Instruction Book Included with Kobo -- It Blows

bamelin · 05-03-2010, 12:35 PM

I want to give some feedback about the (printed) instruction manual included with the device, and this is the feedback of somebody completely new to ereading. I realize that for the more tech savvy here on the forums the instructions probably aren't even needed at all.

But for older folks buying this (and yes there are alot out there that will either buy it themselves or get it as a gift), the instructions included with the package aren't good enough. Heck I consider myself fairly tech savvy but I'm new to ereading ... for me the instruction pamphlet really didn't answer alot of questions. I knew where to go online to get answers to some of those questions, but most older people will not (and will call customer support)

We've already seen questions like "how do I turn it off" here on the forums, I think I'd have been asking that too if I hadn't registered here and did alot of research online about the Kobo.

At 150 dollars there will be alot of people who are new to ereading buying the Kobo. I personally feel that there needs to be a printed manual that goes more in depth on how to download books from the Kobo store as well as how to get books onto the unit that aren't from the Kobo store (public library ebooks, other stores, etc).

All that's going to end up happening is that customer support will be flooded with calls with questions that could have been easily resolved by having a decent instruction manual included with the product. Those calls cost money ...

lchen · 05-03-2010, 12:38 PM

Good point. I hope Kobobooks or the Koboereader site put up a more detailed FAQ or revised manual online.

Turt99 · 05-03-2010, 12:44 PM

I believe if you look in the Menu of the device you will see a User Guide. Does the printed "quick start" explain how to get to that user guide?

I agree though, I chuckled a little when I saw the User Guide in the menu. What if I don't know how to work the device.

bamelin · 05-03-2010, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turt99

I believe if you look in the Menu of the device you will see a User Guide. Does the printed "quick start" explain how to get to that user guide?

I agree though, I chuckled a little when I saw the User Guide in the menu. What if I don't know how to work the device.

I didn't even FIND the installed user guide until the day after I had bought the product. Heck I didn't even know there WAS a user guide installed on the Kobo.

At the very least the printed quick start manual should tell people how to get to that installed user guide.

SensualPoet · 05-03-2010, 01:22 PM

Also, once you plug the device in to charge it via USB, the display is locked -- and so is access to the user guide ... since it's on the device. The quick start guide is fine as it goes -- and I'm not advocating including a 100 page printed manual. But considerably more EXPLICIT hand-holding would be welcome. The device itself is pretty easy to use and learn, stand alone, as it comes with 100 books to play with. Where the instructions fall down, badly, is the connectivity: installing the desktop software, setting up a Kobo account, loading up Adobe Digital Editions. None of this is terribly difficult ... once you know how. It's a serious usability gap.

JCSullivan · 05-04-2010, 10:39 AM

Quote:

It blows

Now that's an understatement.

Bonnylass · 07-27-2010, 08:25 PM

I bought my Kobo to read books from Harlequin/Silhuette. Now, I'm one of your older non-techie people (I'm 74) but I've been using a computer for years. I did manage to buy the book, download Adobe Digital Editions, and download the book in .pdf form to the Adobe device. Now what? I can't figure out how to mpve it to my Kobo reader. It says to drag it. Drag what? I'm stumped. Help, please.

Florence

wrenn1 · 07-27-2010, 09:08 PM

Bonnylass, If you plug the Kobo in before you open ADE and then open ADE you should see the Kobo icon on the left side of the ADE window. You then just have to click on 'library' in ADE and then drag the book you want to the Kobo icon.

I have hear that if ADE is on before plugging in it doesn't work. I haven't tried doing it that way.

You can also download the free Calibre program and convert the PDF to epub quite easily and then plug in the Kobo and add book to reader through Calibre and leave ADE out of it.

I find epub easier to read than PDF is why that long drawn out drivvle.

J. Strnad · 07-27-2010, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bonnylass

I bought my Kobo to read books from Harlequin/Silhuette. Now, I'm one of your older non-techie people (I'm 74) but I've been using a computer for years. I did manage to buy the book, download Adobe Digital Editions, and download the book in .pdf form to the Adobe device. Now what? I can't figure out how to mpve it to my Kobo reader. It says to drag it. Drag what? I'm stumped. Help, please.

Florence

I don't believe you're going to be happy with PDF books on your Kobo. Go for ePub.

HarleyB · 07-27-2010, 09:46 PM

Yes I have found the lack of adequate instructions to be frustrating as well. As for the user guide actually being on the device! Where is it exactly? I've never noticed it.
While I was able to get the Kobo up and running - mostly - I find that the lack of instructions about how to deal with ADE and Calibre a concern.
Obviously Kobo want us to only purchase from Kobobooks or Borders but I found the trial and error approach rather daunting when purchasing from other sources.

