Paperwhite 3, Glo HD or Aura H2O?

[Percivale]

Originally Posted by dordale

That being said, I think you would be happy with either the H2O of the PW3. Both are great devices.

Is the 0.8" bigger screen (in comparison to PW3) a significant improvement in the comfort of reading ?

[dordale]

Originally Posted by Percivale

Is the 0.8" bigger screen (in comparison to PW3) a significant improvement in the comfort of reading ?

That's a good question--and I don't have a good answer. I enjoy reading on both my Kindle Voyage and my Aura HD. I do like the bigger screen on the Aura HD. In my opinion, the screen size of the Aura HD is nice, but it really doesn't matter that much for reading fiction--which is most of what I read.

I find that I probably spend 50% of my time reading on each. I'm glad to have both--and it would be awfully hard for me to choose which one to keep if I was told I could only keep one of them!

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Percivale

Is the 0.8" bigger screen (in comparison to PW3) a significant improvement in the comfort of reading ?

Yes: A bit more text, not as many pages to turn. If there are properly sized images, they look better.

No: It is noticeably bigger and heavier, so harder to hold. And it doesn't fit in my pocket when walk between the train and the bus during my commute.

I usually read on my Glo HD. When I swap to the Aura H2O, it takes me a little while to adapt. I find I am using the Aura H2O less and less.

[Percivale]

Originally Posted by davidfor

No: It is noticeably bigger and heavier, so harder to hold. And it doesn't fit in my pocket when walk between the train and the bus during my commute.

I usually read on my Glo HD. When I swap to the Aura H2O, it takes me a little while to adapt. I find I am using the Aura H2O less and less.

In your answer: do you mostly refer to outdoor reading?
Because I am going to use it mostly at home.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Percivale

In your answer: do you mostly refer to outdoor reading?
Because I am going to use it mostly at home.

I read for about 20 minutes a day while waiting for trains or buses. That's outside. The display of either reader is excellent for that. As where the Glo and Touch before them. There is a lot more inside. About 1.5 hours on the train plus maybe another hour at home (or two or three if the book is good and I don't look at the clock in bed). Again, the screens of any of these ereaders is excellent.

The only real issue I have with the 6.8" is the size when moving between bits of my commute. I can put the 6" Glo HD in my pocket. The H2O doesn't fit.

The size also means it is heavier and I can't wrap my hand around it as much. Both means it is a little less comfortable to hold. I would expect someone with smaller hands would have more trouble.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I read for about 20 minutes a day while waiting for trains or buses. That's outside. The display of either reader is excellent for that. As where the Glo and Touch before them. There is a lot more inside. About 1.5 hours on the train plus maybe another hour at home (or two or three if the book is good and I don't look at the clock in bed). Again, the screens of any of these ereaders is excellent.

The only real issue I have with the 6.8" is the size when moving between bits of my commute. I can put the 6" Glo HD in my pocket. The H2O doesn't fit.

The size also means it is heavier and I can't wrap my hand around it as much. Both means it is a little less comfortable to hold. I would expect someone with smaller hands would have more trouble.

I have small hands, but I don't have any problems holding my 6.8" devices...

But in the end, it's all in the eye of the beholder (hands of the reader?). For me, if I had the choice between a 6.8" device and a 6" device, all other things being equal, I would pick the 6.8" one. But it's a choice that can and will be different for every person.

[cybmole]

It's more of an issue with pockets than hands. 6.8 + a bit for the cover will not fit most pockets

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I have small hands, but I don't have any problems holding my 6.8" devices...

But in the end, it's all in the eye of the beholder (hands of the reader?). For me, if I had the choice between a 6.8" device and a 6" device, all other things being equal, I would pick the 6.8" one. But it's a choice that can and will be different for every person.

Having owned a number of 6.8" devices, for me the 6" device "wins" because of its portability. My 6" Kindle Voyage is much more portable than my 6.8" Kobo H2O or Onyx T68 were. If I want to read on a large screen, I have my iPad. As you rightly say, it's very much a personal choice.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Having owned a number of 6.8" devices, for me the 6" device "wins" because of its portability. My 6" Kindle Voyage is much more portable than my 6.8" Kobo H2O or Onyx T68 were. If I want to read on a large screen, I have my iPad. As you rightly say, it's very much a personal choice.

