Kobo to Amazon to Kobo

[deleted2]

I had a Kindle PaperWhite a couple of years ago. After that, I was on Kobo. Every time a new device with a bigger screen came out, I got one, H20, Aura One... I recently got a Kindle PaperWhite 3. Partly because I finally wanted a smaller device. But I'm now back on Kobo, with the Clara HD, mostly because of the Kobo software.

The Kindle software has improved a lot since I first had one.

Things I like/miss about the Kindle :

• You can copy any fonts and adjust the weight.
• The smaller header/footer.
• The mini clock on top.
• You open a book and you have no ghost of the cover.

Things I like/prefer about the Kobo :

• Being able to manage my collections, by tags, from Calibre.
• Exporting ePub to KePub on the fly.
• Comfort light.
• Detailed reading stats.

I know there are patches that you can add some of the Kindle features I mentioned to Kobo. But I don't care enough about them to hack into my ereader. They're not always bullet proof, like the full page mode. When I saw that in the latest firmware that you can finally show/hide header or footer, that convince me to get a Clara HD. More text on a page and Kobo proof.

One thing I would like to see on Kobo, and I don't know how Amazon does it, is to open a book without any ghosting. I often have to flip a few pages in order to refresh the page before starting to read. Not a deal breaker, but really annoying.

I had a Aura One and I'm now happier with a Clara HD. Why? Size. It fits well in one hand. And weight. Way lighter than the PaperWhite, and smaller.

[Calenorn]

I don't have the computer skill to patch my Kobo, but adding fonts was easy.

[boriar]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

Things I like/miss about the Kindle :

• You can copy any fonts and adjust the weight.

If I'm not wrong, Kobo was the first to introduce facilities to add fonts and manipulate them.

[deleted2]

Originally Posted by boriar

If I'm not wrong, Kobo was the first to introduce facilities to add fonts and manipulate them.

Yes, but without patching your Kobo, you can't adjust the weight of the imported fonts. Only the ones from Kobo.

On the Kindle, you can do that with any fonts, now.

[MGlitch]

Kobo has let you add fonts and increase the boldness/weight for years. Kindle only recently added this feature.

The patches are actually really good and should be within most people’s capacity to do. I think fear is the bigger issue rather than ability

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

One thing I would like to see on Kobo, and I don't know how Amazon does it, is to open a book without any ghosting. I often have to flip a few pages in order to refresh the page before starting to read. Not a deal breaker, but really annoying.

I don't understand. I have no ghosting. When do you refresh the screen? I have set it to refresh very page and no ghosting at all.

[forster01]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

Things I like/miss about the Kindle :
[LIST][*]You can copy any fonts and adjust the weight.[*]The smaller header/footer.

Nothing easier then adding a font, you don't need to patch... but you can patch it with only few options enabled, and then your kindle list would be empty.

download firmware, download patch file - type yes instead of no in the wanted patch files, and copy the result to your kobo folder...
as you can see there is nothing especially in that except copy/paste...

ghosting?? what ghosting?

[deleted2]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

I don't understand. I have no ghosting. When do you refresh the screen? I have set it to refresh very page and no ghosting at all.

First, it was set for every chapter. I set it to 10 pages. I could set it to less, like 5 pages. Every page must be a flickering nightmare?

[deleted2]

Originally Posted by forster01

Nothing easier then adding a font, you don't need to patch...

Yes I know.

Adding weight or boldness to imported fonts (sorry, english is not my first language) can only be done by patching.

How many times will I have to repeat this?

In the Kindle, when you add fonts, no patch needed to add weight boldness.

[deleted2]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

The patches are actually really good and should be within most people’s capacity to do. I think fear is the bigger issue rather than ability

It was not until the latest firmware that you could have full page without a hack. (It was not part of a patch, just a line you added to the .conf file.) People making patches are great. I hope they push Kobo to make their software better. But the full page hack was not always working. You sometimes had words truncated at the end of a line. Now, being official, no problem. So, it's not about fear, but about stuff working with no problems.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

First, it was set for every chapter. I set it to 10 pages. I could set it to less, like 5 pages. Every page must be a flickering nightmare?

I don't know whether this is any help to you ...

If you make sure that the recently-added option, 'Show Title' is enabled then a quick double-tap in the middle of the page will do a full page refresh on-demand without you needing to turn any pages.

I think this used to work all the time but since 'Show Title' was introduced, disabling it seems to prevent the on-demand page refresh.

[deleted2]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

I don't know whether this is any help to you ...

If you make sure that the recently-added option, 'Show Title' is enabled then a quick double-tap in the middle of the page will do a full page refresh on-demand without you needing to turn any pages.

I think this used to work all the time but since 'Show Title' was introduced, disabling it seems to prevent the on-demand page refresh.

Ah! That might be it. I've disabled both the header "Show Title" and the footer, so to read full page.

Going in settings does the trick too. It refreshes the page. But, you know, it's still a bit annoying. Maybe Kobo will fix this in a future firmware. Have to say that I installed the latest firmware meant for the Forma. I used the generic Mark 7.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

It was not until the latest firmware that you could have full page without a hack. (It was not part of a patch, just a line you added to the .conf file.) People making patches are great. I hope they push Kobo to make their software better. But the full page hack was not always working. You sometimes had words truncated at the end of a line. Now, being official, no problem. So, it's not about fear, but about stuff working with no problems.

Right but there were patches which resolved those issues. There’s currently a mod which gives you a mini clock you can position anywhere and have display the month day time and/or battery percentage in any order you wish.

The point being that patches and mods are really easy to install and can get you a lot of features that work just fine right now.

I mean why settle for something you know can be improved upon easily

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

But, you know, it's still a bit annoying. Maybe Kobo will fix this in a future firmware.

Yes, I hope so, too. So much has been changing in the firmware in the last few weeks that I hope it's just an oversight.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

Things I like/miss about the Kindle :

• You can copy any fonts and adjust the weight.

But you can already add fonts to Kobo!!!

(Just kidding dude. I read and understood your message the first time. Not sure why so many others missed "I know there are patches... But I don't care enough about them to hack into my ereader.")

• You open a book and you have no ghost of the cover.

This is the real reason I replied. I have an original 6" Aura and don't remember seeing ghosting when I open a book. I guess it could be that I just never paid enough attention. I have refresh set to every chapter, I believe.

On the positive side for Kobo, I like using the cover as the screensaver, which isn't an option on Kindle so far as I know. And not having to pay extra to remove ads is also a plus for me.