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SensualPoet · 06-15-2010, 01:41 PM

I would and have and do recommend the Kobo, especially for non-tech folks. The e-reader has a good screen size (6"), it's very light-weight and comfy to hold (that quilted back!), and built with just the basics, the navigation is simple. You don't need to know about social networks, or syncing notes and annotations, or fussing with a built-in keyboard. And best of all, it's $149 backed by a company that is a bookstore and has a location a few blocks from where you live. What's not to love and recommend?

The moment anyone says "Calibre" or removing DRM -- you've just left the non-techie audience -- and a good thing. The Kobo's strength is that it is self-contained.

Yes, there is a font issue with some ePubs -- but apparently "none" at the Kobo store (or when they find them they refund your money while they fix the book/problem). In other words, there are no books that need to be fixed by a non-techie user. And as a few posters have noted, ePubs from the library -- in many cases -- work fine.

So long as the non-techie stays a non-techie and doesn't muck around under the hood deleting SQL files and the like -- which isn't possible if you stick to the supplied desktop software and ADE for non-Kobo acquired books -- there are minimal problems.

If the non-techie already has a computer and surfs the web, loading the Kobo with working ePubs is easy and error-free. The only challenge is to ensure it's clear to load the desktop software supplied on the Kobo and create an account to acquire stuff from Kobobooks; and to load ADE in order to use Overdrive with public library ePubs (which gives you full access to deleting your own books on the Kobo device).

Kobo has certainly fluffed it in some aspects of the roll out -- the font issue which shouldn't exist and the clumsy software / install info. But that does not detract from the basic usability as a reader, the comfort factor of being backed by a company that sells books for a living, and the very attractive low price.

It gets my recommendation (with a footnote).

06-15-2010, 01:41 PM	#28
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	I would and have and do recommend the Kobo, especially for non-tech folks. The e-reader has a good screen size (6"), it's very light-weight and comfy to hold (that quilted back!), and built with just the basics, the navigation is simple. You don't need to know about social networks, or syncing notes and annotations, or fussing with a built-in keyboard. And best of all, it's $149 backed by a company that is a bookstore and has a location a few blocks from where you live. What's not to love and recommend? The moment anyone says "Calibre" or removing DRM -- you've just left the non-techie audience -- and a good thing. The Kobo's strength is that it is self-contained. Yes, there is a font issue with some ePubs -- but apparently "none" at the Kobo store (or when they find them they refund your money while they fix the book/problem). In other words, there are no books that need to be fixed by a non-techie user. And as a few posters have noted, ePubs from the library -- in many cases -- work fine. So long as the non-techie stays a non-techie and doesn't muck around under the hood deleting SQL files and the like -- which isn't possible if you stick to the supplied desktop software and ADE for non-Kobo acquired books -- there are minimal problems. If the non-techie already has a computer and surfs the web, loading the Kobo with working ePubs is easy and error-free. The only challenge is to ensure it's clear to load the desktop software supplied on the Kobo and create an account to acquire stuff from Kobobooks; and to load ADE in order to use Overdrive with public library ePubs (which gives you full access to deleting your own books on the Kobo device). Kobo has certainly fluffed it in some aspects of the roll out -- the font issue which shouldn't exist and the clumsy software / install info. But that does not detract from the basic usability as a reader, the comfort factor of being backed by a company that sells books for a living, and the very attractive low price. It gets my recommendation (with a footnote). Last edited by SensualPoet; 06-15-2010 at 01:44 PM.