personally, I don't focus much on customer care. I assume, the new gadget will work flawlessly and I'll never need customer service. But in this case, I wouldn't worry about Kobo.

My simple summary:
Many of you probably are into customization and calibre and the likes.
And that's probably the reason for ranking Kobos relatively high.
I don't bother about those things anymore, I want to start reading as quickly as possible and never again bother about anything else.
And then, regarding convenience, bookstore, design and such, I clearly prefer Voyage.

mgmueller · 11-06-2014, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pghaworth

...I miss Europe and have been trying to get back ever since I left. :sigh:

Interesting!
I'm (more than) fine, living in Europe.
But from time to time, for example when the next best gadget gets released 3 months earlier in the US, I think (dream?) about the US...

sparklemotion · 11-06-2014, 02:55 PM

mgmueller, thanks for your detailed review. I enjoyed reading your thoughts. I will say that for me while I love the customization on the Kobo (mainly for fonts and font weight) it's not my number one reason for loving it. It's the screen that sold me. Evenly lit, gorgeous, warm screen, great contrast and sharp fonts. Ultimately, that's what I'm looking at, so it has to be good.

I won't rehash what I've already said in numerous threads, but suffice to say my experience with the voyage screen was not good.

I'm glad you're happy with yours though, enjoy it.

Chi Cygni · 11-06-2014, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgmueller

My simple summary:
Many of you probably are into customization and calibre and the likes.
And that's probably the reason for ranking Kobos relatively high.
I don't bother about those things anymore, I want to start reading as quickly as possible and never again bother about anything else.
And then, regarding conveniency, bookstore, design and such, I clearly prefer Voyage.

It is a bit different for me. I bought H2O just because I wanted a new gadget and I was bored to death with kindle interface. I've come to love the screen clarity and sharper blacker letters than I see on my PW1. But count me in for the "no fumbling club" I can't be bothered anymore. All I did on Kobo so far was to add 2 lines of code to have full screen available. I open the book and I read. The mere thought I'd have to convert all my books again gives me creeps. Which I cannot do because I stopped updating calibre at 1.0. Which I cannot upgrade on xp. I really like the bigger screen estate though.

disconnected · 11-07-2014, 01:59 AM

mgmueller, thanks for doing a detailed review. I do seem to do a fair bit of that "fumbling around" you mention (and it's not something I particularly enjoy) but with the amount of money I've managed to spend on ebooks it's definitely worth a little work to keep them safe from obsolescence.

Like you, my ebook experiences started on a Pocket PC in 2000. Without a lot of messing about with Calibre and Alf I'd be without half of my books by now.

Keeping everything in Calibre means I can buy any new gadget that comes along.

Stingo · 11-07-2014, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I seem to be a tiny minority.
My simple summary:
Many of you probably are into customization and calibre and the likes.
And that's probably the reason for ranking Kobos relatively high.
I don't bother about those things anymore, I want to start reading as quickly as possible and never again bother about anything else.
And then, regarding convenience, bookstore, design and such, I clearly prefer Voyage.

Actually, customization was not a factor at all to me. I've been using Kindles since the K2 and have been very happy with what they can do (although less happy with the implementation of cloud but...). I simply lived with both devices for a week and I found the H2O screen, the Pocket integration and the storage did it for me. That said, if you just want to "pick up and read" and don't mind the minor screen size and tone differences then either device is great.

Rizla · 11-07-2014, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stingo

The Screen
The h2o has a beautiful screen. The light is warm and makes the screen look more like paper than any other reader that I’ve ever seen. Side by side I much prefer it to the cold voyage light. The lighting is even throughout.
I prefer the h2o over the voyage and the voyage over the pw2.

Bigger screen and better color and lighting. What is Kobo doing right with the front-light that Amazon isn't? There is clearly a difference in their lighting tech. Kobo has consistently outshone Amazon when it comes to the front-light. After the Kobo Glo and the PW1 blotchula debacle, I thought Amazon would rip a Kobo Glo apart and learn from it. Apparently not. I acknowledge the flush bezel complicates matters. Interestingly, Kobo used it on the 6" Aura, but not the H2O. And the 6" Aura did have the most problems, though I don't recall any color gradient or blotch problems.

Anyway, Amazon need to look at what Kobo is doing, and copy it. Amazon seems to have bought into an inferior (to Kobo) lighting tech, and perhaps because of investment, are unable to change course.

HarryT · 11-07-2014, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rizla

Bigger screen and better color and lighting. What is Kobo doing right with the front-light that Amazon isn't? There is clearly a difference in their lighting tech. Kobo has consistently outshone Amazon when it comes to the front-light.

