Let's Share Kobo First Impressions - Page 4

StealthyScribe · 05-13-2010, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turt99

Why are you not sharing the information?

I did in a different thread Turt...

Right here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83312

But they've said it only works with books that you've purchased from Kobo. And another user on this site said it didn't work for him, but the fix did work for me.

Turt99 · 05-13-2010, 09:37 PM

Thanks for the link.
I must have missed that thread, because I've never "Sync"ed with the Software.
Good to know people who are buying Kobo books can get them to work perfect on the Kobo. For now I'm happy to manual fix my other books until we have a full solution.

Cyberman tM · 04-04-2011, 06:23 AM

Sorry for the necro, but I think this thread fits best and I want to offload my impressions somewhere.
I don't think my collegues at work would appreciate if I talked endlessly about my new toy (well, I'm going to do that anyway, but by blowing off some steam here, I can spare them, so to speak :-).

I just got my hands on a Kobo WiFi and tried a few things.

Two things to keep in mind if you continue to read:
1) I've used an Elonex/CoolEr for over a year now, so my opinion is biased through familiarization with that device.
2) I'm known to rant and ramble, especially when something is new. So take anything I say with a metric ton of salt.
2.5) I've been told I'm quicky prejudiced against anything new. I have to partially agree. I try to tone it down, even if it doesn't seem that way.

So, first impression? The display is great, but I'm rather disappointed by the software.
It seems to be slower than the CoolEr Software, sometimes "forgetting" that I clicked.
Still, bonus points for actually writing new software instead of just changing the pictures used by Netronix, like those others did.

I really don't understand why the text size buttons (on the right side) have been removed(?), and text size now is controlled by the up/down buttons when you read.
Since I'm using to change page by pressing up/down, I constantly change text size.
Of course, over time I probably will learn to use the left/right buttons. But it feels counter-intuitive to me. I have the same problem with the CoolEr with any text that contains links, though. (Up/down would navigate through the links.)

Perhaps I didn't find it yet, but I miss a view where I simply see the directory structure.
No doubt the offered views are more suited for "regular" users, but to me it seems very limiting. I'm not a friend of the "hide anything the user doesn't absolutely need for survival"-point-of-view.
(Of course the opposite "show everything and let the user change anything anywhere"-approach isn't my ideal either.)

I'm astonished to see how different the size compared to the Elonex version is.
It's shorter, not as wide, but actually thicker. Meaning I can't use my dvd-cover-turned-eBook-cover for it.
Also, it seems to be heavier. Not by much, of course. A Galaxy Tab weighs about a ton more than both. But noticably heavier. Noticable for now, anyway.

Too bad there is no MP3 player. Not that it's something that would be essential, or even important, but it would have been nice to have.
I wonder if the WiFi chip sits in the place where the Elonex has the MP3 chip.

While I like the idea of showing the book cover or the current page when the device is turned off, I've grown rather fond of the picture my device displays when turned off. I will miss that.
(Of course, since it was me who put that picture together, I want to show it as often as possible - quite likely the reason I miss this option on the Kobo.)
Same goes for startup picture, actually. But I suppose at least one picture can be changed. (One picture is stored inside memory, perhaps displayed by U-Boot?)

No we browser? Links in text are shown as links, but it seems it's impossible to actually click them? Weird.

Maybe I looked at the wrong places yet, but it seems it's not possible to jump directly to a specific page in a book? I can navigate to chapters, but not a page.
Very strange. Annoying really.

I like the idea of displaying quotes while loading a book. Neat.

I also like being asked whether I want to use the USB-connection to access the disk("manage the library") or just to load the battery ("keep reading").
Too bad it's not possible to do both at the same time, but that seems to be a hardware limitation. Not that big of an issue anyway.

--

Well, that's that. I guess I'll spend more time reading in the Kobo forum from now on. No doubt there is little new (if at all) to what I wrote.

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05-13-2010, 09:37 PM	#47
Turt99 Connoisseur Posts: 92 Karma: 14 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Thanks for the link. I must have missed that thread, because I've never "Sync"ed with the Software. Good to know people who are buying Kobo books can get them to work perfect on the Kobo. For now I'm happy to manual fix my other books until we have a full solution.

04-04-2011, 06:23 AM	#48
Cyberman tM Evangelist Posts: 439 Karma: 2248782 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Austria Device: Inkbook Prime; Icarus Illumina;ImcoV6l;EB600;Kobo	Sorry for the necro, but I think this thread fits best and I want to offload my impressions somewhere. I don't think my collegues at work would appreciate if I talked endlessly about my new toy (well, I'm going to do that anyway, but by blowing off some steam here, I can spare them, so to speak :-). I just got my hands on a Kobo WiFi and tried a few things. Two things to keep in mind if you continue to read: 1) I've used an Elonex/CoolEr for over a year now, so my opinion is biased through familiarization with that device. 2) I'm known to rant and ramble, especially when something is new. So take anything I say with a metric ton of salt. 2.5) I've been told I'm quicky prejudiced against anything new. I have to partially agree. I try to tone it down, even if it doesn't seem that way. So, first impression? The display is great, but I'm rather disappointed by the software. It seems to be slower than the CoolEr Software, sometimes "forgetting" that I clicked. Still, bonus points for actually writing new software instead of just changing the pictures used by Netronix, like those others did. I really don't understand why the text size buttons (on the right side) have been removed(?), and text size now is controlled by the up/down buttons when you read. Since I'm using to change page by pressing up/down, I constantly change text size. Of course, over time I probably will learn to use the left/right buttons. But it feels counter-intuitive to me. I have the same problem with the CoolEr with any text that contains links, though. (Up/down would navigate through the links.) Perhaps I didn't find it yet, but I miss a view where I simply see the directory structure. No doubt the offered views are more suited for "regular" users, but to me it seems very limiting. I'm not a friend of the "hide anything the user doesn't absolutely need for survival"-point-of-view. (Of course the opposite "show everything and let the user change anything anywhere"-approach isn't my ideal either.) I'm astonished to see how different the size compared to the Elonex version is. It's shorter, not as wide, but actually thicker. Meaning I can't use my dvd-cover-turned-eBook-cover for it. Also, it seems to be heavier. Not by much, of course. A Galaxy Tab weighs about a ton more than both. But noticably heavier. Noticable for now, anyway. Too bad there is no MP3 player. Not that it's something that would be essential, or even important, but it would have been nice to have. I wonder if the WiFi chip sits in the place where the Elonex has the MP3 chip. While I like the idea of showing the book cover or the current page when the device is turned off, I've grown rather fond of the picture my device displays when turned off. I will miss that. (Of course, since it was me who put that picture together, I want to show it as often as possible - quite likely the reason I miss this option on the Kobo.) Same goes for startup picture, actually. But I suppose at least one picture can be changed. (One picture is stored inside memory, perhaps displayed by U-Boot?) No we browser? Links in text are shown as links, but it seems it's impossible to actually click them? Weird. Maybe I looked at the wrong places yet, but it seems it's not possible to jump directly to a specific page in a book? I can navigate to chapters, but not a page. Very strange. Annoying really. I like the idea of displaying quotes while loading a book. Neat. I also like being asked whether I want to use the USB-connection to access the disk("manage the library") or just to load the battery ("keep reading"). Too bad it's not possible to do both at the same time, but that seems to be a hardware limitation. Not that big of an issue anyway. -- Well, that's that. I guess I'll spend more time reading in the Kobo forum from now on. No doubt there is little new (if at all) to what I wrote.

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