MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Kobo early adopter just got Kindle 3 (Canada)

JPenguin · 09-16-2010, 12:30 AM

I guess the thing which sounds the most appealing to me would be the speed. I love the Kobo's UI for the most part (seems logical and clean to me, more so than the Sonys), the ecosystem around the Kobo (Kobo's store and ePubs etc), and I had loved the price. I don't like the somewhat sluggish performance as much and there are obviously some improvements to the feature set which could be made (page jumping, collections, list management such as moving books from reading list without USB sync).

I don't have much interest in dictionary support, note taking etc, basically to me the keyboard of the Kindle actually puts me off, I don't need all that space taken up. I'd rather the up/down buttons on the Kobo could be configured to operate as page back/forward (ala Sony readers IIRC), I rarely find myself adjusting the font size. The Kobo's UI is very easy to navigate with the 9 + 1 (power) buttons on the device.

If I were buying an eReader today I think my decision would be different than it was in May, today the Kobo seems a bit expensive for it's more basic feature set than the Sonys and Kindle. I still don't think I'd go for the Kindle because of the Amazon lock-in but perhaps the speed could convince me. I haven't really looked at the new Sony readers since I do have the Kobo but it would probably be my main competitor to the Kobo. I think at the $128 price point that the Kobo is currently at it needs more features to compete with the Kindle at $139, I think a $99 price point for Christmas would make sense unless it can reach feature parity (I think this expecting a bit much). If/When the Kobo reaches feature parity with the Sony readers then I can see the $128 being a decent price compared to $139 but I suspect the market won't stay still long enough for those prices to stay the same.

Edit: Thanks for the perspective, it's very interesting to hear the comparison from someone who has really used both devices. A lot of tech reviewers I find just haven't used a device long enough to really make quite such useful comparisons.

09-16-2010, 12:30 AM	#15
JPenguin Connoisseur Posts: 90 Karma: 42 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo EReader, Kobo for Palm Pre	I guess the thing which sounds the most appealing to me would be the speed. I love the Kobo's UI for the most part (seems logical and clean to me, more so than the Sonys), the ecosystem around the Kobo (Kobo's store and ePubs etc), and I had loved the price. I don't like the somewhat sluggish performance as much and there are obviously some improvements to the feature set which could be made (page jumping, collections, list management such as moving books from reading list without USB sync). I don't have much interest in dictionary support, note taking etc, basically to me the keyboard of the Kindle actually puts me off, I don't need all that space taken up. I'd rather the up/down buttons on the Kobo could be configured to operate as page back/forward (ala Sony readers IIRC), I rarely find myself adjusting the font size. The Kobo's UI is very easy to navigate with the 9 + 1 (power) buttons on the device. If I were buying an eReader today I think my decision would be different than it was in May, today the Kobo seems a bit expensive for it's more basic feature set than the Sonys and Kindle. I still don't think I'd go for the Kindle because of the Amazon lock-in but perhaps the speed could convince me. I haven't really looked at the new Sony readers since I do have the Kobo but it would probably be my main competitor to the Kobo. I think at the $128 price point that the Kobo is currently at it needs more features to compete with the Kindle at $139, I think a $99 price point for Christmas would make sense unless it can reach feature parity (I think this expecting a bit much). If/When the Kobo reaches feature parity with the Sony readers then I can see the $128 being a decent price compared to $139 but I suspect the market won't stay still long enough for those prices to stay the same. Edit: Thanks for the perspective, it's very interesting to hear the comparison from someone who has really used both devices. A lot of tech reviewers I find just haven't used a device long enough to really make quite such useful comparisons. Last edited by JPenguin; 09-16-2010 at 12:35 AM.