Kobo Aura One is REAL!

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

My H2O is not all that fragile if you treat it properly. I've never broken a screen and I've used six different Readers.

Same here. I haven't found E-ink screens all that fragile. I've been using them since 2007 (a Bookeen Cybook Gen3) and have yet to break one. Even the big and thin Kindle DXG survived quite a bit of (ab)use.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

Same here. I haven't found E-ink screens all that fragile. I've been using them since 2007 (a Bookeen Cybook Gen3) and have yet to break one. Even the big and thin Kindle DXG survived quite a bit of (ab)use.

You do need to bear in mind, though, that it's a device that contains a large sheet of very, very thin glass (the screen substrate) and treat it accordingly (ie don't bend it ). Like you, I've never broken an eInk device, but I understand why it happens.

[viceant]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

My H2O is not all that fragile if you treat it properly. I've never broken a screen and I've used six different Readers.

And you name yourself "Curmudgeon"?

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You do need to bear in mind, though, that it's a device that contains a large sheet of very, very thin glass (the screen substrate) and treat it accordingly (ie don't bend it ). Like you, I've never broken an eInk device, but I understand why it happens.

Oh, so do I. Bending or twisting forces will be lethal to E-ink screens, far more so than to tablet screens. A good stiff cover helps a lot with that.

Where your tablet might survive you sitting on it, your ereader probably won't. But both will survive a simple drop probably roughly equally well; I've dropped my readers often enough

[latepaul]

I've had eight eink readers and 2 tablets. Never broken a screen. Often don't use a cover and used to regularly carry my Mini in my jacket pocket.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

Oh, so do I. Bending or twisting forces will be lethal to E-ink screens, far more so than to tablet screens. A good stiff cover helps a lot with that.

Where your tablet might survive you sitting on it, your ereader probably won't. But both will survive a simple drop probably roughly equally well; I've dropped my readers often enough

Yes, they do seem pretty good when it comes to drops. I've dropped my readers innumerable times from 1m+ heights onto hard surfaces and thus far they've survived. But because this can (and does) happen, I never use any reader without a good cover on it. My current Voyage has a chip knocked out of the bezel where it fell off the arm of a garden chair and landed on its corner (where the cover doesn't protect it) on a concrete surface.

As you say, it's bending or twisting forces that are the guaranteed killer.

The day can't come soon enough when all devices use a flexible plastic substrate rather than glass.

[johnnyb]

I'm really excited about the device but I also hope that Kobo will also come up with some software improvements that make them on par with Kindle.
Better PDF support, cloud storage for brought books and better dictionaries () immediately come to mind. Overall stability and performance of software is another thing...
As it is, there is no single reader that ticks all the boxes and I really hope that Kobo could become the one (they already provide excellent core functionality and do not tether their typography settings to bought books which is a good thing)...

[viceant]

I never dropped my M-92 (9.7 inches) and it had a hard cover, but now its screen is broken. When I bought it, I didn't know it was so fragile. It seems to me that some day I layed on the couch and it probably was under me.

So, I will not buy such a large device with a weak substrate. On the contrary, my Sony PRS-T1 ( 6 inches) is still alive and I think it is so because it is tiny and bend forces are not so big.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

Ive read many buyer reviews of the device saying that their H2O's were very fragile. I believe some were on the Kobos website itself? Or the Chapters listing. Either way theres no way I damaged my device due to misuse - I treated that particular H2o as delicately as if it were my first born child.

Check out these reviews!!! https://m.indigo.ca/product/gifts/ko...o/681495006670

Im with them on this one - hope the new device is a bit better in that regard. Though I doubt it - a larger sheet of glass seems a little more unwieldly with a greater propensity to snap, in my minds eye

The screen is no more fragile than any of the 5 other eInk screens I've never managed to break. I have carted them around quite a bit with no breakage. But then, I make sure that whatever bag I'm using as an appropriately sized place to store the reader and that noting in the bag will cause undue stress on the screen. I just take precaution and I don't break the screen.

The problem is that people are used to cell phones and/or tablets where the screens are tougher. They treat their Readers the same as they would a phone or a tablet and you cannot do that.

I blame the user, not the screen or the device.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I blame the user, not the screen or the device.

I'd say it's a combination of factors. We've broken two screens in our house, one Kindle and one Tekstor Papyrus Mini (still hit myself over that one!). The Tekstor I know exactly when and why it broke. Pure user error. The Kindle is still an unknown. Naturally it didn't decide to break by itself, but apparently there was some sort of pressure somehow somewhere. It can't have been much, as it was in a box that hadn't been moved or acted upon in any other fasion. But a screen that is that fragile should have had more safeguards against normal use.

Now, an 8" device, assuming it also has that fragile layer, will need more care as there's simply a larger area to give a point-pressure on, and it's a lot easier to torque. So, it's a lot more fragile than that 6" screen of the average reader.

[JSWolf]

One thing that can help cause a screen to break is extreme temperatures.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

One thing that can help cause a screen to break is extreme temperatures.

Another is cats.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

One thing that can help cause a screen to break is extreme temperatures.

A very thin sheet of glass, such as a screen substrate, should be pretty good at maintaining a uniform temperature. It's temperature differential that shatters glass - the thinner the glass, the less of a problem it is. A screen substrate is very thin.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

A very thin sheet of glass, such as a screen substrate, should be pretty good at maintaining a uniform temperature. It's temperature differential that shatters glass - the thinner the glass, the less of a problem it is. A screen substrate is very thin.

Leaving the Reader in a very hot car and then bringing it into an air conditioned house can cause breakage.

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Yes. The article sums it up in one sentence:

Kobo knew they would never have a chance to compete in the US without going under as a startup. Except once they picked up traction worldwide they forgot to add more bravery and enter the US market as well. Now it might be way too late to remedy that oversight.

I don't understand this. My first Kobo device was the Kobo Glo. I live in a small town (population is less than 10,000) in the rural US. I literally walked ten minutes down the street to the bookstore and bought the Glo and was reading on it in under an hour. The other Kobo devices that I've bought over the years I bought from their US store online.

The only b&m store that you can buy a Kindle from around here is Best Buy, and they usually have limited stock.

They are in the US market. They are just not in every b&m store but neither is Amazon. They don't have much market share but that is not the same as saying they have identically zero market share or they are unavailable for purchase.