In praise of Kobo

[Camellia]

Odd little thread, but the folks in my life would probably just wonder when I'm going to stop rattling on about ereaders

I recently made the switch from Kindle Oasis to Kobo Forma, and I am blown away by how brilliant the Forma is! It links to my book club account at a local book retailer, I can use Overdrive and Pocket, it reads so many more formats without needing to convert them first (so now I only need to convert books from Amazon, not everywhere-but-Amazon!), it automatically sorts my books into collections, it presents manga and comics so much better (and without the need of the extra step via KKC!), and I was unlucky with faulty Oasis batteries, but have no such problem on the Forma!

That's to say nothing of the ergonomics! The Kindle Oasis always hurt my hands with that strange ledge, but the Kobo Forma has a form factor that fits to my hands much better, the buttons are less "intrusive" to my reading experience, and way the Sleep Cover folds into a little stand is perfect for catching a couple of pages between boss fights in my favourite video games...

This is honestly a much more user-friendly design for me! I am over the moon with this product, and I'll never be going back to Kindle. I know it's personal and subjective, of course - I have a friend who swears by Kindle and had an awful experience with her own Kobo device - but for me, this is perfect!

[Uncle Robin]

How wonderful to read such a positive happy post. Thank you for sharing your joy!

[Dr. Drib]

I appreciate your heart-felt post, as Uncle Robin also remarked.

For you, how does the 'wedge of light' impact upon your perception of the Forma?

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by Camellia

Odd little thread, but the folks in my life would probably just wonder when I'm going to stop rattling on about ereaders

I recently made the switch from Kindle Oasis to Kobo Forma, and I am blown away by how brilliant the Forma is! It links to my book club account at a local book retailer, I can use Overdrive and Pocket, it reads so many more formats without needing to convert them first (so now I only need to convert books from Amazon, not everywhere-but-Amazon!), it automatically sorts my books into collections, it presents manga and comics so much better (and without the need of the extra step via KKC!), and I was unlucky with faulty Oasis batteries, but have no such problem on the Forma!

That's to say nothing of the ergonomics! The Kindle Oasis always hurt my hands with that strange ledge, but the Kobo Forma has a form factor that fits to my hands much better, the buttons are less "intrusive" to my reading experience, and way the Sleep Cover folds into a little stand is perfect for catching a couple of pages between boss fights in my favourite video games...

This is honestly a much more user-friendly design for me! I am over the moon with this product, and I'll never be going back to Kindle. I know it's personal and subjective, of course - I have a friend who swears by Kindle and had an awful experience with her own Kobo device - but for me, this is perfect!

Wait. We can post positive comments here? Shouldn't we be arguing about USB-C or ligature support instead? LOL

I really enjoyed your post. Thanks for that bit of positivity. People feel passionately about their ereaders on this site, which is so different from real life where they stare at me blankly when I rave about my Kobo.

I appreciated every good point you brought out, but what do you mean by "It links to my book club account at a local book retailer"? Are you referring to the beta browser, or something else?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Cootey

I really enjoyed your post. Thanks for that bit of positivity. People feel passionately about their ereaders on this site, which is so different from real life where they stare at me blankly when I rave about my Kobo.

Yeah. I'm sick and tired of the standard response "I like paper books" I always get in real life. From people who have never even seen an ereader. Of course they almost certainly think of phones and tablets when they say that, but it's still disheartening.

[Arid]

As someone who recently switched from a Kindle PW3 to a Kobo Libra, I concur!

[Camellia]

@ Dr. Drib - I've never read in a room with low enough lighting to even notice the cone! I had to Google it!

@ Cootey - Last year, the Australian book retailer Booktopia partnered with Kobo. When I first powered on my Kobo, rather than asking me to create a Kobo account, it allowed me to link to my Booktopia account instead!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Camellia

Odd little thread, but the folks in my life would probably just wonder when I'm going to stop rattling on about ereaders

I recently made the switch from Kindle Oasis to Kobo Forma, and I am blown away by how brilliant the Forma is! It links to my book club account at a local book retailer, I can use Overdrive and Pocket, it reads so many more formats without needing to convert them first (so now I only need to convert books from Amazon, not everywhere-but-Amazon!), it automatically sorts my books into collections, it presents manga and comics so much better (and without the need of the extra step via KKC!), and I was unlucky with faulty Oasis batteries, but have no such problem on the Forma!