To some peoples' eyes. I have both an H2O and a Voyage, and both look very good to me. See the photograph I posted earlier this morning here, which shows the two screens side-by-side. Do you see anything wrong with that screen?

mgmueller · 11-07-2014, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rizla

Bigger screen and better color and lighting. What is Kobo doing right with the front-light that Amazon isn't? There is clearly a difference in their lighting tech. Kobo has consistently outshone Amazon when it comes to the front-light. After the Kobo Glo and the PW1 blotchula debacle, I thought Amazon would rip a Kobo Glo apart and learn from it. Apparently not. I acknowledge the flush bezel complicates matters. Interestingly, Kobo used it on the 6" Aura, but not the H2O. And the 6" Aura did have the most problems, though I don't recall any color gradient or blotch problems.

Anyway, Amazon need to look at what Kobo is doing, and copy it. Amazon seems to have bought into an inferior (to Kobo) lighting tech, and perhaps because of investment, are unable to change course.

I don't see it.
Either my Voyage is especially good or my H2O especially bad (well, not bad but just not quite as good).
My H2O has a distinctive yellowish hue to it.
Maybe that's what some mean by "warmer".
But I wouldn't describe this as "closer to real paper". Quite the contrary.
Yes, paperbacks aren't perfectly white. But certainly not (that) yellowish either.

Left: Voyage.
Right: H2O.
Both with light to maximum setting.

I'm absolutely fine with H2O, but I definitely don't consider it superior. I clearly rank Voyage (slightly) ahead.

11-06-2014, 02:30 PM	#67
mgmueller Member Retired Posts: 3,308 Karma: 13024950 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Augsburg (near Munich), Germany Device: 26 Readers, 44 Tablets	Only one not liking H2O much? I seem to be a tiny minority. I have my Aura H2O for about 3 weeks. I've used it maybe 2 hours in total. I find it inconveniently bulky. So, my personal verdict, comparing Aura HD, Aura H2O, Paperwhite 2 and Voyage: a.) Form factor I wasn't too enthusiastic about Aura HD. Its design somewhat reminded me of a digital watch from Eastern Germany around 1990. To me, it did look a bit dated and somewhat on the ugly side. But if I compare to Aura H2O, I actually prefer Aura HD. Now I've come to value the "fold" on the back of Aura HD. Aura H2O to me, without the fold, simply feels blocky and bulky and slippery to hold. I've always liked Paperwhites 1 and 2 and now even prefer Voyage. I love the display being even with the bezel. I don't care much about the page turn buttons, though. b.) Micro SD At first, I liked the idea of the Micro SD on both Kobos. Not for sideloading, I'm not spending my time anymore with fumbling around. But my original libraries from the respective merchants simply are too big: About 1000 books from Amazon, about 350 from Kobo and so on. One might think, at least the 350 from Kobo should fit into the internal memory. But unfortunately, I've got a few dozen huge travel companions. I'd rather have my entire library with me, instead of relying on the cloud. So the Micro SD did seem a good idea. But actually, you can't manage it at all. Kobo simply fills the internal memory and then the rest to the SD card. I'd like to decide myself, for example small text books to internal memory and huge travel companions plus Garfield comics to the SD card. I could do so, by manually downloading book by book in the respective order. But even for only 350 books that's a PITA. Why not offer some simple file management in the Kobo OS? Like "download by size" or "click for download to internal memory, unclick for SD card"... c.) OS & user interface I consider them on par. Maybe I've missed it on Kobo. But on Kindles I love to add my own dictionaries. Buy them and then define them as the standard. Else, both are quite similar to me. On Kobo, I love that I can see the size of the files in list view. d.) Waterproof H2O I won't need it much, but it actually was my main motivation to go for H2O. I've killed 3 DECT phones a few years ago with the steam while in the bathtub. I actually thought about ordering a customized waterproof Paperwhite from some manufacturer in the US, so H2O seems a nice idea. e.) Customisation I guess, that's the main reason, why many of you seem to like H2O or Kobo in general. I've used calibre a few years ago myself. Mainly, to have all books on all readers. But at some point, I simply found it too time consuming. I couldn't stop by just converting the books (back then, I've had about 300 .lit, 300 .lrf, 250 .pdf, 300 .epub, 300 .mobi and maybe some more). Once I touched the books, I've modified metadata, covers and so on. And eventually I found, I barely ever read a book outside of its original reader. So I simply decided, to buy a few books a second or third time and to collect a few readers. Sometimes I was switching to nook Lowlight or Aura HD, mainly I've used Paperwhite 2. If someone enjoys fumbling around and building his "perfect library", Kobo obviously has some advantages. To me, it doesn't matter anymore. f.) 3G To me, that's still one of the killer arguments for each Kindle. I buy them all (10 so far) with 3G. I don't want to use another SIM card (I've got 6 already) in a reader. I don't want to bother about WiFi in lots of places (in my standard hotels yes, but not everywhere). But I love, being able to stumble though the book store whenever I want, wherever I am. Having 3G without needing a SIM and without additional costs to me still is a stroke of genius. g.) Bookstore I slightly prefer Amazon. I like the idea of coupons from Kobo, but most of the times they don't work in Germany. Probably due to the unique (dated?) book-price binding we have. I hate B&N, I really don't want to use VPN so some merchant is friendly enough to take my money. So Kobo is my second choice, but for whatever reason still ranks behind Amazon. h.) Display Many (most?) of you would rate display first or at least amongst the top 3 issues. Honestly, I seem to be less critical in that area. Maybe because I've started reading eBooks in 2000 on Pocket PCs and never had a problem then either. I'm perfectly fine with all my readers. I still like my old Nook classic, which doesn't even have a Pearl screen. Nowadays, I simply prefer Nook Glowlight, Kindle Voyage (Paperwhite 2 before that) and Kobo Aura H2O (Aura HD before that) because of the light. I've re-discovered reading in bed for 2 hours because of that great feature. Without that, I even would be fine with my Sony 505 (which btw in my opinion still is one of the most beautifully designed readers I've ever seen). i.) Size I find Aura H2O too bulky and don't enjoy holding it much. But frankly, Kindle Voyage could be bigger. I'm fine with the size. But it's that compact (small bezel and such), it easily could be 1" or 2" bigger without being bulky. I very much prefer holding Voyage over H2O. Due to the bulkiness of H2O and due to the elegant styling of Voyage. But I wouldn't mind, if Voyage would be a bit taller. j.) Design I find Voyage beautiful. The bezel having no gaps and being even with the housing: Absolutely great. That's the main reason for me, why Nook Lowlight ranks relatively low: The build quality (gaps in the housing) is a mild disaster. H2O is okay, but Voyage in that regard is miles ahead (for me). k.) Customer Service Some have mentioned customer service/support as a potential hurdle against Kobo. I've been pissed about Kobo about 2 years ago. I did receive a book with corrupted cover and (at first) Kobo customer service did refuse a refund. One never has to discuss with Amazon, you get a refund "no questions asked". But then, in mobileread, in my thread where I stated my frustration about Kobo, 2 employees from Kobo jumped in. And one of them actually did solve my problem and manually added the correct cover to the webstore. So: Amazon customer service certainly is great, maybe even benchmark. But they, like most (almost all) other customer services, are reactive. Responsive, customer friendly and fast - but reactive. Kobo, in my special case, has been pro-active. I wouldn't expect that and it certainly remains the exception. But sometimes the "underdog" actually might be more responsive than the market leader and might go the extra mile for you. Personally, I don't focus much on customer care. I assume, the new gadget will work flawlessly and I'll never need customer service. But in this case, I wouldn't worry about Kobo. My simple summary: Many of you probably are into customization and calibre and the likes. And that's probably the reason for ranking Kobos relatively high. I don't bother about those things anymore, I want to start reading as quickly as possible and never again bother about anything else. And then, regarding convenience, bookstore, design and such, I clearly prefer Voyage. Last edited by mgmueller; 11-13-2014 at 01:08 PM.

