• Books and ereaders

    From Alan Beck@1:229/426.36 to ALL on Mon Sep 28 08:01:30 2020
    Hi,

    Is this a good area to be discussing books and ereaders?

    The Kobo Libra H20 is the one I am looking at.

    Quite seriously actually.

    Cheers,

    Alan

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  • From August Abolins@2:221/1.58 to Alan Beck on Thu Oct 1 07:54:00 2020
    Hello Alan!

    ** On Monday 28.09.20 - 08:01, Alan Beck wrote to ALL:

    Is this a good area to be discussing books and ereaders?

    The Kobo Libra H20 is the one I am looking at.

    Quite seriously actually.

    I don't see why not? This is a general talk-about-anything
    kind of echo.

    The "read in landscape orientation" is new.

    $45 for the slipcover seems expensive.

    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (2:221/1.58)
  • From Kurt Weiske@1:218/700 to Alan Beck on Thu Oct 1 10:38:00 2020
    Alan Beck wrote to ALL <=-

    Is this a good area to be discussing books and ereaders?

    The Kobo Libra H20 is the one I am looking at.

    There's no topic off topic here, and we don't have a book echo
    anywhere on Fidonet, so fire away!

    I have two hand-me-down Kindles - an ancient one and a more recent
    paperwhite model. Since they own the biggest ebook seller and the
    hardware, it's easy to get locked in.

    Will the Kobo let you side-load books via USB, or do they have their
    own store?

    Do you know what ebook formats it uses?

    Lately, I've been getting more books and texts from the internet and
    using Calibre to convert them to .mobi format. Lately, I've been
    finding a lot of text and pdf references on the net and converting
    them, as a pdf converted in Calibra looks a lot better then if you use
    the kindle mail send-to feature.





    ... Mechanicalise something idiosyncratic
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  • From Chuck Pierson@2:221/6 to Kurt Weiske on Thu Oct 1 22:52:42 2020
    Hello, Kurt Weiske - Alan Beck.
    On 10/1/20 2:38 AM you wrote:

    I have two hand-me-down Kindles - an ancient one and a more recent paperwhite model. Since they own the biggest ebook seller and the
    hardware, it's easy to get locked in. Will the Kobo let you
    side-load books via USB, or do they have their own store?

    I believe you should be able to sideload. I've done so with Kindles and
    Nook Colors, so to do otherwise woulnd't serve them very well.


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  • From August Abolins@2:460/58 to Kurt Weiske on Fri Oct 2 00:03:15 2020
    Answering a msg from Kurt Weiske:
    Alan Beck wrote to ALL <=-

    Is this a good area to be discussing books and ereaders?

    The Kobo Libra H20 is the one I am looking at.

    There's no topic off topic here, and we don't have a book echo
    anywhere on Fidonet, so fire away!

    I have two hand-me-down Kindles - an ancient one and a more recent
    paperwhite model. Since they own the biggest ebook seller and the
    hardware, it's easy to get locked in.

    Will the Kobo let you side-load books via USB, or do they have their
    own store?

    Do you know what ebook formats it uses?

    Lately, I've been getting more books and texts from the internet and
    using Calibre to convert them to .mobi format. Lately, I've been
    finding a lot of text and pdf references on the net and converting
    them, as a pdf converted in Calibra looks a lot better then if you use
    the kindle mail send-to feature.





    ... Mechanicalise something idiosyncratic

    I have the 1st gen Kobo model. Works fine. The screen is the gray-version which can be hard to read. I use the Adobe reader prgm to import the purchased copy-protected books. And then I feed the Kobo with a USB connection. Good enough. I wouldn't mind owning one of the modern paper-white models - but that is a low priority.


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  • From Alan Beck@1:229/426.36 to August Abolins on Sun Oct 4 09:40:47 2020
    Hello Alan!

    ** On Monday 28.09.20 - 08:01, Alan Beck wrote to ALL:

    Is this a good area to be discussing books and ereaders?

    The Kobo Libra H20 is the one I am looking at.

    Quite seriously actually.

    I don't see why not? This is a general talk-about-anything kind of echo.

    GRoovy


    The "read in landscape orientation" is new.

    $45 for the slipcover seems expensive.

    -- ../|ug

    -+- OpenXP 5.0.46
    @ ORIGINAL: (2:221/1.58)

    I pulled the trigger on a Kobo Clara.

    The other new ones have problems that I was not prepared to put up with.

    Kobo Libra H2O. Parts of the screen were not lit up and it was from one side or another.

    The top end Kobo has a Display that flashes to maintain brightness. Could be trouble at best it is enough to give you a headache.

    The Kobo Clara has pretty well the same features as the Kobo Libra except there is just a bit of loss of luminace at the bottom of the screen, since I am not reading from there it is not a hassle.

    Kobo's now have an orange candlelight mode for reading in the dark. All of them have it including the ability to borrow library books.

    Very nice.

    It fits in my oilskin vest pocket better than anything else did (OK, Kobo Glow with no case). This one goes in with the case.

    The case also doubles as a reading stand.

    All for $139.00 CDN

    Cheers,

    Alan

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    * Origin: WinPoint (1:229/426.36)
  • From Alan Beck@1:229/426.36 to All on Sun Oct 4 09:46:22 2020
    Alan Beck wrote to ALL <=-

    Is this a good area to be discussing books and ereaders?

    The Kobo Libra H20 is the one I am looking at.

    There's no topic off topic here, and we don't have a book echo anywhere
    on Fidonet, so fire away!

    I have two hand-me-down Kindles - an ancient one and a more recent paperwhite model. Since they own the biggest ebook seller and the hardware, it's easy to get locked in.