That's to say nothing of the ergonomics! The Kindle Oasis always hurt my hands with that strange ledge, but the Kobo Forma has a form factor that fits to my hands much better, the buttons are less "intrusive" to my reading experience, and way the Sleep Cover folds into a little stand is perfect for catching a couple of pages between boss fights in my favourite video games...

This is honestly a much more user-friendly design for me! I am over the moon with this product, and I'll never be going back to Kindle. I know it's personal and subjective, of course - I have a friend who swears by Kindle and had an awful experience with her own Kobo device - but for me, this is perfect!

Very nice review,

I've been using my Kobo Aura H2O for 6 years 7 months and I do like it. I've had Sony Readers and I have a Kindle PW3. The Kobo has much better firmware. One thing that makes Kobo different from other Reader companies is that they are still supporting most of the Readers they've released with firmware updates.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Yeah. I'm sick and tired of the standard response "I like paper books" I always get in real life. From people who have never even seen an ereader. Of course they almost certainly think of phones and tablets when they say that, but it's still disheartening.

I was once one of those skeptics until a family member gave me a demonstration of his e-ink ereader's screen and capabilities. I was sold and bought my first ereader shortly thereafter!

I'm glad the OP is enjoying his/her new Kobo.

[koboy]

i'd praise the older Kobo ereaders.

best wishes koboy

[Pjama]

Originally Posted by Camellia

Odd little thread, but the folks in my life would probably just wonder when I'm going to stop rattling on about ereaders

I recently made the switch from Kindle Oasis to Kobo Forma, and I am blown away by how brilliant the Forma is! It links to my book club account at a local book retailer, I can use Overdrive and Pocket, it reads so many more formats without needing to convert them first (so now I only need to convert books from Amazon, not everywhere-but-Amazon!), it automatically sorts my books into collections, it presents manga and comics so much better (and without the need of the extra step via KKC!), and I was unlucky with faulty Oasis batteries, but have no such problem on the Forma!

That's to say nothing of the ergonomics! The Kindle Oasis always hurt my hands with that strange ledge, but the Kobo Forma has a form factor that fits to my hands much better, the buttons are less "intrusive" to my reading experience, and way the Sleep Cover folds into a little stand is perfect for catching a couple of pages between boss fights in my favourite video games...

This is honestly a much more user-friendly design for me! I am over the moon with this product, and I'll never be going back to Kindle. I know it's personal and subjective, of course - I have a friend who swears by Kindle and had an awful experience with her own Kobo device - but for me, this is perfect!

I loved reading your post! I also moved from the Oasis, but to a Libra. I also love reading on it compared to the Oasis, it has a much nicer hand feel. I love being able to read with two pages in landscape view when using ePubs. I chose the Libra in part because I really prefer reading with white ereaders - for me, it really helps the side of the 'page' blend into the device.

It is so much more comfortable than the Oasis, and does not overheat in the sun, or get freezing cold to the touch in the winter. I also love that I can play simple games on it with devmodeon. Oh, and invert the screen to dark mode.

I also love trying not to give Jeff Bezos too much more of my money. I think he has enough of his own.

Yep, what you say about the battery was true for me too. My Oasis battery would only last for two days of reading, whereas my Libra lasts nearly two weeks, even when reading intensively.

I was keeping my Oasis for my newspaper subscription, but I hardly even use it for that these days. Might be time to sell it... do you still have your Oasis, or did you sell it to get your Forma?

[bookaho!ic]

i started my journey with a sony ereader prs 350 i believe (reconditioned) and then moved to kobo and been with kobo ever since and currently have Kobo Aura H20 ed 2 bought it as a present to myself for obtaining my diploma in 2017 and its still going strong

[Camellia]

@ Pjama - My mother loves the Oasis form factor (and Amazon ), so I gifted it to her!

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by Camellia

@ Cootey - Last year, the Australian book retailer Booktopia partnered with Kobo. When I first powered on my Kobo, rather than asking me to create a Kobo account, it allowed me to link to my Booktopia account instead!

You truly are a positive person! It's very admirable. In the US, Kobo partnered with Walmart. I have less warmish feelings about that than you do for your Booktopia partnership down under.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Cootey

You truly are a positive person! It's very admirable. In the US, Kobo partnered with Walmart. I have less warmish feelings about that than you do for your Booktopia partnership down under.

From an outsider's perspective, an ebook business like Kobo partnering with a book reseller seems a much better fit than partnering with a retail giant like Walmart, so the partnership may get more support, perhaps.