From 6 to 8-inch screen: what were your experiences?

[foxQ]

Hi guys, I’m about to replace my 5” reader and mulling whether to buy a 6” or 8”.

I have a 9.7” Ipad, which for my tastes feels too bulky for ebooks and articles.

To those of you that have moved from 6-to-8 inches, what were the greatest impressions, likes and dislikes?

Cheers and thanks!

[ps67]

I bought my Kobo Aura One because the 6" screen of Kindle Paperwhite was too small. The 7.8" screen is fantastic. With a greater font size it is still possible to have more words in the same line. Now when I read on the 6" screen I seem to read in a stamp.

Of course if You buy a 8" screen reader it will be less portable than a 6" screen, but You can use the first as preferred reader and Your actual reader when You have to go somewhere and the bigger is too big to take with You.

It all depends of Your needs: if it is more important the screen or the portability.

[tourneur]

The optimal screen size is very personal and really depends on your needs. But here are my thoughts on the ones I've owned: the 6" Kobo Clara, the 7" Kobo Libra and the 7.8" Pocketbook Inkpad 3.

6": I find this the most comfortable size to hold. Very easy one-handed use due to the small size and low weight and it's the only size I can wrap my hand around. The small size also means great portability (you can slip it in your trousers' pocket). However, for reading it just feels a bit too cramped for me.

7": The sweet spot for me in terms of the amount of text on screen. I never have to change the font size which is great.

7.8": At my preferred font size I found there was too much text on screen. The sea of text was distracting and made me read slower. Also, I prefer to read without glasses/contact lenses and so I keep the ereader fairly close to my face. This exacerbates the effect of a big screen.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by tourneur

The optimal screen size is very personal and really depends on your needs. But here are my thoughts on the ones I've owned: the 6" Kobo Clara, the 7" Kobo Libra and the 7.8" Pocketbook Inkpad 3.

6": I find this the most comfortable size to hold. Very easy one-handed use due to the small size and low weight and it's the only size I can wrap my hand around. The small size also means great portability (you can slip it in your trousers' pocket). However, for reading it just feels a bit too cramped for me.

7": The sweet spot for me in terms of the amount of text on screen. I never have to change the font size which is great.

7.8": At my preferred font size I found there was too much text on screen. The sea of text was distracting and made me read slower. Also, I prefer to read without glasses/contact lenses and so I keep the ereader fairly close to my face. This exacerbates the effect of a big screen.

My thoughts are pretty much the same. My Tolino 7.8" Epos feels too big and heavy, and it's uncomfortable to hold (though that might be partly due to the slick cover). And I've got the same issue you have with font size. Never seems like I can get it right. But I read novels, not PDFs, so that probably colors my opinion. I've got more than one 6" reader, but the Tolino Shine 3 (Clara-like) is the one I'm using most lately. I like the 6" readers, as you say they're more comfortable to hold. But I just recently found an old 6.8" Kobo Aura HD and I agree (which surprises me) this seems to be about the right size. I don't know if I would want the Libra/Oasis/Forma style reader though.

Anyhow, for what it's worth. And, as you say, it all depends. I'm nearsighted and hardly ever wear glasses in the house (except when watching TV), so smaller fonts are not a problem for me.

[JSWolf]

5 years ago I bought a Kobo Aura H2O to replace my Sony Reader PRS-T1. The H2O has a 6.8" screen. After using the H2O for 5 years, I would not want to go back to a 6" screen. That to me now seems small. If I was buying a new Reader, I'd go for a 7 or 8" screen depending what I wanted. But I would not go for a 6" screen.

[Poppaea]

In 2014 I went from a Sony 350 to the Aura 6". It was such a great thing, as small as my Sony but a bigger screen and a light. I loved it to pieces. Having more text on the screen was so much nicer, not to mention the light, which was handy on my commute.

When I bought my Aura One in 2016, I was smitten with the size from the very first moment. This was a surprise, I always thought I liked them small. It is the size of a book page and all of a sudden reading on a device was just like reading a book - only better.

I've kept my Aura 6" for as long as I've had the Aura One, as an out-and-about-device, but never again did I enjoy reading on it. It was just too small now.

