Clara or Paperwhite 4

[mobilemoxie]

I have a Clara and I purchased it right before Xmas for $99 (from Walmart . com, then easily changed the affiliate link in the config file to Kobo, using instructions found on this forum).

- No light bleed issue at all.
- I also use my library and Overdrive to download books (easy peasy).
- I like being able to customize what's shown, as I've been able to do with the Clara, using the patch files provided on MR.
- I use the open source software Calibré to easily convert ebook formats and sideload ebooks to my Clara.
- I have scores of books in the AMZN format and I've easily converted them to epub for loading into my Clara (and before that my B&N Nook ereader).
- I like not being tied to the AMZN ecosystem even though I'm an AMZN prime member. I prefer the ePub format as it's agnostic.
- KPW 4 does not have the comfort light capability and that's a nice thing to have IMO.
- My mother gave me her Kindle Fire 8 HD since she couldn't figure it out & I much prefer reading on my new Kobo Clara.

So for me the Kobo was the right choice especially with my inclination to using ePub ebooks and ability to convert any ebook format to use on my Kobo.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by mobilemoxie

So for me the Kobo was the right choice especially with my inclination to using ePub ebooks and ability to convert any ebook format to use on my Kobo.

Sounds great. Thanks for the review. I hope the light bleed issue is a thing of the past for all Clara buyers.

This is a great review and concisely summarizes most of my reasons for recently with Clara HD, even though I've been a Kindle user in the past.

There are many reasons why I wanted to get out of AZ's ecosystem, some of them are philosophical which I won't go into here. I think Kobo though not perfect, is one of the best mainstream, and affordable, device platforms that will give you a viable alternative to AZ with a wide book selection and good reading experience.

One other reason to look at Kobo is that the open source community is building some nice additional apps to work on it. I just installed the KOReader app on my Clara, and it adds some nice functionality that is missing in the Kobo reader app.

Finally, the reading experience on Clara is mostly excellent. I have zero complaints about light bleed, etc. Initially I had an issue with sluggish loading and page-turn responsiveness on a few large books I own. But even with those, I was able to resolve the issues by using Calibre to reconvert the books just using the default Calibre settings, which splits large file sizes into smaller ones, improving the responsiveness issue. These are things (installing KOReader, cleaning up ebooks in Calibre to render/perform better) that any reader--not just techies--can do fairly easily.

Some articles I've seen makes a thing out of the fact that Clara is not waterproof, vs PW which is. I don't really get the hype on that point; for me this is a non-issue. I live in the Pacific NW which rains all the time. I've used phones, laptops, and ereaders for years, most of which were not waterproof, and somehow I've managed to never have any water damage to any of them. Common sense, + a little care, + get a case/cover if going outside a lot, you never have a problem. If you have a habit of regularly dunking your ereader in the bathtub or the the swimming pool, by all means, I'd get the PW.

Originally Posted by mobilemoxie

I have a Clara and I purchased it right before Xmas for $99 (from Walmart . com, then easily changed the affiliate link in the config file to Kobo, using instructions found on this forum).

- No light bleed issue at all.
- I also use my library and Overdrive to download books (easy peasy).
- I like being able to customize what's shown, as I've been able to do with the Clara, using the patch files provided on MR.
- I use the open source software Calibré to easily convert ebook formats and sideload ebooks to my Clara.
- I have scores of books in the AMZN format and I've easily converted them to epub for loading into my Clara (and before that my B&N Nook ereader).
- I like not being tied to the AMZN ecosystem even though I'm an AMZN prime member. I prefer the ePub format as it's agnostic.
- KPW 4 does not have the comfort light capability and that's a nice thing to have IMO.
- My mother gave me her Kindle Fire 8 HD since she couldn't figure it out & I much prefer reading on my new Kobo Clara.

So for me the Kobo was the right choice especially with my inclination to using ePub ebooks and ability to convert any ebook format to use on my Kobo.