For me, portability isn't much of an issue. I always have a bag with me. It always contains my 8" tablet and my 5" BeBook Mini. I find the 5" feels a bit more sturdy than my more modern readers But if it would break, I'd just as easily fit a 6.8" into that bag...

[Josieb1]

I have the Voyage, a Glo HD and a H20. I prefer the 6 inch screen and use both my Voyage and my Glo HD.

I've rarely used my H20 since I bought the Glo HD. I'll keep it though as its useful for holidays by the sea.

[Smartie]

In terms of page turn, i found my h2o is noticeable slower than kindle pw3,anyone has similar experience?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Smartie

In terms of page turn, i found my h2o is noticeable slower than kindle pw3,anyone has similar experience?

What firmware version is your H2O using? The current firmware is not slow.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by Smartie

In terms of page turn, i found my h2o is noticeable slower than kindle pw3,anyone has similar experience?

Are you reading standard epubs on your H2O or Kobo-style kepubs?

Page-turning in kepubs is noticably faster than in standard epubs, because Kobos use 2 different reading apps depending which format you're reading. If you do a lot of annotating, highlighting is also better in kepubs. In addition, footnotes show as pop-ups.

There are pros and cons for both epub and kepub and you'll need to make up your own mind which you prefer.

Personally speaking, standard epub page-turning is 'fast enough' for me, but if it isn't for you and you're a Calibre user, read on:

• You could try converting one of your epubs to kepub to see if you like it better. You'd need to install the calibre plugin Kepub Output to do that.
  
• If you decide you prefer kepubs and would like to read all your books this way there's a better plugin, Kobo Touch Extended Driver. You won't need to do any calibre conversions. This plugin will do the conversion to kepub on-the-fly as you do a calibre Send-to-Device. The kepubs will be stored only on your Kobo, not in your calibre library.

[twenty5th_night]

Sorry to revive the thread again, but I`d really appreciate some advice on ereader shopping.

I recently broke my Kobo H2O; while I liked it, I wasn`t in love with it, and I`m taking the opportunity to look at other devices.

My key features are:
1) Must be able to hold over a thousand files and still maintain its speed. I found that on my last 2 Kobo devices (H2O and Aura), the page turns really started to lag when I had many files on it, regardless of how small the files were (I`m talking around 50kb here).
2) A backlight, since I do a lot of reading in dim light. I heard that the newest Paperwhite has a light that won`t turn off, is that still a thing?
3) Speed of page turns; I don't care about the flashing, but I'm a really fast reader and would like to be able to keep up my speed on an electronic device. The H2O was getting pretty slow with books loaded onto it.

Other notes/questions:
How painful is it to switch to the Kindle ecosystem? I've got a lot of files sorted with Calibre into collections/shelves, is there an equivalent system with the Paperwhite, say, and is it relatively straightforward? Can I still use Calibre to sort things?
Is the Kindle software significantly faster at pageturns than Kobo's? I'd prefer not to make the switch, as I live in Canada and it just makes sense to have a device that reads epubs. That being said, if the performance is that much different, I will do it.
How are the newer Kobo devices in terms of ease of use?
Of fair importance: which devices are more durable/have cases available that would provide more protection? Bear in mind that out of my 3 past devices, I broke the Kobo Aura's screen right through it's case with my bare hand (worst feeling EVER), my first H2O spontaneously bricked itself (fortunately while still under warranty), and my second H2O took a nosedive onto the pavement and cracked the screen (again through the case). I'm not particularly hard on the devices, but I do use them for a minimum of 2 hrs/day.
Side note: I really enjoyed the waterproofness of the H2O, and have yet to find any cases that would do the same for anything other than a Kindle/Paperwhite...

Sorry for the giant block of text; any help would be appreciated! I haven't found any real answers after a few days of Googling, so figured I'd post something myself =). Thanks!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by twenty5th_night

Sorry to revive the thread again, but I`d really appreciate some advice on ereader shopping.

Wait until sometime in August. Kobo is supposedly bringing out new Readers. One is 6" and the other is 7.8". Then you can look and see what Reader you might want.