Paperwhite 5 or Libra 2?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

My page turn animation is "full refresh".

That page animation would bother me.

[mbrisco]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Not because of residue, but because the text quality degrades over time without full refresh. Most people seem not to notice it, but I do and it bothers me exceedingly. No, I don't mean ghosting. The darkness of the font lessens, the text grows paler. The change is slight, but I notice it immediately. Funny thing is, almost no one else seems to see this. But I've seen it on every eink reader I've ever owned.

Have you tried the PW5? I'm very particular about this stuff too but with the Kindle now it's no longer an issue.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Not because of residue, but because the text quality degrades over time without full refresh. Most people seem not to notice it, but I do and it bothers me exceedingly. No, I don't mean ghosting. The darkness of the font lessens, the text grows paler. The change is slight, but I notice it immediately. Funny thing is, almost no one else seems to see this. But I've seen it on every eink reader I've ever owned.

If this was a problem for me, I would set my Kobo to refresh every X pages or every chapter. I have mine set for 50 pages. I had to go into the config and change the value to 50. I figure if I find that the screen needs refreshing, I can double tap the screen to do it.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by mbrisco

Have you tried the PW5? I'm very particular about this stuff too but with the Kindle now it's no longer an issue.

No. Buttons are a must-have for me.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If this was a problem for me, I would set my Kobo to refresh every X pages or every chapter. I have mine set for 50 pages. I had to go into the config and change the value to 50. I figure if I find that the screen needs refreshing, I can double tap the screen to do it.

Well, that's you. I want my readers to refresh every page.

[John F]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If this was a problem for me, I would set my Kobo to refresh every X pages or every chapter. I have mine set for 50 pages. I had to go into the config and change the value to 50. I figure if I find that the screen needs refreshing, I can double tap the screen to do it.

Which reader and firmware is this?

When I double tap on my Forma, it advances 2 pages, or brings up the menu and then a the menu item I tapped on, ...

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by John F

Which reader and firmware is this?

When I double tap on my Forma, it advances 2 pages, or brings up the menu and then a the menu item I tapped on, ...

While reading a book, you tap once in the middle of the screen to bring up the Back to, etc. items. then tap a second time in the middle of the screen which will dismiss the menus and refresh the screen. Personally, I don't use a tap to change pages preferring to set it to swipe only though using the middle of the screen to tap should work even with tap enabled.

That has worked on any of my Kobo devices for quite a while now.

[John F]

Originally Posted by DNSB

While reading a book, you tap once in the middle of the screen to bring up the Back to, etc. items. then tap a second time in the middle of the screen which will dismiss the menus and refresh the screen. Personally, I don't use a tap to change pages preferring to set it to swipe only though using the middle of the screen to tap should work even with tap enabled.

That has worked on any of my Kobo devices for quite a while now.

That explains it. While reading a book, you tap in the middle of the screen and you get a page forward. If you tap on fhe bottom of the screen, it brings up a menu and you have to tap somewhere else to dismiss it.

If depends on the "you".

[GERGE]

I also use full refresh every page since it was an option. I will try something like 10-page today.

[Michal Jancik]

Originally Posted by Buhaj47

I'm considering switch to either Paperwhite 5 or Libra 2, does anyone have experience with those? I used to have a Kobo Aura H2O, now I own a PW 3. I buy most ebooks from local bookstores, then convert them in Calibre. My first thought was PW 5, but I heard Amazon is making changes that are supposed to discourage people from sideloading their own ebooks - is that true? Is it possible the function will be blocked at some point? Anyway, to me PW 5 has some advantages:

• higher speed
• ebook and notes synchronization in cloud
• bigger choice of non-plastic covers

Did Kobo address some of those points in their device?

Hi.

For myself, I would recommend Kobo Libra 2 according to your requirements, especially if you regularly use Caliber.


• I use both devices in parallel :

- The Kobo Libra 2 has slightly better contrast and sharpness of writing + more settings for writing weight.

