Libra [USA] My new Kobo Libra H2Os from Walmart - questions

[Quartz]

Good day everyone,

I apologize for being uninformed--I'm very new to the Kobo ecosystem. My prior e-readers were Nook Glowlights and a Sony reader.

I've ordered and received 2 Kobo Libra H2Os in white color--one for myself and one a gift for a family member. Setting both up today.

I have read about lack of screen uniformity from device to device and expected to see some difference in backlight. There's indeed a difference between the two, but it's difficult to qualify, because there's a gradient from the edge with the buttons to the opposite end. Still, one of the readers has slightly less bright and a hint more blue-purple backlight vs. the other at equal settings. Uniformity is also very slightly worse on that one along the button side. Overall both are good--better than my previous 6" Nook Glowlights.

I have a couple of questions about set-ups:

1. I was surprised to find that my Kobo (from Walmart) comes with "Walmart e-Books by Rakuten Kobo" advertised by default on the lockscreen and as a default login option. There's an option to log in with a Kobo account too, but... I haven't been able to sign up yet. It keeps giving errors that I already have an account no matter which of my e-mails I try--I do not yet have an account. Then finally trying to reset a password also gives an error. I will try again later. Only logged in with my Google account for now.

What is the "best" way to sign in / which bookstore to link? Should I make separate accounts for Walmart eBooks and Kobo Bookstore and log in with both? Are they separate stores, so I can link both?

2. Can I stop my reader from showing "Walmart eBooks by Rakuten Kobo" in huge font on the lockscreen when not reading a book? My Nooks had cool screensaver options like author engravings or tree branches. It was a pleasant aesthetic option.

I bought my 2 devices from Walmart for easy exchange if anything was wrong, but now I'm starting to wonder if I should have ordered from Rakuten directly to avoid the Walmart branding.

3. I just realized there's no "home" button, which is disorienting.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by Quartz

Good day everyone,

1. I was surprised to find that my Kobo (from Walmart) comes with "Walmart e-Books by Rakuten Kobo" advertised by default on the lockscreen and as a default login option. There's an option to log in with a Kobo account too, but... I haven't been able to sign up yet. It keeps giving errors that I already have an account no matter which of my e-mails I try--I do not yet have an account. Then finally trying to reset a password also gives an error. I will try again later. Only logged in with my Google account for now.

What is the "best" way to sign in / which bookstore to link? Should I make separate accounts for Walmart eBooks and Kobo Bookstore and log in with both? Are they separate stores, so I can link both?

You should be able to do this from the device, but as you're having issues try creating an account on a computer/tablet/smart phone and then logging in to it on the Kobo Libra. Just go to kobo.com and create an account there, then on the Libra make sure you're picking the sign in with Rakuten option.

2. Can I stop my reader from showing "Walmart eBooks by Rakuten Kobo" in huge font on the lockscreen when not reading a book? My Nooks had cool screensaver options like author engravings or tree branches. It was a pleasant aesthetic option.

I bought my 2 devices from Walmart for easy exchange if anything was wrong, but now I'm starting to wonder if I should have ordered from Rakuten directly to avoid the Walmart branding.

You can actually make a screensaver folder in the .kobo directory and load any image(s) you want in there. You might need to change the affiliate though, to do this just go to the .kobo directory find the affiliate.conf open it with text edit or word pad and change "walmart" to " kobo" without the quotes.

3. I just realized there's no "home" button, which is disorienting.

None of the current line of Kobo's have a physical home button, the Libra and Forma have page turn buttons, and a power button, all other controls are done using the touch screen.

You'll adjust fairly quickly just give it some time.

[PeterT]

Remember though that in recent Kobo software releases the overriding of the affiliate has changed, and changes don't seem to stick permanently.

[davidfor]

The check of the affiliate is done weekly. And when the last check was done is stored in the config file. You can set the timestamp on this to some time in the future to prevent it from happening.

[christianbk]

I'm a Kobo fan but it's so disappointing the lack of support Walmart gives the brand in the US. I also don't really like Walmart

But the actual Walmart screen is on boot up and you'll have your device on sleep 99.9% of the time.

[Quartz]

I've been doing a lot of back-and-forth comparisons between the Libra I set aside for myself (the other is a gift) and my old 2nd gen Nook Glowlight. What I hoped for with the Libra is a noticeable improvement in contrast and backlight quality over my old device. Unfortunately, while the contrast is indeed slightly better, the backlight quality is not much improved. My Libra, at lower backlight light levels, has a bright top right (or bottom left--depending on orientation) corner. The gradient from more yellow to more blue backlight is also noticeable from the button edge to the opposite edge. Not as much as that bright corner is distracting.

The other thing I don't like is that my old Nook can change line spacing between any epubs I've used, and the Kobo Libra cannot--there's something in the formatting of those older conversions that it doesn't like. I have to convert those files to MOBI and then back to epub before the libra is able to change line spacing. A minor thing is that my favorite reading font with the Nook: Avenir Next, is also present in Kobo Libra H2O. But... for some odd reason it cannot do italic Avenir Next, so all the italic text is converted to distracting bold version of Avenir Next in the Libra. The Nook uses italic Avenir Next where applicable.

I'm considering returning my Kobo Libra H2O for its uneven backlight and these other oddities and waiting another couple years for a more noticeable upgrade. I really hope there will be some breakthrough in backlight technology to make it truly better and more even.