    Paperwhite ones are nice..




    Will the Kobo let you side-load books via USB, or do they have their own store?

    I think I can but DRM plays a large part in stopping that.

    I can load the Globe and Mail using Calibre.
    Calibre is what you need to learn.



    Do you know what ebook formats it uses?

    The list is to long to type here.

    .mobi is one that seems rare to me, I used to load them on my Palm Pilot.




    Lately, I've been getting more books and texts from the internet and
    using Calibre to convert them to .mobi format. Lately, I've been finding
    a lot of text and pdf references on the net and converting them, as a pdf converted in Calibra looks a lot better then if you use the kindle mail send-to feature.

    I will remember that and check out the PDF features, also look into .mobi.

    Thanks,

    Alan



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  • From August Abolins@2:221/1.58 to Alan Beck on Sun Oct 4 09:40:00 2020
    Hello Alan!

    ** On Sunday 04.10.20 - 09:40, Alan Beck wrote to August Abolins:

    I pulled the trigger on a Kobo Clara.

    The other new ones have problems that I was not prepared
    to put up with.

    I would have thought that now 10+ years after their first
    introduction, they would have nearly perfected all of their
    models.

    Kobo Libra H2O. Parts of the screen were not lit up and
    it was from one side or another.

    THAT would be totally annoying. I'd rather wear a headband
    light, or have a light clipped to the device in that
    situation.


    The top end Kobo has a Display that flashes to maintain
    brightness. Could be trouble at best it is enough to give
    you a headache.

    At $300/8GB and $350/32GB for the top Kobo Forma, that's
    ridiculous.

    The last time I dropped into an Indigo (which is now over 8
    years ago), they had the various Kobo models on display and
    available for public testing.


    Kobo's now have an orange candlelight mode for reading in
    the dark. All of them have it including the ability to
    borrow library books.

    Very nice.

    The integration with Canada's library systems via Overdrive is
    pretty nice. But you can still end up stuck in a waiting list
    until another copy of a book is "returned". As a bookseller,
    I'm getting more and more people frustrated with the waiting-
    list and the pressure to read a new-release 400+ book within 1
    week that they option for the real thing.


    It fits in my oilskin vest pocket better than anything
    else did (OK, Kobo Glow with no case). This one goes in
    with the case.

    My original Kobo slips into a sport-jacket's outside pocket
    quite well.


    The case also doubles as a reading stand.

    The Sleepcover at $35?


    All for $139.00 CDN

    I see the Clara HD at $149 + $35 for the Sleepcover, online.

    Did you acquire yours for a lower price in-store?


    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (2:221/1.58)
  • From Alan Beck@1:229/426.36 to August Abolins on Sat Oct 10 08:40:08 2020
    Hello Alan!

    ** On Sunday 04.10.20 - 09:40, Alan Beck wrote to August Abolins:

    I pulled the trigger on a Kobo Clara.

    The other new ones have problems that I was not prepared to put up with.

    I would have thought that now 10+ years after their first introduction, they would have nearly perfected all of their models.

    I also have a Kobo


    Kobo Libra H2O. Parts of the screen were not lit up and it was from one
    side or another.

    THAT would be totally annoying. I'd rather wear a headband light, or have a light clipped to the device in that situation.


    The top end Kobo has a Display that flashes to maintain brightness.
    Could be trouble at best it is enough to give you a headache.

    At $300/8GB and $350/32GB for the top Kobo Forma, that's ridiculous.

    The last time I dropped into an Indigo (which is now over 8 years ago), they had the various Kobo models on display and available for public testing.


    I tried the $300 Forma and the Libra is better and newer.

    The form was nice to hold but the screen was grey in spots.



    Kobo's now have an orange candlelight mode for reading in the dark. All
    of them have it including the ability to borrow library books.

    Very nice.

    The integration with Canada's library systems via Overdrive is pretty nice. But you can still end up stuck in a waiting list until another copy of a book is "returned". As a bookseller, I'm getting more and more people frustrated with the waiting- list and the pressure to read a new-release 400+ book within 1 week that they option for the real
    thing.

    The Clara is the obvious choice. No shadowing from the LED's at all. Thier best offering.


    It fits in my oilskin vest pocket better than anything else did (OK,
    Kobo Glow with no case). This one goes in with the case.

    My original Kobo slips into a sport-jacket's outside pocket quite well.


    The case also doubles as a reading stand.

    The Sleepcover at $35?


    All for $139.00 CDN

    I see the Clara HD at $149 + $35 for the Sleepcover, online.

    Did you acquire yours for a lower price in-store?


    I think Kobo dropped thier price. 10 bucks.

    Very affordable for the Clara, best choice.


    Cheers,

    Alan



    -- ../|ug

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  • From August Abolins@2:221/360 to Alan Beck on Sat Oct 10 21:00:50 2020
    On 10/10/2020 1:40 a.m., Alan Beck : August Abolins wrote:

    The Clara is the obvious choice. No shadowing from the
    LED's at all. Thier best offering.
    [snip]

    Very affordable for the Clara, best choice.

    I just had the opportunity to see a Kobo Arc7HD. The person
    primarily uses it as an eReader. He needed help with an update, so
    I volunteered. The Arc is *not* an eReader. It's a tablet. It's a
    poor choice for a primarily e-reading machine. E-INK (via a *real*
    ereader device) is the way to go if you want an electronic way to
    read books.

    Personally, I find my 1st gen Kobo (from 2009) still quite enjoyable
    as long as I can cast good ambient light on it.


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