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11-06-2014, 01:27 PM	#63
sparklemotion dangerous when cornered Posts: 1,864 Karma: 22891237 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: USA Device: Kobo H2O, Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Paperwhite	I have just popped in to see if Pg has the H20 yet. Well... well??

11-06-2014, 01:31 PM	#65
Latinandgreek Warrior Princess Posts: 5,038 Karma: 9724231 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-505; PRS-350, PRS-T1, iPad, Aura HD	Thanks OP for the great review!

11-06-2014, 02:55 PM	#69
sparklemotion dangerous when cornered Posts: 1,864 Karma: 22891237 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: USA Device: Kobo H2O, Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Paperwhite	mgmueller, thanks for your detailed review. I enjoyed reading your thoughts. I will say that for me while I love the customization on the Kobo (mainly for fonts and font weight) it's not my number one reason for loving it. It's the screen that sold me. Evenly lit, gorgeous, warm screen, great contrast and sharp fonts. Ultimately, that's what I'm looking at, so it has to be good. I won't rehash what I've already said in numerous threads, but suffice to say my experience with the voyage screen was not good. I'm glad you're happy with yours though, enjoy it.

11-07-2014, 01:59 AM	#71
disconnected Fanatic Posts: 527 Karma: 4504715 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: US Device: Kobo Forma, Libra, H2O2e2, Clara, Auras, Kindles, Nooks, Sony, iPAQ	mgmueller, thanks for doing a detailed review. I do seem to do a fair bit of that "fumbling around" you mention (and it's not something I particularly enjoy) but with the amount of money I've managed to spend on ebooks it's definitely worth a little work to keep them safe from obsolescence. Like you, my ebook experiences started on a Pocket PC in 2000. Without a lot of messing about with Calibre and Alf I'd be without half of my books by now. Keeping everything in Calibre means I can buy any new gadget that comes along.

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