Kobo Clara HD eReader

If you want an ereader that's cheap, good, and moddable, this is the one. There's a lot of software mods out there, but I find the default UI is totally fine. I don't want a device that can do everything, I want one that's comfortable and easy to use, and the vanilla UI is perfectly fine. However, if you like reading manga like I do, that 8gb of storage is gonna fill up fast. Luckily, the device is easy to open, and uses a regular SD card for storage. You just need to make an image of the drive it came with, flash it to a bigger SD card (I believe it has been tested to support up to 128gb), and use a tool to expand the storage partition of the card to fill the rest of the card. It uses a FAT32 filesystem, and the only one I could find that could do that for free was gparted. I used my linux laptop to do that, but I think there's a windows port and you could also always boot up a VM if needed. Just make sure you use a fast SD card. Don't cheap out on that.I've also had a few issues with managing books through Calibre even before doing the mod, but for the most part it's been easy to fix. One time I had an error where the database got borked, and had to factory reset it and reupload all my books. However I suspect that was a user error or something because I've had no issues like that since. The only problem I consistently have is that the metadata on new books are incorrect even if I manually update the metadata before ejecting, but the solution to that is just plugging it back in, updating metadata again, and then ejecting it. That always fixes it.I don't know why Kobo doesn't include a higher storage size by default, or even as an option. The mod is so easy and 8gb is really not enough for a system that supports cbr/cbz files.My only guess is that the extra storage space slows it down a bit when opening books, and it does- only a little bit, and only when opening a book- but that slowdown is probaby only present on big cards. My pick of 128gb is way overkill, but I wanted to be able to store everything on one device, including manga. OH yeah, one other little issue with big files- it can't load anything over 2gb. It appears in the filesystem when looking at the drive, but the device doesn't see it and it doesn't show up in Calibre. Luckily, for books that's a total non-issue, but for long comics like many popular manga, you'll have to split it up into multiple chunks. Personally, I wound up dividing long runs into multi-volume files, like "Jojolion Vol. 01-14" and Jojolion Vol. 15-27". Pretty easy workaround, and since cbz files are just zip files with a different extension, it's pretty easy to do.Overall, a great device, at a great price. The Android to Kindle's iPhone.

Love my eReader!

When my Kobo Mini started to give up the spirit (wifi connection lost, computer does not always recognise it), I was informed by service desk that the device is nearing end of life and it would be time to look for another one. As Kobo is sold in relatively few countries, first I bought a Kindle (Basic 10th Gen). But it would have been a pity to leave my collection of epub books lying around on various hard disks, device memories, and USB drives, so I also bought the rough equivalent of the Kindle (screen and memory size, features, price), which is Clara HD. I do not regret the choice.It has some advantages it has over Kindle:1. in the same light conditions, when I need to turn on back-light on Kindle I can still comfortably read the Kobo reader. I do not know why: when there is ample light, I cannot see what causes this difference. The screens look the same.2. The battery keeps charge longer. (Not only because I can use it more without back-lighting but also because it can be set to turn off after a certain time spent in sleep mode. Kindle has a deep sleep function but it does not seem to be so efficient as turning the device off.3. There are more options of screen setup: font size, font type, line spacing. The only thing that can cause problems is that the dictionary font size is very minuscule compared to the main font size, and cannot be set separately.Would I recommend it to friends? Yes, of course. Nowadays, when so many books are easier and cheaper to get in electronic format, the value for price ratio is probably the best for devices of this size and category.The best liked feature (apart from the basic, reading functionality)? The ease of uploading books: when I connect it to the computer, it is recognised as a USB drive to which I can copy books, and when I turn it on in reading mode, the new books are indexed and placed into the library on the reader.Of course the nagging question remains how long will it last? The Mini had in it almost nine years with infrequent use. Online forums suggest about five years for a Kindle, due to battery issues. These devices are not for eternity.

It's very easy to read under the sun, the screen reads better than an old Sony reader that I transfer to my son. but this one also has light to use it in the darkness.I like it and works good, great reader for the money.There are some issuses.I like to load epub books and I found problems to find the correct order within a series of books. I know that that is probably a problem of the file naming, but I couldn't find a way of solving it on the reader. I didn't liked much the computer app, so I can't say much because I don't use it. I just plug the device to the computer and drop the files on a folder with windows file explorer, not the Kobo app. That is great, I should try to "adapt" the books titles before to find them better on the reader..The button on the bottom of the device is not confortable. I found myself putting the device to sleep by accident when reading holding the reader on one hand.But is a great device, well made, good value for the money, and I considered buying another for one of my sons.