It's so easy for me to lose perspective...

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by taming

I've always been amazed by the fact that some Kobo devices seem to continuously misbehave, and some almost never do. Some of the time it appears to have to do with things like poorly formatted books (maybe dark gray coloured free books), but other devices just seem cursed. I have lucked out, so far.

I agree with you. My Mini has need a factory reset only when I've loaded a firmware in a bad way (beta testing has its risks). My 350 needed a factory reset only when I loaded a FW with mistakes (I made my own custom PRS+). Aside of this, all my readers (Booken, Sony, Kobo) have been a well behaved devices

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by taming

I've always been amazed by the fact that some Kobo devices seem to continuously misbehave, and some almost never do. Some of the time it appears to have to do with things like poorly formatted books (maybe dark gray coloured free books), but other devices just seem cursed. I have lucked out, so far.

I am a little more demanding of my readers than most. I want lots of books on it of various types. I found myself reading western written over a hundred years ago one night because I did not have the patience to navigate the shelves again, and was glad that I did

I know that there are poorly formatted ebooks, GIGO, but I don't think they have caused me any great problems. Older lit ebooks can be problematic on the Kobo with widely spaced lines etc. but they read just fine on other readers and can be converted to mobi and back again and will work fine on the Kobo. Other than looking ugly on the Kobo alone, they have never caused it to reboot etc.

And I have gotten used to the double page turns and the other erratic touch screen problems such as the jittery slide bar, and the annoying habit of the page going backwards instead of forwards. These problems seem to have improved a bit which probably means I was/am not as precise as I should be in my tapping, but it happens even with a stylus, and does not happen on my other touch devices.

To keep perspective, I was looking at my Aura sleeping cover just minutes ago and thinking how lovely. My mini is kind of grubby from carrying it around in my pocket, and accidentally getting ketchup and mayo on it while eating, but it is lovely too.

I think that those of us, like me, who whine and snivel are just used to better software. Doesn't mean we hate our Kobo's or that they are any more defective than yours, we are more intolerant of obviously silly programming mistakes like the numeric sorting on the Aura shelves and the overall slowness of what should really be a very fast and nifty device.

Kobo may not be as able to afford quality programmers as Sony or Apple, after all it could cost them a few thousand dollars more a month although one reads they are selling a lot of books and readers, but they should at least be able to buy the programmers they have some books (tax deductibe in Canada, and programming courses. I know that may sound mean, but in many ways David_for and PeterT are doing more for the Kobo readers than Kobo

Helen

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by samhy

First, I'm glad my comments weren't seen as undermining yours all the time. By re-reading them I thought it could feel that way, but that wasn't my intention.

Not at all, everyone's mileage will vary with every reader even all things being equal and I wouldn't take anyone's opinions as undermining my own, never an issue with me. In this case, you have the Japanese firmware which I don't have, so I realize there may be weird behavior differences to begin with.

Originally Posted by samhy

Regarding the firmware and PRS+, I've seen one comment here of someone who tried and bricked his 650. So I preferred to err on the safe side and keep it as it was. Now, this is an ereader that I'm using when I want to lend a book or when someone has questions about ereaders and ebooks. It's nice, steady and sturdy enough to serve well that way.

The installation process for PRS+ is much more reliable now and very easy, you simply double-click a file while your reader is connected, wait a few minutes and you're done. There's no more shuffling files to certain locations, letting it reboot to hopefully update correctly. PRS+ doesn't replace the firmware, it's simply an add on to the existing firmware.

I know it's perfectly safe for readers with western firmware, but I couldn't say if it's safe for Japanese readers. I would ask in the PRS+ Developer's thread and see what they say. But if there's any chance of bricking it, I'd probably be like you and err on the side of caution inspite of how much PRS+ adds to the reader.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I think that those of us, like me, who whine and snivel are just used to better software. Doesn't mean we hate our Kobo's or that they are any more defective than yours, we are more intolerant of obviously silly programming mistakes like the numeric sorting on the Aura shelves.

