Don't know if I should get an Oasis or not

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by beespeckled

I just ordered an Oasis. I like my Kobo Aura One, have had it since 2016 when it first came out & I will continue to use the Kobo for library books. (Love the integrated Overdrive feature and with recent updates it even alerts me if the wi-fi is on that I have a book ready to download from the library)

The need to download e-books from another source, that is less complicated with a kindle has prompted this.

Luckily, I had a good amount of Amazon gift cards so was able to get the Oasis at reasonable cost. I decided on the Oasis over the PW because I'm used a bigger screen, I am used to the night feature on the KOBO and I do like simple turn buttons.

Paperbackstash, I hope we both have a good Oasis experience.

Yay, I'm not alone Looks like we both have something to look forward to. Let me know what you think when you get yours and get to play with it a bit.

[CWatkinsNash]

As someone who is considering trading in a PW4, Voyage, and a basic K8 for an Oasis, I'm watching this discussion with interest.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

As someone who is considering trading in a PW4, Voyage, and a basic K8 for an Oasis, I'm watching this discussion with interest.

If it were me, I would trade everything but the Voyage, and get the Oasis. I would (and did) keep the Voyage for portability. It fits into my small purse and I can carry it with me almost everywhere. The Oasis is just a little bit too big for that. So...I read at home on the Oasis, and on the Voyage everywhere else.

Shari

[NullNix]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

I have a rule I have to be able to pronounce it

If I did that I'd never have named machines meant to be used by other people "amaterasu" or "lothlorien".

(The best name I've ever seen was a fileserver named "thebin". Where's that report? "I threw it in thebin". Oh right!)

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

I have a rule I have to be able to pronounce it

I used to work in the data center, which had multiple departments. Spread out across several buildings. Two of the departments were in the same building and shared space, and also servers. For whatever reason the heads of the two departments were always fighting and at each other's throats. Years later my boss who'd started out in one of those departments told me how whenever naming a new server the head of department A would purposely choose a name that the head of department B couldn't pronounce correctly because of their accent.

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by hobnail

I used to work in the data center, which had multiple departments. Spread out across several buildings. Two of the departments were in the same building and shared space, and also servers. For whatever reason the heads of the two departments were always fighting and at each other's throats. Years later my boss who'd started out in one of those departments told me how whenever naming a new server the head of department A would purposely choose a name that the head of department B couldn't pronounce correctly because of their accent.

Ha, too funny.

I may go with something water related. Oasis is a beautiful name in itself so if I can't think of something else, could just stick with that for now. I'm a big "water" fan, which is one reason waterproofing was a biggie for me, but I'm not actually a desert fan since I hate heat in general I've been busy but something will come to me.

[Paperbackstash]

Okay, initial thoughts.

Shape
I received yesterday afternoon. I've seen plenty of videos and pictures of the Oasis but it looked different in person than I figured. It's smaller and "cuter", but this is a good surprise. I like the shape more than I thought I would and it's not as bulky/awkward as I feared it would be. That's one of the reasons I held off on getting this so long, and it turned out to be a moot point anyway, go figure.

I got the Champagne Gold color. I like it, the color is subdued a bit but I may end up just getting a sleeve for it instead of a case to not hide the color, and it's extremely light to hold. There are those neat sleeves from decalgirl too, hm.

It's taken me a bit to get used to the back when holding because of just not being used to it, but it's not an issue so far and I don't think it will be. I think it's just something to get used to.

I haven't had a freezing metal back issue some have said. Sometimes it's slightly cool at first when I first hold it, but I like that. I live in Florida, though, so I may never run into the cold issue I've seen others reporting.

Speed/Buttons
I know video reviews said it and the PW4 were about the same speed, and on the videos it showed to be so, but this seems much faster than my PW4 so far. Again, mileage may vary for that with devices.

I'm in love with the buttons already. I haven't had a chance to read much at all, unfortunately. I did browse the library with the buttons and tested them and can already see I'm going to love them. This may be the issue with speed, perhaps the buttons are more responsive or I just got lucky on that.

Screen
My screen is uniform and seems well done with lighting. I don't notice anything odd or off about the screen so no complaints. The feel seems different somehow than the flushed PW4 screen, I'm sure there's a tech reason, or else again it could just be my imagination. Since I can use the buttons now, I won't have to touch the screen as much, which is good since I always leave smudges on these screens.

