Libra 2 or Forma

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

If you fully agree, why did you get the Libra 2 yourself instead of the Forma?

I like the 8" screen of my Sage, but I also like the excellent contrast and even light of my Libra 2. I've switched between them recently, and love them both. In daylight I tend to prefer the Libra, in artificial light the Sage.

Because I wanted the new screen and I did not want the rubbishy battery of the Sage.

[Hydronaut]

Originally Posted by martinot

Totally agree. 8" screens are Gold. When you have used them for some time you never want to go back to a smaller one (even if acceptable/workable). It is such a nice great format for reading books (for comics or PDF I would go for 10" or bigger).

I am going to keep an eye on the Kobo Canada site for a few weeks to see if they drop their price of the Forma's (they also have the 32GB still available to order). Amazon had the 8GB for 259.99 but missed that (have a lot of gift cards) and Indigo is sold out too.

From all the research I have done for an 8" dedicated reader the Forma still seems to be the best out there. I would have ordered a Sage but unless they do something about the battery life not sure I want to.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Because I wanted the new screen and I did not want the rubbishy battery of the Sage.

But then you don't agree that the extra inch of screen real estate is worth more than any feature benefit of a smaller reader. You said you agree fully with this statement. If you agreed fully, you would have bought the Forma instead of the Libra 2, as the extra inch of the Forma would have been worth more to you than the new screen of the Libra 2.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by martinot

Totally agree. 8" screens are Gold. When you have used them for some time you never want to go back to a smaller one (even if acceptable/workable).

That's certainly not true for everyone. I switch between the Sage and the Libra 2 and still enjoy reading on a 7'' screen.

[Hydronaut]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

That's certainly not true for everyone. I switch between the Sage and the Libra 2 and still enjoy reading on a 7'' screen.

Personally I think it depends on what you find important. I will not compromise on battery life and physical buttons which pretty much leaves me with the overpriced Oasis, Forma, or Libra 2. I will gladly go the Libra route if I cannot find an resonably priced Forma.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

But then you don't agree that the extra inch of screen real estate is worth more than any feature benefit of a smaller reader. You said you agree fully with this statement. If you agreed fully, you would have bought the Forma instead of the Libra 2, as the extra inch of the Forma would have been worth more to you than the new screen of the Libra 2.

I don't want the battery to be that bad. I used my H2O for 6 years. There's no way I could use a Sage for 6 years with daily or nearly daily charging.

I did want to get the Sage until I found out about the really poor battery performance.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't want the battery to be that bad. I used my H2O for 6 years. There's no way I could use a Sage for 6 years with daily or nearly daily charging.

I did want to get the Sage until I found out about the really poor battery performance.

I agree the battery life of the Sage could be better, but it's not that big of a deal for me. It lasts a few days and I can live with that. With the power cover it will hopefully last longer.

My Android smartphone is almost 4 years old and it was not an expensive one. The battery is still going pretty strong for an old phone. So I hope the Sage will last me a few years, at least. I don't think I'll be still using it after 6 years, but who knows.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I agree the battery life of the Sage could be better, but it's not that big of a deal for me. It lasts a few days and I can live with that.

Even though I've come to terms with the Sage's poor battery life, I gotta ask - how do you get it to last "a few days"? There's no way mine would even last two with my normal use, and on a day with more reading than usual, one day would be the max.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Even though I've come to terms with the Sage's poor battery life, I gotta ask - how do you get it to last "a few days"? There's no way mine would even last two with my normal use, and on a day with more reading than usual, one day would be the max.

I don't read for several hours per day. A couple is probably the maximum time and not always even that. (I read in several small sessions, so I don't really know how much time it is all together, but that's my guess).

Edit: yeah, according to my reading stats, 2 hours per day is about right.

[martinot]

Originally Posted by anacreon

I love the Sage, even though it is a heavy, and has a poor battery life. I don't think I will go back to 7". I still have the Libra H2o, but I never use it, although it is easier on my hands, because I prefer to read with a decent margin all around my books, and my old eyes need a decent pitch: the extra inch means an extra 30% real estate. Plus it has a yellowish screen even with comfort light at 0.

