Kobo Clara HD

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by cband7

I have a Clara HD on the way and have one big question - Can the Clara read free generic epubs (non DRM, sideloaded plain .epub) ? The "free" part is not the issue, it's not being forced to only using Kobo/DRM books.

Anyone successfully using generic epubs with no DRM of any kind ?

Thanks !

I buy all my books on Amazon and convert them to DRM-free ePubs in Caliber. I have no problem sideloading those DRM-free ePubs to the Kobo.

[Barbara1955]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I buy all my books on Amazon and convert them to DRM-free ePubs in Caliber. I have no problem sideloading those DRM-free ePubs to the Kobo.

Same ...

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by Derf

[...] if you just take off the back cover and press the backside of the screen against the front bezel, the side lighting disappears. It seems that the double sided tape there just needs a little more help.

This didn't work for me. The side 'bleed' did go away, but it came straight back again after only a few minutes.

Originally Posted by Derf

The Plastidip has held up fine, and I’ve been pretty rough with it. But I would say that 50% of my luck has to be pre-application prep, 30% is the application, and 20% is the brand of spray rubber.

Tips:
1) clean the surface with alcohol.
2) put the spray can in a pot of very warm water for a few minutes before spraying. It’s helps with atomization of the rubber.
3) the first coat should be a light coating, let it dry before the next coat.
4) subsequent coats should go on heavy.
5) the more costs the thicker the coating and the better. I did 5 costs.

It does pick up more lint/ stuff than smooth plastic. But it all brushes off easily enough. No you don’t have to do the front bezel, I only did the back cover.

-Edit-
I just noticed there is a small piece like a fingernail that was starting to lift up on the rear corner. My OCD got the best of me and I peeled the whole thing off in one piece. It is a perfect facsimile of the textured pattern on the back, including the Ramirez Kobo logo.
The upshot is my spray can should have at least another 20 or so jobs worth in it, considering how small the area is that I’m covering, and for me it’s readily available in several local stores so I can easily enough just spray on another application tonight.

...and I had less good results with this too. I followed your tips to the letter, but still, the vinyl started peeling quite soon, both at the (bottom) edges and there where my fingers hold the device most often. And it didn't peel in one piece either, there were lots of little bits. I kept finding more bits in bed, on the bed side table, on the stairs... ugh. So I decided to peel it off as well. But, lots of little bits again. Only the very top part where the back of the Clara is smooth (apart from the 'Rakuten kobo' letters) came off in one piece. It was very thin, thinner than the rubber of a balloon. Perhaps my 'thick' layers weren't thick enough after all. And, perhaps the FullDip I used isn't as good quality as PlastiDip.

I may try again........... or, maybe I'll try for a new Clara, and exchange as many Clara's as necessary until I get one with smooth bleedless lighting... and THEN try again? Or find a silicone backed case... and then cut the front off? I don't know

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Mrs_Often

........... or, maybe I'll try for a new Clara, and exchange as many Clara's as necessary until I get one with smooth bleedless lighting...

Has anyone purchased a Clara that out of the box didn't have the light bleed issue? Please don't tell me yours has it but it's not noticeable. That's not what I'm asking.

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Has anyone purchased a Clara that out of the box didn't have the light bleed issue? Please don't tell me yours has it but it's not noticeable. That's not what I'm asking.

How do I tell if mine has it? I'm not being facetious or silly, I genuinely haven't seen anything on mine that looks like a problem with the lighting. But maybe that's because I tend to read at fairly high brightness levels? I'd love to test mine to see if it has the problem, once I know more clearly what the problem looks like.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by stuartjmz

How do I tell if mine has it? I'm not being facetious or silly, I genuinely haven't seen anything on mine that looks like a problem with the lighting. But maybe that's because I tend to read at fairly high brightness levels? I'd love to test mine to see if it has the problem, once I know more clearly what the problem looks like.

It looks like light coming in from the side, though the LEDs are all at the... bottom(?) of the screen. It seems to be that the screen wasn't properly affixed to the frame.

Check the photos here: Clara HD Light "bleed" at side issue, post #65

On the one hand, it seems simple enough to fix if you don't mind pulling the Clara apart. on the other hand, why wasn't it built properly in the first place?

I seem to remember folks here posting that theirs had it to a greater or lesser degree, but I don't recall people posting they didn't have it at all (though I admit that could be my selective memory).

Kobo said they will clean up their act on newer ones.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Has anyone purchased a Clara that out of the box didn't have the light bleed issue? Please don't tell me yours has it but it's not noticeable. That's not what I'm asking.

My Clara HD does not have the light bleed issue but luck of the draw .

Originally Posted by DNSB

My Clara HD does not have the light bleed issue but luck of the draw .

After studyting the photos above, it's clear that mine too is free of the problem.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DNSB

My Clara HD does not have the light bleed issue but luck of the draw .

Originally Posted by stuartjmz

After studyting the photos above, it's clear that mine too is free of the problem.

Thanks guys. Good to know. I was considering one as a Christmas present to myself, but couldn't remember reading any posts by folks that didn't have the issue.

