Paperwhite 5 or Libra 2?

[John F]

Originally Posted by davidfor

That has changed in recent firmware. Kobo has a sideloaded mode that can be used as part of the setup if you cannot connect to the Kobo servers. If that happens, it asks you if you want to continue and do the setup later (from memory). Once you get through it, there are no later prompts. And it can be turned on after setup by adding an entry to the config file. The overall function is reduced, but, only in ways that are related to having the store and Kobo servers available. You can sideload, use the browser, get firmware updates over WiFi. But, you can't use the store, overdrive borrowing, sync purchased books etc.

What hardware ships with the sideloaded mode? I recently purchased a Clara HD and was thinking it would have sideloaded mode, but thinking about it afterwards, the shipped firmware doesn't have sideloaded mode, so I was out of luck.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by John F

What hardware ships with the sideloaded mode? I recently purchased a Clara HD and was thinking it would have sideloaded mode, but thinking about it afterwards, the shipped firmware doesn't have sideloaded mode, so I was out of luck.

None of the current devices would ship with firmware that supports sideloaded mode. But, any new Kobo device will attempt to update the firmware before you login. That firmware should be one that has sideloaded mode.

[John F]

Originally Posted by davidfor

None of the current devices would ship with firmware that supports sideloaded mode. But, any new Kobo device will attempt to update the firmware before you login. That firmware should be one that has sideloaded mode.

Just to refresh my memory, sideload mode can only be enabled through the config file?

[BookCat]

Originally Posted by issybird

It’s not Open, it’s 0pen, which bumps it to the head of the list. Starting with “C”, a collection would be way, way, down for me. I have a lot of collections.

Click on Filter to the left after choosing Books, and the choices are All, Unread, Reading, Finished, Purchased, Imported, Downloaded. Very useful distinctions.

Thanks, I found the filter. Unfortunately it's not very helpful. I have 161 books on my Libra, according to the Reading filter I'm currently reading 153 of them! I may have opened these to check the formatting and put them in the appropriate Collection, but I'm not currently reading 153.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by BookCat

Thanks, I found the filter. Unfortunately it's not very helpful. I have 161 books on my Libra, according to the Reading filter I'm currently reading 153 of them! I may have opened these to check the formatting and put them in the appropriate Collection, but I'm not currently reading 153.

If you leave them alone, eventually, the ones you've not touched in a while will come up asking if you want to mark them as unread. This is on your Libra 2.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by John F

Just to refresh my memory, sideload mode can only be enabled through the config file?

Sideloaded mode will be enabled if the device cannot contact Kobo when trying to login. But, you can enable it using a config file entry afterwards.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by BookCat

Thanks, I found the filter. Unfortunately it's not very helpful. I have 161 books on my Libra, according to the Reading filter I'm currently reading 153 of them! I may have opened these to check the formatting and put them in the appropriate Collection, but I'm not currently reading 153.

You can mark books unread if you’re not really reading it.

[mbrisco]

Originally Posted by leifan89

I have both and prefer the Libra 2. Better screen, love the buttons (I was a long time Oasis user), and love the OverDrive integration. That said, I don't side load much.

Speed-wise, yes, PW5 is noticeably faster, but for most things that you do on the device (flipping pages), it didn't matter. The only annoyingly slow thing on the Libra 2 from my perspective is changing fonts (maybe I have too many custom fonts...).

Sent from my HLTE556N using Tapatalk

My PW5 gets over 3 times the battery life of my Libra 2, at least running KOReader. The Libra 2 drops a percentage point if you just look at it sideways, while the PW5 just doesn't drop. I got 20 hours of reading time from the Libra 2 while the PW5 is getting me 50+. That alone is making me return the Libra 2, even though it's superior in every other way... even the official "leather" case is better than any case for the PW5.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by mbrisco

I got 20 hours of reading time from the Libra 2 while the PW5 is getting me 50+. That alone is making me return the Libra 2, even though it's superior in every other way..

Just curious, if you get 20 hours reading time out of the Libra and consider it a superior reader, why not just charge it overnight? Assuming you use all 20 hours of reading every day, you could still charge while using the remaining 4 hours to sleep.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Just curious, if you get 20 hours reading time out of the Libra and consider it a superior reader, why not just charge it overnight? Assuming you use all 20 hours of reading every day, you could still charge while using the remaining 4 hours to sleep.

Logic!

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Just curious, if you get 20 hours reading time out of the Libra and consider it a superior reader, why not just charge it overnight? Assuming you use all 20 hours of reading every day, you could still charge while using the remaining 4 hours to sleep.

It's nice not to have to worry about charging your device — or at least not have it on the back of you mind all the time. If you have to charge every day (or every other day, or even every third day) that sounds more like a smartphone or tablet than an eReader. In my experience this is one area where the Kobos seem weak, especially in comparison to the PocketBooks and Kindles.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by rcentros

It's nice not to have to worry about charging your device — or at least not have it on the back of you mind all the time. If you have to charge every day (or every other day, or even every third day) that sounds more like a smartphone or tablet than an eReader. In my experience this is one area where the Kobos seem weak, especially in comparison to the PocketBooks and Kindles.

Yes, Kobo battery life is very bad - my Sage is awful. But the commenter deemed battery life so bad as to require a return, despite considering it superior as a reader.

I understand that everyone's choices are different but to say that a reader is superior in functionality yet return it because it would need charging every other day seems strange to me. 20 hours battery life would most likely be at least 2 days of usage, offering plenty of time for the device to charge while doing other things - like sleeping. No inconvenience, no lost reading time.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Yes, Kobo battery life is very bad - my Sage is awful. But the commenter deemed battery life so bad as to require a return, despite considering it superior as a reader.

I understand that everyone's choices are different but to say that a reader is superior in functionality yet return it because it would need charging every other day seems strange to me. 20 hours battery life would most likely be at least 2 days of usage, offering plenty of time for the device to charge while doing other things - like sleeping. No inconvenience, no lost reading time.

Personally, I want to minimize how often I plug in my ereader for charging.

Seems like common sense that different people have different priorities.

[Quoth]

Kindle PW3 goes flat when occasionally used far faster than H2O original or original Libra used occasionally which have good battery life, I've not noticed those Kobo needing charged often when used a lot compared to PW3. The indexing can run a PW3 flat quickly if you don't leave it connected & charging after putting on a lot of books

My Sage initially was a lot poorer than original Libra, but still better than my tablet or phone which I don't use much. Battery life is much better on the 4.32.x FW, especially reading. I've nearly 3,000 PD books and about 150 bought ebooks (going back to 2013) on the Sage. I suspect an open Notepad uses a lot and I wonder does the Sage sleep properly if you don't exit a notebook?

If you don't need notes a Libra 2 makes more sense than Sage. If you really need a lot of Manga / Comics / PDFs, then an Elipsa might be better (It's far superior to a Remarkable, though if you read larger PDFs then install KOReader for the Autocrop).

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by John F

Personally, I want to minimize how often I plug in my ereader for charging.

Seems like common sense that different people have different priorities.

Different priorities yes. I am just genuinely surprised that having to charge a reader once every 2-3 days would be a literal dealbreaker, ā flaw so serious as to outweigh all other advantages.