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Kobo announces color e-readers

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Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#191

Post by japanuspus »

nocoder wrote: post #181
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 am on a 10 year old Kindle and looking to replace it but most of my ebooks are from Amazon. Would it be seamless to transfer my books to Kobo via Calibre or some other software or it will be pain in the butt?

From family with a mix of kindles and kobos: yes, this is painless.

You can check beforehand by installing Calibre with the de-DRM plugin and transferring a few books: Once they are on Calibre you are good to go.

One thing I only learned today is that you can set up web sync from Calibre to Kobo [0], [1], but just plugging in to sync has been working fine for me.

For the initial sync, it used to be you could directly de-DRM your whole collection from the storage of the kindle desktop app. At some point the desktop app was using a DRM that had not been broken: I do not know if this is still the case, or if there is another way to download everything from your account.

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39996455 [1]: https://brandonjkessler.com/technology/2021/04/26/setup-kobo...

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#192

Post by schmiddim »

dboreham wrote: post #165
mguerville wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a Boox Ultra Tab C (color) and while true I don't find it problematic in the slightest. I went down the rabbit hole of watcing video comparison etc. but in practical terms once I started using it I never once felt that I wanted a brighter/lighter screen. YMMV.

Also have the Note Air 3C (same screen iirc). Still getting uses to it (never have used eink before) but so far soon good. I don't think I'd want to switch to monochrome even if the contrast is better.

OT: How happy are you with the Note Air 3C? How long last the battery? Any Problems with the build quality? I've read a lot bad stuff about the device and have mixed feelings

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#193

Post by nottorp »

bityard wrote: post #163
nottorp wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In order to do that, I have to lay on my stomach and hold the phone with one hand. Why? I mostly lie on a side when reading and prop the reader (or the paper book) with the bed sheets. This has the potential to turn into a reading positions subthread :)

> This has the potential to turn into a reading positions subthread :) Wish granted! If I lie on my side for more than a minute or two, my hips ache. Only a little at first, but if I ignore it and fall asleep, I will wake up in writhing agony 30 minutes later. Been like this since my 20's. Reasonably healthy otherwise so I don't know what the deal is. Otherwise, yes, this would be the ideal reading position. Extra cr…

Oh I'm the kind that rotates while sleeping like i'm getting roasted on a spike. Same while reading in bed. But I alternate between both sides and lying on my back.

Speaking of unknown conditions, when I was younger I was mostly reading on my stomach... with the book on the floor and half my face outside the bed to look down. Until I got my eyes seriously examined and they found my (from birth) astigmatism, I corrected that and started to read with the book closer like a normal person. Have those hips checked, perhaps?

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#194

Post by paradox460 »

bityard wrote: post #166
paradox460 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Onyx Boox makes a reader that's roughly the size and dimensions of a modern cell phone https://onyxboox.com/boox_palma

Oh, that's interesting. Pretty much exactly what I'm after! It has better specs than my phone. Says it runs Android, so I assume it's reasonably "open".

More or less. There are ways to flash arbitrary android builds on Boox devices, but you'd lose a lot by doing so.

The Boox software is actually pretty good. It does a lot to make non-e-ink optimized android apps work well on an e-ink screen, and lets you tweak it as you see fit, so you can adjust contrast and whatnot to make text and elements work. Its not always flawless, but it does work.

The in-built reader application is very good, particularly when it comes to annotations and whatnot. It has a dedicated notebook feature, but I've never been one for hand-written notes, so I don't really use it. And if you don't like the built in one, you have the advantage of being able to load any android reader application you like. Google Play Books, Kindle, Nook, KOReader, MoonReader, whatever, they all work.

Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have the larger, A4 sized Onyx Note, and use mine primarily for sheet music. But it works very well as a technical paper or programming book reading device, in a way that kindles and other smaller readers are insufficient. So some of my experiences might not carry over to the Palma. But I can't imagine Boox going through that much differentiation of their product SKUs to the point where this comment will be wholly accurate.

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#195

Post by ryzvonusef »

If you want to learn more about e-ink ereaders/tablets etc, I suggest this youtube channel:

     https://www.youtube.com/@goodereader/videos
____

My problem with the e-ink devices is that they still require the same chips/battery/etc as any other tablet, but provide a much limited display to use... so you spend the same money for less.

What we need is some sort of dual display system, maybe a display that can switch between OLED and E-Ink layer... or literally have two displays (Colour E-Ink on the back maybe) so that one can the same processors/storage etc and not have a "waste" (also fewer devices to carry).

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#197

Post by chrismorgan »

ianburrell wrote: post #178
askvictor wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost sounds like Pixel Qi, the display tech for the olpc project. Did anything behind of that tech?

This is eink while Pixel Qi was transflective LCD what is sometimes called e-paper. Transflective displays are used for some smartwatches, Garmin ones have long battery life with them.

> This is eink while Pixel Qi was transflective LCD what is sometimes called e-paper.

Although “e-paper” has been used to describe transflective LCDs at times, in my experience it’s far more commonly used to describe e-ink panels, especially larger ones.

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#198

Post by abdela »

codetrotter wrote: post #142

I have an old Kobo Glo HD that I bought in 2015. The battery no longer holds a charge, so I opened it and removed the battery. Since a lot of Kobo fans seem to be ITT, does anyone know where I can buy a replacement battery for my Kobo Glo HD? I mean, obviously I could randomly pick one from AliExpress like https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003176213860.html But I would like recommendations about specific sellers, f…

I just got the best-selling one from aliexpress.

Also replaced my bluetooth speaker battery like that.

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#199

Post by abdela »

paulcole wrote: post #96

I've bought the Remarkable 2 and probably 10 Kindles over the past decade. I have never once been like, "You know what this eink device needs? Color!" I get that it might be a draw for some people but this just isn't appealing to me and I can't see the mass market use case for color besides color being neat.

Honest question, why did you buy 10 kindle devices in 10 years?

Re: Kobo announces color e-readers

#200

Post by seam_carver »

amelius wrote: post #58

Give me high refresh rates before giving me color. What I don't get is that people say that e-readers are easy on the eyes, but you still get this epilepsy-inducing flicker all the time when changing pages.

Try the newer kindles, they have an alternative page turn animation that's a wipe instead of a flash.
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