Need help understanding Kobo vs Pocketbook

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

The Sage screen is flush. The Libra Colour is indented, IIRC.

If you have the money, you should really choose based on what you want. Do you want 8" enough to accept the increased weight and worse battery life? If so, get a Sage. If you prefer 7", less weight, and bettery battery life, get a Libra 2. It's expensive now because it's a good device, and Kobo hasn't released a worthy successor yet.

I would add that despite having a flush screen, the Sage has very good contrast and dark text. IMO at least. The Libra 2 has a bit better contrast/sharper text, but the difference is not huge.

[dinosm]

As someone who has used a Pocketbook (Color but I won't talk about colour here since you're not after colour) for nearly a year and looking possibly to switch to a Kobo now, here's my take.

I would choose Pocketbook for the software and build quality.
The library is great, the settings are well thought-out and do what you want.
It has its own 'cloud' to backup your books if you want to.
It has a 'send to Pocketbook' email address which works nicely with calibre-web.
It works perfectly with Calibre desktop.
It is easy to install apps like KOReader to increase your typography and reading options.
The battery life is fantastic.
It just works without issues.

But I would choose Kobo for the screen.
I haven't yet seen any Kobos up close, but purportedly their contrast is much better than the Pocketbook's, and that fact alone settles it for me.
However, other reasons that help me in my decision towards Kobo are the positive reviews as to the reading software and the ability to finely tune font size, line spacing and lighting (all of which you can still do on Pocketbooks).

[Sirtel]

Kobo works perfectly with Calibre as well.

[Quoth]

Kobo works best with Calibre:
Title, author(s), publisher, publish date, edition, blurb, collection(s), series and subtitle all supported and can be edited in Calibre.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Kobo works perfectly with Calibre as well.

You can also use them with Calibre-Web (only sort of related to Calibre) to sync books, kind of like a custom store. This is great for me since I have book purchases scattered from a half dozen+ sources and can't possibly have all my books loaded on at once due to space constraints. Makes it super easy to move books on and off. It's the only reader that supports this too.

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Kobo works best with Calibre:
Title, author(s), publisher, publish date, edition, blurb, collection(s), series and subtitle all supported and can be edited in Calibre.

If you send books wirelessly, do you also have all these options?

[ableal]

Originally Posted by cellaris

If you send books wirelessly, do you also have all these options?

Calibre has an "embed metadata" feature that you can use to modify Epub books so they carry the metadata shown in the Calibre UI.

Perhaps it's a plugin. Curiously, it is disabled when a reader is connected.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by cellaris

If you send books wirelessly, do you also have all these options?

No, because Calibre can't edit the Kobo database on a second connection.

Usually I don't need to charge the Kobo Sage as leaving it connected for a while when USB based updating is enough.

[John F]

Originally Posted by cellaris

If you send books wirelessly, do you also have all these options?

NickleSeries may help. From another thread:

Originally Posted by DNSB

NickelSeries will handle series information if it is in the metadata in the ePub3 format for ePub3 books and in calibre's format for ePub2 books. It will handle subtitles as well. However, collections and any other metadata are not handled. So no collections, no page/word counts, no multiple authors, etc.

[pypeke]

Originally Posted by Bookstooge

Reading through this thread.

Do you mind explaining what made your mind up about Kobo instead of pocketbook? Just people talking about it, something else? I too will be looking for a new reader in the next couple of months and any bit of info I can glean ahead of time is most welcome.

Crazy, isn't it? Trying to weed through the info? I need basic info, and most of the posts I have read go into info I am not ready for. My only eink readers were the early Nooks so I know nothing about Kobos or Pocketbooks.

As to choosing Kobo...here is what I said...

" I just read posts that said Pocketbooks do not have warranty services in the U.S. I assumed I would need to mail it to Europe, but someone posted that Pocketbook would only give a discount on a new device. If true, then I will buy Kobo and use the stock reader and stock fonts."

No one has told me that the warranty problem is false...


I assume people buy Kobo because they have the ability to tinker with it.

I like Kobo because:
1. I can add new fonts once I learn how to do it.

2. Canadian company- surely has a quicker response time, in regards to sending it back if necessary. However, I just noticed that the Canadian Postal Service is on strike as of today, Nov 15, 2024, and that may or may not affect shipping to people with street addresses. It WILL affect P.O.Box deliveries until the strike is over. Nothing sorted or delivered and some post offices will be closed. (Top of Rakuten Kobo's website on the Rakuten Kobo HELP page. I did not see it on any of their other pages.)

3. People have said that Kobo keeps cranking out updates even after models are discontinued. I have 2 working Nooks that still have good batteries, but Nook has fixed it where I cannot download any books that I have purchased since 2009. I can download the books on my phone or PC, but not the Nooks. I can only read the Nook books that are already on the old devices. Planned obselescence! They want me to buy their new ereaders.

