Why do you like the Kobo Aura One?

[Braid]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

As a simple novel reading device, I don't see the point. 6" seems adequate and is easier to hold. I imagine the Aura One would be quite ungainly in bed at night!

6" is adequate, I agree. But the Aura One is for people who want to spend more, for something that goes beyond being adequate; for a more luxurious or fine-tuned experience.

So for example, books are very comfortably readable on a 6" screen. But sometimes the hyphenation can be a little dodgy. With a wider screen, this becomes less of a problem - it gives the software more space to play with. Also, I just prefer wider lines of text - I feel it is more natural for my eyes to follow. That's why I read in landscape mode if I have the option - I do this on my Kindle and my Aura H20 (since I've installed Koreader). On the Aura One, I think the screen is wide enough not to have to read epubs in landscape, but I'll still probably install Koreader to get a better PDF experience.

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

are you sure you're on the right forum???

I don't think there's a better forum for a discussion like this one... I think it is a perfect match. Unless you've got a better forum in mind for Pajamaman's question?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Braid

6" is adequate, I agree. But the Aura One is for people who want to spend more, for something that goes beyond being adequate; for a more luxurious or fine-tuned experience.

Spending more would be buying a Kindle Oasis. The Aura One is actually cheaper than the Oasis. Depending on which cover you choose, you can be slightly more or less. So spending more and all you get is a 6" screen. Spending similar and you get a 7.8" screen. The Kobo Aura One is $229.99 and the Amazon Kindle Oasis is $289.99.

[Poppaea]

I thought I had a thougth, but I guess I hadn't
Sorry.

[brudigia]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Without wishing to be provocative, but I don't see much point in it.

The biggest use I could see is as a pdf reader, but apparently the pdf reading software is poor. Perhaps you use Koreader? Is that why you like it?

As a simple novel reading device, I don't see the point. 6" seems adequate and is easier to hold. I imagine the Aura One would be quite ungainly in bed at night!

So what's the point in it? I'm glad you like it, but I don't see why. Please enlighten me.

Pdf files are better with a tablet, at least according to me. The size is not enough, and then if the pdf has colours, it is not much.
You could probably read something with the same size as Analog or Asimov's Magazine, no more, I think.

But the size is perfect for almost everything else: reading books is a delight, the larger size makes a real difference also with respect to the H2O even if the actual difference is not much. Once you try it you wonder why it did not come out before !!
Reading comics (manga size, even if not necessarily manga, in Italy there are a lot of them) is also more than nice, it is beautiful.

The characters are very crisp (higher resolution) and a beauty to read.

The software is still the same as the other Kobos, but there are same basic differences. For example that keyboard, when you do a search or something else, is usable in a very easy way, not the small one you also have on the other Kobos.

It is light, very light, easy to manage with one hand only. I do not care much for the light, even if I understand that should be a strong point, maybe I need to understand it better, and the same goes with the water proofing.

Once you try it, you will have very big difficulties in going back to 6'' inches. Even 6.8 of the H2O is not enough.

P.S. I am not a Kobo salesman

[anacreon]

Forgot to say I like the almost 7 Go space available for books. I was always restricting myself when I had only 3,2 (the Glo HD). I still compress images and get rid of unnecessary fonts, but I don't restrict myself on books like I used to do - and I still have 2 Go available so I'm good for a while.

[Katsunami]

I like tinkering with my devices, and love the excitement of finding out what will be broken next by each new firmware update. I'm also a huge fan of the cover lottery to see if I win.



But seriously. This is what I like about the KA1 compared to my KPW1:

- *Much* more text on-screen at the same font size (especially after enabling and fixing the unofficial full-screen function)
- A lot more font-sizes than the Kindle. The KPW1 is often too small on size 4, too big on size 5, and everything below 4 and above 5 is unusable. (For me.)
- Ability to give fonts the weight I want. I don't want them bold, but I often find Baskerville and Palatino on the Kindle too thin, and Caecilia too thick.
- Ability to make the front-light less blue and more neutral
- The fact that Calibre can automatically manage collections using the KoboTouchExtended driver
- Because of the large screen (69% more space), it feels less cramped and more book-like than the Kindle. It feels much more like reading a book. It fits only 9-10 lines less text than a very large hardcover.

With regard to the last point, I'll give you an example. With my settings, and using a font size comparable to the one in a book, this is the result:

- Lord of the Rings, Alan Lee Illustrated Edition, 2005: 67 characters line width, 41 lines high, 2747 char/page. Text area is 12cm wide x 19.5cm high.

- KA1: 60 characters line width, 32 lines high. 1920 char/screen. Text area is 11.5cm wide x 15.3cm high.

So for an e-reader, the KA1 fits *a lot* of text, even compared to a *very large* hard cover. Comparing sizes:

Book: 16.8cm x 24.1cm, 2.5kg
KA1 (in cover): 12cm x 19.7cm, 372gr

So the KA1 fits 70% of the text of a *huge* hardcover page into a package that is only 58% of the size, and 15% of the weight of the hardcover. I think that's pretty darned good.

