Kindle 3 versus Kobo

[erictoma]

Hi
I was planning to buy Kindle3 until I was surprised that all the ebooks that I m interested in are not available in Kindle store for Canadian customers !

Not only those books are not available but I have been informed by Amazon support team that Kindle cannot read eBooks from other store.

No doubt that the Kindle is a great gadget but not having the possibility of buying eBooks from other stores is really a big flaw.

In other hands, Kobo seems to accept all eBooks and has also a built in dictionary and a decent battery life which makes me considering buying it.

What are you opinions about Kobo, does it has the same quality as kindle or not ?

[foghat]

kobo does not support all ebooks. it supports epub - which are available from a few stores.

I've found that most of the time, if the book I want (i am in canada too) is not in the canadian kindle store, it is usually not in the kobo store either.

also, as a canadian, it is quite easy to buy books books from the US amazon store. you just need to register a valid US address (can be any US address), set this as your default address and away you go.

The only thing you can't do is buy from the US store directly from you kindle - well, actually you can, but then amazon usually sends you an email wondering why you are buying books from the US store. The trick is to download the file to your computer and then transfer to the kindle from there.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by erictoma

Not only those books are not available but I have been informed by Amazon support team that Kindle cannot read eBooks from other store.

That's not strictly correct. The Kindle is designed to seamlessly shop at the Amazon Store, and it's unlikely that Amazon support will help you shop elsewhere, but read around these forums and you'll find many people get lots of content on their Kindles from lots of sources besides Amazon.

ApK

[montalex]

I live in Canada and have a Kindle 2i, and I like having access to the terrific Amazon catalog of books. I have, on occasion, changed my address to a U.S. one just to buy those books that aren't available in Canada. Usually, the books in question haven't been available in Indigo either -- it has something to do with publishers negotiating Canadian rights, not with Amazon. I have opened US accounts at the other major U.S. sellers, using my Canadian credit card, and the address of a friend or family member. I also buy from Indigo. Of course, I have to convert the books with Calibre into mobi for Kindle, but this takes minutes. There are plugins for Calibre which will help you. Google Calibre plugins or ignoblepub, and you will find what you are looking for.

I do highly recommend Kindle. I was on vacation last summer in the middle of nowhere, and I was able to purchase the New York Review of Books, as well as a book reviewed therein, using the free 3G network.

Foghat's advice is good, too. If you do open a U.S. account, always download your books to your computer for your Kindle (not for Kindle for PC, as these won't work on the Kindle, without using certain Calibre plugins.

[erictoma]

Originally Posted by ApK

That's not strictly correct. The Kindle is designed to seamlessly shop at the Amazon Store, and it's unlikely that Amazon support will help you shop elsewhere, but read around these forums and you'll find many people get lots of content on their Kindles from lots of sources besides Amazon.

ApK

Kindle 3 cannot READ any ebooks purchased from other stores ! and it depends on the eBooks, protected eBooks cannot be read in Kindle

[erictoma]

Originally Posted by montalex

I live in Canada and have a Kindle 2i, and I like having access to the terrific Amazon catalog of books. I have, on occasion, changed my address to a U.S. one just to buy those books that aren't available in Canada. Usually, the books in question haven't been available in Indigo either -- it has something to do with publishers negotiating Canadian rights, not with Amazon. I have opened US accounts at the other major U.S. sellers, using my Canadian credit card, and the address of a friend or family member. I also buy from Indigo. Of course, I have to convert the books with Calibre into mobi for Kindle, but this takes minutes. There are plugins for Calibre which will help you. Google Calibre plugins or ignoblepub, and you will find what you are looking for.

I do highly recommend Kindle. I was on vacation last summer in the middle of nowhere, and I was able to purchase the New York Review of Books, as well as a book reviewed therein, using the free 3G network.

Foghat's advice is good, too. If you do open a U.S. account, always download your books to your computer for your Kindle (not for Kindle for PC, as these won't work on the Kindle, without using certain Calibre plugins.

just during this weekend i didn't find at least 10 eBooks on amazon store !
"caffeine blues" is not available for Canadian in amazon but IT IS available in Kobo store.

May be you are more interested in Novels or celebrity biographies , but I can assure that at least 90% of the titles I m interested in were not available in amazon store for Canadian customers.