I can't complain about this, we had the same problem in our development Anyway, do you have 10.5 or 10,5 in your series?

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I know that may sound mean, but in many ways David_for and PeterT are doing more for the Kobo readers than Kobo

The same can be said about people who developed PRS+ or the procedure for rooting a Sony T1

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

I can't complain about this, we had the same problem in our development Anyway, do you have 10.5 or 10,5 in your series?



The same can be said about people who developed PRS+ or the procedure for rooting a Sony T1

No it sorts the shelves on the Aura by number of books on each shelf. 9,9,8,8,73,7,6,5,43,4 etc. Nothing to do with series

And I realise that many people make these mistakes, never have so may been made as by Kobo. (not true really, but it seems that way at times) and the PRS+ and rooting people are not actually working for anyone but themselves and are not paid, so I tend to give them a little more room on the silly error thing.

Helen

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

No it sorts the shelves on the Aura by number of books on each shelf. 9,9,8,8,73,7,6,5,43,4 etc. Nothing to do with series

Well, you can't complain about not reusing code

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

And I realise that many people make these mistakes, never have so may been made as by Kobo. (not true really, but it seems that way at times) and the PRS+ and rooting people are not actually working for anyone but themselves and are not paid, so I tend to give them a little more room on the silly error thing.

Helen

No, I was talking about Peter/David doing more to improve Kobo experience than Kobo employees. That's the same with Sony Sorry about my bad explanation.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Well, you can't complain about not reusing code



No, I was talking about Peter/David doing more to improve Kobo experience than Kobo employees. That's the same with Sony Sorry about my bad explanation.

Ahh, sorry for my misunderstanding.

Helen

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

No, I was talking about Peter/David doing more to improve Kobo experience than Kobo employees. That's the same with Sony Sorry about my bad explanation.

Yeap, there are some wonderful people out there. I've found it true for any hardware or software: there is usually a group of users who provide better support than the company itself. It makes sense in a way since there is none of that business nonsense to deal with, and because they're doing it out of interest.

[TechniSol]

I agree, Kobo is very lucky to have 3rd party development such as the likes of the Calibre developers and those who contribute in the Developer's Corner and have provided night mode, the plugin interfaces, and even reader software ports.

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by TechniSol

I agree, Kobo is very lucky to have 3rd party development such as the likes of the Calibre developers and those who contribute in the Developer's Corner and have provided night mode, the plugin interfaces, and even reader software ports.

Yep, Kobo is lucky, but they broke night mode with their last update

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

Reading a lot this morning on the Kobo, I've given up trying to use a tap while holding it in my left hand. 75% of the time I can't stretch far enough and I end up going back a page. So I'm back to swiping, at least when holding it in my left hand.

You know that you can change the settings so that tapping the left of the screen will go forward a page, right?

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

You know that you can change the settings so that tapping the left of the screen will go forward a page, right?

Yes, but it's just backwards to me and not something I'd get used to easily (or actually want to get used to, it's just opposite the natural flow for me). And I don't always hold the reader in my left hand, I'd only transfer the same issue to having a problem when holding the reader with my right hand.

I really don't understand why the Kobo isn't as sensitive as the Sonys are with the infrared, but it's a huge difference for me. When I'm reading outside in the hot summer months on the Sonys, even a bug crawling across the screen will turn the pages. That never happens with the Kobo though, I can even brush them off the screen and even that doesn't trigger a page turn.

[rayhigh]

You can just use a very infinitesimal swipe on either the left or right side to page forward. Simples.

[Ripplinger]

But that's the problem, the Kobo is very unresponsive to swipes. Swiping to turn pages is my preferred way, but it can take as many as 4 tries to get the page to turn.

I've used swipes for 2.5 years on the Sony 350 (and while I may need to swipe a second time, it's extremely rare for that to happen), so it's not like I don't know how to do it by now.

[llcj]

I've noticed that on my Aura, if I swipe too fast it doesn't register. I've had to slow down my thumb flick for it to work.