[Ann in Arlington]

For those with android devices, the app Moonreader has some ridiculous and amazing features. I prefer e-ink but if i'm reading on a tablet, Moonreader get my applauds. 2 page view and animated page turns and the killer feature of the app, autoscrolling (where you just press it and the screen scrolls. For the laziest of people out there while laying in bed, all you do is prop it up on a pillow or stand and you can set the speed in which is scrolls. There's something really soothing about falling asleep to a scrolling screen of the words of your novel.

See: that would drive me nuts! Plus, I don't want to fall asleep while I'm reading and have the book go on. How will I know where I left off!?

I also don't see any need for a two page spread on a tablet or animated page turns. But that's just me, of course.

 

[northofdivision]

See: that would drive me nuts! Plus, I don't want to fall asleep while I'm reading and have the book go on. How will I know where I left off!?

I also don't see any need for a two page spread on a tablet or animated page turns. But that's just me, of course.

Haha. Definitely not for everyone, Ann. On big tablets, the 2 page spread is kind of a neat feature.

 

[FearIndex]

My Kindle Voyage was just delivered. Won't have time to get to it and to play with it until later today, though. I look forward to putting it through its paces this weekend and report back.

 

[FearIndex]

Got the Kindle Voyage and will have to read it some to form opinions. Screen: The gradient is there, top part is clearly less bright than bottom and more yellow. This is unlike PW2 which may be more splotchy but PW2 is also brighter at top. The lightguide is also pretty "noisy" when displaying uniform blacks on major light levels, including a few brighter specks - maybe more so than the PWs - these issues don't show when reading text or using lower light levels though. On the upside contrast and text blackness do seem up.

Pressure page buttons feel controversial. Not sure I would use them, but time will tell. Regular physical buttons would seem better and touchscreen may be better than this. How the origami cover attaches is interesting though.

 

[FearIndex]

Got the Kindle Voyage and will have to read it some to form opinions. Screen: The gradient is there, top part is clearly less bright than bottom and more yellow. This is unlike PW2 which may be more splotchy but PW2 is also brighter at top. The lightguide is also pretty "noisy" when displaying uniform blacks on major light levels, including a few brighter specks - maybe more so than the PWs - these issues don't show when reading text or using lower light levels though. On the upside contrast and text blackness do seem up.

Pressure page buttons feel controversial. Not sure I would use them, but time will tell. Regular physical buttons would seem better and touchscreen may be better than this. How the origami cover attaches is interesting though.

Just posted my early review, considering a replacement due to uneven screen light - it is hard to find a good balance where the top would be lit well enough while the bottom wouldn't be lit too much, when reading in dark.

 

[FearIndex]

As I mentioned in the other thread, my search for the perfect e-ink reading experience seems to continue - or stay put, if you want to look at it this way. The Kindle Voyage I have is not working out due to too dim top part of the screen, making the rest of the ponderings quite academic. No point in looking at things like cases and PagePress usability, when the screen is just not performing in my use scenario. It isn't even the pin-hole or two, which are very minor and don't show when reading, or the uneven color of the screen when lit, it is just the fact that the top is too dim to read at the light level I want.

Here's what I've decided to do:

- Kindle Voyage is going back as a return

I just put in orders for two things:

- Kindle Voyage 3G (I'll re-use the origami cover for this)
- Kobo Aura H20 with sleep cover

The former is another shot at the Voyage, hopefully a better unit with the 3G batch. I've had the sporadic 3G version of Kindle, if I'm waiting for another (with international shipping exchanges are always slow anyway), might as well see the 3G version through. I know the shortish wait to the 3G version won't allow for any significant changes to the manufacturing process, but perhaps some early kinks get figured out - or I just get lucky with a second unit (or not).

The latter is my first non-Kindle e-ink reader. Having been an avid Kindle reader since 2009, my only experience of other readers come from shop demos. But I hear lots of good about the screen and the evenness of the frontlight on Kobo Aura H20, several people who have been disappointed by Paperwhites and Voyage have sworn H20 is significantly better. I will have to check it out, even though I'm doubtful and I'm not looking forward to leaving the smooth Amazon purchase experience and find it unlikely I would change my daily driver platform.

