Kobo Ereader Touch

Drake5 · 1 Jun 2012 at 17:08

Has anyone got one of these? If so what do you think? I'm sure they are no Kindle, but will they still do the job decently?

It's just I'm after an ereader and I can get a Kobo Touch brand new for cheap off a friend, but would like some advice before I purchase.

Cheers

CaptainCrash · 1 Jun 2012 at 17:17

I've just bought one, after spending some time hands on with both the Kobo and the Kindle (the non-touch version).

I'm not sure why so many people seem to see the Kobo as somehow a second-rate alternative, I found it at least as good in all the ways that count. The fact that I could get it for £58 plus a free toaster (Google is your friend), whereas a Kindle Touch is still over £100 sealed the deal for me.

Drake5 · 1 Jun 2012 at 17:38

CaptainCrash said:
I've just bought one, after spending some time hands on with both the Kobo and the Kindle (the non-touch version).

I'm not sure why so many people seem to see the Kobo as somehow a second-rate alternative, I found it at least as good in all the ways that count. The fact that I could get it for £58 plus a free toaster (Google is your friend), whereas a Kindle Touch is still over £100 sealed the deal for me.

Hi mate,

Thanks for the reply. Is their only 1 generation so far of the Kobo Ereader Touch?

Thanks

CaptainCrash · 1 Jun 2012 at 17:57

Yes, as far as I know... I've seen rumours that a new version could be out in the near future, but no idea whether or not there's any truth in it.

If you have a nearby WHSmith they'll probably have one on display you can play around with, although ideally you'd need more than a few minutes to decide properly whether or not you like it.

Drake5 · 1 Jun 2012 at 18:01

CaptainCrash said:
Yes, as far as I know... I've seen rumours that a new version could be out in the near future, but no idea whether or not there's any truth in it.

If you have a nearby WHSmith they'll probably have one on display you can play around with, although ideally you'd need more than a few minutes to decide properly whether or not you like it.

Thanks,

In your personal opinion is the screen as good as the Kindle and is the book store decent?

CaptainCrash · 1 Jun 2012 at 18:19

I'd say the Kindle screen may have a slight advantage with contrast (the text seemed slightly "blacker"), but not something you'd ever worry about unless you were deliberately looking for it and had the two side by side to compare directly. It wasn't enough to sway me towards the Kindle, and I'm normally quite OCD about such things.

From what I can gather the Kobo's screen contrast was improved with the most recent firmware, so in future it may even improve still further anyway.

I haven't really explored much of Kobo's bookstore yet... it seems pretty extensive, but obviously Amazon is even huger. I'm not sure it matters much in practice though, as I'm told it's simple enough to buy books in .mobi format from Amazon, strip the DRM out (tut, tut) and convert them to .epub format using Calibre.

Drake5 · 1 Jun 2012 at 19:24

CaptainCrash said:
I'd say the Kindle screen may have a slight advantage with contrast (the text seemed slightly "blacker"), but not something you'd ever worry about unless you were deliberately looking for it and had the two side by side to compare directly. It wasn't enough to sway me towards the Kindle, and I'm normally quite OCD about such things.

From what I can gather the Kobo's screen contrast was improved with the most recent firmware, so in future it may even improve still further anyway.

I haven't really explored much of Kobo's bookstore yet... it seems pretty extensive, but obviously Amazon is even huger. I'm not sure it matters much in practice though, as I'm told it's simple enough to buy books in .mobi format from Amazon, strip the DRM out (tut, tut) and convert them to .epub format using Calibre.

Ooh that sounds interesting. Is their a guide anywhere?

CaptainCrash · 1 Jun 2012 at 19:49

Tom_D said:
Ooh that sounds interesting. Is their a guide anywhere?

I'm not sure if the forum rules would let me post a direct link to something explaining how to remove DRM, but just google for "Apprentice Alf".

Calibre will do pretty much everything else you might need as regards ebook management/conversion - the forum is here, and this seems like a nice guide (I haven't gone into it in any depth yet).

MobileRead.com also has a dedicated Kobo subforum here, as well as one for the Kindle and various other things.

