Kobo Aura H20 vs Nook Glowlight Plus

[skychan]

Hi,

So I'm stuck between these two options and want to know what people feel about using them. Specifically I like to read at the gym, in sauna and steam room, and having a backlit screen and the ability to read epub files is a must.

I used to do so with the good old basic Nook. It worked great, even in the steam room when I let it heat up first in the sauna to prevent condensation. Unfortunately it was stolen. My Nook Glowlight (the 2nd version, white, but not sony) is okay but can actually overheat and stop turning pages etc.

My remaining questions then are below

How does it feel to hold and read one handed for extended periods?

How does it behave in high temperatures?

What issues or small problems have you had with either of these devices?

[ZodWallop]

I get the feeling that mostly people are going to be shocked you take your devices into the sauna and steam room! Not sure either handles high temperatures better, though at least both are waterproof.

Having owned a Nook ST Glowlight and a Kobo, I do prefer Kobo's software.

The Kobo has an SD card slot, very useful if you are going to sideload your ePubs.

The Nook has a *slightly* better sceen (300 PPI vs... 250?). Also, you mentioned one-handed reading and the Nook is smaller than the H20.

Given a choice, I'd take the H20. Mainly because I like Kobo's firmware.

[barryem]

I haven't used the Kobo H2O but I do have a Kobo Aura (the original one) and I like it. I also have the Nook Glowlight Plus and I would like it except for two really bad flaws in it's design. First, the capacative button right in the center of the lower portion of the reader, right where your thumb wants to rest, which, if touched or even almost touched, sends you back to the home screen. I rarely get through a page without this happening at least once. I've been unable to train myself to avoid that area. The only way I can do it is to keep thinking about it instead of thinking about the book I'm reading.

The other problem is that when I long press a word the dictionary page that pops up is grayed out, making it very difficult to read. I did call Nook support and I was told there's no solution to this.

Other than those two things it's a very nice ereader.

I can't imagine taking any ereader into a sauna. I think if I wanted to do that I'd first try it for a while with a very cheap one I didn't mind losing. You can look at the specs on all ereaders to get the highest rated temperature. I suspect saunas go way above that, although I don't actually know they do. If it didn't hurt it the first few times I'd guess that repeated exposure to high temperatures would drastically shorten it's life. Transistors in particular and many other electronic components are very sensitive to heat.

Barry

[meeera]

Just to reinforce what others have said - a waterproof reader might be fine in humidity, but if you choose to exceed the manual's recommendations on operating temperature, you're on your own.

H2O : "Avoid storing your device in temperatures lower than -10° and higher than 60° C (14° to 140° F). Operation of the device should occur in temperatures between 0° and 45° C (32° to 113° F). Dramatic changes in temperature or humidity may affect the functioning of the device due to the formation of condensation."

(addit: really dramatic temperature changes may also crack the substrate.)

Nook Glowlight Plus: "Use in moist environments with extreme temperatures, such as a hot shower or steam room, is not recommended."

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by barryem

I haven't used the Kobo H2O but I do have a Kobo Aura (the original one) and I like it. I also have the Nook Glowlight Plus and I would like it except for two really bad flaws in it's design...

Barry, since you've used both, do you feel that the software is better on one or the other? And how about actual book rendering? I had the Nook ST, but I know the software changed a bit since my model, whereas the Kobo stays pretty similar across devices.

I remember my Nook hyphenated a lot more often than my Kobo (which is more likely to adjust word spacing). I preferred the more frequent hyphenation.

Another thing I liked about the Nook was the permeant 'return to book' button in the upper left corner (when not already reading). From what I've seen, the Glowlight Plus retained that.

I like that Kobo only shows tiles that you use. The bottom third of the home page of my Nook was taken with store recommendations that I wasn't interested in.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by meeera

Just to reinforce what others have said - a waterproof reader might be fine in humidity, but if you choose to exceed the manual's recommendations on operating temperature, you're on your own.

H2O : "Avoid storing your device in temperatures lower than -10° and higher than 60° C (14° to 140° F). Operation of the device should occur in temperatures between 0° and 45° C (32° to 113° F). Dramatic changes in temperature or humidity may affect the functioning of the device due to the formation of condensation."

(addit: really dramatic temperature changes may also crack the substrate.)

Nook Glowlight Plus: "Use in moist environments with extreme temperatures, such as a hot shower or steam room, is not recommended."

A sauna is a pretty hostile environment for electronics. I certainly wouldn't use a reader in such a place, waterproof or not.

Heat alone doesn't tend to be a problem - I regularly use my Kindle in Egypt in temperatures of 40C+. It's the combination of heat and extreme humidity that's the killer.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Heat alone doesn't tend to be a problem - I regularly use my Kindle in Egypt in temperatures of 40C+. It's the combination of heat and extreme humidity that's the killer.

Saunas go way hotter than 40C.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by meeera

Saunas go way hotter than 40C.

Oh, OK, thanks. I've never been in one . In that case the advice not to use an electronic device in such an environment is even more valid!

[JSWolf]

But between the two devices, I would not bother with the Nook. The H2O is so much the better Reader. Though as has been said, take either into a sauna and you could destroy your Reader.

The H2O screen is so much nicer than the nook and the front light is very nice.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But between the two devices, I would not bother with the Nook. The H2O is so much the better Reader.