At least with kobo you can order from other stores

[ApK]

Originally Posted by erictoma

Kindle 3 cannot READ any ebooks purchased from other stores ! and it depends on the eBooks, protected eBooks cannot be read in Kindle

Well, you've been advised to check these forums to see how much of that is really true, and you've been told how to get the full American Amazon store content.

But by all means, buy the reader you like.

I'll just go on reading all these non-Amazon ebooks I have on my Kindle....

[erictoma]

Originally Posted by ApK

Well, you've been advised to check these forums to see how much of that is really true, and you've been told how to get the full American Amazon store content.

But by all means, buy the reader you like.

I'll just go on reading all these non-Amazon ebooks I have on my Kindle....

I have been informed by phone by amazon support clerk and have exchanged with them several emails.

You can read non Amazon eBooks if they are FREE or NO protected but not protected ones.
If you can read protected purchased eBooks in your Kindle then I will buy Kindle for sure.

[abookreader]

Kindle 3 cannot READ any ebooks purchased from other stores ! and it depends on the eBooks, protected eBooks cannot be read in Kindle

What is ..... an untrue statement Alex?!!!!

But as far as your questions go, the best place for opinions about the Kobo reader are most likely to be the Kobo forum (rather than coming to the Kindle forum to ask Kindle users).

However, since you came here I'll go ahead and give my opinion.

I've played around with the Kobo devices (both generations) and found them to be a nice basic reader. The initial version had some clunky-ness to it but they seem to have really improved it with firmware updates.

I love the coupon discounts the Kobo bookstore offers and I shop there often, but I find the biggest drawback to them is that you cannot pre-order a book the way you can with both Barnes and Amazon.

If you are looking for a basic digital reader to handle ADE ePub files there is certainly nothing wrong with buying a Kobo.

However, I do like my Kindle 3 better.

[montalex]

Originally Posted by erictoma

just during this weekend i didn't find at least 10 eBooks on amazon store !
"caffeine blues" is not available for Canadian in amazon but IT IS available in Kobo store.

May be you are more interested in Novels or celebrity biographies , but I can assure that at least 90% of the titles I m interested in were not available in amazon store for Canadian customers.

At least with kobo you could orders from other stores

Well, gee, you seem to have judged me because I am able to find the books that I like, which are, for example, books from the Booker shortlist, or recent books on neuro-physiology , convert them as necessary, but really Caffeine Blues is much too intellectual for me...

Many of the books I have purchased in the last year were not available outside the U.S. for Kindle, nor in Canada for Kobo. Who was talking about celebrity biographies??

Google is your friend, conversion is not difficult, nor is DRM removal.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by montalex

Well, gee, you seem to have judged me

I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he's not really being judgmental. It's just that French accents always sound judgmental to English speakers, even in writing.

The same language issue is, I think, preventing him from taking the hint we're trying to give about what's possible on a Kindle.

[wvcherrybomb]

Originally Posted by ApK

Well, you've been advised to check these forums to see how much of that is really true, and you've been told how to get the full American Amazon store content.

But by all means, buy the reader you like.

I'll just go on reading all these non-Amazon ebooks I have on my Kindle....

Ditto

I have lots of non-Amazon books on my Kindle 3.

[erictoma]

Originally Posted by montalex

Well, gee, you seem to have judged me because I am able to find the books that I like, which are, for example, books from the Booker shortlist, or recent books on neuro-physiology , convert them as necessary, but really Caffeine Blues is much too intellectual for me...

Many of the books I have purchased in the last year were not available outside the U.S. for Kindle, nor in Canada for Kobo. Who was talking about celebrity biographies??

Google is your friend, conversion is not difficult, nor is DRM removal.

I didn't really judge you, please don't take it personally, you were adamant that you have full access to amazon store. but you didn't tell me that you are removing eBooks protection illegally in order to read them.




really know if this removal is easy or not, i dont know where to find the software

[Baldrake]

Not my experience, but whatever... I hope you'll be happy with your Kobo.

[erictoma]

Originally Posted by wvcherrybomb

Ditto

I have lots of non-Amazon books on my Kindle 3.

How did you remove the protection ?