The Forma has a different size, it is square and the not so book-page-sized screen wasn't for me. I switched to a Pocketbook Inkpad 3 Pro to get the 7.8" screen again. There is a Tolino, called Epos, that sits on the Aura One chassis, but it is a bit longer which makes it have a wider bezel at the bottom. I am not sure if I'd like it as much as the KA1, as it distributes the weight differently and is a bit heavier. The Pocketbook is a wide and long as the KA1 and weighs about the same, so it feels familiar. If there was a Kobo with a 7.8" screen available, I'd jump on it, as it is the perfect size for me and I like the Kobo software better than the Pocketbooks.

Yesterday I went into town to take a look at the Libra in its Tolino drag. Nice reader, the smooth plastic feels better to me than the rubber of the Forma, but it is too small and has that weird form factor, too.

So, for me, there is no going back ever to a smaller screen. I guess I'd easier adapt to the square size than to a smaller screen after three years of owning a bigger reader.

I think you'll love it too.

[ezdiy]

Originally Posted by tourneur

7.8": At my preferred font size I found there was too much text on screen. The sea of text was distracting and made me read slower. Also, I prefer to read without glasses/contact lenses and so I keep the ereader fairly close to my face. This exacerbates the effect of a big screen.

It works really great for comic books, because text is few and between, and on 6" you often end up with fonts too small (depends on scanlation though) and a lot of the art gets butchered by downscaling. 7.8" is pretty much the format the original manga/comics are printed in (japanese B6, western A5 comics).

[foxQ]

Thanks guys for all your great replies. They really exemplify why it’s so valuable to draw on the experiences and advice of others - there are many things I would have never thought of.

The Kobo Aura One looks very nice. Pity it’s no longer available. The 6.8" Aura H2O II may be the closest. I also hadn’t considered Tolino.

I’ll take this and do some more research on the models and manufacturers. If anyone have further insights, then do please post. It’s all useful.

[foxQ]

By chance, would anyone know if it's possible to sideload dictionaries on any of these ereaders, perhaps with custom firmware?

The Sony has Oxford’s English, that features word etymology and the lot, which I will really miss.

I am guessing not, but it's worth an ask.

[Poppaea]

Pocketbook and Kobo, yes. But they do take special formats only. If you do a search here on the forums you'll find how to's for both of them. It's not hard to do, I've done it on my Kobos and might do on the Pocketbook, too. Tolino I don't know.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by foxQ

Thanks guys for all your great replies. They really exemplify why it’s so valuable to draw on the experiences and advice of others - there are many things I would have never thought of.

The Kobo Aura One looks very nice. Pity it’s no longer available. The 6.8" Aura H2O II may be the closest. I also hadn’t considered Tolino.

I’ll take this and do some more research on the models and manufacturers. If anyone have further insights, then do please post. It’s all useful.

Tolino is using the same hardware as Kobo. But the software for Kobo is much better. So instead of going for Tolino, go for Kobo.

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Tolino is using the same hardware as Kobo. But the software for Kobo is much better. So instead of going for Tolino, go for Kobo.

With the Aura One being discontinued it makes sense to take a look at the Tolino Epos. I am not a big fan of their software either but it does have some nice features like the implemented library lending, complete with not only Adobe DRM but also the new Tea Care DRM.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

With the Aura One being discontinued it makes sense to take a look at the Tolino Epos. I am not a big fan of their software either but it does have some nice features like the implemented library lending, complete with not only Adobe DRM but also the new Tea Care DRM.

Why would you care about this new Tea care DRM?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why would you care about this new Tea care DRM?

Apparently, if you live in Europe, CARE DRM is becoming common in library lending — so it's good to have a reader that does both.

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why would you care about this new Tea care DRM?

Because I use two German online libraries.

Right now our libraries do run both systems but they want to get rid of the Adobe DRM and use CARE DRM only. While Kobos can read sideloaded ADE drm'd books, they can not read CARE DRM. Tolinos and Pocketbooks are able not only to read the sideloaded books but also to decode them when loaned via wifi.