Kobo Touch - how to categorise books

[Katel]

I'm a newbie, new to ereaders and au fait only with basic tecchie stuff,never used a smart phone or a tablet, just a PC. .
After lots of research and reading these forums I've practically decided to get a Kobo Touch, as I don't need bells and whistles, just a basic good and simple ereader to read books in ePub. . Kindle is out as I'm in Australia and I want to access library books here and it seems Overdrive provides some interesting reads.

Anyway - to my question - most of the reviews of the KT really appeal to me, but recently I read somewhere that you can't organise your books on KT. For instance I'd like to have categories of say- mystery, thriller, biographies, library, literature , unread - that sort of thing . So I'm wondering what is the way around this? Would Calibre do it for me? Only Calibre sounds rather complicated for someone like me but if it would solve the problem then I'd just have to stumble my way around it.
Any ideas please?
(I was also considering the Sony T1 but the bottom line is I don't think the extra price ($50 aud) justifies it for what I need. )

[Mrs_Often]

Hi Katel, congratulations on your (almost) choice!

The newest firmware (like the operating system) of the KT has included the use of "shelves." You can make your own shelves and call them for instance mystery, thriller, biographies as per your examples. So you can categorise your books!

However, the shelves are very new and still very buggy and not very user friendly. You can only add them on the device itself, and you have to add books one by one from that shelf. You can't look at your entire library of books and say "This one goes on shelf A, this on on shelf C, this one on shelf B," etc. And there have been some cases where people have many shelves or lots and lots of books on shelves where to KT crashes or isn't able to properly sync them to the server...

Having said that, Kobo is still busy developing this feature and I expect to see them improve its functionality.

Be warned also, that the current firmware version that a new Kobo will upgrade to automatically (version 2.0.0) has some issues with slow page turns and displaying the wrong cover when in sleep mode of switched off (it displays the cover of the previous book instead of the current book -- if the previous book is the same as the current book the correct cover is displayed). Also some other issues... There are already fixes for most of the issues (not all) in a newer firmware (2.1.1), but this firmware is only officially out in Japan (you could install it manually if you'd want to). Kobo is intending to make a new firmware available everywhere very soon (whatever 'very soon' means).

Don't be frightened away though. The Kobo Touch is a really really really nice piece of hardware and I love it fiercely! You just have to be willing to bear with Kobo, forgive their bugs and be able to patiently wait for updates with fixes. Kobo DOES listen to their users with feature requests and bug reports (the implementation of the shelves is an example) -- although their customer service is mostly very very bad (some employees are very very good, but you have to be lucky to encounter one of those).

You can read more about the issues (and fixes) of 2.0.0 here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=184373 but it's a looooong read

[Katel]

Hello Mrs_Often and thanks for your reply It's heartening to see how you 'fiercely' like this eReader. And thanks for the link to the other thread which I'm slowly reading through, as much of it is Swahili to me.

But the Shelves feature is sounding hopeful and I like the way they seem to do frequent updates.
Just a couple of questions -
The ADE supporting Epub3 What does ADE mean?
And side-loading books - does that mean loading from the PC?
And when new updates come are you notified on the PC?
And can you load books directly to the eReader or must they go to the PC first?

I'm only asking these questions as with my research I don't seem to have found the answers.
So with the Shelves feature does that mean that Calibre or such would not be needed then?
I'm so close to buying it and can hardly wait but just checking on a few bits and pieces that I'm not sure about - though I'm sure I'd find that with any ereader being the dummy that I am. .

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Katel

Just a couple of questions -
The ADE supporting Epub3 What does ADE mean?

ADE is "Adobe Digital Editions". This is Adobe's reader and management software. A lot of readers use a version of it. Also, it supports the most common DRM.

And side-loading books - does that mean loading from the PC?

Most of the readers come with software to load books onto them. Or they have some other mechanism to get books onto them such as downloading the books from a shop.

Sideloading is getting books onto the reader by a simple copy. Usually the reader is connected via USB cable and the PC sees the ereader as a USB drive. Sideloading books is then just copying them onto the ereader as a you would a file.

And when new updates come are you notified on the PC?

You mean the firmware updates? For the Kobo ereaders, this is done by connecting to the PC and running the Kobo desktop application. It checks for any firmware updates or new books you have purchased from the Kobo shop. The update can also be done over the WiFi.

And can you load books directly to the eReader or must they go to the PC first?

In the case of the Kobo Touch you can. You can buy from the Kobo shop which will allow you to download directly to the device. Or, you can use the browser to download from other sites.

So with the Shelves feature does that mean that Calibre or such would not be needed then?

Personally, I think calibre is still needed. I use calibre to organise my books off the device, and then only put a few books on at a time. Of course, "few" is a much larger number than when I packed a "few" paperbacks to take on holidays. calibre will also do format conversions.

I'm so close to buying it and can hardly wait but just checking on a few bits and pieces that I'm not sure about - though I'm sure I'd find that with any ereader being the dummy that I am. .

Have you tested one yet? They have them on display on JB HiFi and OfficeWorks.

[taming]

Be aware that once they put a device on display at a store, they seldom update it to more recent firmware and they may not do any of the adjustments to font size etc. that you would probably do yourself.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by taming

Be aware that once they put a device on display at a store, they seldom update it to more recent firmware and they may not do any of the adjustments to font size etc. that you would probably do yourself.

Good point. But, at the two places I mentioned, the readers are on display so we can get our hands on them play with them. Newer function such as bookshelves won't be there, but Katel will be able to see what the screen is like, the menu system is like and how the touch screen works. In fact, if Katel has a Micro SD card, she could load a few books on it and have a look at those to see how they look.