- I find the Kindle PW5 more reactive and generally faster. I was also surprised by the battery life, where even after 15 minutes of browsing books in the Kindle store, only 1% of the battery had disappeared.

- What I like about KOBO is that, for example, installing KOREADER or some tweaking does not require jailbreaking the device.
* Jailbreak on Kindle is not particularly difficult, but for casual users, a careless installation can be fatal.

- If you listen (and buy audiobooks), the Kindle is limited to the USA + some 2 additional states where it is possible to use audiobooks, I see that you are from Poland, for example TTS or Audiobooks will not work for you.

- It's just a personal opinion, but the Libra2 holds better in the hand, which I really dislike about the Kindle, because it leaves fingerprints all over the plastic body.

For myself, I would really recommend KOBo, especially if you prefer mechanical buttons.
It has a lot of settings, an excellent screen, correct backlighting, and a wider range of settings.

As for the cover, you can order correct covers for the Libra 2 on Amazon for around $20.

[frquixote]

Originally Posted by Buhaj47

I ordered both and decided to go for the Libra - better contrast, ability to see chapter page count and KOReader support (I sideload my books) are the main factors.

I own a PW3 and decided to go with the Kobo Libra 2 for the same basic reasons. The most recent changes in Kindle software also motivated the change. It particularly annoyed me when it became evident I had no choice in adopting the crummy updates. When I saw what was possible through KoReader and Nickel menu it became a no-brainer. As long as KOBO allows creative extensions to their software, I will never go back to Kindle.

[frquixote]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The Libra 2 works much better with Calibre. The integration with Calibre is excellent.

Absolutely agree! I migrated from the PW3 and love the tighter Calibre integration I have with Kobo Libra 2.

[mbrisco]

My Kindle PW5 SE just got a fatal boot loop (got a warranty refund), and I can no longer find a jailbreak-able versioned PW5 SE anywhere anymore. Sigh. My only option is going back to the Libra 2 at this point. I'm half glad and half dreading it.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by frquixote

I own a PW3 and decided to go with the Kobo Libra 2 for the same basic reasons. The most recent changes in Kindle software also motivated the change. It particularly annoyed me when it became evident I had no choice in adopting the crummy updates. When I saw what was possible through KoReader and Nickel menu it became a no-brainer. As long as KOBO allows creative extensions to their software, I will never go back to Kindle.

Even with no patches or install the Kobo experience is fine. I just got a S/H bargain of an Oasis (prior model) and decided to compare with Libra (not 2) and Sage letting Oasis update and apart from about 30 non-Amazon azw3 ebooks only using Amazon to load my Amazon titles.

I find the current GUI terrible compared to the older version on my PW3. You have to go to Amazon Web page to manage properly. Series is messed up because you can't override Publisher stupidity via Amazon.
Collections seems a bit broken. Web site deletion fails silently.
No download all option on the ereader for planning to go off grid, though there is such an option on the web site.
The bump shape rear of the Gen 9 Oasis and metal back are both stupid. It won't rest square on desk or stand.
The line spacing and margin settings are far too limited.
Abusive removal of covers of ebooks you side-load, that may not even be published yet or ever. "Sending" an ebook to Amazon has security & privacy issues. I did it years ago on PW3 to test and won't ever again.
Ability to manage from PC is very poor.
On the plus size it's a far better library & search interface than any ereader that just uses files (likebook /meebook/ boyue or Remarkable), but worse than an old Sony PRS-350 for authors, titles and collections. It's poor for import of annotations back to PC. That's the main reason I switched to Kobo.

I suppose if you have no PC (or even an Android system with file manager and USB-OTG) the Wifi + 3G/4G is OK, if you only buy from Amazon and don't have 100s of ebooks. Even with about 300 the lack of ability to manage collections & series of PD books and Amazon's messed up Collections and Series ecosystem makes a Kindle poorer to use than an ancient Sony PRS-350 or similar.

[mesamay2003]

I own and like both, but I prefer the Libra 2 for the screen, page buttons, overall value and format flexibility.