Author Christine d’Abo

I’ve had my Kobo e-book reader for three weeks now. As most of you know from my original post on the device, I was one of the crazy/lucky people who preordered it. This was a sight unseen thing for me. I learned about it from a co-working on a Monday, and punched in my credit card that night. My motivation for this was primary the price point. At $150, I figured I could handle a lot of imperfections.

Three weeks later, I thought it would be good for me to talk about my experience with the reader to date.

Pros

One of the best things about the device is the size and weight. This baby is light! It’s also the perfect size to stick in my purse and I won’t have to worry about being weighed down. The Kobo itself doesn’t come with a case. They now have them available for $29 at Chapters. The cases are Roots brand, leather on the outside and soft on the inside. Now I have no worries about the screen getting caught.

The Kobo has an SD expandable memory slot. Speaking as a pack-rat who also had ADD, this is one of the best features for me. I’m a multi-book reader. I have about four on the go at any one time, and will choose which one to read dependent on my mood. With the expandable memory, I don’t have to worry about running out of room.

I was a bit hesitant about the buttons on the device. I like touch, as buttons have a tendency to wear out and break. So far, the button navigation is smooth and simple. Based on use so far, I’m anticipating the “forward” button might wear down after time, but for now it’s good.

Navigation on the device is intuitive and very easy. I’ve never been stuck trying to go someplace on the device. If I can’t do something on a certain page, it will tell me the feature isn’t available here.

The battery for me has been amazing! I’ve just charged it for the first time since I got it and started reading. That’s three weeks of fairly steady use, twelve hours of which were on a plane. One thing to remember with any battery, make sure you drain it to completely empty before you charge it up. This will help extend the life, which is extremely important where it’s embedded and not something you can change on your own.

Over to the e-book store. The selection is great. I have been able to find every book I’ve wanted so far. From Supernatural to Mary Balogh, everything has been there. They seem to have signed up for the agency model based on the pricing structure. Some e-books are in the $12-$15 range, but they appear to physically only be available in hardcover. The rest of the prices seem to be between $4-$9. That is more in line with what I’m willing to pay.

Getting books onto the device is stupid easy. I haven’t had a glitch yet.

Cons

Hey, nothing’s perfect. There are a few things that do stand out for me with the Kobo.

First, there was a batch of devices sent out with dud batteries. If you were one of the unlucky people who had one of these, don’t give up. Kobo has been switching them out with new batteries. Make sure to get in touch with them.

More than a few times I’ve been reading a book, pressed the advance button, waited, and nothing has happened. I’ve had to press it again, and occasionally a third time to get the page to advance. I don’t think this is a hardware issue, but rather software. Honestly, I haven’t checked to forums yet to confirm this, but I will.

I don’t buy all my e-books in the same place (hello EC addict!), so I was a bit frustrated when my .epub format books purchased from other vendors wouldn’t increase the font size. I have no problems getting them on the Kobo, and they do work, but I’m slightly blind and need a bit bigger font (no old jokes please). There is a workaround to fix this, and it can be found here on this Ultimate Kobo Tips & Tricks Thread . Number 4 is what you need. I’m hoping they will have a software fix for this soon because while the fix isn’t hard, it’s a pain in the ass. And I’m lazy.There is also a tip there to help you remove the 100 free books. Yes, I do want to read them, but not right now.

One pet peeve I had was around a lack of case. Yes, it was only $150, but a cheap case to protect the screen would have been great. I bought the uber Roots one (I got the pretty turquoise one), so for me it’s really $180. Still, cheaper than the Sony, but I had to make two trips (again, lazy).

One thing I don’t like about the online Kobo store, is the inability to purchase more than one book at a time. This is more about how I’ve grown accustom to doing online shopping, than a glitch in the system. You browse, you see something you like, put in the shopping cart and keep browsing. With Kobo store you browse, see a book you want, put credit card information in, buy it, keep browsing. Now you can keep your credit card information stored online so future purchases are faster, but in today’s age of identity theft, I don’t like to do this. I’ve had my card information stolen from vendors in the past, yes I’m protected. Yes, it’s a huge pain in the ass. When I emailed customer service about this, they responded by saying this is how it is, but they are considering a shopping cart for the future. They better get on that fast before they lose customers.

Other Observations

The buttons are very sensitive. This is both good and bad. I find I’m occasionally selecting a book I didn’t intend. Not a big deal, but then it leaves the book on the home screen as a “currently reading”. I don’t know an easy way to clear this other than going to the last page in the book and advancing. That marks it as read and removes it. Problem with this, I won’t know if I’ve actually read it or not.

Verdict

Given the price, ease of navigation on the software and the selection of books, I think the Kobo is worth it. It’s no worse in it’s’ problems than my experience with the Sony 505, and a lot lighter. The e-ink is very clear, the selection of books is good, and the customer service has been very responsive. Over all, I’m still thrilled with my purchase.

And that’s it – the good and the bad.