MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Need an all rounded ereader. Kobo Touch vs the rest...

MacEachaidh · 02-01-2012, 08:29 AM

Hi all,
I've been reading this conversation with great interest. I'm in a similar position to geenp, living in Australia and needing to buy an ereader. (In my case it will be a replacement, since my existing one has just given up the ghost, the service company says it "must" be due to user damage and so I have to pay for it, and wants me to fork out $399 for a replacement screen. Ugghh.)

So, the two I am considering are the Kobo Touch or the iRiver Story HD. The following are my concerns regarding the possibilities, but I'd really appreciate any feedback on them that people here can offer:

Kobo Touch
I played with one of these breifly, but I found the touch aspect of the screen quite erratic. Sometimes it didn't respond, even when I tapped it sharply with my fingernail, and then swiping would turn two or even three pages at once. I think this would drive me nuts. I liked the contrast of the screen (even with the white case), but actively disliked the prospect of the store permanently taking up part of the screen or adding books to me book list. That's intrusive and, to my mind, objectionable. The documentation claims the Kobo will read .mobi formatted books - is this true, or only in limited circumstances? Does this mean non-DRMd books only? I really disliked the non-standard USB connector, which means neither of my wall chargers nor my car charger would work with this device, and seems to make the device quite vulnerable - where do you get replacements for this? I've never seen that plug type before, and even the Kobo website doesn't list the cable as a purchasable item.

iRiver Story HD
I'm wary of iRiver products, which seem distinctly overpriced and under-engineered, and from experience have an utter disgust (strong word, I know) for the distributors of the brand in this country and their predatory habits and pricing. But the options are limited. My concerns with this device include the lack of peripherals - almost no-one manufactures covers for this device - and the formats. Does anyone know if this model finally actually reads and reflows a DOC file, or is it, like previous iRiver models, just a static viewer function that displays the DOC as if each page was a .jpg?

Kindle
The Amazon ebook store isn't nearly as enticing a proposition for users in Australia, since such a hefty percentage of the titles is unavailable for purchase due to georgraphic restrictions. Since the Kindle doesn't support epubs, and my entire library is (currently) in that format, the Kindle's appeal is significantly reduced for me.

Thoughts on any/all of this would be very much appreciated.

02-01-2012, 08:29 AM	#23
MacEachaidh Browser Posts: 745 Karma: 578294 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura HD	Hi all, I've been reading this conversation with great interest. I'm in a similar position to geenp, living in Australia and needing to buy an ereader. (In my case it will be a replacement, since my existing one has just given up the ghost, the service company says it "must" be due to user damage and so I have to pay for it, and wants me to fork out $399 for a replacement screen. Ugghh.) So, the two I am considering are the Kobo Touch or the iRiver Story HD. The following are my concerns regarding the possibilities, but I'd really appreciate any feedback on them that people here can offer: Kobo Touch I played with one of these breifly, but I found the touch aspect of the screen quite erratic. Sometimes it didn't respond, even when I tapped it sharply with my fingernail, and then swiping would turn two or even three pages at once. I think this would drive me nuts. I liked the contrast of the screen (even with the white case), but actively disliked the prospect of the store permanently taking up part of the screen or adding books to me book list. That's intrusive and, to my mind, objectionable. The documentation claims the Kobo will read .mobi formatted books - is this true, or only in limited circumstances? Does this mean non-DRMd books only? I really disliked the non-standard USB connector, which means neither of my wall chargers nor my car charger would work with this device, and seems to make the device quite vulnerable - where do you get replacements for this? I've never seen that plug type before, and even the Kobo website doesn't list the cable as a purchasable item. iRiver Story HD I'm wary of iRiver products, which seem distinctly overpriced and under-engineered, and from experience have an utter disgust (strong word, I know) for the distributors of the brand in this country and their predatory habits and pricing. But the options are limited. My concerns with this device include the lack of peripherals - almost no-one manufactures covers for this device - and the formats. Does anyone know if this model finally actually reads and reflows a DOC file, or is it, like previous iRiver models, just a static viewer function that displays the DOC as if each page was a .jpg? Kindle The Amazon ebook store isn't nearly as enticing a proposition for users in Australia, since such a hefty percentage of the titles is unavailable for purchase due to georgraphic restrictions. Since the Kindle doesn't support epubs, and my entire library is (currently) in that format, the Kindle's appeal is significantly reduced for me. Thoughts on any/all of this would be very much appreciated.