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Kobo announces color e-readers

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Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#81

Post by joker99 »

radarsat1 wrote: post #47

I want something like this but just to hang on the wall to display graphs. Why are e-ink displays only ever focused on ebooks, I think there are lots of cool non-ebook applications for this technology but to use it you either have to build something with a soldering iron and a raspberry pi or hack an ebook's OS. I don't understand why there aren't more special purpose e-ink devices for other uses like monitoring, pri…

Inkplate used to have exactly what you're looking for. Basically took the eink screens from old kindles, combined with an esp32. I have 3 of them hanging around my house showing various graphs, dashboards, pictures or other items of interest :)

Edit: actually still available! https://soldered.com/product/soldered-inkplate-6-6-e-paper-b...

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#82

Post by flkiwi »

seanmceligot wrote: post #60
flkiwi wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a Boox note. I can’t help the feeling that it’s not entirely legit, but it’s Android, connects to any service I want (including a Calibre library), has a great display, is great for notes, and is all around fantastic. It’s not a tablet replacement but it IS a replacement for the stuff I do most often with a tablet (read and write). I thought the 10.3 inch display would make for a hefty reader, but it’s perfect…

I love the black and white boox as a low tech device. I do a lot more reading and a log less mindless scrolling on my boox tablet. There's also grayscale chrome and firefox plugins if you want to see what it's like.

Same. I almost never use the browser in the first place. I think I’d say the same thing you did but changing the focus to: I love that the b&w boox has made me understand that a low tech device serves my most important needs.

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#83

Post by fuzztester »

kstrauser wrote: post #38
dustincoates wrote: post #25

I have very little to add about the color aspect, but I can say that I love my Kobo. I've had three Kindles before buying the Kobo, which I got because it has a "better" integration with my local library (better in quotes, because I still have to do with the Adobe DRM, which is so bad on Linux that I borrow my wife's computer just to transfer). The Pocket integration is fantastic, as are the physical page turn button…

I have a Libra 2 for personal reading and an Elipsa 2E for journals. A couple of minor nits like you mentioned aside, I love them. They can read almost any format I throw at them, I can fetch books directly from my library, and if I add an article to Pocket on my laptop then it shows up on my Kobo next time I pick it up. I also read way more now that I've gotten the Libra, largely because it's so light and ergonomic…

Wow, interesting.

Which Kobo model would you recommend for both reading and creating notes that can be saved as text?

I am considering getting one for my software development work, so that I can read on the go, while sitting, or in bed, and also jot down short and medium length notes about my project ideas, during my daily walk (in the rest break).

Walking helps me to think better.

A laptop is too heavy to carry around everywhere, and particularly when walking.

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#84

Post by greggsy »

teroshan wrote: post #4

Know that while useful in some scenarios, I'd avoid buying a color e-ink display if you're still going to primarily be using it for B&W colors. To quote the eBook Reader Blog [1]: > The main drawback with color E Ink screens is they look darker than regular B&W screens because of a color filter layer that is applied over the top of the screen, which makes the contrast appear lower. Kaleido color screens are really ju…

It looks blinding in the promo shot

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#85

Post by selykg »

kstrauser wrote: post #79
selykg wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an Oasis 2 (2017 or so timeframe). What would be a good option that's similar to it? I love the screen size, the flush screen (I understand the Oasis is glass rather than plastic), and the page turn buttons are all pretty important to me. KOReader sounds interesting and the built in Libby support is kind of rad sounding.

I think that'd be the Libra 2. The screen's the same size, although not flush, and it has the nice page turn buttons. I can't vouch for their other models. KOReader sounds cool but I've been happy with the built-in software. I know me, and I specifically don't want other knobs I could be playing with instead of just reading the thing.

Got it, thanks!

It seems it's between two devices, the Libra 2 and the Sage, but I keep hearing the Sage has worse battery life (sort of the downfall of the Oasis for me as well). I just like using Calibre since I get a lot of epubs from places like HumbleBundle and other book bundles. These always have issues with the Kindle, like covers going missing.

I'd love to get something a little less fickle for my use case and it does sound like the Kobo devices might get me there. I just really like the Oasis from a materials, size and general usage.

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#86

Post by WolfeReader »

noemit wrote: post #69
WolfeReader wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have too many devices, but my e-reader is one I enjoy using much more than the others. In contrast, I stopped caring about tablets years ago when my Google Nexus 7 finally ceased working; it was fun, but everything I did on it was also easily doable via phone, computer, or e-reader.

you probably dont draw

That's correct, and I definitely get that tablets would be good for artists.

Although I also know several artists, including a full-time professional, who don't use tablets to make their art. Unless you count drawing pads which attach to PC as "tablets", I guess.

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#87

Post by bondarchuk »

dustincoates wrote: post #25

I have very little to add about the color aspect, but I can say that I love my Kobo. I've had three Kindles before buying the Kobo, which I got because it has a "better" integration with my local library (better in quotes, because I still have to do with the Adobe DRM, which is so bad on Linux that I borrow my wife's computer just to transfer). The Pocket integration is fantastic, as are the physical page turn button…

Adobe DRM on linux recently got a lot better: https://superuser.com/a/1775619

Copied for posterity:

---

It's now possible to do this 100% within Linux, without running any emulators or Windows software, even though Adobe don't care about Linux support.

Knock is no longer maintained, however apparently it was just a wrapper around libgourou which is still maintained.

Installing libgourou (on Arch Linux it can be found in the AUR) allows you to download the ACSM file to a PDF or ePub:

# Use your username and password from https://account.adobe.com # This registers your device so only needs to be done once. adept_activate -u user -p pass

# Download the ACSM file acsmdownloader -f myfile.acsm

The downloaded file requires a password to open it, but if you need to open it in a normal viewing application, you can also remove the password:

adept_remove file.pdf

This process allows Linux users to access the same materials as their Windows and Mac friends, even without support from Adobe.

---

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#90

Post by kstrauser »

selykg wrote: post #85
kstrauser wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that'd be the Libra 2. The screen's the same size, although not flush, and it has the nice page turn buttons. I can't vouch for their other models. KOReader sounds cool but I've been happy with the built-in software. I know me, and I specifically don't want other knobs I could be playing with instead of just reading the thing.

Got it, thanks! It seems it's between two devices, the Libra 2 and the Sage, but I keep hearing the Sage has worse battery life (sort of the downfall of the Oasis for me as well). I just like using Calibre since I get a lot of epubs from places like HumbleBundle and other book bundles. These always have issues with the Kindle, like covers going missing. I'd love to get something a little less fickle for my use case a…

The Sage looked nice but the price premium for a stylus wasn't worth it to me for a device I wanted to use purely for reading. Obviously there's a market for such a thing so I'm not saying it's bad, just that it didn't might my own needs.

Calibre works well for the Libra 2. I have a plugin that automatically reformats epubs as kepubs (see https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kepub). That's not a hard requirement but it improves the reading experience a little bit. The biggest difference I notice is that it makes page numbers handle font size changes more accurately. If I halve the number of words that'll fit on the screen, the reader shows that the number of pages in the book has doubled. Also, the current page number increments every time I turn a page, not just when I cross an invisible page boundary.

It's not a dealbreaker not to have those things, but they're nice and worth the 30 seconds to enable in Calibre.

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