[Barbara1955]

Mine are free also.

[Derf]

Originally Posted by Mrs_Often

This didn't work for me. The side 'bleed' did go away, but it came straight back again after only a few minutes.



...and I had less good results with this too. I followed your tips to the letter, but still, the vinyl started peeling quite soon, both at the (bottom) edges and there where my fingers hold the device most often. And it didn't peel in one piece either, there were lots of little bits. I kept finding more bits in bed, on the bed side table, on the stairs... ugh. So I decided to peel it off as well. But, lots of little bits again. Only the very top part where the back of the Clara is smooth (apart from the 'Rakuten kobo' letters) came off in one piece. It was very thin, thinner than the rubber of a balloon. Perhaps my 'thick' layers weren't thick enough after all. And, perhaps the FullDip I used isn't as good quality as PlastiDip.

I may try again........... or, maybe I'll try for a new Clara, and exchange as many Clara's as necessary until I get one with smooth bleedless lighting... and THEN try again? Or find a silicone backed case... and then cut the front off? I don't know

Just replying here to your troubles.
1) I did notice that just pressing on the bezel edge was only a temporary fix for the light bleed. Within a few hours the adhesive weakened again and the light bleed was back. I eventually resorted to removing the back cover (when I did the plastidip) and taking out the 4 small screws and applying black electrical tape. It has been perfect ever since.

2) My plastidip did fail again, but it again took several weeks before the first problem edge appeared. And again, it was only my OCD that made me peel the whole thing off. Also, it came off in one big layer, not in little bits.
Your description of finding little black bits in bed, on the night table, stairs, etc, makes me think that either your product is not the same as mine, or your application is too thin.

Have a look at this youtube video where he shows how to spray multiple HEAVY coats to build up a thick layer. This will be more durable, and when it does come time to remove it, it will peel in one solid piece. Also, here is a tip on making the liquid in the can atomize better by warming it.

My third application of plastidip is still on the back of my Clara, however it now lives in a sleep case I bought for it. The sleep case is more expensive than plastidip, and almost doubles the weight, and makes it thicker though. I kind of wish Kobo had just used a different material, like a hard rubber, for the back cover (even with stippling), instead of a hard plastic.

[ma678]

A glass screen protector seems to fix light bleeding issue on my Clara HD.

Does it handle Samsung EVO plus UHS-3?

Thanks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mrs_Often]

Derf, thank you very much! That demonstration video confirmed for me that I probably didn't make my layers thick enough. I think I'll try again, because I'm really not happy with how difficult the Clara is to hold, especially while lying down. And I really don't want to use a cover -- what's the point of a lightweight reader if you're just going to make it heavy with a case? Plus, I like always seeing the sleep screen with the cover of the book I'm reading: it reminds me of the book I'm reading and invites me to continue reading. The outside of a case is just always the outside of a case...

When you took the back of your Clara off for spraying, did you tape off the perpendicular edges that click into the front of the device? Or did you just spray the bare back? In case if the latter, did any PlastiDip cover the edges? Did the back still easily click back into place, or did you have to peel some PlastiDip off the plastic that clicks inside the front of the device?

Hmmm I may do the electrical tape thing too then. I don't really want to because I don't like the idea of "something in between", raising the bezel even higher above the screen. Maybe I'll try the black marker thing first (I read somewhere here someone had been successful at stopping the light reflection just by blacking out the edges, I'll have to search for that post*). But then if that doesn't work I'll have to take everything apart again. Ugh.


EDIT: *It was Atilla! https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...25#post3711525

[Derf]

I just put them back cover on a large piece of cardboard and sprayed. The cardboard was probably at 45 degree angle to the ground. You don’t get great spray out of a rattle can spraying downwards. You get the best spray horizontally, but that requires fixing the cover to a wall. So 45 degrees was a compromise.
I just sprayed the cover, straight on. No Plastidip got on the sides that click in to the frame, and I didn’t peel any off first or have trouble putting it back.
I think whoever used the marker trick had a bad experience, but it may be because they didn’t keep the marker on the side of the glass and got some on the top of the glass? I can’t remember, but I seem to recall they weren’t happy and had to redo it. The electrical tape has solved the light bleed and I’m 100% happy with my device now.

[Ladyrixx]

Originally Posted by Derf

I'm on a mac too. You can copy the original card image over to a replacement card with mac disk utility of CLI using diskutil, but a mac cannot dynamically resize a fat32 partition. I tried one piece of software (see my post at the end of the magic memory upgrade thread) that says it can resize the partition, and although it shows it resized it, after every attempt the Kobo wouldn't even boot. So I'm just using a 32GB card as an 8GB card at the moment.
At this point I am likely to bring it to work and use gparted to fix it on a windows computer. I don't have more than 4000 ebooks, so I'm not dying for the space at the moment, but I don't want to NOT use it if its there. Other options include installing a virtual machine on the mac with windows. Or get a live cd/usb of linux. Both those operating systems should resize the FAT32 partition without issue.

When I did something like that on my Kobo mini, I used GParted in Ubuntu (which you can run off a usb drive) to expand the partition. That might be an option too.