Kobo Clara HD | eReader | 6" Glare Free Touchscreen | Adjustable Brightness & Colour Temperature | WiFi | 8GB of Storage | Carta E Ink Technology (Clara HD)

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.

The Kobo is sort of the Linux of e-readers to the Paperwhite's MS Windows. If you want an easy-to-use, robust store and having all your books in the Amazon cloud then the Paperwhite is for you. However if you don't want your e-readers confined to the Amazon eco-space and desire to be able to easily add many different formats the Clara HD is the easy choice.First of all, forget any sort of competent software from Rakuten/Kobo to install on your PC to transfer books. Seriously, you'll hate yourself if you manage to locate and install their app. Just do what everyone does and download the free Calibre software (google it). And pass them a few bucks while you're at it. Calibre provides the ability to organize your ebook library as well as transfer to your Clara. It's a wonderful program I've been using for years and is actively updated. The Kobo connects to Walmarts ebook store and its perfectly fine to use for easy purchases.I do feel that much of what is said about the touchscreen not being quite as sensitive as the Paperwhite is true. It just misses the occasional swipe which can be annoying. However the excellent backlighting and color variations makes up for it. Very comfortable to hold and lightweight. Battery is very good but not amazing. I'd give it a 4.5 if I could but I round up to 5 and I'm thankful that at least one manufacturer has the ability to keep Amazon on their toes.

I’ve been using kindle paperwhites for several years now and have always been quite happy with them. This year I started reading books exclusively from my local library and the apps that my library supports (Libby/Overdrive, CloudLibrary and Hoopla).When it was time for me to get a new ereader, I wanted one that more easily incorporated getting ebooks from the library.The Kobo line of ereaders were the only real option and after going back and forth with which to get, I decided on the Clara hd.I’m so glad that I did, because it is everything a paperwhite is and more!There are five things that I love about the Kobo Clara hd that the paperwhite does not have:1. The ability to borrow books from my local library using the device2. Being able to adjust the screen’s light by sliding my finger on the screen - and not having to use a drop down menu3. Having a warm light option (which I have on all the time)4. The page count on the device being the actual page count on the device, not the page count of the physical book (it’s very satisfying seeing the page number change every time I tap the screen)5. The cover of my current book being displayed on the screen when the device is sleepingThe only real con that I can see is that you can’t browse through Overdrive’s entire catalog of books, so you will still have to use your phone or other smart device if you don’t have a specific book or author in mind.If you are in the market for an ereader, you can’t go wrong with this one. It’s cheaper and has more features than its closest competitor and I will never go back to my old kindle ways