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Originally Posted by Big McLargeHuge
- How is Kobo's Customer Service?
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- I don't have much good to say about Customer service. However, I kind of had a snit over 1 issue (several months back.). doesn't matter what company you're talking about, it's not hard to find someon who fell through a crack.
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- Is returning a product i don't like as easy as it is on Amazon?
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Unlike Amazon, Kobo is also available throug several retailers. Chatpers return policy, for example, requires 'unopened box,' (although, I think you can probably persuade them in some cases, YMMV.) Futureshop has extended their usually great 'no questions' return policy to January in preperation for holiday shopping.
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- Is the Kobo stable? I see a few threads just on the first page of freezes and crashes
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As of now, with Firmware version 2.1.5, Kobo is very good. Be forwarned, Kobo has a well documented history of pushing (almost forcing) updates to devies that are very buggy and almost always break something. 2.1.4 is the the first version I considered both feature complete and stable, (although, the ability to use SD card to store books was completely broken.) This is less of a concern if you are the type who would rather forgo a Kobo account and manage your device yourself.
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*]I've heard that sideloaded books sometimes don't let you mess with their fonts/spacing. Does this apply even if the sideloaded book is a DRM free book bought FROM Kobo, unchanged? (even if the book previously had DRM? *winkwink*)
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This depends on how the book is coded.. However, without DRM, if there is formatting in the book you don't like and Kobo doesn't adjust, you can adjust it yourself by tweaking in Calibre, either by removing those formatting codes that prevent Kobo from applying user adjustments, or customizing the code to suite your preference.
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- What features do you like/made you decide to buy your Kobo Glo?
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I was all set to wait and buy the Kinde PW, which I think is a superior device in many respects, and brings more features to the table. However, Amazon has recently adopted a stance of bitting the hands of their customers. The recently announced update they are pushing to the PW obliterates any of the user customization (aka: hacks) and locks the device to try and prevent tampering. Of course, people are already working on finding ways around it, (and there is one, so long as you install it first before any updates to the Kindle.) But I would rather buy a slightly inferior device than give my money to someone actively trying to screw me over.
The Sony devices have many great software features, but even their newest release device is using a past generation e-ink screen. Also, unlike it's competitors, Sony has completely fallen behind on making fonts look good on e-ink, something I cosider rather important on a reader, and Kobo/Amazon do that best. Not to mention no illuminated screens.
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- What is the touch screen like? Is it capacitive like the Kindle Paperwhite? If not which is it? Infrared? Which is better, capacitive or infrared?
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Kobo Glo is IR. I don't know if one is technically better than the other. The Glo I have is less sensitive to touch than my previous IR devices. This is either luck of the draw on an individual device, or a deliberate attempt to reduce the number of unwanted 'touches.' I do have to remember to slow down and take my time when trying to input with the on-screen keyboard.
As a final note, I will say that the whole file format debate is a red herring and should have no impact on your decision. The only thing that matters is DRM, and you already hinted your willingness to work around that. Books bought from Kobo or B&N work just fine on my Kindle Touch after using Calibre to convert to AWZ3 (Kindle format 8), which is very much the same thing as Epub3 (that is, HTML5 formatted files in a container with a few meta-data files to define structure.)