The H2O screen is so much nicer than the nook and the front light is very nice.

Jon, you tend to make these baseless assertions. It's not that I disagree with you (though I don't think the H20 has a nicer screen. It has a lower resolution than the Nook. The H20 has a bigger screen, but it would be tough to say that it is nicer). But when you are in Which One Should I Buy and you are advising that the H20 is a much better reader and has a nicer screen, you should back it up with some details.

Just saying "it's better" isn't helpful because what you are making judgements on may not be important to another.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Jon, you tend to make these baseless assertions. It's not that I disagree with you (though I don't think the H20 has a nicer screen. It has a lower resolution than the Nook. The H20 has a bigger screen, but it would be tough to say that it is nicer). But when you are in Which One Should I Buy and you are advising that the H20 is a much better reader and has a nicer screen, you should back it up with some details.

Just saying "it's better" isn't helpful because what you are making judgements on may not be important to another.

I think a better screen is important. The 6.8" screen is very nice. Granted is has a lower DPI, but at the DPI or the H2O, it really makes very little difference. I've compared the H2O to the current PW and you would be hard pushed to see much (if any) difference in the DPI.

The software options are better in Kobo's firmware. One very important feature is the many more font sizes. With Sony, Kindly, B&N, complaints have been made because of the limited amount of options for changing font sizes. Like going from too small to too large when in between would have been better. The ability to adjust the weight of fonts is a very good feature and with the patches, you can adjust the weight of truetype fonts. Also, the H2O is not stuck in MTP mode and shows up as a removable storage device. If you have a need for larger text, the 6.8" screen makes a difference. (IMHO), I like the home screen of the H2O better than that of the nook.

One final thing, you can use Calibre to manage your collections on the H2O very very easily.

So really, I don't see anything that's better about the nook than the H2O.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Barry, since you've used both, do you feel that the software is better on one or the other? And how about actual book rendering? I had the Nook ST, but I know the software changed a bit since my model, whereas the Kobo stays pretty similar across devices.

I remember my Nook hyphenated a lot more often than my Kobo (which is more likely to adjust word spacing). I preferred the more frequent hyphenation.

Another thing I liked about the Nook was the permeant 'return to book' button in the upper left corner (when not already reading). From what I've seen, the Glowlight Plus retained that.

I like that Kobo only shows tiles that you use. The bottom third of the home page of my Nook was taken with store recommendations that I wasn't interested in.

I'm not sure I have an interface preference between the Nook and the Kobo. I use the Nook a lot more so I'm more accustomed to it. I use the Kindle most so that's what I'm most used to and I think I prefer it's interface. But really all these interfaces are fine with me, with the exceptions for the Nook that I've noted.

Ereaders, for me, are for reading books. I don't care a lot about other elements of the interface unless they interfere with reading.

I grew up reading paper books and they had a far greater variety of fonts, margin sizes, font sizes, hyphenation methods, etc. than ereaders, so I don't care a lot about those elements either.

The main non-reading element that I care about is the dictionary and I think the Kindle is best there. The Kobo dictionary is okay. I can't easily read the Nook dictionary with it's grayed out text so that's a problem.

The really big difference in ereaders is the store and library they access. There Amazon wins easily. If all these ereaders could access all these stores and libraries I'm not sure I'd care that much which one I use. I'd probably pick the Voyage or the Kobo Aura because of their small size, light weight and flat bezel.

Barry

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by barryem

I'm not sure I have an interface preference between the Nook and the Kobo. I use the Nook a lot more so I'm more accustomed to it. I use the Kindle most so that's what I'm most used to and I think I prefer it's interface. But really all these interfaces are fine with me, with the exceptions for the Nook that I've noted.

I get what you're saying and for the most part I do agree. But I do like Kobo's tile based home page and I do like that they don't show me any ads.

Originally Posted by barryem

I grew up reading paper books and they had a far greater variety of fonts, margin sizes, font sizes, hyphenation methods, etc. than ereaders, so I don't care a lot about those elements either.

It wouldn't be my deciding factor in purchasing a reader, but you can compare the same book on two different devices and see differences in the rendering. I do think my old Nook ST was better at layout than Kobo is. On the other hand, I watched a review of the Glowlight plus last night and they added the giant header and footer that Kobo has. I don't understand why B&N saw that as an improvement. At least with Kobo I found a work around to turn them off. And that does impact the reading experience.

Originally Posted by barryem

The really big difference in ereaders is the store and library they access. There Amazon wins easily.

I agree there. I do buy all my books from Amazon any more. I've even repurchased some of the books I previously purchased at Smashwords from Amazon. You'd think I should get a Kindle. But Kobo has spoiled me with the fine tuning of the reading experience (font sizing/spacing, turning header/footer on or off, etc).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I get what you're saying and for the most part I do agree. But I do like Kobo's tile based home page and I do like that they don't show me any ads.

But you can get a Kindle ads free if you want to pay to have the ads removed.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But you can get a Kindle ads free if you want to pay to have the ads removed.

Even if you remove the special offers, the Kindle still has the same ads the Nook has. About a third of the home screen is made up of 'Recommended For You' If anything, the Nook wins there because at least it doesn't have special offers.