Kindle versus Kobo?

[Richwood]

Is Kobo overtaking or has it surpassed the Kindle readers as far as features and price are concerned?

A no advertising Kindle Oasis 8 GB WiFi reader is $270 when not on sale. The equivalent Kobo Libre is $170. Virtually the same physical size, weight and screen resolution. Is the Kindle worth the extra $100 and if so why?

Kobo introduced screen color temperature adjustable illumination 4 years ago and has offered it on about 5 models with screen sizes from 6" to 8". Only the Kindle Oasis 10, introduced last year, has it on Kindle models currently. Not available on the Basic or PW4.

Kobo offers 11 fonts standard and has sliders for font size, line spacing and margins as well as 3 justification settings and font size and weight sliders in advanced settings. Kindle Font choices are more limited.

Kobo offers 4 screen sizes currently, 6", 7", 7.8" and 8" while Kindle reader choices are limited to 6" and 7" currently.

The Oasis and PW4 have more options but some, like the advertising removal, should be free choices in my opinion.

[Tomk2]

Not in the USA

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Richwood

Is Kobo overtaking or has it surpassed the Kindle readers as far as features and price are concerned?

Originally Posted by Tomk2

Not in the USA

Are you trying to say that in the USA, a Kindle eInk ereader offers more features and a lower price than the equivalent Kobo device? So comparing a Paperwhite to a Clara HD, a Libra H2O to the current generation Oasis, a Kobo Forma... Well that one doesn't work since Amazon does not have an 8" eInk ereader in their current lineup.

Please note that Richwood said nothing about popularity, just features and prices.

BTW, using the pricing from Amazon.ca and Kobo's Canadian site:

6" devices
Paperwhite	$139.99
Clara HD	$139.99

7" devices
Oasis 8GB	$329.99
Libra H2O	$199.99

8" devices
Forma 8GB	$299.99

So price wise, a tie on the 6" end, a definite advantage on the 7" devices and no contest for the 8" device.

[rcentros]

For device features and choice it appears PocketBook outshines both (by quite a bit).

PocketBook currently has nine models. All the way from the Basic 3 (non-touch, without light) to the InkPad X (10.3"). All have page turn buttons. A few have microSD slots. Five 6" models (Basic 3, Basic Lux 2, Touch Lux 4, Touch HD 3 and Aqua 2), two 7.8" models (InkPad 3 and InkPad Pro 3) and the InkPad X (10.3"). A few support audio with Bluetooth, a few are waterproof, some have warm light support and all are compatible with 14 text formats.

Strangely enough, just today it appears that the English PocketBook-int.com has disappeared?

Kindle still has the infrastructure advantage (especially in the U.S.).

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Strangely enough, just today it appears that the English PocketBook-int.com has disappeared?

That doesn't surprise me. As an L1 English speaker not living in Europe or Nth America, I was long struck by the impression the site gave of being not merely passively uninterested in selling to people like me, but almost actively antipathetic to the idea.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Richwood

Is Kobo overtaking or has it surpassed the Kindle readers as far as features and price are concerned?

Price, for sure. Features? I dunno. It depends on what you're looking for.

Looking at my device list, I clearly prefer Kobo. But both have features that the other doesn't. And what doesn't matter to me might be essential to someone else.

Kindle has X-ray and a much better dictionary for instance.

By the way, thank you for comparing the Kindle ad-free prices. The extra $20 to remove the ads really sours me on Kindle.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

By the way, thank you for comparing the Kindle ad-free prices. The extra $20 to remove the ads really sours me on Kindle.

There's an ad-free price for a Kindle? On a serious note, Amazon does not have "Special Offers" Kindles in Canada.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

That doesn't surprise me. As an L1 English speaker not living in Europe or Nth America, I was long struck by the impression the site gave of being not merely passively uninterested in selling to people like me, but almost actively antipathetic to the idea.

It looks like they've redone the English site, but they've also changed the address(?).

https://pocketbook.ch/en-ch

Looks like all the information is still there, just not as convenient.

