Anyone have or tested one of these or e-readers and if so what is your opinion? They're on sale at WHSmith for £90 and I was thinking of getting one. Originally I was going to buy a Kindle but this one seems to have better pdf handling ability and also plays more book formats. I'm not really fussed about not being able to buy books from the Amazon library.
Kobo Touch e-reader
- Thread starter Hamster
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Get a Kindle.
PC Pro recently did a review of all the current eBook readers and whilst the Kobo did OK new Kindle came top and the Kindle Keyboard came second. That should tell you something...
Also if you get the free Calibre program you can convert just about anything to show on the Kindle.
PC Pro recently did a review of all the current eBook readers and whilst the Kobo did OK new Kindle came top and the Kindle Keyboard came second. That should tell you something...
Also if you get the free Calibre program you can convert just about anything to show on the Kindle.
I'd rather read a book on an iPad, kindle's page flicker is really annoying, even on the new kindle which supposedly fixed all that, it's exactly the same.
This E-ink is very underwhelming at the moment.
Plus, you can't sensibly read magazines on a Kindle.
Admittedly stretching another £150 for an iPad is awkward, but I got a kindle as a gift, gave it back and bought an iPad instead, no regrets here.
This E-ink is very underwhelming at the moment.
Plus, you can't sensibly read magazines on a Kindle.
Admittedly stretching another £150 for an iPad is awkward, but I got a kindle as a gift, gave it back and bought an iPad instead, no regrets here.
Thanks for the replies. I'll have a look at more reviews but from what I've read so far it seems pretty decent. I'm intending to use the reader mainly for books but also mainly monochrome technical pdf documents. I quite like the e-ink as I've used a Kindle but not had a look at the Kobo yet. I think I'll pop into WHSmith and see what it looks like. Also I'm not getting an ipad as an ebook reader!! If I wanted to read on a tablet I've got a Touchpad for that.
I actually tried out a Kobo Touch in a WHSmith store for the first time today.
The build quality is very good but my experience was restricted due to the limited amount of e-books on the demo model. And from only a couple of minutes use, it wasn't very intuitive to use compared to an Amazon Kindle Keyboard. Navigating through the book was very slow - although I'm not sure if that was unique to the example I was testing.
I would recommend visiting your local WHSmith store to try one of their demos. But based on my experience with the Kindle Keyboard, I can imagine the All-New Kindle providing a better reading experience for the same price.
The build quality is very good but my experience was restricted due to the limited amount of e-books on the demo model. And from only a couple of minutes use, it wasn't very intuitive to use compared to an Amazon Kindle Keyboard. Navigating through the book was very slow - although I'm not sure if that was unique to the example I was testing.
I would recommend visiting your local WHSmith store to try one of their demos. But based on my experience with the Kindle Keyboard, I can imagine the All-New Kindle providing a better reading experience for the same price.
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Huh???
Page flicker?!!
iPad?!!!!!
Madness I tell you.
I've read dozens of books on my kindle and haven't had any problem with the page flicker...and the e-ink is fantastic, so much better than any backlit device!!
obviously meant an iPad 1 you dufus, why would I suggest an iPad 2 if he's looking at £99 kindles!
I'd love a cheap book reader, it's just that god awful page flicker gets up my nose.
Edit.
That stupid screen invert when you turn the page, that's the flicker I'm on about.
I was in the same except was looking at the Sony.
Any i bought a kindle and downloaded calibre. Saved myself a great deal of money. As for screen flickering it must be your eyes there is no flickering at all.
As for reading on a blobpad its about as comfortably as sitting on pins.
Any i bought a kindle and downloaded calibre. Saved myself a great deal of money. As for screen flickering it must be your eyes there is no flickering at all.
As for reading on a blobpad its about as comfortably as sitting on pins.
Any eink ereader with 6" (or 5") display will not be very good with technical pdfs due to lack of screen resolution.
obviously meant an iPad 1 you dufus, why would I suggest an iPad 2 if he's looking at £99 kindles!
I'd love a cheap book reader, it's just that god awful page flicker gets up my nose.
Edit.
That stupid screen invert when you turn the page, that's the flicker I'm on about.
Where do you buy a original Ipad new?
