Clara HD Is this the only reader with warm light?

[BookCat]

John F: it's good to know that they have the same return policy as Amazon.

stumped: John Lewis is a bit like Marks and Spencer; always on the verge of going out of business. If I bought a reader from them and a month later they went into liquidation, any guarantee wouldn't be honoured.

If they've sorted the light bleed issue, I'd be more inclined to buy online from Kobo. I would need to contact them anyway to get the reader registered at their end (I have no wifi; Amazon just did the Paperwhite registration over the phone.)

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by BookCat

John F: it's good to know that they have the same return policy as Amazon.

stumped: John Lewis is a bit like Marks and Spencer; always on the verge of going out of business. If I bought a reader from them and a month later they went into liquidation, any guarantee wouldn't be honoured.

If they've sorted the light bleed issue, I'd be more inclined to buy online from Kobo. I would need to contact them anyway to get the reader registered at their end (I have no wifi; Amazon just did the Paperwhite registration over the phone.)

I'm not sure I've understood what your internet situation is. You do not need to enable wi-fi on a Kobo - I've never enabled it on any of mine. You will need to register it via an internet connection and any login id you care to make up. I use Kobo Desktop for PC for the initial setup. I haven't heard of people contacting Kobo CS to do this for them but I could be wrong.

However, I think if you're this nervous about buying from a company who isn't Amazon then I think you should probably stick with them. Your money will be 100% safe but unfortunately you will also be 100% sure that any current Kindle won't do any of the things you originally stated you wanted.

[stumped]

Originally Posted by BookCat

..

stumped: John Lewis is a bit like Marks and Spencer; always on the verge of going out of business.

no way - they have just rebranded **, and are opening a new superstore near to where I live.
also they are entirely owned by their staff, this is not a normal capitalist company.
look into it
we have a lot of white goods from them on long warranties and I am not at all worried about their financial stability.
i would buy from them in preference to Argos, or W H Smith, or even Amazon because of their better guarantees + price matching. Those names are probably your entire list of UK options

** "John Lewis Partnership. The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) is an employee-owned UK company which operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose & Partners supermarkets, its banking and financial services, and other retail-related activities."

[BookCat]

jackie-w: My internet situation is this: all of my internet is wired via network plugs. I'm very sensitive to wifi so had it switched off by the guy who installed the modem etc. I discoved this sensitivity many years ago when I lived in a student area and used to pinch unsecured wifi.
I would get very bad headaches after an hour or so on the internet, especially in my temples, level with the antennae on the laptop. Eventually, I had my own provider without wifi, so keep the wifi on my pc off.

That's the background and why I keep readers in permanent aeroplane mode.

I'm not scared about leaving Amazon, though I've become used to them. However, I would like to get the best deal I can, and that includes customer service, which I consider a vital part of a purchase. I would rather pay more for better c s than less for a cheap model with lousey c s.

I've never owned a Kobo, so can only go by my experience with Sony and Amazon. The Sony was bought so long ago that I don't remember how it was registered but that was pre-wifi readers anyway. Now, the normal way to purchase books from a seller (like Amazon) is to have them delivered directly to your device. With me, this was not possible - no wifi. In order to purchase ebooks from Amazon I had to register the kindle, which is normally done via wifi, but as I don't have wifi Amazon did this by phone, thereby setting up a Kindle account linked to my reader so that I could buy books and download them to my pc to move them to the device via usb.

I assume that the same is true of Kobo: that when you receive your device you first go through a registration process (normally done on the reader itself).

One thing I've noticed while browsing their website is that the books are quite a bit more expensive than kindle books.

I'm not afraid to leave the Amazon system: I still have a working Paperwhite. But I want to get good customer service from the seller.

[BookCat]

stumped: See this

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/lat...chester-camden

[stumped]

Originally Posted by BookCat

stumped: See this

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/lat...chester-camden

huge difference between store rationalisation and closing the company.
look at the entire company portfolio : JL stores, Waitrose supermarkets, Financial services.... stores + very good online businesses, unlike M&S who remain clueless at how to do e-cimmerce.

as for zero profits, well Amazon make a loss every year, but you still shop there ?
and using the daily star as s source of business wisdom -
words fail me - they make the Sun look upmarket

[stumped]

Originally Posted by BookCat

jackie-w: My internet situation is this: all of my internet is wired via network plugs. I'm very sensitive to wifi ..

i could be wrong here as I don't have that sensitivity, but most of the invisible wifi radiation is from other transmitting devices : the routers and hotspots, and not from your owned receiving devices - the phones, tablets, laptops.. which just ping to see if there is anyone out there.

