Kobo Aura H2O vs Paperwhite (New) vs Voyage(Renewed)

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Wow. At $200 the Voyage is absurdly priced. If you want buttons get the new Nook. ...

You can currently buy a factory refurbished Kindle Voyage for $120 (in the U.S.). I guess they aren't available at that price everywhere.

[soulfuldog]

The Voyage is meant to be a step up from the Paperwhite, just as the Oasis is the meant to be the premium offering in the Kindle ereader line. I went from a PW2 to the Voyage, and am very happy I did so, the adaptive light, pagepress buttons and most of all, the flush screen where the text seems almost printed on the screen, are the reasons why I like it over the PW.

If dictionaries are important, nothing matches the dictionaries included with the Kindle range, and I think highlighting is a better experience on Kindle's but note taking is probably fairly similar (not something I use). The dictionaries are definitely a huge plus for the Kindle over Kobo, but there are some pros for the Aura H2O over the PW, like the bigger screen and improved font options.

For someone outside of the US, the Nook is not of much interest, even in the US it doesn't fill a gap, it just offers an alternative to the Paperwhite.

[John F]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

...

For someone outside of the US, the Nook is not of much interest, even in the US it doesn't fill a gap, it just offers an alternative to the Paperwhite.

An argument could be made that the Nook is a step up from PW and closer to the Voyage;
It has buttons and advanced lighting, along with better ergonomics.

YMMV.

[Richwood]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Just to complicate things, consider the new Nook glowlight 3. It has buttons and a comfortlight and no ads for the same price as the PW with ads.

The OP is in Spain and I am not sure that B&N is even available there. Certainly not shown as a market share holder in Europe from what I have seen on a article on book readers market share in English speaking countries.

B&N closed their international e-book store a while back and while they exist as a retailer in GB apparently are a very minor player there. Looks to me like the Nook is not a viable choice outside the USA.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by John F

An argument could be made that the Nook is a step up from PW and closer to the Voyage;
It has buttons and advanced lighting, along with better ergonomics.

YMMV.

Apart from the improved features of the lighting, there's no 'upgrade' on the PW? Buttons/no buttons, small bezel/large bezel are just personal preference. It's up against the PW, and priced to match it too. The Voyage is meant to be an upgrade on the PW, with it's glass screen and metal body. The flush screen in combination with the glass makes the text look better on any other ereader I've seen since the introduction of lighted screens.

The Nook Glowlight 3 is definitely a good option against the PW (and yes you can argue a better option), but only if you are in the US, which the OP isn't.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Mau5

And how about the dictionary and making notes? Because this is important to me, as Spanish and English aren´t my mother languages. I´m constantly trying to improve them, so the vocabulary list and possibility to reread, check the definitions of the words and maybe reread the notes are important features to me.

As I see, H2O is a good choice vs PW, but the question is, does it have the options mentioned?

P.S Thank you all for your help, really appreciate it.

In English at least, Kindle is known for having a much better dictionary than Nook or Kobo (I forget which one it uses though). Not sure if their Spanish dictionary is as good.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

Apart from the improved features of the lighting, there's no 'upgrade' on the PW? Buttons/no buttons, small bezel/large bezel are just personal preference. It's up against the PW, and priced to match it too. The Voyage is meant to be an upgrade on the PW, with it's glass screen and metal body. The flush screen in combination with the glass makes the text look better on any other ereader I've seen since the introduction of lighted screens.

Why are the buttons part of the upgrade on the Voyage, but not considered an upgrade when used on some other reader?

The Nook Glowlight 3 is definitely a good option against the PW (and yes you can argue a better option), but only if you are in the US, which the OP isn't.

That I can't argue. Though with Calibre and Alf, does it really matter? When I was unhappy with the Kindle and the current Nooks, I bought a Kobo, though they aren't exactly available in the US.

I admit that isn't for all users. But I have a Kobo and buy all my books from Amazon. and sideload them. I wish in general that was the way e-readers worked. You buy the device that seems best to you and buy your e-books from where you will.

[soulfuldog]

Sorry I probably just wasn't clear enough, but my first post was my personal opinion of what I liked about the Voyage over the Paperwhite. In the second post I did say that buttons/lack of buttons were more a personal preference, and then listed what are upgrades on the Voyage.

In terms of disregarding the Nook as the OP is in Spain, its about the Nook not being supported outside the US. From what I remember, they used to offer international support, but they no longer do so. Buying a Kobo in the US isn't quite the same thing, the Kobo is supported internationally and sold in many countries outside Canada. It's one of the reasons why although I looked at buying a Tolino ereader at one point, as it's not supported in the UK, why bother, especially as there are perfectly good Kindle's and Kobo's available.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

Sorry I probably just wasn't clear enough, but my first post was my personal opinion of what I liked about the Voyage over the Paperwhite. In the second post I did say that buttons/lack of buttons were more a personal preference, and then listed what are upgrades on the Voyage.