(If you think choosing this hardcover is unfair because it's an illustrated edition: I have hardcovers that are just as large as that, and one even larger, that are not illustrated.)

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

I can see bigger fonts would help a smallish sector of readers, but I find it hard to believe that that is the reason most people buy it.

I offered to lend my mom my old Kindle. She's not tech savvy, so I put the books on there for her. She finally decided to try the Kindle, after confessing that she stopped reading many years ago because the fonts in the books were getting too small, even with reading glasses. (In the past, she read Harlequin romances by the dozens.)

I can certainly see older readers using e-readers (or tablets) especially because of the adjustable fonts and font sizes. (Especially if the device is managed for them, which, with an e-reader, comes down to putting some books on it every few weeks.)

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Fonts. My KA1 lets me add/remove fonts very easily. No jailbreaking needed.

Except if you want to adjust weight, which often is a requirement when using 'normal' fonts on e-readers. Otherwise, they're often too thin.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Except if you want to adjust weight, which often is a requirement when using 'normal' fonts on e-readers. Otherwise, they're often too thin.

When using release firmware on a Kobo ereader, I enable the Freedom to Advanced Font Control patch to allow adjusting the weight on sideloaded fonts for those occasions when I'm not using one of my two favourite fonts where I have already adjusted the weight of the 4 variants to my tastes (plus HP's Dark Courier for those times that only a fixed width font will do ). In some ways a trifle odd that despite my love for typography, I seldom use any fonts other than those two favourites for reading.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Without wishing to be provocative, but I don't see much point in it.

The biggest use I could see is as a pdf reader, but apparently the pdf reading software is poor. Perhaps you use Koreader? Is that why you like it?

As a simple novel reading device, I don't see the point. 6" seems adequate and is easier to hold. I imagine the Aura One would be quite ungainly in bed at night!

So what's the point in it? I'm glad you like it, but I don't see why. Please enlighten me.

1. 7.8 inch screen. I always prefered 5" for portability and thought that 6" was too small for "normal" reading. So, when I decided I wanted a reader with a backlight*, I went from the Sony PRS650 to the H2O. But then the One came out with that 7.8" screen. The device is virtually the same phyisical size as the H2O only has a slightly larger screen. Needless to say, I gave the H2O to my mother (as replacement for her Sony PRS650 ) and got the One for myself.

2. colour of the backlight. I wanted a backlight in my reader (no more hassle trying to get the clip-on light correct when reading in the dark...) but always thought the colour of the H2O was too blue (and it's even yellower than the Kindle of my husband!) I know have an orangy colour, which I really love.

3. the 7.8" screen. Did I already mention I love the larger screen?



* I'll call it backlight even though I know it's a light ligher on top of the e-ink screen and not from behind it. It still comes from behind the bezel!

[RZetlin]

1) Screen Size: This is the best manga eReader on the market. Images and words are no longer too small to read like on a 6 inch eReader.

With more screen, there are more words on the page with less page turns.

2) Weight: Despite its size, the device is not heavy at all.

[astrangerhere]

I am STILL waiting to be able to buy a KA1, but I will be purchasing one for many of the aforementioned reasons:

1 - screen size: I look at screens or papers most of the day, so the notion of being able to adjust the size up without having to turn the page every 5 seconds is a big plus.

2 - orange glow lighting: I have problems with bluish light before bed and I cannot wait to be able to have the daylight dimming effect. (Incidentally, I use a daylight alarm, so my brain has been trained by light).

3 - weight: the KA1 actually weighs 10 grams less than my KAHD.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Spending more would be buying a Kindle Oasis. The Aura One is actually cheaper than the Oasis. Depending on which cover you choose, you can be slightly more or less. So spending more and all you get is a 6" screen. Spending similar and you get a 7.8" screen. The Kobo Aura One is $229.99 and the Amazon Kindle Oasis is $289.99.

I agree, the price of the Oasis is shocking, especially when you can get the Aura One $60 less. To each their own.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

- *Much* more text on-screen at the same font size (especially after enabling and fixing the unofficial full-screen function)

I find it odd that Kobo don't include an option to remove the big header/footer out-of-the-box. Users have to patch the device to remove them. This is something that may be beyond many users, and something I found an unnecessary pain.

[Pajamaman]

Judging from this thread, my overall impression is that people like the Aura One for the bigger screen. There are other reasons, but this is the fundamental reason. Fair enough. Kobo has succeeded in showing there is a market for a larger device (twice). Fortunately Kobo are able to compete against Amazon and are innovating. Perhaps they are able to compete _because_ they are innovating.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

3 - weight: the KA1 actually weighs 10 grams less than my KAHD.

That is impressive.