[taming]

We got the Touch in local stores when it was first released. Some time ago (before the release of 2.0), I went into a big box store (that will remain nameless) and saw that the original firmware had never been updated. Somehow the update magically happened when I was testing out my phone hotspot . That kind of magic can't happen, of course, if the Touch has to connect to the desktop to do its thing.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by taming

We got the Touch in local stores when it was first released. Some time ago (before the release of 2.0), I went into a big box store (that will remain nameless) and saw that the original firmware had never been updated. Somehow the update magically happened when I was testing out my phone hotspot . That kind of magic can't happen, of course, if the Touch has to connect to the desktop to do its thing.

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by taming

We got the Touch in local stores when it was first released. Some time ago (before the release of 2.0), I went into a big box store (that will remain nameless) and saw that the original firmware had never been updated. Somehow the update magically happened when I was testing out my phone hotspot . That kind of magic can't happen, of course, if the Touch has to connect to the desktop to do its thing.

You could bring your laptop and test the usb cable and Desktop app as well as your phone's hotspot.

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by Katel

Hello Mrs_Often and thanks for your reply It's heartening to see how you 'fiercely' like this eReader. And thanks for the link to the other thread which I'm slowly reading through, as much of it is Swahili to me.

But the Shelves feature is sounding hopeful and I like the way they seem to do frequent updates.
Just a couple of questions -
The ADE supporting Epub3 What does ADE mean?

As Davidfor already explained, Adobe Digital Editions. You'll only need this software for your PC if you want to buy ebooks from somewhere other than Kobo, or if you want to borrow ebooks from your library. It gives your devices (like your new Kobo Touch) permission to read the 'locked' (DRM) ebooks.

And side-loading books - does that mean loading from the PC?
So with the Shelves feature does that mean that Calibre or such would not be needed then? [...]Only Calibre sounds rather complicated for someone like me but if it would solve the problem then I'd just have to stumble my way around it.

You only 'have' to sideload and use Calibre if you want to buy books from somewhere else than Kobo, or if you already have a lot of ebooks (not from Kobo). If you're mainly going to buy books from Kobo, you don't have to worry about sideloading or Calibre. Calibre is useful to organise all your (non-Kobo) books on your PC if you have many ebooks. You can compare it to iTunes for instance. It's also useful for doing the actual sideloading, but you don't necessarily need Calibre just to sideload books (as Davidfor said, you can use your KT like a usb-stick and just drag and drop books onto it).

And when new updates come are you notified on the PC?

You're only notified on the PC if you have the Kobo Desktop application running (maybe even also only if you have the Kobo connected to the PC at the same time, I'm not sure, I never do it that way). But the updates also download onto your KT automatically via Wifi during syncs (if/when you switch Wifi on).

I'm so close to buying it and can hardly wait but just checking on a few bits and pieces that I'm not sure about - though I'm sure I'd find that with any ereader being the dummy that I am. .

It's always good to do as much research as you're doing beforehand! And I know how it feels to be so excited!

[taming]

Originally Posted by Mrs_Often

You could bring your laptop and test the usb cable and Desktop app as well as your phone's hotspot.

Yes, with a Kobo account with a user name like The Phuter Shop Phantom or Best Buy Bazinga, I suppose.

[Katel]

Thanks so much for all the info - and no, actually I haven't tested it yet but am going to Officeworks today to see if they have a test one. I don't plan on buying too many books right now as I'm a bit cash strapped so am looking forward to the library facility as well. Sounds like I will need Calibre too, but that's ok, as I see there's a Calibre forum here as well where I'll probably get lots of help if I need it . This is a fantastic site, and again thanks everyone for your input.

[Bookpossum]

Hello Katel, and welcome from me too. I am very happy with my Kobo Touch and can recommend it to you also. Yes there are a few glitches, but really, they aren't as bad as you might think from some threads you find here. Remember, people are usually posting about problems (and of course some people unfortunately do get a "dud") but I think the vast majority of us have very few problems.

My KT is loaded mostly with public domain books plus a few I have bought when I was given a gift voucher for my birthday. (I'm retired, so have to watch what I spend also.) There are lots of books in the MR Library which members have cleaned up to get rid of typos etc, so that's a good place to start.

I do use calibre for storing all these public domain books - it's a very good system indeed.

[Katel]

Thanks Bookpossum for the welcome, and thanks for the tip about the MR library. Does that mean we can source ebooks from there - fantastic. Anyway I'll have a looksee.

I bought my KT today after testing it with the Kobo Basic and I preferred the Touch's faster response , also that the flashes to black at the page turns seemed to be much more noticeable on the Basic. Also this is my first experience with a Touch (a Touch anything,yes I'm a neanderthal ) and I loved it. I did want a white bezel but they only had a black, but I realize the case I'll get will probably cover the bezel anyway. So tomorrow is Opening the Box Day, and setting it up. Wooee, it's really exciting. (does a cartwheel or two)

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by Katel

Thanks Bookpossum for the welcome, and thanks for the tip about the MR library. Does that mean we can source ebooks from there - fantastic. Anyway I'll have a looksee.

I bought my KT today after testing it with the Kobo Basic and I preferred the Touch's faster response , also that the flashes to black at the page turns seemed to be much more noticeable on the Basic. Also this is my first experience with a Touch (a Touch anything,yes I'm a neanderthal ) and I loved it. I did want a white bezel but they only had a black, but I realize the case I'll get will probably cover the bezel anyway. So tomorrow is Opening the Box Day, and setting it up. Wooee, it's really exciting. (does a cartwheel or two)

Congrats!! I'll do some cartwheels with you!