Seriously, kobo?? Brand new and already dead?

[stargazertony]

Did you get a hold of customer support and what did they say?

[DHR]

Originally Posted by nnf

Besides I'm thinking I'll give kobo a little while and perhaps I'll sell my Sony later when they come up with a more reliable device

Can you switch ereaders without losing the DRMed books you've bought?

I have no idea: I haven't dealt with any DRMed books yet. I do understand the general cryptographic concepts, I think.

For DRM systems to work, the DRMed object must be tied to something unique to the "user" (eg. your computer or your ereader or perhaps some kind of online account). What are ebooks sold by Kobo or Chapters tied to? What are Adobe DRMed books tied to?

[Stinger]

Originally Posted by DHR

Can you switch ereaders without losing the DRMed books you've bought?

I have no idea: I haven't dealt with any DRMed books yet. I do understand the general cryptographic concepts, I think.

For DRM systems to work, the DRMed object must be tied to something unique to the "user" (eg. your computer or your ereader or perhaps some kind of online account). What are ebooks sold by Kobo or Chapters tied to? What are Adobe DRMed books tied to?

Dunno about how Kobo handles DRM with their SQlite database scheme, but I assume it's still ADE encryped content, in a database instead of a epub.

You are assigned a crypto-key that's associated with your account. You are allowed to authorize a set number (5?) of devices or computers (essentially, giving them your crypto-key). After that, you need to call Adobe and request that you be allowed to authorize further devices.

[chlmccann11]

The first book I bought for my Kobo was "Ashes to Ashes" by Tami Hoag, and I couldn't get the font adjusted. The pdf file was incredibly small. Well, I don't know how or why but when I opened the book today, the font is now a decent size, and it's a beautiful thing!

[chlmccann11]

I have found books from all my favorite authors on the Kobo site. I have also purchased an ebook from the Chapters site.

[mc5]

I think the Kobo is a great little affordable gadget, although I don't like the ragged right or the needless spacing between dialogue and paragraphs. I kept thinking that if there were more text on the page I wouldn't be clicking the blue button so much -- which really seems destined to wear out.

I've read about 4 novels since it arrived in early May. I didn't have your problem with the red light -- once it charged and I unplugged it from my hard drive I never saw it again. The little light is a pleasing purple when I turn it on, and blue each time I press a button.

Twice, however, I lost power without any warning, and not near home. That's a bit frustrating, and makes you wish you had a trusty paper book.

And today, only 40 days after I got it, it seems to have died. I spoke to a very friendly (and prompt -- no waiting) CSR today who walked me through some things I didn't know -- like right-clicking on the Safely Remove Hardware icon before unplugging it from the hard drive (I honestly didn't know to do that!), but trying to recharge it proved fruitless. The screen is white, save for a strip of black (about 1/2 thick) along the top and is completely unresponsive. Trying to reset with a pin through the back did nothing. The CSR took my info and will send me a box to send this "faulty" Kobo back to be replaced with a new one.

The truly unfortunate thing is the fact that I also received a Sony eReader as a gift and returned it, wanting to keep the Kobo. I'm hoping I haven't made the wrong decision, but at this point it seems I have.

[nnf]

Originally Posted by stargazertony

Did you get a hold of customer support and what did they say?

To be honest, I didn't. Two friends of mine on facebook also got kobos (before me though) and had trouble with them, ended up returning. And customer service at Walmart told me I wasn't the first one who brought back a reader with issues... and I live in a place where ereaders are very unheard of so I can't imagine they've sold hundreds of them....

I figured there was no point in calling CS since I returned under 14 days and I wasn't exactly willing to risk buying another faulty unit. Maybe i should've called them, but I don't see what they could have done for me, except perhaps apologize and offer to replace my unit....

@mc5, I'm sorry that you also ended up with a problematic kobo. Worse comes to worse, you could always sell the replacement on ebay?

[asrai devin]

Originally Posted by nnf

Yeah, I tried to reset the device several times... nothing happens.

As for the dead battery, I don't know... I mean, I plugged it in to recharge it (and add some books) as I had used my kobo for maybe an hour last night. After maybe half an hour the light turned red, indicating a full charge. It died perhaps two minutes later.

I think I'll just save myself the hassle and return it.

You have to recharge until the red light comes on and then goes off again. There is a glitch somewhere. I found it mentioned on the chapters review boards.