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Old 10-31-2011, 01:18 PM   #9
SensualPoet
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Posts: 2,302
Karma: 2607151
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Toronto
Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo
I'm not fussed about the hardware side: it is, after all, $199 - about $60 more a touch eink device with a LOT more capability.

The processor is probably more capable than it appears at first blush: once I installed Opera Mobile as a browser I was amazed at how much zippier the device felt. I am also finding as I get the hang of the device, it is responding to my swipe gestures better (ie. I am learning the right motor skills; I went through a similar experience with the Blackberry Torch).

And the screen is amazing -- vibrant under normal indoor conditions and quite good outdoors. (I haven't taken it to the beach yet; in fact, I'm looking for my mittens at the moment.)

I can see the value in Bluetooth, a microphone, stereo speakers, a camera, two cameras for video calling, and then a bigger battery to support all that ... but all that stuff adds to the cost. The charm of Kobo -- just like the Original Kobo eink device -- is that it is able to enter the market with enough capability to deliver what it says ti will do ... at minimal cost.

Kobo Vox may be thought of as a tablet, but it is marketed as an ereader, and is sold in stores in the ereader section, not the tablet section. It adds colour to eink, enhances the social media capabilities, provides a backlit experience for those who want it, and delivers an environment for enhanced books, radio, some video and, of course, web surfing.

The glitches I have encountered appear to be "self-inflicted" -- loading up stuff trying to turn it into a tablet. Android is a bit of Wild West right now and, so yah, things blow up. I'm impressed by how cleanly Android appears to recover from install / uninstall. And I am encouraged by Kobo's agile development model -- and active participation in forums like MR -- which means that my $199 investment today is likely to be a better, richer reading experience one month, three months and six months from now.
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