Hi! The name is Howler and I’m an extremely avid reader.
When ereaders hit the market, I wasn’t a fan. Where was the smell? The pleasure of passing pages, the (not always) comforting weight? I didn’t want an ereader.
But it got to a point where I could not fit a single book in my bedroom anymore, and I had to surrender. I got a Sony (the one with buttons on the lower part) and my fate was sealed.
Since then, I’ve owned a couple more devices (Boox, Tolino…) and they all died from exhaustion.
BUT
Then I met her. 8" screen, buttons, not part of Amazon, lightweight… The first impulsive purchase of my life.
I’m talking about Kobo Forma, my companion and best friend for the last 10 years. I’ve taken it to the beach. To the desert. Mountaineering. It fell in a swimming pool. A dog threw up on it and I immediately simpathy puked on the Forma too.
Good as new (well I had to tape the buttons because they fell).
Forma has an extremely crispy screen, it’s almost weightless despite it’s size, and though many people found that the backlight of their devices didn’t work as intended, mine did.
It’s so thin that even now I fear breaking it, somehow.
One would think that with such a lot of real state, I’d read mangas or comics. I’ll be honest. It sucks for that. That could be a big problem for some people, obviously.
It was advertised as a good device for highlighting and note taking… But I found it so buggy, laggy and annoying that I never used the feature.
I used it ONLY to read (sideloaded books) and Heaven knows it did its job impeccably, despite the janky buttons some CEO decided they were acceptable in such an expensive device.
HOWEVER
It’s going down the same road as my previous devices: burnout. The battery ain’t what it used to be. Not bad for most, yet, but for a compulsive reader… It’s a problem.
ENTER THE NEW DEVICE
T’was supposed to be a Kobo Libra 2 BUT THEY GOT DISCONTINUED. A minute of silence for the friend I never met, please.
ENTER MY LAST HOPE
Dun dun duuuuuun the Libra Colour which y’all knew about because it’s on the title.
Right off the bat, the Colour is 7", 1 less than Forma. I’m not upset about it at all, but it’s noticeable. The buttons feel functional when you click them! (In Forma they worked, but you had 0 feedback) and it uses USB-C.
The device itself feels sturdier than the forma, and since it’s flat, I’m not afraid of it breaking around the handle.
Device is snappy, the backlight is a delight (hehe), I loaded all my books with no issues, battery seems durable, it’s very comfortable to hold, mangas show up nicely…
BUT BUT BUT
THE SCREEN IS HELLA DARK
I know it’s because of the technology it uses and that the backlight fixes the readability issue. (So don’t come after me for this complaint).
I was quite baffled. Pictures online showed that it was darker, but daaaamn. The colours are indeed muted, but I like them a lot.
I’ve highlighted a couple of sentences and it seems to work well, but I don’t have the pen so I can’t draw a masterpiece for y’all to admire.
I know some people don’t care. I know that some, do. Hence this post and the images attached :)
I still don’t know what will I do (keep the Colour, I bet) but I hope this helps or entertains someone.
WARNING: I don’t use the Kobo services (throwaway email for the win) so I have no idea about the integrations it offers.
Verdict: Libra Colour is nice, I guess. I refuse to go back to 6" screens. But for me, the Forma was THE ereader.
Goddamnit Donut
I BOUGHT A T-SHIRT WITH THAT AND I CAN’T WAIT FOR IT TO ARRIVE
Been rocking the Libra 2 for almost 3 years now, no regrets! Here’s hoping it lasts for ten
Give it a kiss from me. It deserves it.
I’ve been needing a new e-reader (its finally starting to die after 10 years), and this is exactly the reviews i love!
- Funny
- Concise
- Informative
- Passionate
Thank you and please do more reviews of… Well anything 💖
Omg you made my day, thank you very much!!
I am indeed passionate about ereaders, as reading is the one thing I can’t live without.
I don’t buy much stuff, but if I get inspired, I’ll write other random reviews!
Maybe I should do a Remarkable review, to add content to Lemmy.
Oh please do! Would love to read it
Funnily enough, I’m currently reading “Butcher’s Masquerade” on a Kobo Libra Colour.
Only extra thing I’d mention is that its integration with your public library (at least in my location in the US) via Overdrive is… usually functional, but not great. I’m sure some of this is due to Overdrive being deprecated for Libby but that’s just a guess.
One should note that if a person was to use Overdrive to checkout books from their library, and if said person is very polite and doesn’t want others to wait for them to finish the book, said person could hypothetically borrow via Overdrive, export+strip DRM with Calibre+Obok, “return” the ebook, then sideload the non-DRM version back to the device.
I wouldn’t do that because I don’t know how that works legally but I read about it on the internet ¯\(ツ)/¯
I AM YELLING CARL
- Because you are the first crawler fan I’ve “meet” IRL or online and
- Because my library has no fancy digital borrowing systems.
The Calibre thing is great indeed, and buying DRM free books is also an option (for now). I’ve only bought one in my life lmao. It was a pretty straightforward process.
My wife got the Clara because I felt it suited her best. Then I wanted one but I was intrigued by the pen functions and the colour screen. I don’t even really use either now but it’s a nice to have. The colour palette is just weird. Muted, pasty colours. But I don’t really care. Reading on it is great. I read in English a lot witch is not my mother tongue so sometimes I’d like to look up a word. Kind of odd though that as of a month or so the ‘experimental’ browser no longer works, or at least I can’t access Google. That’s not so much an issue though. Overall very happy with the device.
Edit: I should clarify I have the Libra Color
My browser does work (just checked). I have send.djazz.se as my main page for when I’m away from the computer
Happy Clara BW user here, I never compared it irl to colour version, but with review pics like these I knew what’s better for my eyes/ease of use:
I can’t find a prope closeup of the same word with the two displays compared, but the resolution & whiteness/pureness/contrast of the background is important to me.
But like this (“BW” version, which has a high res black & white screen Carta 1300 on the right, vs the colour one, Kaleido 3 screen, at the same price):
From:
Kaleido 3
Carta 1200 (not the higher res 1300) on a Kobo Libra 2
I considered Clara (and actually bought it for my father!) But I need buttons and more inches. So…
I mean, Colour is not bad.
Buttons were one of my “must haves” as well.
The spouse didn’t want them and went with the Clara for the more compact size when their ancient Kindle finally died and I bitched about Amazon until they caved for a kobo ; )
The colour isn’t bad, no, far from it.
Some might even prefer the grainy white paper texture. And ofc it’s has them colours.
But my eyesight isn’t as great as it once was & every bit of contrast & sharpness helps (really).I would prefer the handle & buttons too, an inch more wouldn’t hurt … idk, I don’t deserve nice things after all.
(The buttons thing I (ofc falsely) rationalised to myself that they aren’t the best-feeling buttons out there anyway, the size with compactness, and the handle/thicc bazel with that I’ll just use a strap-on or a case with a handle & magnetic cover.)
Is this just an advert for DCC?
Morbo would be proud
I’m obsessed enough with it, so it could have been. This Matt fella seems nice and the books are worth sharing.
I’m trying to add content to Lemmy
I prefer He Who Fights With Monsters but DCC is also good.
I’ll check it!
