Paperwhite vs Glow Kobo - specs please

[vitor.fernandes]

Originally Posted by Danger

I know for a fact that my KT battery life is much longer with it's set to 15mins sleep, 30mins turnoff as opposed to keeping it in sleep mode only. My K2 (wifi) was the same way, the battery life was much shorter when I only put it in sleep mode rather than turning if off, say when I go to bed.

If that's true then I believe kindle is better designed than kobo. I've had kindles for 3 years and never had to power off. Usually read 2 hours per night. Battery always lasts 2 to 3 weeks, wifi off. I intend to buy the kobo glo now so I expect those to be at least almost as good as kindles

It doesn't make sense. Of course internals take battery just like the battery on my watch to keep clock and things in memory but those are not even compared to a full shutdown and boot. Even my MacBook air has a month battery on standby/sleep and for sure it has much more powerfull internals than e-readers


Most people just don't get the e-ink nature. How the process of something appears on page

[vitor.fernandes]

Originally Posted by sombreastre

I heard of that, but you do realize that the eink screen, which of course only uses battery when changing state/page, is not the only component of an ebook reader?

Although on the same note, amazon folks have been telling the same story since their earliest models: kindle standby would not drain the battery in the least (customer service replies to people asking if they should power off or not). I don't know whether that's not true or if kobo works differently, but we now know for sure that at least in older models, there was a significant battery drainage during standby mode, with kobo. Maybe in later models they've put in bigger batteries which can stand standby for much longer periods than before, thus eliminating any need to power off. I also know that I have a kindle4 and never power it off. Battery lasts just fine for weeks of intense use, not sure why.

Wether you like it or not e-ink works one way. And that's how it works. Not up to ifs.
Now which internals do you think take up battery? Clock and small memory, my alarm clock has them also and the battery lasts 2 years. We are of course assuming that wi-fi is off. You should not throw things in the air like someone said at the customer service. By experience I know most customers don't realise they have wi-fi on or that their device could be defective. And I know also that many working in customer service know less than us. Try shopping for a new tv at the mall, they know nothing about what they sell.


Please go to google and research about how e-ink works. If kobo looses considerable battery on standby then that's a bad quality reader. I hope not as I want the kobo glo. The kindle paperwhite won't be available where I am, that would be my choice as amazon and kindles have always been top notch.

[David Munch]

Originally Posted by PinkET

No, it doesn't. No e-reader battery even comes anywhere near 700 hrs.

Don't believe everything marketing is trying to sell you.

Then I don't see why I can't compare to PR numbers to each other?

15.000 pages x 1 min per page = 250 hrs which still is far out of reach of any battery.

Lets say the battery is 50% better than the older models which were quoted for 15k page turns, and you spend 1,5 minutes reading since the screen is higher resolution and thus can fit a lower text size.

15.000 * 1,5 * 1,5 = 562 hours. Then add a sprinkle of more PR, and you are there..

[miquele]

I'd be interested in usability aspects. I like the my_clippings on my K3, changing the eco system now I'd be unsure about annotations/bookmarks/highlights/clippings.
also, as a general touchscreen question, I'd be curious if it is possible to highlight while turning a page. this works on the K3. is this working on the glo or kindle touch?

[soulfuldog]

I'm betting the battery life of the Glo & Paperwhite will be very similar. The two measures Kobo have given (over 1 month and 55 hours continuous use) seem to me to be two different things. Yes e-ink means the battery is only used on page turns etc, but any battery will drain to an extent even when sitting idle. So the 55 hours continuous use doesn't equate to nearly two months at an hour a day - more like just over a month, which is what Kobo have stated.

It also seems likely that Kobo have just chosen not to fall in with the rest by changing the daily usage time to make the battery life sound better. Kobo, Kindle, Nook, Sony, they are all pretty similar in terms of battery life.

[frostschutz]

Originally Posted by SameerH

I'll double check this for you, but I'm 80% certain that this is the case since it is not the flexible display.

Awww, bummer

A "no glass" display (as advertized) would have been a huge feature. Lots of people are (concerned about) breaking their displays. It should also allow making the reader lighter and frames thinner as all the extra clunk to protect the glass substrate could simply go away.

[taming]

I think you are right I_macd. More then that, when they do talk at any length about it, I hear Kobo folks talk about reading at the rate of one page turn per minute, and getting that rate from the data they collect in Reading Life. I'm betting that a whole lot of people would stretch 55 hours out over a fairly long period of time.

Me? Well, a four day weekend could blow that to bits. It's sad, but true. I really need to go out and get me one of those life things people are always talking about.