If I kill or ignore my own wifi, on my phone or tablet I am still seeing about 10 wifi SSIDs in range coming from nearby, and I am in a detached house in a small village, not in a a crowded city.
so isolating yourself from wifi is not very practical?

and blocking wifi does not stop you being beamed with 3g, 4g, and soon 5g signals, indoors and out, from cell towers

again, I'm willing to be proved wrong, but surely the radiation reaching you from your nearest cell tower is way larger than anything your home hub , or your neighbours can pump out. there are strict rules on max allowed wifi strength.

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by BookCat

I assume that the same is true of Kobo: that when you receive your device you first go through a registration process (normally done on the reader itself).

It's more of a "setup your device" than registration process. And, like Jackie said, with Kobo, you can do it yourself through USB cable and the Kobo Desktop software. That's also how you can sync your Kobo-purchased books to your device.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by BookCat

One thing I've noticed while browsing their website is that the books are quite a bit more expensive than kindle books.

Kobo have a Price Match Guarantee for all ebooks and audiobooks, at least in the UK. I haven't used it so far.

[BookCat]

I've just spoken to a friend who told me there's a John Lewis nearer than the city centre, not far from WHSmith. So we can go there and take a look at the Clara.

stumped: That was just the first of many links which said the same when I googled John Lewis closes branches.

[John F]

Originally Posted by BookCat

John F: it's good to know that they have the same return policy as Amazon.

...

I don't think they are the same; I think Amazon pays for all postage, and I don't think Amazon charges a restocking fee (although I don't recall hearing people complain about a restocking fee for Kobo.)

[stumped]

I have seen horror stories here from people returning items direct to kobo and being without money and without device for weeks.
Check which stories are for your country.
I am not sure whether in UK we can order direct from kobo or have to find a retailer

With John Lewis.com , an online order can be returned for a full refund.

Ditto for Argos, but Argos charge for delivery, usually. JL will deliver for free if you don't need it rushed.

The return option is sort of true for any new but faulty online item from anyone as we have UK law that says so, but some retailers will make life awkward and will try not to pay return postage.

Below is the Argos return policy. I could not find one at kobo and the kobo web site is useless in an android browser, can't get to the devices section as drop down menus do not work...

"Absolutely! We offer a 30 day returns guarantee on most items. (We’re nice like that.) So if you need to bring it back, just bring it back to any Argos store. Or if you got it delivered, we can collect it for free and refund your original delivery charge. If it is a small item you can also return it to a store at a convenient time for you and we can refund you immediately. However it may take 5 – 7 days for your bank to process the money.

We’ll either refund the cash onto the original payment method or offer you an exchange. Easy."

[BookCat]

Stumped: I know that the Argos return policy is good, but we now plan to go and see the Clara in a physical shop - probably John Lewis. In Argos it's impossible to see items before you buy them.

As regards the wifi sensitivity: it appears to be the devices themselves, for example I always got a headache at the point where the anntenae (sp) are situated in the upper corners of the laptop monitor. When I was the last owner-occupier (well, almost) in a studentified urban area I was then surrounded by wifi networks, but now I'm in the leafy suburbs where many of the residents are retired. There are very few wifi signals here and the mobile reception is poor (I have a dumb phone, but mostly use a landline). The point is: I don't get headaches when the internet is wired, but if I switch the pc's wifi on within an hour I'll have a terrible ache.

John F. Restocking Fee! What a cheek! So they charge for the hassle of putting it back on the shelf?

I don't know if this is the right place to ask this question, but could I buy ebooks from Amazon and put them on the Clara without going through Calibre first?

Thanks for so much help.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by BookCat

...could I buy ebooks from Amazon and put them on the Clara without going through Calibre first?

In a word? No.

[BookCat]

By that reply I gather that the ebooks have to be friends of Alf.