P.S.: I did see some comparative youtube reviews of Libra vs. Amazon Oasis, and they seemed to favor the Oasis backlight quality. Well I had gone through a lot of Amazon reviews of the Oasis, and there were plenty of complaints about backlight quality and also about poor battery life.

[Quartz]

P.S.: so far the only difference between the "WalmartHybrid" affiliate and "Kobo" affiliate in the config file is that the book store is called "Kobo Store" on the generic Kobo affiliate setting and just "Store" with Walmart affiliate. Book price, selection, order, etc. all look identical.

I first thought I'd be signing in to those separately, but it's one at a time. And signing in with a Kobo account doesn't seem necessary--it now associated my google account with a Kobo account.

[ps67]

Originally Posted by Quartz

I've been doing a lot of back-and-forth comparisons between the Libra I set aside for myself (the other is a gift) and my old 2nd gen Nook Glowlight. What I hoped for with the Libra is a noticeable improvement in contrast and backlight quality over my old device. Unfortunately, while the contrast is indeed slightly better, the backlight quality is not much improved. My Libra, at lower backlight light levels, has a bright top right (or bottom left--depending on orientation) corner. The gradient from more yellow to more blue backlight is also noticeable from the button edge to the opposite edge. Not as much as that bright corner is distracting.

The other thing I don't like is that my old Nook can change line spacing between any epubs I've used, and the Kobo Libra cannot--there's something in the formatting of those older conversions that it doesn't like. I have to convert those files to MOBI and then back to epub before the libra is able to change line spacing. A minor thing is that my favorite reading font with the Nook: Avenir Next, is also present in Kobo Libra H2O. But... for some odd reason it cannot do italic Avenir Next, so all the italic text is converted to distracting bold version of Avenir Next in the Libra. The Nook uses italic Avenir Next where applicable.

I'm considering returning my Kobo Libra H2O for its uneven backlight and these other oddities and waiting another couple years for a more noticeable upgrade. I really hope there will be some breakthrough in backlight technology to make it truly better and more even.

P.S.: I did see some comparative youtube reviews of Libra vs. Amazon Oasis, and they seemed to favor the Oasis backlight quality. Well I had gone through a lot of Amazon reviews of the Oasis, and there were plenty of complaints about backlight quality and also about poor battery life.

About line spacing there is a couple of patch, if You want to patch Your Kobo, that can allow You to change it. You can find them in this forum, patches are firmware specific. See this for last firmware: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=334722

And about font there are some tricks to use to make Kobo correctly handle them. The name of the files must be: xxx-Regular.ttf, xxx-Italic.ttf, xxx.Bold.ttf, and xxx.BoldItalic.ttf. And then See this post from Jackie_W:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...81&postcount=9

Check also the family name of the font (in PS Name) to ensure that it is the same for all four fonts.

[Quartz]

Thank you very much, I'll look into those options.

I take back my initial disappointment with the Libra. I was just too used to my old Nook and tried to make my Libra match the Nook experience instead of adapting to the Libra formatting and advantages. I'm keeping both of the Libras--the unevenness in backlight is not major enough, and I worry that a replacement might end up being worse. With a good reading lamp present, the Libra is much nicer than my old Nook Glowlight, particularly because of the adjustable amber illumination.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Quartz

... I'm keeping both of the Libras--the unevenness in backlight is not major enough, and I worry that a replacement might end up being worse. With a good reading lamp present, the Libra is much nicer than my old Nook Glowlight, particularly because of the adjustable amber illumination.

I don't think you should have to "settle." That's something you do when you buy something used, not new. Take a look at exchanging the Libra with the iffy screen. I bought a PocketBook HD3 a couple weeks ago and the screen is about perfect. So it can be done. And, since you bought from Walmart, the exchange should be fairly easy. (Unless they make you go through Kobo?)

[Quartz]

I'm considering it, but say they send me one with an even worse screen--then I'll be doing another exchange. I'm worried about becoming a "difficult customer" in their records.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Quartz

I'm considering it, but say they send me one with an even worse screen--then I'll be doing another exchange. I'm worried about becoming a "difficult customer" in their records.

I hardly ever exchange anything, but if the product is defective it's defective and you shouldn't be stuck with it. I'm pretty sure Walmart's main concern is with folks who use their exchange policy as a "try it" service — which isn't what you're doing. Your description of this particular Libra seems to indicate it's on the low-end of the quality scale anyhow, so I'm guessing there's a very good chance you'll get a better one, not one that's worse.

Whichever way you go with this, good luck.

[Quartz]

Thank you, I did submit a request for an exchange, so crossing my fingers for a happy ending.

Are there any known mods that disable the highlighting feature? One of these Libras is for an older family member who might have trouble doing accidental highlighting when trying to increase or decrease screen brightness. I've already done that myself a couple times though my fingers are quite small. I've adjusted by moving my finger along the edge of the bezel just barely touching the screen, and will be sure to tell my family member about it too. But it'd be easier if highlighting were simply removed. I don't believe they will ever find that option useful in their particular case.

[Elektron]

I think older firmwares didn't highlight; they selected. Not sure if that helps.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by Elektron

I think older firmwares didn't highlight; they selected. Not sure if that helps.

No firmware since, directly before, or for a rather long time before the Libra was launched lacked highlighting. Highlighting has been fairly standard as a feature on ereaders since the first touch screen ones at the least and I’m fairly sure even the original Nook which was physical button only also had highlighting.