Need Kobo/or other recommendations

[lmarie]

My lovely battered little Kobo Glo died suddenly today. No matter what I try, no response. I don't even know how long I've had it, but it has worked solidly for years. I'd like to buy a new small e-reader that will last, Kobo or other. (I try to stay out of Kindle-world.) Recommendations? Thx.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by lmarie

My lovely battered little Kobo Glo died suddenly today. No matter what I try, no response. I don't even know how long I've had it, but it has worked solidly for years. I'd like to buy a new small e-reader that will last, Kobo or other. (I try to stay out of Kindle-world.) Recommendations? Thx.

I recommend the Kobo Clara BW. It's the same size screen with better contrast.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by lmarie

My lovely battered little Kobo Glo died suddenly today. No matter what I try, no response. I don't even know how long I've had it, but it has worked solidly for years. I'd like to buy a new small e-reader that will last, Kobo or other. (I try to stay out of Kindle-world.) Recommendations? Thx.

It might not be dead; it could be just the SD card has died.

Go to the Firmware Request thread https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=355778 and ask for a link. Then it's just a matter of acquiring a new SD card, copying the image that DNSB will supply to it, then opening the case of your Kobo and replacing the SD card.

Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk

[issybird]

Originally Posted by lmarie

My lovely battered little Kobo Glo died suddenly today. No matter what I try, no response. I don't even know how long I've had it, but it has worked solidly for years. I'd like to buy a new small e-reader that will last, Kobo or other. (I try to stay out of Kindle-world.) Recommendations? Thx.

It's well over ten years old. Rather than trying to revivify it, I'll second Jon's recommendation of the Clara BW, which will be a revelation. Honestly.

As for Kobos lasting, I have five Kobos, all of which still work. Including the Glo, but honestly, once you see the screen on a current model you won't look back. After 10+ years, you're entitled to get a new device. (For me, 10 years is the benchmark at which I can honestly and without regret say, "It owed me nothing."}

[meeera]

I, too, think you'll absolutely love a Clara BW. Unless you have a hankering for colour?

[lmarie]

Thanks for the replies. I actually found a post on Reddit that taught me how to open my Kobo Glo when frozen, so I'm good for now. However, I will purchase a Kobo Clara BW if my Glo continues to glitch up.

[Hasdrubal_Lector]

It looks like the Clara BW is currently sold out at Kobo USA and at its 3rd party distributor Blue Proton so good that you got the Glo working. I wonder what Kobo's plans are now.

[Aleron Ives]

I hope that's good news. Since the Clara BW sold out when the Clara Colour has not, that suggests demand for BW devices is higher than Kobo expected, so maybe we'll get a Libra BW after all if the demand is there.

[Quoth]

I hope they do a 7" mono

[issybird]

I'd like to see an updated Sage, no color.

My Aura One can't last forever* (over eight years old now) and I strongly prefer bigger than 7". However, I'm also not going to plump for a device that's a few years old when I've got a serviceable alternative.

*But my Glo** and Mini are still working, so maybe it will at that.

**Bringing it around to the OP!

[shuvashish76]

As my 1st Eink device I purchased Clara Colour but after after few days of using it I noticed you always need at least 10% brightness at home. Probably more brightness outside.
At 1st I thought what I got has a faulty screen so I returned and re-purchase but again it's still same. Now I returned it again and decided to go with Clara BW. (Colour is not important for me...it would have been nicer to have double core CPU but I guess single core is also fine)

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I recommend the Kobo Clara BW. It's the same size screen with better contrast.

It has better contrast? They say it has slightly worse contrast than previous generations of carta like Carta 1200.

See this comparison video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26iD9lauEM0
Even kobo that was made 14 year ago has better contrast than carta 1300 : https://youtu.be/eYc0cJSRV_4?t=548

[lmarie]

Just an aside: when I saw that all the Clara BW's were sold out, I went digging through my old tech and found an old Kobo! No idea when I got it, but it had to be pre-Glo, because it isn't backlit, and is a bit less functional. It has a case with a pop-up light, which wasn't very useful because no matter how I moved it, it glared onto the screen. But at least I was able to load and finish the book I was reading, and now I have the Glo back.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by shuvashish76

It has better contrast? They say it has slightly worse contrast than previous generations of carta like Carta 1200.

See this comparison video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26iD9lauEM0
Even kobo that was made 14 year ago has better contrast than carta 1300 : https://youtu.be/eYc0cJSRV_4?t=548

Video is process and compressed incredibly even compared to jpeg. You need better resolution and camera than video and an carefully lit scene and png or tiff distribution.

Edit:
Also outer layer, how touch layers is implemented, the lightpipe layer all have a huge effect on contrast and sharpness. Also any glue to bond layers.
So IR touch (no layers) used on many early models from different companies and no front light (LEDS at edge of a light pipe layer). Then sometimes quality is worse!
Voyage: One of first 6" 300 dpi Very good and expensive.
Paperwhite 3. Cost reduced Voyage, not as good as voyage, but same eink. Better than Paperwhite2 which is earlier lower resolution Carta
Oasis 1 (Really Voyage 2). Same 6" eink again, but not as good as Voyage. The Oasis 2 & 3 are 7"
Then Paperwhite 4 with flush screen. Obviously inferior side by side with PW3, but stanalone looks fine.

There is massive difference Viziplex 4 shades (1st Sony), Viziplex 16 shades (K2 & DX), Pearl (K3 & DXG) and then Carta.
Carta added a new refresh mode (regal) and reduced ghosting.
Carta HD is mostly just Carta but 300 DPI

After that the differences are more to do with the assembly, choice & quality of the layers. Carta 1300 is a tiny change to try and improve brightness.
Kaleido is tranlucent coloured dots smaller than the pixel size printed direct to the upper layer of the Carta screen. Triton was full width stripes.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by shuvashish76

It has better contrast? They say it has slightly worse contrast than previous generations of carta like Carta 1200.

See this comparison video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26iD9lauEM0
Even kobo that was made 14 year ago has better contrast than carta 1300 : https://youtu.be/eYc0cJSRV_4?t=548

For what it may be worth, I have a test ePub that displays various test patterns on screen. Using the quartered pattern (black (#000000), dark grey (#333333), grey (#A9A9A9) and white (#FFFFFF), my densitometer in reflection mode says that the Clara BW has a higher contrast range than either the Clara HD or Clara 2E with the white being slightly lighter and the black slightly darker. These tests are done with the ereader's frontlight turned off.

I've attached a cutdown version of the epub.

[shuvashish76]

Thanks @Quoth and @DNSB for sharing comparisons. Especially comparing devices with pure black (#000000), dark grey (#333333), grey (#A9A9A9) and white (#FFFFFF) is really nice trick. I believe in the forum users who are actually using multiple devices for reading purpose than youtubers/influencers who just do it for review.

Originally Posted by lmarie

and now I have the Glo back.

Good to know that your device now works again