Bonnylass
Just be aware that if you are reading PDF's they will be in the document section not in books. You might find them easier to read by using the Kobo in landscape (sideways) and paging down to get the full page. You need more page turns that way so your battery won't last as long but you can get the font size bigger which could be a consideration for you.
I also recommend ePub rather than PDF if you have the choice.

Mememememe · 07-27-2010, 10:44 PM

I haven't looked at the User Guide since I first got the unit. It was brutal -- it told you to do things that you couldn't actually do. (As I recall, one of the problems was that it told you you could use your desktop app to remove items from your I'm Reading list ... which, of course, you couldn't do then, and can't do now.)

It may or may not have been updated with the firmware update -- I have no idea. Clearly it was a work-in-progress, as was the reader at that time.

I suspect the failings of the User Guide were among the reasons Kobo's customer support folks were overwhelmed in the early days of the reader -- people were only getting confused by the User Guide.

I'd like to think the User Guide problems have been addressed.

HamsterRage · 07-28-2010, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bonnylass

I bought my Kobo to read books from Harlequin/Silhuette. Now, I'm one of your older non-techie people (I'm 74) but I've been using a computer for years. I did manage to buy the book, download Adobe Digital Editions, and download the book in .pdf form to the Adobe device. Now what? I can't figure out how to mpve it to my Kobo reader. It says to drag it. Drag what? I'm stumped. Help, please.

Florence

Where did you buy the book from? If you bought the book from the Kobo store, then your best bet is to just use the Kobo desktop app to download the book and then transfer it to your Kobo device. That seems to have the least amount of issues.

dixieknits · 07-28-2010, 10:37 AM

Just be aware that if you are reading PDF's they will be in the document section not in books. You might find them easier to read by using the Kobo in landscape (sideways) and paging down to get the full page. You need more page turns that way so your battery won't last as long but you can get the font size bigger which could be a consideration for you.
I also recommend ePub rather than PDF if you have the choice.

Kobo doesn't offer landscape viewing yet. Maybe we should ask for it in next firmware upgrade. Also if a pdf is DRM'd with ADE protection, Calibre cannot convert it.

bmacaskill · 07-28-2010, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

I don't believe you're going to be happy with PDF books on your Kobo. Go for ePub.

ADE supports ePubs.

HarleyB · 07-28-2010, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dixieknits

Kobo doesn't offer landscape viewing yet. Maybe we should ask for it in next firmware upgrade. Also if a pdf is DRM'd with ADE protection, Calibre cannot convert it.

Landscape is not available when reading in the books sections of a Kobo however we are talking about reading PDFs which are in the document section where you do get the choice of portrait or landscape mode.
Once you have a particular PDF open to read you press the display button and your are given several "magnification" choices and also "orientation" choices of either portrait or landscape. I find that reading PDFs in portrait is almost impossible. My personal preference is "whole page" and "landscape"

As to the ePub vs PDF comments I was suggesting that Bonnylass download her books in ePub format rather than PDF assuming she is given the choice. Maybe she is really a computer wiz but I think most 74 year olds would rather be reading their books and not removing DRM and converting formats with Calibre.

05-03-2010, 12:35 PM	#1
bamelin Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: Kobo	Instruction Book Included with Kobo -- It Blows I want to give some feedback about the (printed) instruction manual included with the device, and this is the feedback of somebody completely new to ereading. I realize that for the more tech savvy here on the forums the instructions probably aren't even needed at all. But for older folks buying this (and yes there are alot out there that will either buy it themselves or get it as a gift), the instructions included with the package aren't good enough. Heck I consider myself fairly tech savvy but I'm new to ereading ... for me the instruction pamphlet really didn't answer alot of questions. I knew where to go online to get answers to some of those questions, but most older people will not (and will call customer support) We've already seen questions like "how do I turn it off" here on the forums, I think I'd have been asking that too if I hadn't registered here and did alot of research online about the Kobo. At 150 dollars there will be alot of people who are new to ereading buying the Kobo. I personally feel that there needs to be a printed manual that goes more in depth on how to download books from the Kobo store as well as how to get books onto the unit that aren't from the Kobo store (public library ebooks, other stores, etc). All that's going to end up happening is that customer support will be flooded with calls with questions that could have been easily resolved by having a decent instruction manual included with the product. Those calls cost money ... Last edited by bamelin; 05-03-2010 at 12:42 PM.