I'm liking the larger screen. I read very briefly just to test this with different font sizes. It does feel more comfortable to have slightly larger size and screen real estate and is making a difference. Feels cleaner for the eyes somehow, hard to explain.

I have not been able to test out the warm light at all. I spent hours last night adding books to it while watching videos with my son. I left on the charger all night. The indexing is draining the battery, but that does happen. I charged to 100 percent, then was adding books, and it went down to about 50% within a few hours. I looked this morning and it's still indexing over 1,000 items. Since it's still busy at work there, I won't be able to fully test real battery yet. Busy day so far, and no reading time at all, plus I'm trying to load it at the beginning.

I put the nightlight on to see if I like that where it's supposed to adjust. I have the brightness turned up, but also left the "auto brightness" on. As I actually read with the device, I may adjust that stuff later. I won't be able to tell unless I'm reading for periods of time. Since I haven't been able to see it in action, not sure yet how well this works or if its something I'll notice.

I left the warmth setting to be where it's supposed to change sunset to sunrise without putting in specified times to adjust. I haven't been able to tell gradual warmth impressions yet, so there's still plenty to discover.

So far I'm loving it and am happy with my purchase

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

I had considered getting a Kobo, but ultimately decided not to for now. Nothing against the device, but I'm heavily immersed into the Amazon ecosystem, especially considering Kindle Unlimited, so think I would end up regretting making a Kobo my primary, pricier device for now.

You have it backward. Kobo is the cheaper option by a $77.71.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

That was just the first run. They've since fixed it. I have a newer one and the contrast is not Voyage good but it is as good as my Oasis. I agree that the launch PW4's were a bit too washed out.

For me the worst kindle is the Kindle 10 because randomly it won't respond to page presses. Never had a problem like that with any other Kindle model.

It seems like if you buy a Kindle or a Kobo at launch you're running more of a risk of a lottery with issues.

The original Paperwhite had a host of different sorts of color blotches on the screen. I think the PW1 was a disaster. It took the PW2 to get a decent Paperwhite.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

You are probably like me, assuming Amazon would release products as good as later launches when they have a new release.

Don't assume Amazon's releases will be as good as previous Kindle models. The original Oasis was an awful disaster. The design is just an abomination.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by beespeckled

I just ordered an Oasis. I like my Kobo Aura One, have had it since 2016 when it first came out & I will continue to use the Kobo for library books. (Love the integrated Overdrive feature and with recent updates it even alerts me if the wi-fi is on that I have a book ready to download from the library)

The need to download e-books from another source, that is less complicated with a kindle has prompted this.

Luckily, I had a good amount of Amazon gift cards so was able to get the Oasis at reasonable cost. I decided on the Oasis over the PW because I'm used a bigger screen, I am used to the night feature on the KOBO and I do like simple turn buttons.

Paperbackstash, I hope we both have a good Oasis experience.

IMHO, you would have been better off with the Kobo Libra H2O. Similar hardware with much better software. The problem with Kindles is that the WiFi downloading for Amazon is now a botch job. If you have side loaded eBooks on a Kindle with firmware 5.12.3 or later, you lose the cover thumbnails. So your only solution is to keep WiFi off. So that means always downloads are no go unless you don't mind your side loaded eBook cover thumbnails are OK to go.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You have it backward. Kobo is the cheaper option by a $77.71.

I think PaperBackStash meant "pricier" as in "pricier than the Paperwhite or Clara" (in other words, a higher end device) — not that the Libra was pricier than the Oasis.

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You have it backward. Kobo is the cheaper option by a $77.71.

I wasn't saying the Oasis is cheaper - what I meant was when upgrading to a pricier device, I meant the higher end devices in general.

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I think PaperBackStash meant "pricier" as in "pricier than the Paperwhite or Clara (in other words, a higher end device) — not that the Libra was pricier than the Oasis.

Yep, exactly

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I think PaperBackStash meant "pricier" as in "pricier than the Paperwhite or Clara (in other words, a higher end device) — not that the Libra was pricier than the Oasis.

The Oasis is not a higher-end device. It's just a more expensive device. In terms of hardware, it's very similar to the Libra.