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Khendron · 05-11-2010, 01:50 PM

I got my Kobo a few days ago, after a lot of trouble getting my hands on one. Everyone was out of stock. One Chapters store I called said they had some and put one on hold for me, but when I got there they said they didn't have any at all. They hooked me up with another Chapters across town that had some, and gave me a $5 gift card for my troubles.

Anyway, back to the Kobo.

I like the colour: black. I saw some of the white ones in the store, and found them rather ugly. The blue button makes them look like some sort of medical device.

One thing I don't like about the black is that it shows finger marks very easily. I am frequently wiping off finger prints.

I like the weight. It is very easy to hold in your hands.

I don't like the placement of the button. It is fine when you are holding the Kobo with 2 hands, but I haven't figured out how to hold it with one hand and still be able to click the button properly. This is especially annoying when trying to read the Kobo while standing on a bus.

I like the screen. Easy to read, like the screen of any other E-Ink reader. Only a lot cheaper!

I like the font selection available for ePub books. There are not a lot of fonts (two) and not many sizes, but they are sufficient for most reading.

I don't like the way it handles PDF files. I downloaded an eBook from the library, and it came in PDF format. The first annoyance is that the book does not show up in my list of Books. I have to switch to the Documents list to find it. My second annoyance is that there does not appear to be any way to navigate the PDF other than one page at a time. Need to jump to page 100, then you have to click Next 100 times. And finally, zooming in on a PDF just doesn't work for me. The pan and scan is too awkward when reading a novel.

I finally understand why there is an OFF button. It seemed redundant (the Kobo doesn't use any power just sitting there) until I put the Kobo in my backpack for a while. When I pulled it out again, it had flipped back about 50 pages and drained most of the battery. I am now careful to turn my Kobo off before packing it away.

It hanged on me before I had owned it for 24 hours. I had to reset it with a paper clip. When I first looked at the Kobo in a store, I found 2 demo models that were unresponsive. I figured being demo models, they were probably seeing an atypical amount of use, so I didn't see this as a problem. Now I am not so sure. I need a place on my Kobo when I can stow a paper clip, just in case.

I miss having a built-in dictionary. When reading books on my iPod Touch using Stanza, I use the dictionary feature a lot. One feature that the Kobo does not have that I do not miss is Search. On my iPod I found I rarely search a book.

I like the quilted back. I was indifferent to this feature when I first heard of it, but now that I have one I appreciate the friction it provides. I don't have to worry so much about my Kobo sliding off a table because I knocked into it.

I keep wishing the Kobo had a clock. I guess I got used to Stanza displaying the time at the top of the screen on my iPod. I can think of many reasons not to display the time on an E-Ink display, but I still miss it.

05-11-2010, 01:50 PM	#1
Khendron Member Posts: 13 Karma: 13130 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kobo	I like... I don't like... I got my Kobo a few days ago, after a lot of trouble getting my hands on one. Everyone was out of stock. One Chapters store I called said they had some and put one on hold for me, but when I got there they said they didn't have any at all. They hooked me up with another Chapters across town that had some, and gave me a $5 gift card for my troubles. Anyway, back to the Kobo. I like the colour: black. I saw some of the white ones in the store, and found them rather ugly. The blue button makes them look like some sort of medical device. One thing I don't like about the black is that it shows finger marks very easily. I am frequently wiping off finger prints. I like the weight. It is very easy to hold in your hands. I don't like the placement of the button. It is fine when you are holding the Kobo with 2 hands, but I haven't figured out how to hold it with one hand and still be able to click the button properly. This is especially annoying when trying to read the Kobo while standing on a bus. I like the screen. Easy to read, like the screen of any other E-Ink reader. Only a lot cheaper! I like the font selection available for ePub books. There are not a lot of fonts (two) and not many sizes, but they are sufficient for most reading. I don't like the way it handles PDF files. I downloaded an eBook from the library, and it came in PDF format. The first annoyance is that the book does not show up in my list of Books. I have to switch to the Documents list to find it. My second annoyance is that there does not appear to be any way to navigate the PDF other than one page at a time. Need to jump to page 100, then you have to click Next 100 times. And finally, zooming in on a PDF just doesn't work for me. The pan and scan is too awkward when reading a novel. I finally understand why there is an OFF button. It seemed redundant (the Kobo doesn't use any power just sitting there) until I put the Kobo in my backpack for a while. When I pulled it out again, it had flipped back about 50 pages and drained most of the battery. I am now careful to turn my Kobo off before packing it away. It hanged on me before I had owned it for 24 hours. I had to reset it with a paper clip. When I first looked at the Kobo in a store, I found 2 demo models that were unresponsive. I figured being demo models, they were probably seeing an atypical amount of use, so I didn't see this as a problem. Now I am not so sure. I need a place on my Kobo when I can stow a paper clip, just in case. I miss having a built-in dictionary. When reading books on my iPod Touch using Stanza, I use the dictionary feature a lot. One feature that the Kobo does not have that I do not miss is Search. On my iPod I found I rarely search a book. I like the quilted back. I was indifferent to this feature when I first heard of it, but now that I have one I appreciate the friction it provides. I don't have to worry so much about my Kobo sliding off a table because I knocked into it. I keep wishing the Kobo had a clock. I guess I got used to Stanza displaying the time at the top of the screen on my iPod. I can think of many reasons not to display the time on an E-Ink display, but I still miss it.