In the end, my Kindle (7th Generation) with the Verso clip-on works pretty great for me as is (only unoptimal part is the non-chargeable and a little impractical clip-on), so I don't really have to do any of this, but Voyage has enough good to give it another go (the new contrasty, sharpy e-ink screen itself really is nice, too bad the lighting lets it down) and the competition is something my level of enthusiasts really owe to themselves to check out at this point, I think...

All in all, I'm not feeling too bad about this, and it certainly isn't unexpected. It is the frontlit e-reader experience these days, it is what it is. Moving on to solve it.

 

[Toby]

Sorry, FearIndex. I hope the next Voyage you get is great. Let us know how you like the Kobo Aura H20.

 

[FearIndex]

Thanks, Toby. It is a struggle to buy Kindles these days. I posted some more experiences from last night into the review.

I will surely let everyone know how it plays out...

 

[PixelKnight]

I think you're going to enjoy the Kobo Aura H20! Take a bubble bath with it 

 

[FearIndex]

I think you're going to enjoy the Kobo Aura H20! Take a bubble bath with it

That certainly puts a new spin on reading on it naked...

 

[kc8172]

Hello just to add I do not the Voyage but I had a Kobo Glo that was far superior to the Paperwhite 2 as far as even lighting. I left it on the the airplane and I never got it back. Enjoy your Aura H20, I am jealous, I look forward to your review.

 

[sseverus]

The latter is my first non-Kindle e-ink reader. Having been an avid Kindle reader since 2009, my only experience of other readers come from shop demos. But I hear lots of good about the screen and the evenness of the frontlight on Kobo Aura H20, several people who have been disappointed by Paperwhites and Voyage have sworn H20 is significantly better. I will have to check it out, even though I'm doubtful and I'm not looking forward to leaving the smooth Amazon purchase experience and find it unlikely I would change my daily driver platform.

I too was disappointed with the Kindle Voyage and purchased a Kobo H20. I like it very much and found the screen much more uniform than the Voyage I received although it is somewhat less responsive. What makes the Kobo special in my view is the ability to side-load fonts (I use Charis SIL Modified) and the available patches that allow you to modify most side-loaded fonts (margins, size & weight) to your satisfaction. I use Calibre to handle my Amazon e-books and usually convert them to epub using Calibre formatting options (header & footer adjustments) that I like. I then convert the epub to kepub format using an available plugin although this step is not necessary as the H20 handles epubs just fine. Certainly this doesn't qualify as a "smooth" experience but Calibre makes it pretty easy. In short, the H20's larger screen, fewer page turns and font customization makes it all worth it IMO.

 

[northofdivision]

What makes the Kobo special in my view is the ability to side-load fonts (I use Charis SIL Modified) and the available patches that allow you to modify most side-loaded fonts (margins, size & weight) to your satisfaction. I use Calibre to handle my Amazon e-books and usually convert them to epub using Calibre formatting options (header & footer adjustments) that I like. I then convert the epub to kepub format using an available plugin although this step is not necessary as the H20 handles epubs just fine.

Fonts through sideloading via Calibre. That sounds awesome. That extra inch sounds nice but i really am a fan of 6" and below with one hand. 233grams is pretty impressive for a 6.8inch though. Voyage's 181 grams though. Glad there are some great options out there for ereaders.

 

[sseverus]

Fonts through sideloading via Calibre. That sounds awesome. That extra inch sounds nice but i really am a fan of 6" and below with one hand. 233grams is pretty impressive for a 6.8inch though. Voyage's 181 grams though. Glad there are some great options out there for ereaders.

No, you sideload fonts by loading them directly to a fonts directory on the H20 not through Calibre. I use Calibre to manipulate ebook settings. After applying certain patches to the H20 available on Mobilereads you can select and adjust the fonts you have sideloaded just like the built-in fonts. I understand not all sideloaded fonts work as they should but the two I have tried so far work great. Enjoy your Kindle.