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05-03-2010, 12:38 PM	#2
lchen Connoisseur Posts: 51 Karma: 12 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kobo EReader	Good point. I hope Kobobooks or the Koboereader site put up a more detailed FAQ or revised manual online.

05-03-2010, 12:44 PM	#3
Turt99 Connoisseur Posts: 92 Karma: 14 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	I believe if you look in the Menu of the device you will see a User Guide. Does the printed "quick start" explain how to get to that user guide? I agree though, I chuckled a little when I saw the User Guide in the menu. What if I don't know how to work the device.

05-03-2010, 01:22 PM	#5
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	Also, once you plug the device in to charge it via USB, the display is locked -- and so is access to the user guide ... since it's on the device. The quick start guide is fine as it goes -- and I'm not advocating including a 100 page printed manual. But considerably more EXPLICIT hand-holding would be welcome. The device itself is pretty easy to use and learn, stand alone, as it comes with 100 books to play with. Where the instructions fall down, badly, is the connectivity: installing the desktop software, setting up a Kobo account, loading up Adobe Digital Editions. None of this is terribly difficult ... once you know how. It's a serious usability gap.

07-27-2010, 08:25 PM	#7
Bonnylass Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kobo	I bought my Kobo to read books from Harlequin/Silhuette. Now, I'm one of your older non-techie people (I'm 74) but I've been using a computer for years. I did manage to buy the book, download Adobe Digital Editions, and download the book in .pdf form to the Adobe device. Now what? I can't figure out how to mpve it to my Kobo reader. It says to drag it. Drag what? I'm stumped. Help, please. Florence

07-27-2010, 09:08 PM	#8
wrenn1 Addict Posts: 259 Karma: 48576 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Kobo	Bonnylass, If you plug the Kobo in before you open ADE and then open ADE you should see the Kobo icon on the left side of the ADE window. You then just have to click on 'library' in ADE and then drag the book you want to the Kobo icon. I have hear that if ADE is on before plugging in it doesn't work. I haven't tried doing it that way. You can also download the free Calibre program and convert the PDF to epub quite easily and then plug in the Kobo and add book to reader through Calibre and leave ADE out of it. I find epub easier to read than PDF is why that long drawn out drivvle.

07-27-2010, 09:46 PM	#10
HarleyB Fanatic Posts: 565 Karma: 1113286 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast Australia Device: Kobo (RIP), iPad, iPhone 4, Kobo Touch x2, Kobo Glo	Yes I have found the lack of adequate instructions to be frustrating as well. As for the user guide actually being on the device! Where is it exactly? I've never noticed it. While I was able to get the Kobo up and running - mostly - I find that the lack of instructions about how to deal with ADE and Calibre a concern. Obviously Kobo want us to only purchase from Kobobooks or Borders but I found the trial and error approach rather daunting when purchasing from other sources. Bonnylass Just be aware that if you are reading PDF's they will be in the document section not in books. You might find them easier to read by using the Kobo in landscape (sideways) and paging down to get the full page. You need more page turns that way so your battery won't last as long but you can get the font size bigger which could be a consideration for you. I also recommend ePub rather than PDF if you have the choice.

07-27-2010, 10:44 PM	#11
Mememememe Connoisseur Posts: 98 Karma: 7542 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kobo	I haven't looked at the User Guide since I first got the unit. It was brutal -- it told you to do things that you couldn't actually do. (As I recall, one of the problems was that it told you you could use your desktop app to remove items from your I'm Reading list ... which, of course, you couldn't do then, and can't do now.) It may or may not have been updated with the firmware update -- I have no idea. Clearly it was a work-in-progress, as was the reader at that time. I suspect the failings of the User Guide were among the reasons Kobo's customer support folks were overwhelmed in the early days of the reader -- people were only getting confused by the User Guide. I'd like to think the User Guide problems have been addressed.

07-28-2010, 10:37 AM	#13
dixieknits Addict Posts: 283 Karma: 1011418 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Kindle 3, Nook Color	Just be aware that if you are reading PDF's they will be in the document section not in books. You might find them easier to read by using the Kobo in landscape (sideways) and paging down to get the full page. You need more page turns that way so your battery won't last as long but you can get the font size bigger which could be a consideration for you. I also recommend ePub rather than PDF if you have the choice. Kobo doesn't offer landscape viewing yet. Maybe we should ask for it in next firmware upgrade. Also if a pdf is DRM'd with ADE protection, Calibre cannot convert it.

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