I use it to read different books : most PDFs are not readable on anything less than 10" (56% more real estate than the 8"), though for some PDFs I need to read in landscape mode, half a page at a time.

I agree 100% with the difference between 8" and 7" for reading books. I also agree that for comics or many PDFs 10" is the minimum. Good comments.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I don't read for several hours per day. A couple is probably the maximum time and not always even that. (I read in several small sessions, so I don't really know how much time it is all together, but that's my guess).

Edit: yeah, according to my reading stats, 2 hours per day is about right.

Thanks, that explains it. I'm expecting a DRAMATIC surge in "time between charges" for my Sage when work starts again next week

[Deobulakenyo]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The larger screen does make for a better reading experience then the smaller 6" screen.

Not for me. When reading ebooks, sometimes my eyes and my brain gets tired in expecting one page to be completed when there are a lot of texts on it. when the screen is smaller, more turn pages feed the anticipation of progressing. Yes, i know i can make the fonts larger to make up for this but it becomes an unnatural reading process for me looking at humongous fonts.

But i do get the allure of large screens (more battery efficient especially if not using the frontlight as it requires less turn pages).

I like my libra 2 because of the screen clarity and contrast but if a smaller (Clara) E-Carta 1200-screened Kobo becomes available, i will get one for more portability and and on-the-go reading whenever i go out.

for mangas, i use my Likebook P78 and sometimes read manga also on my Libra 2, but mostly on the boyue due to the larger screen.

[LDB]

I admit it. I indulge in bad habits. One of my biggies is sleeping indoors on a regular schedule. I have to charge my Apple watch every other day. I could charge a Sage every other day as well, or even daily, during sleep time without losing any reading opportunities and very little inconvenience. But I have no need of stylus or audiobook support so I might as well save money and go with a Forma, if I was even in the market now. Now, if someone has the luxury of reading every minute of every day, and if the Sage won't last until bedtime for one day, then it's a problem. But that's less than the magic 1% I suspect.

[mezzanine]

Originally Posted by anacreon

I love the Sage, even though it is a heavy, and has a poor battery life. I don't think I will go back to 7". I still have the Libra H2o, but I never use it, although it is easier on my hands, because I prefer to read with a decent margin all around my books, and my old eyes need a decent pitch: the extra inch means an extra 30% real estate. Plus it has a yellowish screen even with comfort light at 0.
Also, I like to have all my library on the devices and 8 Gb is not enough (presently I am at 20 Gb available).

I love my Elipsa too, which I can't take with me in public transport, but which is fine while seated at home. I use it to read different books : most PDFs are not readable on anything less than 10" (56% more real estate than the 8"), though for some PDFs I need to read in landscape mode, half a page at a time. Conversely, some PDFs built for 6" devices are unreadable on 10" but ok on 8".
For some kepubs as well (I prefer kepubs to epubs), I need the Elipsa:

I've been hunting after people like you who use the Elipsa for home reading to decide whether to get one myself, but there are very few reviews by those who would use it the same way I would.


My experience has been that publishers will sometimes lock their margins so they're not adjustable with the manual margin adjustment slider.

I'm guessing many here have the knowledge and sophistication to adjust the margins in Calibre, but most do not. For those of us who don't want to fiddling with software to read, having a larger screen can be an insurance policy against publishers screwed up formatting. My experience is that locked margins are always far too large.

When I read on my 6 inch Clara, I have to use up all the screen real estate by removing header/footer and margins. With the Aura One, I leave the header/footer on and use larger margins.

[mezzanine]

Trying to upgrade from the Aura One is tough. It's not a question of whether the Sage and Forma are better, but whether the marginal improvements are worth the $ if you already own a working 8 inch ereader with most of the same features.

It's completely different if you happen to own a PW3/PW4 and are thinking of getting the new Paperwhite. New Paperwhite is less than half the cost of an 8 inch ereader.