What 6" Kobo to get?

[Shohreh]

For the same price, what Kindle compares to Kobo's Clara BW, if any?

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by Shohreh

For the same price, what Kindle compares to Kobo's Clara BW, if any?

In Spain the Kindle (6", without warm light) sells for 104 €. The Kindle Paperwhite (7", with warm light) at 144 €. The Kobo Clara BW (6", with warm light) at 140 €. I don't know about other countries. But the offers are changing. Next week will be different.

[Shohreh]

Since I use Calibre to remove the DRM on the EPUBs I borrow from the library, I guess I'll avoid Kindle and its increasingly strong DRM.

How solid is the Kobo's display? Before getting the Bookeen Saga that has been serving me well for years, the display on the PocketBook Lux 3 broke twice while bike touring, although I made sure to keep it at the top of the pannier.

And should I really get its SleepCover or make a DIY cover?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Shohreh

Since I use Calibre to remove the DRM on the EPUBs I borrow from the library, I guess I'll avoid Kindle and its increasingly strong DRM.

My personal policy on removing DRM from loaner books is I don't own them so I don't remove the DRM. Mostly because I know very well that rather shortly after removing DRM from loans, I'm going to stop removing them from my library. After all, who am I hurting?

Originally Posted by Shohreh

How solid is the Kobo's display? Before getting the Bookeen Saga that has been serving me well for years, the display on the PocketBook Lux 3 broke twice while bike touring, although I made sure to keep it at the top of the pannier.

And should I really get its SleepCover or make a DIY cover?

The Kobo display is as solid as any eInk screen. I have the Kobo sleepcovers for my Kobos since I generally get them well before 3rd party covers become available. I like the sleepcovers since the front cover is solid enough to give a decent level of protection to the screen. As far as a DIY sleepcover? Not part of my skill set so I've never considered one.

[Shohreh]

Before I shell out €140, generally speaking, are the displays used in 6" Kobo devices known to be on the fragile/solid side? I'd hate to have it break on me after just a couple of bike trips.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Shohreh

Before I shell out €140, generally speaking, are the displays used in 6" Kobo devices known to be on the fragile/solid side? I'd hate to have it break on me after just a couple of bike trips.

Kobo uses the same eInk displays as any other brand of eInk ereader. A decent case is your best solution to preventing your display from being damaged.

[Shohreh]

Is Kobo's SleepCover strong enough to prevent damages when travelling, or should I go DIY instead?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Shohreh

Since I use Calibre to remove the DRM on the EPUBs I borrow from the library, I guess I'll avoid Kindle and its increasingly strong DRM.

How solid is the Kobo's display? Before getting the Bookeen Saga that has been serving me well for years, the display on the PocketBook Lux 3 broke twice while bike touring, although I made sure to keep it at the top of the pannier.

And should I really get its SleepCover or make a DIY cover?

You took your Pocketbook out with no cover? WOW! That's not good. You should have a cover for it. Don't DIY. Buy a good one. I have a Kobo cover for my Libra 2 and I've taken it out a lot and when I do it mostly goes in my shoulder bag. I've even taken it on vacation lots of times in my backpack. You have to be careful. Don't take it with no cover. Don't put it in your coat or pants pocket. When you do put it in your bag, make sure the bag is not overly full and nothing is going to squish the Reader.

I have only once taken a reader out without a cover. But I had it in the box when I did. I took it to show my mother. When I got home, I didn't take it out again until I have a cover.

[Shohreh]

It had the hard cover shown in the picture, and I'm careful. Still broke.

[DNSB]

One friend of mine uses an old metal clipboard with storage (looks like a thin metal box when closed) to protect his ereader & phone when he goes mountain biking. It's similar to the top opening metal unit from ULine.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by DNSB

One friend of mine uses an old metal clipboard with storage (looks like a thin metal box when closed) to protect his ereader & phone when he goes mountain biking. It's similar to the top opening metal unit from ULine.

Nice.

Some ereaders have a cut-out in the alloy chassis for the battery (really a cell) and if it swells (as is common with age for LiPoly) the screen substrate cracks.
My iRiver Story Cover (not HD) died that way,

The Kobo models I've looked inside have no aperture on the alloy chassis that supports the screen, though don't have the ribs on the rear where the PCB and cell are. So they are more robust.

The idea of Mobius was for larger screens with insufficient chassis that could flex like the Sony Digital Paper. A flexible substrate likely has shorter life (sealing) and lower manufacturing yield or else all smaller ereaders would use it, not just the Forma.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by DNSB

One friend of mine uses an old metal clipboard with storage...

I'm so particular about my screens that if one got a noticeable scratch I'd replace it. Ok, my phone is an exception. I don't really care about that. I do try to keep it away from my keys though.

My first Nook (NST), I used a non-OEM neoprene pouch. Later models I used a zip pouch. My Poke3 has a plastic back cradle/front flap. (It's bulkier than it should be, but since I replaced the dead battery with a thicker battery I discarded the actual back cover to the Poke3 and have the cradle as protection.)

I like DIY covers. Or at least modified ones. My Poke5 and Go6 have a stripped-down cover that is only a front flap glued by a stub to the back case.

I have a design for a full DIY case but I have to get some stuff laser cut.

[Shohreh]

Since it was on sale with €20 off, I bought the Clara BW.

I couldn't register a new account through the computer: It only worked after I registered from the device.

Also, it doesn't support using English for the UI and French for the keyboard.

And it's apparently still impossible to jump to a given page, while the Bookeen Saga can do it — so it's not due to EPUB files.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by Shohreh

And it's apparently still impossible to jump to a given page.

That's a serious deficiency. Yeah, yeah, I don't want to hear how page numbers are a fiction. If I am reading book X on ereader Y and I'm on page Z, I expect to be able to go directly to page Z and it's what it was before.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Renate

That's a serious deficiency. Yeah, yeah, I don't want to hear how page numbers are a fiction. If I am reading book X on ereader Y and I'm on page Z, I expect to be able to go directly to page Z and it's what it was before.

Heh. I've used Kobo readers for more than 5 years and I actually never even noticed you couldn't do that. I've just never felt the need for this feature (not to mention that I can never remember numbers, so I'd not remember any page number anyway).