Libra 2 Serious buyer's remorse with Libra 2

[cliffsloane555]

Only five days into it and I regret buying this. My issues are about Pocket, Dropbox and paging through a WA Post story.
Pocket
I have sent several articles to Pocket from browsers (desktop and phone). All appear on my Pocket account, but only the one I sent from inside the Kobo browser got downloaded. It also stripped away all pictures and charts, and is not listed on the My Books page. I have to go three steps to the Settings/My Articles/Pocket page. Meanwhile, the many Send to Kindle apps have all worked to varying levels.
Dropbox
I should have looked more carefully, but the Kobo Cloud script is a challenge. My biggest concern is that I cannot see how or where I enter my dropbox account info. It would still be worth it but for the third issue.
WA Post story
The story I wanted to send to my Kobo is this:
https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-r...m=2&linktot=65
The format uses objects, not purely text. Kindle has no problem with this, and I can easily page though it. Epub means I cannot page through the article; the buttons move me to the next section, not the next chunk of text. Nor can I use the page slider to outwit the reader.
Both files were sent by the same browser extension, but the Kindle handles it effortlessly while the Kobo utterly fails.
On request, I can post links to the downloaded file.

Unless somethig like KOReader is a known fix, I will return to my kindle Voyage, a lesson learned.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by cliffsloane555

Dropbox
I should have looked more carefully, but the Kobo Cloud script is a challenge. My biggest concern is that I cannot see how or where I enter my dropbox account info. It would still be worth it but for the third issue.

So you tapped on More at the bottom of the Home or My Books page then tapped on Settings => Accounts => DROPBOX and tapped on Get Started? You then went to kobo.com/dropbox and entered the 6 character code from your Libra 2 and then logged into Dropbox with your user name and password plus using your 2FA if enabled? You should now see a Rakuten Kobo folder under Apps on Dropbox and the contents will be visible when you tap on My Dropbox from the More menu. Easy peasy...

Are you trying to use the 3rd party KoboCloud script from fsantini's GitHub page? Did you download the latest KoboRoot.tgz file, copy it to your Libra's .kobo directory and then safely eject your Libra? After the installation, did you follow the instructions on the GitHub page? They are much easier to follow when using a Linux computer where curl is installed by default though you can download curl for windows.

[cliffsloane555]

David,

I used a far less intimidating process. I sent the articles to @addtodropbox.com from a desktop browser, went to the Dropbox page, downloaded the article and transfered it by USB to the Kobo. And all this using Linux Mint.
My thought was, I want to see how the Libra works with the articles I generally send, and could compare side by side with the Kindle Voyage, before I try that complicated procedure.
The Libra does not have native Dropbox integration, which is what sent me to fsantini's Github page.

[DNSB]

Hmmm... I had forgotten since the last Libra 2 I played with Dropbox on, Dropbox was enabled using NickelMenu (add menu_item:main:dropbox:nickel_open:library:dropbox to the NickelMenu config file). I don't remember if we had to add the dropbox url to the Kobo eReader.conf file.

See this thread Dropbox on Kobo Libra 2 for more information.

[Claude_C]

Originally Posted by cliffsloane555

Unless somethig like KOReader is a known fix, I will return to my kindle Voyage, a lesson learned.

Your Kindle Voyage has an older firmware, the 5.13.6, I guess. Most recent 5.16.6 for newer Kindle may play better with Pocket.

Why didn't you get a Paperwhite instead? Because of the absence of buttons? If so, personnaly, I bought a clear case and put a popsocket on the back. I don't feel the need for buttons anymore.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

If so, personnaly, I bought a clear case and put a popsocket on the back. I don't feel the need for buttons anymore.

What has a popsocket got to do with buttons or the lack of them?

[Claude_C]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

What has a popsocket got to do with buttons or the lack of them?

People who use it know.

It's a cult. 🤫

So, I guess you'll never know.

[Cootey]

I’m happy to see more new ereader users discovering Kobo, but I’m a bit puzzled by the high percentage of them being disappointed because the Kobo isn’t a Kindle. It’s like PC users getting frustrated with their PC, switching to Mac, then being dismayed that the Mac isn’t a PC. I’ve read too many farewell letters in these forums lately from disillusioned new Kobo owners. /rant

The Kindle community is large and there is a lot of third party support for interesting add-ons. The Kobo community also has lots of third party support. I’ve installed NickelMenu and can log into my Kobo remotely via ssh. Some install alternative readers. And others don’t bother with third party support and edit the EPUB files individually to tailor their reading experience, easily viewable on a Kobo. But the third-party needs for each ecosystem are often different. It’s apples compared to oranges because both ereaders are not the same.

Pocket is finicky about what it determines to be a webpage versus an article. Often I would get frustrated with Pocket because articles deemed to be webpages would not show up on the Kobo. They wouldn’t show up on the iOS app either. It’s not just Kobo’s fault. Perhaps the plug-in that you are using does something to compensate for this, but which is tailored for Kindle.