I'm looking at buying either a Basic Lux 2 (which was going to be my choice until I realized that it doesn't have a browser, at least I don't think it does) and the Touch Lux 4.

Techinn.com will supposedly sell and ship to the U.S. for reasonable prices.

https://www.techinn.com/#search=pock...o)+asc&start=0

Only thing is, I don't know anything about Tech Inn (or its parent, Trade Inn). Trade Inn appears to be a "largish" English company founded in 2009.

One more thing I wanted to say about Kobo/Kindle. Kobo no longer has a low-end device to compete with the Kindle "Basic." And Kindle doesn't have a "high middle" device to compete with the Libra. Strangely, Tolino still has a low-end device (the Page 2). I don't quite understand why Kobo didn't adapt that to their line.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by rcentros

It looks like they've redone the English site, but they've also changed the address(?).

https://pocketbook.ch/en-ch

Looks like all the information is still there, just not as convenient.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose - still exactly the same "choose your country" barrier. With no "other" option, if I choose the default "CH", then enter my country of residence, I get told "we don't sell/ship to this location"

[Richwood]

Pocketbook looks interesting but their American support is nonexistent. Last info I found was that Kindle and Kobo so dominate the USA market that they together have about 97% of the market with Nook down close to 1% and still fading. That makes any other choice a specialty item here with basically no local support other than this site if there are any problems.

BTW Kindle has some excellent sales on occasion. I got my 32GB advertising free WiFi and 4G Oasis 10 for $270 + tax during the Amazon black Friday sale last year. $80 off the normal price.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose - still exactly the same "choose your country" barrier. With no "other" option, if I choose the default "CH", then enter my country of residence, I get told "we don't sell/ship to this location"

Have you checked Tech Inn? They ship to most of the world. (I don't know what country you're in.)

https://www.tradeinn.com/?action=sobrenos&idioma=eng

I don't know if I've ever seen PocketBooks for sale on PocketBook's site.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose - still exactly the same "choose your country" barrier. With no "other" option, if I choose the default "CH", then enter my country of residence, I get told "we don't sell/ship to this location"

When that dialog came up, I just clicked beside it and got

pocketbook.ch/en-ch

Everything is in English.

Now when I type in pocketbook.ch it automatically takes me to an English site and gives me a choice between that or German or Italian.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by rcentros

When that dialog came up, I just clicked beside it and got

pocketbook.ch/en-ch

Although I'm reasonably comfortable reading three of Switzerland's four official languages, I did NOT say it wasn't in English. I repeated the message the site gave me, a message that was in English.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Richwood

Pocketbook looks interesting but their American support is nonexistent. ...

I know, but I've never really used Kobo or Kindle support anyhow. I like Tolinos (which have zero support in the U.S.) and I like my cheap (Russian) PocketBook 615 (Basic Lux without the WiFi). It renders fonts really well and it uses the whole page if I want it to, without any hacks. I also like the placing of the page turn keys. It's just comfortable to hold and use. I don't really need another eReader, but I want to verify that I can borrow Overdrive books and buy from various eBook stores using only the PocketBook (no ADE on my computer). But I'm only going to buy it if I sell some of my older readers (if I don't force myself to do this, I'll never get rid of any). I might even "splurge" on the HD 3, basically all the physical features of the Clara, except it's waterproof and has page turn keys and plays MP3s and has Text to Talk via Bluetooth. Plus you can (supposedly) buy from multiple bookstores. And it's even slightly lighter and smaller than the Clara. (But no microSD port on this one. 16 GB is more than enough for me, though.)

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Although I'm reasonably comfortable reading three of Switzerland's four official languages, I did NOT say it wasn't in English. I repeated the message the site gave me, a message that was in English.

Okay, sorry. At any rate the old site didn't directly sell PocketBooks to the public either. (But at least it did have links to sellers -- I don't know if I've seen that on the new site.