Aura HD Q: Collections & PC Management?

[phossler]

Investigating getting a Aura HD to replace a Kindle Touch

Q1: The KT does not allow PC managment of collections so I have to manage collections using the Kindle (no fun). Does the Aura and any associated PC SW make manageing collections (libraries? bookshelves?) any easier?


Q2: If my epub has an embedded font to text display, does the Aura display using that font?

Q3: Does the Aura show up as another drive if I connect it to the PC?

Thanks

Paul

PS. Also any opinions about the Aura HD would be appreciated.

[ottdmk]

Hello phossler.

Most folks around here use Calibre to manage collections on the Kobo e-readers.

The forums even have a Sticky topic on the subject.

I think the Kobo Aura HD is an awesome e-reader; I keep meaning to save up and buy one. In the meantime my Kobo Touch keeps trucking along just fine.

[phossler]

ottdmk -- thanks for the info, esp. the sticky topic. Very informative

I use Calibre already and loaded the 2 Kobo plugin I found, but without an actual device, I was really only investigating

Q4: Does the Kobo show as another drive in Windows such that you can copy files directly?

Q5: I saw that there is a PC program that looks like a sync/manager. Any experience with that?

Paul

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by phossler

Q4: Does the Kobo show as another drive in Windows such that you can copy files directly?

Q5: I saw that there is a PC program that looks like a sync/manager. Any experience with that?l

Q4: The Kobo exposed internal partition (the internal storage has multiple partitions but only one is visible to a USB connection) will show as a drive in Windows. If you install an uSD card, it will also show as a drive. While you can copy ebooks to those drives, I'd advise caution doing so. When a Kobo ereader processes a book, information about the book is stored in a SQLite database. Unless an ebook is deleted both as a file and by having it's information removed from the database, the new copy will have information such as the table of contents from the old copy. Either using the Kobo GUI or Calibre seems to work for me, using the GUI for a single book and Calibre when I go in for wholesale changes.

Q5: Not sure which you mean. Other than Calibre, I use the Kobo desktop application on occasion -- mostly after a factory reset -- but it only handles books downloaded from the Kobo bookstore and is not intended to handle your otherwise acquired ebook collection.

One caution is that I do not use collections, instead I use my Aura HD's search function to locate books. I do place books into series in Calibre and that information is searchable. Since the search is a live search, you don't need the full name -- just start typing the name and watch the results field populate. For example, to locate a book in David Eddings Tamuli series, I simply type ta and the 4th item in the search results is Tamuli. Tap on that and see the whole series.

Regards,
David

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by phossler

ottdmk -- thanks for the info, esp. the sticky topic. Very informative

I use Calibre already and loaded the 2 Kobo plugin I found, but without an actual device, I was really only investigating

Calibre already has the driver plugin that you need included. This is the KoboTouch driver. The installable plugins are:

- KoboTouchExtendedDriver - Sends epubs to the Kobo device as "Kobo epubs". These use the same reader application that books downloaded directly from the Kobo server.

- Kobo epub output - Allows books to be converted to Kobo ePub and kept in the library.

- Kobu Utilities - All sorts of extra things you can do to the books on the device while it is connected.

Q5: I saw that there is a PC program that looks like a sync/manager. Any experience with that?

I assume you mean the Kobo desktop application. If so, this isn't needed. It is a book manager but only for books bought from Kobo. It can be used to sync these to the device if you don't want to use the built in WiFi. It will also check for updated firmware and install that when connected. But, the device can do this over WiFi as well.

[phossler]

@DNSB -- davidfor gave the correct title (thanks davidfor). I found the Kobo desktop application on the Kobo site, downloaded it but wasn't too useful w/o the actual reader.

I thought that it might be the Kobo equivalent of iTunes: allowing sync, playlists (collections/shelves?) etc.

Thanks to both

Paul