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Hi all - I received my Kobo Touch a couple of days ago. It took me a little while to get used to the touch, and to get Adobe Digital Editions up and running. For some reason I had a lot of trouble downloading/installing it on the day, probably a server glitch at Adobe's end because it all worked fine on day two.
Anyway, here are my first impressions. I really like the Kobo. Here are a few very minor negatives:
The touch seems a little temperamental and has taken some getting used to. (My Chinese e-reader's touch is brilliant, so perhaps I am making comparisons others might not.) Sometimes I have to give the screen quite a hefty thump, at others my finger is barely hovering over it when 2-3 pages fly by. When the screen is in a "thump me" frame of mind it's somewhat annoying to have such an obtrusive delay between page turns. (Pity there's no calibration. I have calibration on all my other resistive touch devices, enabling me to set touch to a very light tap.) Every device has its own feel, and they all take getting used to.
Another very minor whinge is that the refresh is quite noticeable and can be a little off-putting, but I have it set to 1 (started at 6) and somehow that seems better as it happens every page and is a given; when it happens periodically I sort of go "Ooh! What was that?". I will experiment with different settings.
All of the above will fade as I use the device more and get used to its foibles.
As others pointed out, the battery life is excellent - I've read my first 500 page book without the icon changing at all. The connection time to the computer probably takes care of little charge "top-ups". I do have a USB mains extension I can plug the Kobo into if I need to, to charge it in the bedroom or away from home. I will be using aeroplane mode (after an experimental "look" at the WiFi stuff) so I imagine charges will be relatively few.
I don't hate, but certainly don't like, the totally irrelevant recommendations - Danielle Steele??!!? - taking up one third of my Home screen. I resent having things like that thrust upon me on any device I've paid for. It IS advertising, however Kobo want to sell it, and it should be optional. I'd have liked the choice of paying a little more to have nothing but my own shortlisted books showing. However, it's a minor irritation ... I do hope Kobo pays mind to the user requests to get rid of it in the next flash upgrade.
I have settled for reading with the cover on, holding the thing like a real book which feels very natural and comfortable. Plus my paws stay out of it, if there ever was a danger of my fat-fingering! (Every now and then I find myself reaching for the top to turn a page!)
And that's about it - thanks all for helpful input!
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