Hamster · 1 Jun 2012 at 20:45

CaptainCrash said:
I'd say the Kindle screen may have a slight advantage with contrast (the text seemed slightly "blacker"), but not something you'd ever worry about unless you were deliberately looking for it and had the two side by side to compare directly. It wasn't enough to sway me towards the Kindle, and I'm normally quite OCD about such things.

I spent a good half an hour comparing the Touch with the Kindle in Smiths. The poor contrast of the Touch in comparison with the Kindle put me off and I really wanted to like the Kobo due to its better format support. Maybe it's just my eyesight but my eyes felt a little strained when trying to read on the Kobo but felt completely relaxed reading the Kindle.

CaptainCrash · 1 Jun 2012 at 21:23

Hamster said:
I spent a good half an hour comparing the Touch with the Kindle in Smiths. The poor contrast of the Touch in comparison with the Kindle put me off and I really wanted to like the Kobo due to its better format support. Maybe it's just my eyesight but my eyes felt a little strained when trying to read on the Kobo but felt completely relaxed reading the Kindle.

Maybe there's some sample variation - as I said, I did notice a difference but it was rather subtle, certainly nothing like as pronounced as you're describing.

I don't suppose you happened to notice which firmware the Kobo was running?

Hamster · 1 Jun 2012 at 21:27

CaptainCrash said:
Maybe there's some sample variation - as I said, I did notice a difference but it was rather subtle, certainly nothing like as pronounced as you're describing.

I don't suppose you happened to notice which firmware the Kobo was running?

To be honest I didn't even know there were different firmwares for e-readers so no, I didn't happen to check. It was in January and I'm assuming that Smiths don't update their firmware if that gives any indication.

CaptainCrash · 1 Jun 2012 at 22:24

Hamster said:
To be honest I didn't even know there were different firmwares for e-readers so no, I didn't happen to check. It was in January and I'm assuming that Smiths don't update their firmware if that gives any indication.

Well, the reason I'm mentioning it is that I've seen suggestions that the most recent firmware update (1.9.17, released in March) improved the screen contrast - I've only ever used 1.9.17, so I don't have anything to compare it with.

No idea if the current demo samples in shops are updated - I'd have thought so, but it could be something worth checking if the contrast seems particularly bad.

thewanted · 1 Jun 2012 at 23:11

How does the Kobo and Kindle handle PDFs with lots of charts/pictures? I've seen a PDF on a previous generation Kindle and it didn't handle it well at all.

CaptainCrash · 1 Jun 2012 at 23:23

thewanted said:
How does the Kobo and Kindle handle PDFs with lots of charts/pictures? I've seen a PDF on a previous generation Kindle and it didn't handle it well at all.

From my limited experimentation, I'd have to say "badly".

I really wouldn't want to be reading PDFs regularly on one of these things, particularly with complex layouts - if that's going to be a large part of your usage pattern, I think you'd be far better off with a fullblown tablet of some sort.

thewanted · 1 Jun 2012 at 23:46

CaptainCrash said:
From my limited experimentation, I'd have to say "badly".

I really wouldn't want to be reading PDFs regularly on one of these things, particularly with complex layouts - if that's going to be a large part of your usage pattern, I think you'd be far better off with a fullblown tablet of some sort.

Thanks

I think it's an iPad 3 or nothing at this point. It's a shame because the Kindle Touch is a really nice size and E-Ink has its advantages.

Drake5 · 2 Jun 2012 at 10:07

Well I'm getting mine for £20 brand new so I guess I can't complain.

leezer3 · 2 Jun 2012 at 23:42

Reasonable enough, but a tad buggy.
Two major faults (They don't seem able to fix these):
1. Double-taps. These are worse on sideloaded books, but pretty evident- Somewhere every ~60 taps or so (Different people will give you different figures), one won't register. When you tap again, both will trigger at once and you'll have to step back a page.
2. The MicroSD is buggy as hell, and has a habit of vanishing or simply slowing down to an absolute crawl. (Dumps you back to the main menu, and it needs turning off and on again)

Haven't tried PDFs, all my stuff is epubs and a few Kobo bought books.

-Leezer-