4. With my Nook library, I can think of only 1 book that has disappeared. I may have more missing books, but that book was easy to notice as missing. With Kindle books that I have purchased, books are missing all the time. I don't know if the author pulled the book off of Amazon or if Amazon pulled the book off. I just know they are missing. I started saving emails where I got a purchase notice from Amazon so I can prove that I paid for the book. But, maybe the book disappearances are part of the fine print I never read.

5. I do not know if Kobo removes books since I have never bought a book from them. Kindle Unlimited is getting too expensive so I may switch to Kobo's version, or I may start using Overdrive.

6. According to Kobo and I-Fix-It, the Libra Colour, Clara Colour, and Clara B&W are repairable. Display, battery, motherboard, and front and back covers are repairable AFTER the warranty has expired. None of the other models are repairable according to Kobo's website.

https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/artic...bo-eReader#One

This where I saw the postal strike notice.

7. Kobo is using recycled plastics to make ereaders. We throw away too much plastic, electronic trash, etc. I have been watching the "Right to Repair" movement reading about everything from washing machines to autos. Things are being built so they fail on purpose so people have to buy new stuff. Helps those corporations, but at the expense of the consumers and the planet.

If Kobo is recycling all the plastic they can to make their new ereaders AND they will make all future ereaders be repairable, AND they continue to update discontinued ereaders, then I am sold on Kobo. I have never even touched a Kobo, so I am researching all I can and hoping for the best.



Maybe someone can add why or why not for the Kobo brand.

Sorry for long answer....

I will probably get a Libra Color even though I don't want a color eReader.

[pypeke]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

The Sage screen is flush. The Libra Colour is indented, IIRC.


If you have the money, you should really choose based on what you want. Do you want 8" enough to accept the increased weight and worse battery life? If so, get a Sage. If you prefer 7", less weight, and bettery battery life, get a Libra 2. It's expensive now because it's a good device, and Kobo hasn't released a worthy successor yet.

Thanks, I thought the Sage might have a flush screen, but I did not know that the Libra Colour was recessed.food to know.

I think the "repairable" Kobos (Libra Colour, Clara Colour, and Clara B&W) and the strong battery on the Libra Colour have sold me. The Sage is the size I would like, but it is 3 years old with a much weaker battery. I refuse to pay over $350 for a USED Libra 2 that could be heavily used or has been dropped, that still has a 3 year old battery that could fail at any time. People are getting rid of it for some reason. If I could find one for $100....maybe.

[pypeke]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I would add that despite having a flush screen, the Sage has very good contrast and dark text. IMO at least. The Libra 2 has a bit better contrast/sharper text, but the difference is not huge.

Thanks. It is the only reason I was considering a Sage besides the size. I read about the pixels.

[pypeke]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

One difference between Kobo and Pocketbook that may be important to some people: making fonts darker and thicker (i.e. adding weight). You can do that in the stock reader of the Kobo, but AFAIK not on the Pocketbook - with Pocketbooks, you need to either sideload a dark custom font or use KOReader (the latter needs to be installed separately).

Thanks. I will add that to my list. I do want to make the fonts thicker so I am glad I can do that on the stock Kobo fonts.

I don't know what AFAIK is though. I guess OS on the Pocketbook? No idea.

I have been reading about KOReader. Are the native readers that bad?

[pypeke]

Originally Posted by dinosm

I would choose Pocketbook for the software and build quality.
The library is great, the settings are well thought-out and do what you want.
It has its own 'cloud' to backup your books if you want to.
It has a 'send to Pocketbook' email address which works nicely with calibre-web.
It works perfectly with Calibre desktop.
It is easy to install apps like KOReader to increase your typography and reading options.
The battery life is fantastic.
It just works without issues.

But I would choose Kobo for the screen.
I haven't yet seen any Kobos up close, but purportedly their contrast is much better than the Pocketbook's, and that fact alone settles it for me.
However, other reasons that help me in my decision towards Kobo are the positive reviews as to the reading software and the ability to finely tune font size, line spacing and lighting (all of which you can still do on Pocketbooks).

Thanks. That gives me great info on the PocketBooks.

I am with you on the Kobo screen. My problem with reading is that I wear 2 different contact lenses until I go to sleep. (One for close vision and one for distance.) I switch to glasses at bedtime to read, but everything is still blurry. Multiple eye doctors have tried but they cannot get the Rx correct since my eyes only have the problem at night.

[pypeke]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

You can also use them with Calibre-Web (only sort of related to Calibre) to sync books, kind of like a custom store. This is great for me since I have book purchases scattered from a half dozen+ sources and can't possibly have all my books loaded on at once due to space constraints. Makes it super easy to move books on and off. It's the only reader that supports this too.

Thanks. I have not heard about that.

I have wondered about syncing and keeping track of what page I was on. I had thought about getting both a Kobo and a Pocketbook to try both, then I thought I could not sync because they are two different ereaders. ????