[jblitereader]

First of all, I'd like to say that you made some very valid points.

Originally Posted by afa

I think the point greenapple was making is that one of the main points of attraction for the jetBook is their low price. With the Kobo launching at $149* the JB now has a genuine competitor in the bang-for-buck department.

The standard price for JBL is now under $100. When I say standard, I don't mean you can just find that price at any time. But I do mean if you just look perhaps once every couple days you are bound to find it at that price somewhere nowadays. Prices fluctuate for everything nowadays. A smart buyer is a buyer that wait a few days to find the best price for it.

Additionally, the Kobo will use an e-Ink display, which many feel gives a better contrast and is easier to read than JB's reflective LCD. Also, it has a 6" screen, as opposed to 5". It will have a longer battery life, a result of the screen.

While true that many feel e-ink display is better, I just don't see it as that big of a deal. I borrowed my neighbor's kindle and read a long long time with it. Better contrast, yes. Worth for me to deal with only 1 real format to work with? Nope.

It has built-in memory of 1 GB, which means it can store up to a thousand books; so most buyers will never even need to bother with an SD card. It has Bluetooth. The functionality is limited, but still. And to my eyes (and, I would think, most people's) the Kobo looks a lot better, and according to some early reports is of a pretty good build quality, too. I like that 'quilted' back...

I'll take the good quality. I'll also take the bluetooth. They look nice.

That said, I'm perfectly happy with the $4 4gig high capacity SD card and the $4 usb adapter. Again, bluetooth is nice, but in the end it's just something that you will say "that's nice to have... but what's it for again?"

I think your point about the hassle of converting files into ePub is very weak. One could easily turn it around and point out that the JB doesn't support any DRM, so you have to go to the hassle of stripping it every time you buy a book. That's neither here nor there.

First of all, JBL does support DRM. Works just fine. And any dedicated ebook reader will eventually learn how to strip out the drm and really own their ebooks. Heck, I think I'll work on a windows based app to do this when I have the time.

I've been playing around with different formats to see which shows better. Each person has his own preference. Currently, I'm quite fond of the txt format for its simplicity.

Also, it has a 6" screen, as opposed to 5".

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who think bigger is better and those who like the mobility of their devices.

Case in point. When my brother bought his laptop, he bought a top of the line 17 inch dell that weighed like a small work-out weight. I, on the other hand, was going for the smaller versions. If they didn't have the 15 incher on sale, I would have bought the 14 incher. Mine is also light weight and very sturdy.

I guess my point is size doesn't really matter that much for a lot of people. The JBL fits in my pocket.

The only things lacking in Kobo are the lack of dictionary (though I don't know if the JBL does that for anything other than text files) and the lack of Mobi support.

You got both of these wrong. The dictionary on the JBL will work in every format except pdf. Also, it also supports drm mobi, which is what's important.

Now, I'd like to point out the two biggest advantages of the JBL over most other readers, including the fabled kobo.

SD expandable is a must on my books. It doesn't limit you to any fixed memory size that the company decided to make. For me, I alread had a whole bunch of 1gig SD cards lying around. I recently got a $4 4gig high capacity SD from office depot.

AA batteries as oppose to a built in battery is also a must. I was going to buy an ebook reader long before I stumbled onto the JBL. But the thing that held me back was the battery. You see, a couple years ago, my ipod's battery went bad. Cost me $90 to replace it. I will always keep this in my heart. As soon as I saw the AA battery thing on the JBL, I knew I was going to get it. It was only a matter of waiting a few days reading all the reviews and looking for the best price at the time.

As for your supposed strong points, like bluetooth and mp3. These are non-issues. These are extras added onto the device that has nothing to do with the spirit of reading. It's like putting those kids' flashy twinkling star stickers on it. Sure, makes it looks nice. But in the end, do we even care?

Added by edit.

But folks, I'm just having a discussion here. If you really really like the kobo, please help yourselves to it.