Dropbox support is rather easy on Kobo, but as you’ve discovered, only newer devices support it. I enabled dropbox support on my Clara HD using the link provided, but I found that it was temperamental compared to the native support on my Elipsa.

With so much third-party support needed for your e-reading experience, may I ask why you purchased a Kobo?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

So, I guess you'll never know.

That's why I asked. I get why one would want to use a popsocket for holding the device, but I don't get what this has to do with buttons. Did you hold your previous ereaders by buttons?

[Claude_C]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

That's why I asked. I get why one would want to use a popsocket for holding the device, but I don't get what this has to do with buttons. Did you hold your previous ereaders by buttons?

I had many Kobo ereaders. The last two Libra, which both had buttons.

I use to hold my Kobo with one hand only. So, the larger space on the side of the Libra was helping, and I began to use the buttons. I thought it was a great feature until I went from the Libra H20 to the Libra 2, which is a little bit heavier. I tend to read for long period of time, and the extra weight was starting to show after a while. My thumb on the button was basically holding my Kobo and was getting sore. I know, first world problems...

Now, the way I'm holding the Kindle feels better and I prefer to swipe then having to press a button.

Voilà.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

Spoiler:

I had many Kobo ereaders. The last two Libra, which both had buttons.

I use to hold my Kobo with one hand only. So, the larger space on the side of the Libra was helping, and I began to use the buttons. I thought it was a great feature until I went from the Libra H20 to the Libra 2, which is a little bit heavier. I tend to read for long period of time, and the extra weight was starting to show after a while. My thumb on the button was basically holding my Kobo and was getting sore. I know, first world problems...

Now, the way I'm holding the Kindle feels better and I prefer to swipe then having to press a button.

Voilà.

Thank you for explaining.

[cliffsloane555]

Originally Posted by Cootey

With so much third-party support needed for your e-reading experience, may I ask why you purchased a Kobo?

Nearly all of my reading is articles, many of which have interesting hyperlinks or names that I like to look up on Wikipedia. So I often chase down interesting facts on the browser. On the Kindle, the browser is quite frustrating. Plus, my Voyage is a bit old, and nobody can predict when chips will fail. But those are the only serious weaknesses with the Kindle Voyage.
When I read about the Kobo Libra 2, two other features (dark mode and gyro rotation) seemed like nice pluses. Not important, just nice.

The last straw in my frustration is not just learning curve issues, it's that the device cannot render some of those WA Post articles. I go from page 1 to page 14 and unable to get to any pages in between. I got some workarounds going for the other issues, but when I hit that wall, I "blew a gasket."

[cliffsloane555]

Originally Posted by Cootey

I’m happy to see more new ereader users discovering Kobo, but I’m a bit puzzled by the high percentage of them being disappointed because the Kobo isn’t a Kindle. It’s like PC users getting frustrated with their PC, switching to Mac, then being dismayed that the Mac isn’t a PC. I’ve read too many farewell letters in these forums lately from disillusioned new Kobo owners. /rant

I confess that some of this was going on with me. But not just that it was unfamiliar. I blamed myself for wasting time on a shiny new toy when my backlog of unread articles was not getting smaller. So I set aside the hard part (modifying the device to include integration), did it the old-fashioned way (side-loading) and hit a wall. Thus this thread.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by cliffsloane555

Nearly all of my reading is articles, many of which have interesting hyperlinks or names that I like to look up on Wikipedia. So I often chase down interesting facts on the browser. On the Kindle, the browser is quite frustrating. Plus, my Voyage is a bit old, and nobody can predict when chips will fail. But those are the only serious weaknesses with the Kindle Voyage.
When I read about the Kobo Libra 2, two other features (dark mode and gyro rotation) seemed like nice pluses. Not important, just nice.

The last straw in my frustration is not just learning curve issues, it's that the device cannot render some of those WA Post articles. I go from page 1 to page 14 and unable to get to any pages in between. I got some workarounds going for the other issues, but when I hit that wall, I "blew a gasket."

Thanks for explaining! I often find that my needs are quickly not met by many of the available options. It’s always a kludge to get things to work as I need them to.

Since Kindle doesn’t have native Pocket support as found on the Kobo, does your plugin send the Pocket articles to your Kindle as documents?

Also, have you looked into using Calibre’s Pocket support to get articles onto your Kobo?

[cliffsloane555]

Originally Posted by Cootey

Thanks for explaining! I often find that my needs are quickly not met by many of the available options. It’s always a kludge to get things to work as I need them to.

Since Kindle doesn’t have native Pocket support as found on the Kobo, does your plugin send the Pocket articles to your Kindle as documents?

Also, have you looked into using Calibre’s Pocket support to get articles onto your Kobo?

I use two browser extensions, Push to Kindle (FiveFilters) and a Chinese made Send to Kindle (Reabble). I open an article, click on the extension and send it to @free.kindle.com, which sends it wirelessly.
When there are a lot of unusual features in an article (i.e., animations), I create a DOCX file and convert it with Calibre.

I never touched Pocket before, and only now because my mind has been focusing on Kobo. And now, I need never return to it.