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by miquele

I'd be interested in usability aspects. I like the my_clippings on my K3, changing the eco system now I'd be unsure about annotations/bookmarks/highlights/clippings.
also, as a general touchscreen question, I'd be curious if it is possible to highlight while turning a page. this works on the K3. is this working on the glo or kindle touch?

Do you have a specific question about annotations/bookmarks/highlights/clippings? I don't know what "my_clippings" are as I don't own a K3 so I can't really give you a differences and similarities summary...

How exactly does highlighting while turning a page work? On a touch screen, if you tap (or swipe) to turn a page, the page just turns without any further options... To highlight, you have to either (a) press and hold a word, then wait for the selection to come up (and then press the x in the dictionary box that pops up with the word's definition). That one word will then be selected and the beginning and end of the word has a "balloon" type thing attached which you can drag to select more words; or (b) swipe your finger over the screen from top to bottom, and the selection possibility opens up: you can now tap a word and it is immediately selected (as opposed to tap-and-hold in option a). The further selecting of more words works the same as in option a (after you closed to word's definition pop-up).

If you want to select and highlight a sentence that starts on page 5 and continues on to page 6... I'm afraid you can't do that (at least, I couldn't find a way to make it work). As you're in selection mode while selecting text, you can't turn the page because tapping or swiping the screen to turn the page just selects the text you touched. You'd have to select and highlight the first part of the sentence, exit selection mode, turn page, enter selection mode again and select and highlight the rest of the sentence.

I hope that answers your question!

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by taming

Me? Well, a four day weekend could blow that to bits. It's sad, but true. I really need to go out and get me one of those life things people are always talking about.

(Naaah, it's not worth it.)

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by vitor.fernandes

Hello guys, I am shocked nobody here seems to know how e-ink works, it doesnt work like LCD so, it uses battery not per minute or per month, but per page, it only takes battery when you change pages, and the content stays on the screen like real ink stays on paper. Saying it lasts a month or 2 is relative, depends on how fast you read.

With this information, of course it is best to leave it in standby, even if you only get back to it a few days later, it still takes less battery than rebooting the device.

I'm surprised as well. I learned this lesson early on w/ my first reader, the Sony PRS-505. I knew it had crazy battery life, so I forgot to charge it. I was working out on the StairMaster when it died. I thought it was broken. It was "stuck" on a page and for the life of my I couldn't change it, I couldn't go back to "Home", and I couldn't turn it off. I tried to reset it, and nothing. I looked at the battery icon and it read "full" to me since it was solid. No matter what I did, I couldn't get it off of the page of words.

After finishing my work out and getting some food in my belly, it hit me. The solid battery icon might not be "full" but "empty"! So, I plugged it in. About 3 minutes later, it started to come alive.

So I learned, that if there is no battery in the reader, it will be stuck on the page, just like an etch-a-sketch, because it only uses power to change the page.

[sombreastre]

Originally Posted by Mrs_Often

If you want to select and highlight a sentence that starts on page 5 and continues on to page 6... I'm afraid you can't do that (at least, I couldn't find a way to make it work)

I think that's exactly what he was asking about. I was interested too as I've always been able to that on kindle 4(not sure if and how they made it possible on kindle touch) but am now thinking of getting a kobo glo.

Thanks for letting us know one can't do that on the kobo.

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by sombreastre

I think that's exactly what he was asking about. I was interested too as I've always been able to that on kindle 4(not sure if and how they made it possible on kindle touch) but am now thinking of getting a kobo glo.

Thanks for letting us know one can't do that on the kobo.

[TongueTied]

Does the Kobo Touch have glass in the screen? If so, why would the Glo be any different and should we be concerned? I realize that some people have broken their screens but is it just a few or a pandemic? I've also heard of people breaking their Kindle screens. So as long as it is as robust as the Touch, we know where we stand. It just means you need a decent case, correct?

[EldRick]

You could try changing the type size so the desired highlight is on a single screen, then change back and see if it stays selected.

[robko]

Originally Posted by TongueTied

Does the Kobo Touch have glass in the screen? If so, why would the Glo be any different and should we be concerned? I realize that some people have broken their screens but is it just a few or a pandemic? I've also heard of people breaking their Kindle screens. So as long as it is as robust as the Touch, we know where we stand. It just means you need a decent case, correct?

All e-ink except the new LG(??) have a very thin glass substrate that the e-ink film is laid on. Breakage can happen to any of them, but from what I've seen it's primarily twisting rather than an obvious "trauma" to the screen that seems to do it.