Paperwhite 3 First Impressions

[eschwartz]

I too have heard that recent updates more or less fixed the nagging problems encountered in the early days of Cloud Collections.

But it sure made a heck of a lot of noise when Cloud Collections first came out and infuriated pretty nearly everyone.


At no point have you ever NOT been able to create collections at all while offline. You might not have wanted to, what with the mentally retarded nagging, but you were still *able* to.

And whether you really want to manage collections one book at a time, when older firmware allowed you to use an easy hack to manage with calibre, is questionable. My old Kindle Touch works fine (no updates here ) but these days, any heavy user of collections might just want to get a Kobo instead.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by dordale

Shortly after I got my KPW2, Amazon released a firmware version that added cloud collections to the PW2. That made me give up on collections because of the frustrations Josie mentioned--constant nagging popup messages telling you you needed to connect via wi-fi to sync your collections to the cloud. Very frustrating.

Sometime later, I believe that Amazon came out with another firmware version that reduced the number of nagging pop-ups, but by this time I'd learned to live without collections and to use Calibre plugboards to add series information to the titles of my books as they are transferred to my reader.

I can't confirm how the newer version of the firmware operates from personal experience as I've never actually bothered to connect and update my firmware.

I'm ignoring Haydnfan here as I can't stand people who insult others while trying to be smug.

I also reported what I saw, and while latest software may have 'reduced' the number of pop up messages about being offline, thank you dordale, I ALWAYS get the message if my Voyage is offline. I know this for a fact as I've just spent two weeks with a offline kindle on holiday and every book I read I moved into a different collection, and I read quite a lot

[eschwartz]

Moderator Notice

Members should please keep in mind the forum guidelines, and be polite when posting.

Do not insult other members just because you *think* you are right.

[Josieb1]

Late last year I decided to sideload via Calibre some sets of books to my Voyage, I loaded each set one at a time, then loaded that set into a collection. I honestly can't remember if i got the messages or not (I had a workaround by then I'd adding a page of titles at a time,therefore getting only 1 pop-up per page) but I vaguely recall being surprised by NOT getting the message.

It may be that if the books are loaded via USB the message is suppressed but I no longer do that with my Kindle, all my kindle books are cloud based, even personal documents.

If I wanted an ereader that I always had to sideload books to via usb I'd not have a kindle I'd only have a kobo. I think kindles are best used when looking at the whole package of how an ereader works.

[JSWolf]

I don't know if this is still an issue or not, but when cloud collections were first introduced, they did sometimes cause your collections to disappear if you created them with WiFi off and then turned on WiFi.

As it stands now, collections on new Kindles have to be created manually and populated manually. There is no way to get Calibre to do it for you like you can on Kobo Readers. Amazon originally allowed computer control of collections and then for some unknown reason, took that feature away.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

As it stands now, collections on new Kindles have to be created manually and populated manually. There is no way to get Calibre to do it for you like you can on Kobo Readers. Amazon originally allowed computer control of collections and then for some unknown reason, took that feature away.

It's not an "unknown reason" at all. As I'm sure you remember, the file which stored information about collections was originally in the user partition, and what happened? People kept accidentally deleting it and losing all their collections. We used to get endless complaints about it in this forum in the days of the Kindle 3. It's not surprising that they took the sensible decision to move collection information into the system partition.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's not an "unknown reason" at all. As I'm sure you remember, the file which stored information about collections was originally in the user partition, and what happened? People kept accidentally deleting it and losing all their collections. We used to get endless complaints about it in this forum in the days of the Kindle 3. It's not surprising that they took the sensible decision to move collection information into the system partition.

But Amazon could have made collections such that they were not able to be deleted by just deleting a file and still able to computer controlled. I've never read of collection's being deleted like that with Sony or Kobo Readers and they have always had computer control of collections.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But Amazon could have made collections such that they were not able to be deleted by just deleting a file and still able to computer controlled. I've never read of collection's being deleted like that with Sony or Kobo Readers and they have always had computer control of collections.

Kobo use a database which is somewhat prone to getting corrupted, resulting in people having to reload all their books.

Every method has pros and cons, but it hardly seems fair to criticise Amazon for not providing a capability which they have never advertised the Kindle as providing.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Every method has pros and cons, but it hardly seems fair to criticise Amazon for not providing a capability which they have never advertised the Kindle as providing.

Kindles are a bit, well, crap when it comes to organizing collections. At least, that's as I understand it. As JS pointed out, doubtless Amazon could have modified the device to continue to allow users to organize collections on their devices via Calibre, without easily and accidentally trashing the collections, if they'd chosen to. They chose not to, instead preferring to enforce the collection system to be Amazon / cloud based, instead of device-based. Indeed, you don't have the ability to organize books into collections on a Kindle without registering it.

So basically, I stick to my advice to the OP. When it comes to collections, Kobo > Kindle, IMO, especially if you have a lot of books

[shalym]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But Amazon could have made collections such that they were not able to be deleted by just deleting a file and still able to computer controlled. I've never read of collection's being deleted like that with Sony or Kobo Readers and they have always had computer control of collections.

I don't know about Sonys, but I know that Kobos can have problems with double shelves. I believe that happens because shelves are stored both in the database on the device and on the Kobo website. (I am probably wrong about the reason)

Shari

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Rizla

Kindles are a bit, well, crap when it comes to organizing collections. At least, that's as I understand it. As JS pointed out, doubtless Amazon could have modified the device to continue to allow users to organize collections on their devices via Calibre, without easily and accidentally trashing the collections, if they'd chosen to. They chose not to, instead preferring to enforce the collection system to be Amazon / cloud based, instead of device-based. Indeed, you don't have the ability to organize books into collections on a Kindle without registering it.

So basically, I stick to my advice to the OP. When it comes to collections, Kobo > Kindle, IMO, especially if you have a lot of books

Hmmm...you don't have the ability to use a Kobo at all without registering it. So...Kindle for the win?

Shari

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Kobo use a database which is somewhat prone to getting corrupted, resulting in people having to reload all their books.

Every method has pros and cons, but it hardly seems fair to criticise Amazon for not providing a capability which they have never advertised the Kindle as providing.

Sony also has/had computer controlled collections because they were used with the Sony Reader software.

[GoSharks]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Sony also has/had computer controlled collections because they were used with the Sony Reader software.

Comment deleted... just not worth it!

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by shalym

Hmmm...you don't have the ability to use a Kobo at all without registering it. So...Kindle for the win?

LOL! I'm trying not laugh, but I can't help myself

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by shalym

Hmmm...you don't have the ability to use a Kobo at all without registering it.

Strictly speaking I don't believe that's true either. Unless something changed recently, there's been a workaround available for several years which lets those who strongly object to registration (not me) add a dummy username to the database rather than registering for real.