How to go from buying to reading on a Kobo?
 

I've read numerous ebooks on PDAs, phones and other ereaders, but not on a Kobo. The new mini looks appealing to me due to its pocketable size.

What I would like to know is how much work does it take to go from buying an ebook to actually reading it? My wife has a Kindle Fire and she just hooks up to our home wifi, buys the book, click, and it's there to read in a few seconds. What does it take on a Kobo?

I have heard that on some readers you have to install another program on your computer, Adobe, I think, and go through it. You may have to install and use Calibre, also. On my older Windows phone a few years back, to read books from eReader.com, I needed to enter my name exactly as it was on my credit card and my credit card number to get the book. It's really a small thing to have to do this, but I'd just as soon avoid it.

Hiya!

Well, the answer to your question depends. With the Kobo, you will need to set up your Kobo account. After that, if you want to buy books from Kobo, it's just as simple as with your wife's Kindle Fire. Browse the store on the reader, buy it with a few clicks, it downloads to the device and you're ready to read.

If you want to read books from other stores then Kobo's, it can get slightly more complicated. Most other stores (like Sony's) sell epubs with DRM by Adobe Systems. So to handle books like that (or library books from Overdrive for example) you would have to install Adobe's Digital Editions software and set it up to work with your Kobo.

You are definitely not required to use Calibre. However, as it will manage both your Kobo-bought books and side-loaded books, a lot of people find using it is to their advantage.

Hope this helps a bit. I'm sure more eloquent folks then I will be along shortly...

You can do with your Kobo e-reader what your wife does with her Kindle Fire. Set up your Kobo account first by going on your PC (faster that way, for typing all your info) to kobobooks.com. You can sign up using your email address and set up all your personal info (password, address, etc), add a credit card/gift card, etc. Then you can buy books while logged into your account on your PC or directly from your Kobo ereader (via WiFi) by going to the 'store' on your ereader. Your ereader stays 'logged in' to your account and you don't have to type in your password each time you buy a book to add to your library.

You can also side-load books via your PC (which is essentially connecting your ereader with a usb cable to your PC and copying epub books from PC to your ereader). The only time you need Calibre is when you're converting books from one format to the other. So, for example, if your wife bought some Kindle books, they would be in .mobi format, and you could use Calibre to strip the DRM and convert to .epub and then side-load. I don't bother with this! I just have a Kindle app on my tablet and phone and read Kindle books from there. I am too busy to d*ck around with stripping and converting (ha! That sounds dirrrty!).:p You can also sideload other books/library books using Adobe Digital Editions. Again, I just prefer to download those ones directly to my phone/tablet and read via Aldiko or Overdrive.

Your books will always be available in your Kobo library account tied to your email, and you can read your books from any device (either from a Kobo device, or from your phone/tablet with the Kobo app). For example, I may read a Kobo book on my phone while waiting for an appointment (using the Kobo app). When I am done reading, my 4G signal has me 'connected' to my account and will update bookmarks when I am done reading. So - when I go home and continue with my book one of my Kobo devices, I can pick up where I left off, after my library is done updating.

Enjoy your new Kobo! The mini-could be cool - but if I were you, I'd buy the glo! That's the best of all worlds (still compact, can read in low/no light, no glare in the sun, easy on the eyes). I am going to ask Santa for mine! ;)

Speaking of this, I remember I have read in some thread that it was possible to bypass the Kobo account setup by updating the database manually. Since I run Linux, that I do not want to bother installing the kobo software through wine if possible, and that I only plan to read sideloaded books, is it still possible to proceed like this with the latest firmware, and on the Glo ?

If I do this, I assume I will have to proceed to updates manually. Will I miss other features ? Missing dictionnaries perhaps ?

Can you tell me if I sideload an epub from Dropbox onto my Glo, will that book sync to my account and allow me to read on my iPhone too?

I've done as described above but the book isn't showing up on my iPhone. I've tried syncing multiple times.

Kobo ONLY sync's material in kobo ePub format purchased from it's store to different devices.

There is NO support for syncing of ePubs from ANY source between devices.

Ah okay, thank you.

With my Glo I've not had to install the desktop software at all, it just neede a wifi connection and it logged into kobo and updated itself. I have no intention of using the kobo desktop software at all.

+1

The desktop app is an effin nightmare...avoid it at all costs...

Thanks. This is the kind of use I have just read in another thread. I guess I will do the same, using Calibre to load my ebooks.

However, just for the record, is it possible to use the Kobo Glo without even setting an account?

No, you need a Kobo account and you need to be logged into it on the Kobo Glo to use the Glo. You don't have to actually use the kobo account though, as long as you're logged in. (If you'd want to, you could also use an email address that you don't use for daily stuff.)

Can you use overdrive program on the mni?

You have to download via a PC or MAC; there is NO OverDrive application for Kobo.