In terms of disregarding the Nook as the OP is in Spain, its about the Nook not being supported outside the US. From what I remember, they used to offer international support, but they no longer do so. Buying a Kobo in the US isn't quite the same thing, the Kobo is supported internationally and sold in many countries outside Canada. It's one of the reasons why although I looked at buying a Tolino ereader at one point, as it's not supported in the UK, why bother, especially as there are perfectly good Kindle's and Kobo's available.

Ah. I bought an Aura off of eBay, so I was never counting on Kobo's support. I never go back to any company for support, even when I buy my Nooks in a store. I always figure I can figure it any issues myself.

I'm not saying the OP or anyone else should be that way. That's just me.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

In English at least, Kindle is known for having a much better dictionary than Nook or Kobo (I forget which one it uses though). Not sure if their Spanish dictionary is as good.

There is multiple choices for free dictionaries:

For English there is:
Oxford Dictionary of English (2006 edition)
The New Oxford American Dictionary ( 2nd ed 2008 ebook edition)

For Spanish there is:
Real Academia Española el Diccionario de la lengua española (300 year edition / 23rd edition)

From reviews the spanish dictionary is supposed to be good as it also includes usage of words outside of Spain (e.g. for South America).

[barryem]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

In English at least, Kindle is known for having a much better dictionary than Nook or Kobo (I forget which one it uses though). Not sure if their Spanish dictionary is as good.

I agree that the dictionary is better on the Nook and Kobo. But I find the dictionary on the Kobo adequate, at least for American books. The Nook dictionary is too hard for me to read so I'm not sure about that but that alone makes it inferior.

Because the Kindle gives a choice between the Oxford American dictionary and the Oxford English dictionary, and makes it trivial to switch, even on the fly, for British books the Kindle is dictionary is a lot better. Some British books would be difficult for me on non-Kindle readers. But for American books the Kobo dictionary is fine. It's just that the Kindle is better.

I used the dictionary a lot as I read even though I have a reasonably good vocabulary. I often find words used in unexpected ways and I'm quick to look them up.

Ya gotta wonder when Amazon does this good a job with no real competition, how great would they be if Kobo and B&N really were serious competitors!

Barry

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

If dictionaries are important, nothing matches the dictionaries included with the Kindle range, and I think highlighting is a better experience on Kindle's but note taking is probably fairly similar (not something I use). The dictionaries are definitely a huge plus for the Kindle over Kobo, but there are some pros for the Aura H2O over the PW, like the bigger screen and improved font options.

For someone outside of the US, the Nook is not of much interest, even in the US it doesn't fill a gap, it just offers an alternative to the Paperwhite.

For the record, the Kindle French to English dictionary ain't great. It doesnt give the infinitive when you click on a past participle. It frequently can't find a word. I also end up selecting the line instead of the word. It's good, but it ain't stellar.

I use goldendict with custom dictionaries on android devices including a Nook ST. It is far superior to the Kindle dictionary in French and English, and the interface is better. I appreciate not everyone knows how to set it up, but it is possible to have a much better than Kindle dictionary on an e-reader. I know because I have both. The Kindle is a good option, but there is better.

P.S. I have a Nook and I don't live in the USA. I find it extremely interesting. And in the USA I think the Nook is an excellent option if you want buttons, a red night light and only want to pay $100 and not have ads.

P.P.S. The $120 Voyage refurb is attractive, but it is really $140 because it comes with ads. Personally I don't like ads. I strip all that crap out, and I don't expect to pay $20 bucks to not have ads on a device I paid for. I like my PW2, but B&N really have taken a swipe at Amazon. I hope the NG3 has an impact and Amazon stop pretending that buttons are premium (ridiculous!) and that they reduce the PW price to $100 without ads to match the Nook GL3.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by barryem

I agree that the dictionary is better on the Nook and Kobo...

I think you mean: "I agree that the dictionary is better than the Nook and Kobo."

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

P.P.S. The $120 Voyage refurb is attractive, but it is really $140 because it comes with ads. Personally I don't like ads. I strip all that crap out, and I don't expect to pay $20 bucks to not have ads on a device I paid for. I like my PW2, but B&N really have taken a swipe at Amazon. I hope the NG3 has an impact and Amazon stop pretending that buttons are premium (ridiculous!) and that they reduce the PW price to $100 without ads to match the Nook GL3.

For my older Kindles I don't mind the ads. I even turned ads on, on one of my Kindle Keyboards because a lot of the original "screensavers" where kind of ugly. But I do think I'll probably pay to turn the ads off on my 8th Generation Kindle because they defeat the auto-turn on feature when opening the cover.

As for the $20 ... I look at it this way. I can pay the extra $20 when I buy the eReader or later when (if) I find them too obnoxious, but I understand that I agree to them for a price discount when buying. But even with the ads I've still got a good eReader.

It looks like the refurbished Voyage's are gone again (they'll probably come back) and the Nook GlowLight 3 is back up to $120 (I'm guessing it'll go back on sale in February). You can still get refurbished Paperwhites (in the U.S.) for $80, but I'm guessing they'll probably go back up to $100 soon.

[Pajamaman]

Yep, the NGL3 back up to $120. I moved fast and got a good deal via ebay. Yay!