A question to the people who have both Kindle and Kobo

[kristalana]

For what it's worth, my one experience with Kobo was quite positive as well. I'd purchased a pdf, not knowing to check the 'Read This On', and they gave me a full refund.

[BelleZora]

Originally Posted by kristalana

For what it's worth, my one experience with Kobo was quite positive as well. I'd purchased a pdf, not knowing to check the 'Read This On', and they gave me a full refund.

Just last week I did the same thing. I sent an email about the problem, and it was solved. They gave me a full refund and a 90% off coupon. I didn't even have to talk to anyone.

[RZetlin]

Several factors:

1) Hardware specs of the eReaders. Kobo edges out of the Kindle in terms of hardware specs. Kobo has allows SD Cards, while Kindle does not.

2) Format support. Kobo supports CBR and CBZ for comics, while Kindle does not.

3) Pricing. Kobo seem to offer discounts on a frequent basis while Amazon does not.

4) Gift Cards. Unfortunately, Amazon do not offer retail gift cards in Canada, while you can easily get Kobo gift cards.

5) Bookstore. Amazon edges Kobo in their selections, but I can look to alternative sources like the Library.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by RZetlin

1) Hardware specs of the eReaders. Kobo edges out of the Kindle in terms of hardware specs. Kobo has allows SD Cards, while Kindle does not.

Not important to everyone so it's really a case by case basis. Some would say that the fact the Kindle uses the Carta screen makes it better hardware wise.

2) Format support. Kobo supports CBR and CBZ for comics, while Kindle does not.

It is nice they support it even though it can be hard to find legitimately available stuff in either format from a lot of publishers, although even on the bigger screen of the Aura HD it's kinda small for comics (not bad for Manga though).

3) Pricing. Kobo seem to offer discounts on a frequent basis while Amazon does not.

Really depends on where you are. Kobo's coupons are awesome if the book is couponable, but from the US their prices generally suck on non-couponable books (or most books in general if you have no coupon) where as Amazon discounts a great number of titles such as former agency titles where Kobo doesn't allow coupons and often charges full list or nearly so. I was looking at a book today (non-couponable) and it's $11.99 at Kobo and $8.99 at Amazon.

4) Gift Cards. Unfortunately, Amazon do not offer retail gift cards in Canada, while you can easily get Kobo gift cards.

Again, depends where you are. In the US there is exactly one place to buy physical Kobo GC's and it only exists in a few states. Plus you can't buy digital Kobo gift cards at all from the Kobo site.

5) Bookstore. Amazon edges Kobo in their selections, but I can look to alternative sources like the Library.

Amazon does have more, but Kobo's got a pretty good selection I think at least when it comes to more mainstream publishers.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by RZetlin

Several factors:

1) Hardware specs of the eReaders. Kobo edges out of the Kindle in terms of hardware specs. Kobo has allows SD Cards, while Kindle does not.

2) Format support. Kobo supports CBR and CBZ for comics, while Kindle does not.

3) Pricing. Kobo seem to offer discounts on a frequent basis while Amazon does not.

4) Gift Cards. Unfortunately, Amazon do not offer retail gift cards in Canada, while you can easily get Kobo gift cards.

5) Bookstore. Amazon edges Kobo in their selections, but I can look to alternative sources like the Library.

As AnemicOak says, however I'd like to add

5) "Alternative sources like the library" are available for the Kindle platform as well. If you live in the US. And they are integrated far better when they do offer the option.

[Soldim]

If prices are the same, or sufficiently similar, I tend to go with Kobo.

In general I prefer AWZ generated from ePub over ePub generated from the different kindle formats, in addition my experience with Kobo customer service is better than my experience with Amazon customer service.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by Soldim

in addition my experience with Kobo customer service is better than my experience with Amazon customer service.

Really? How so?

[Soldim]

Originally Posted by Rizla

Really? How so?

I bought a 18$ kindle book, and realized it had a lot of formatting problems when I started reading it about 3 months later (evidently including redownloads to check for improvements). When I contacted Amazon I was told it was too late for a refund, even though they admitted the books' formatting was miserable.

In a similar case, at Kobo, not only did they refund, they also contacted me when the corrected version of the book in question was available, with a 50% discount coupon.

[Jane Oldaker]

My husband recently requested a refund from Kobo because he couldn't set the font size where he wanted it and therefore couldn't read the book. They took care of it within 24 hours. Totally painless.

[leaston]

I tend to use my Kobo Glo more than anything else to read fiction. My Kindle keyboard is still going strong, but without a backlight it is a bit restrictive for my reading habits. I also use my Samsung Note 3 and MoonReader+ fairly regularly to read novels. It's especially handy if I'm somewhere I can't easily use my Kobo.

In terms of price, I go for the cheapest and decide which device to load onto after using my friends Alf and Calibre