 

[northofdivision]

No, you sideload fonts by loading them directly to a fonts directory on the H20 not through Calibre.

thanks for clarifying. may have to pick one of those up...on that note, for those of you that don't need front lit lighting, the now old sony prs350 and sony prs650 (the 5" and 6" touch models with fwd/back buttons) readers are dirt cheap new/used and you can upgrade to prs+ free firmware for a good dozen of fonts which are all pretty incredible with all kinds of text weight and line spacing and other customization. Calibre accommodates both readers so your collection just gets ported. keep the 6" in my car and the 5" in my peacoat.

 

[FearIndex]

Thanks for the discussion, guys. My Kobo Aura H20 with the cover should be here mid-week. Kindle Voyage 3G gives a mid-December shipping date. I'm actually looking forward to checking out the competition, because it has been a while since I've toyed with shop demos of such.

In the meanwhile, I've still been reading on the Kindle Voyage and the uneven lighting is still bad - it just is so bright down and so bleak up. Not unusable, but worth replacing. The pinholes, luckily, have not bothered in reading at all, as they have been very minor - but the unevenness of the lighting (the gradient or half/half situation) is bothersome.

Kobo has been receiving great praise for two generations now on screen light evenness, compared to the Kindle. They must be doing something right.

 

[FearIndex]

OK, just got the Kobo Aura H20 with its official sleep cover.

The screen actually looks pretty awesome. The frontlight is very even, the screen is very sharp, the blacks are very good, and the a-little-bigger-than Kindle inch size is actually very impressive too. It isn't huge like DX, but it makes the average Kindle look like a paperback to Kobo's hardback. Had the Paperwhites or the Voyage looked like this from the box, I doubt I'd ever had to gone through as much pain as I have trying to get to grips with it.

Kobo definitely has the edge on frontlight evenness by a large margin, their warmer light is also more pleasant and contrast is better - it is basically just easier to find a low light setting to read on. I have to put the Kindle Voyage for example on a much higher light level to be able to read, whereas the text still pops out even when Kobo clearly has less frontlight going on, it must have something to do with how the frontlight is made...

I will have to play some more with it to form deeper impressions, but clearly all the hooplah about Kobo's better frontlight evenness wasn't hot air... Now, time will tell about the rest of the features, but so far so good. The amount of configurability is pretty impressive on the Kobo, after coming from the austere Kindle.

 

[Toby]

Sounds good so far. Is the screen as light as Basic 7th G? Looking forward to more reviews. Thanks for posting.

 

[FearIndex]

Sounds good so far. Is the screen as light as Basic 7th G? Looking forward to more reviews. Thanks for posting.

While we must assume some e-ink-to-e-ink variance between Kobo Aura H20 units as well, like with any e-ink screened device, I must say now that you ask - the Kobo Aura H20 is significantly lighter backgrounded than either my Kindle Voyage or Kindle (7th Generation). This is with the light turned all the way off - on the Kobo you can actually turn the light completely off, unlike on Kindle Paperwhites and Voyage. Text blackness, too, is one of the best I've seen.

The screen, actually, is a little puzzling because it is so much better than anything I've seen on any Kindle, ever. It is very sharp and the frontlight very even - not perfectly even probably, but a significant improvement over my replacement Paperwhite 2 which so far has been my most even frontlit e-reader - and without the blur/milkyness introduced by the Paperwhite frontlight.

Outwardly the Kobo Aura H20 actually looks quite a bit like the Kindle (7th Generation), although a little better proportioned on the bottom and a little larger due to the larger screen. The material quality may be a tad bit under the Kindle, but not by any significant margin. Sleep cover is similar to auto on/off Kindle (7th Generation) official book-like cover. The touch is IR like on the Kindle (7th Generation) and Kindle Touch, which I personally consider a bonus, because there is one layer less between myself and the e-ink goodness.

I read some on the Kobo last night in complete darkness and really enjoyed the frontlight in my difficult reading scenario. There was none of that "I need to get used to this" feeling, it just clicked instantly, the screen.

 

[alicepattinson]

Thanks for this