I'd not want a 2nd hand Ipad over a new Kindle. A 2nd hand ipad is over twice the cost! (I have the new kindle it's fantastic for the price and what it is)
I honestly don't know why you would suggest an Ipad when he is looking at sub £100 e-readers either... Dufus.
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Your brain will learn to ignore it after a while, in the same way your brain learnt to ignore the blackness each time you blink.
Well I could ignore it until you said that. Now I can't help but see it.
Ah you've got a good point there
I'll put a couple of pdfs onto a microsd card and take it with me to Smiths and see what they look like. The kobo does zoom in but I'm not sure to what extent.I'll also try and find a Kindle keyboard and have a go on that. Anyone know where there may be a demo version on display?
Let us know how it goes mate
Will do. Hopefully will have time to look at the Kobo tomorrow afternoon.
I have bought one for my mum's birthday after looking at them in WHSmiths the other day. My wife has a Kindle and we were going to get one of the new models but the Kobo swayed me.
It is very well made and the screen is on par with the Kindle. The page turns on the Kobo demo model had a slight lag initially but then it was quite quick to swipe page after page. It was still slightly slower to re-draw than a Kindle but not enough to ruin the experience.
There are two things that sold it to me as a better option though. The ability to change the font size is very useful and the fact it uses the ePub format. Bristol Libraries are just starting a year long trial of lending ebooks in this format and there is no way to use a Kindle, which makes it a much better gift in my mind (although this may not be a killer feature for other buyers).
You don't get a mains charger in the box, only a USB lead, but most phones use the same connector now anyway. Also, I wasn't impressed by the limited selection of cases and the one with built in light isn't as sleek as the Kindle equivalent but again that is my impression and not something my mum will use at home.
I wouldn't mind one myself as I tend to go to the library rather than by books these days (my wife spends enough on Amazon for both of us).
It is very well made and the screen is on par with the Kindle. The page turns on the Kobo demo model had a slight lag initially but then it was quite quick to swipe page after page. It was still slightly slower to re-draw than a Kindle but not enough to ruin the experience.
There are two things that sold it to me as a better option though. The ability to change the font size is very useful and the fact it uses the ePub format. Bristol Libraries are just starting a year long trial of lending ebooks in this format and there is no way to use a Kindle, which makes it a much better gift in my mind (although this may not be a killer feature for other buyers).
You don't get a mains charger in the box, only a USB lead, but most phones use the same connector now anyway. Also, I wasn't impressed by the limited selection of cases and the one with built in light isn't as sleek as the Kindle equivalent but again that is my impression and not something my mum will use at home.
I wouldn't mind one myself as I tend to go to the library rather than by books these days (my wife spends enough on Amazon for both of us).
How about the blurring when you move your eyes or turn your head?
Ah you've got a good point there
I'll also try and find a Kindle keyboard and have a go on that. Anyone know where there may be a demo version on display?
The slow refresh of eink means that zooming in and scrolling around is a pain.
I used to have a kindle DX (9.7" screen, 1200x825 res). That could display pdfs one page at a time, but the software wasn't very good.
I now have a kindle (non-touch) and pdfs display better on it, but it has a low screen res and associated problems - zooming, scrolling.
I now use a tablet (Archos 80G9 1024x768 {IMO minimum res required for full page pdf display}) for pdfs.
How about the blurring when you move your eyes or turn your head?
The slow refresh of eink means that zooming in and scrolling around is a pain.
I used to have a kindle DX (9.7" screen, 1200x825 res). That could display pdfs one page at a time, but the software wasn't very good.
I now have a kindle (non-touch) and pdfs display better on it, but it has a low screen res and associated problems - zooming, scrolling.
I now use a tablet (Archos 80G9 1024x768 {IMO minimum res required for full page pdf display}) for pdfs.
Thanks. I do know now that it will probably look even worse instore as there has been recent firmware to improve refresh rates amongst other things and the likelihood of Smiths updating the firmware regularly is probably quite small.
How did I miss your post
Thanks for that review. Libraries around here are a bit behind technologically and when I asked last time I popped in they said that it probably won't be in the very near future. The facility to borrow books may prove handy then.Did you update the firmware and notice much of a positive change with the refreshing issue?
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