So is this new Kobo worth buying?

[Canuck_in_Japan]

I am a previously contented Sony 650 owner. It's a great device and I thought the best of the bunch until I heard about this new Kobo. Sony's reader is great but it's lack of wifi, syncing across different apps is starting to hurt it. I like the fact that the kobo can do these things as well as have stuff like stats and achievements (I had no idea!) and sharing. Of course the price doesn't hurt either. I think I paid about $290 tax included for my Sony 650 and cover last Christmas-ouch!
I just downloaded the kobo app for the iphone and had a lot of fun with it although it seemed a little sluggish and the only way to get other non-kobo stuff onto it seems to be through i-tunes which is a non-starter for me. How will content be accessed with the actual reader itself. Will I be able to upload non-kobo content (books, instapaper, calibre recipes) wirelessly and simply? Or will I still have to connect to calibre directly to get that kind of stuff?

How about the hardware itself? Is Kobo ereader (the previous version) fairly reliable?

[Sregener]

You will almost certainly need to use a desktop application like Calibre or ADE to load non-Kobo content.

My reader has crashed hard in somewhat limited use. I don't trust it to operate if I do anything more than reading... Even changing font sizes is fraught with peril.

For someone who already has a good ereader, I don't see the point in upgrading, but if your current platform is lacking, Kobo is a fine choice.

[omgfire]

The hardware is good for me. I have yet to have any problems with my kobo. I use Calibre to load and manage all my books. I have the kobo app for my 4g ipod touch and it doesn't seem sluggish for me.

[dmacmart]

@Canuck_In_Japan - I've started using Dropbox for my iPad and iPhone Kobo apps. Copy the file to a dropbox folder, open dropbox on your iDevice, navigate to the required file, and open it. Dropbox will be unable to but use the "open" icon (box with arrow sticking out) and "Open in Kobo". You can then delete them using the Kobo app. SO MUCH BETTER than iTunes.

Not that this will work on the KTouch.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by Sregener

You will almost certainly need to use a desktop application like Calibre or ADE to load non-Kobo content.

I don't mind using Calibre. I'm hoping to not have to connect my device physically though. When I was using my iTouch and Stanza I was able to wirelessly send files to my itouch. I hope Kobo can do the same.

I will try the dropbox trick,

[moffattm]

I have an original Kobo and have never had a problem with the hardware, firmware upgrades or adding books. I use Calibre to sideload epubs and to convert PDFs and other formats to epub.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sregener

You will almost certainly need to use a desktop application like Calibre or ADE to load non-Kobo content.

My reader has crashed hard in somewhat limited use. I don't trust it to operate if I do anything more than reading... Even changing font sizes is fraught with peril.

For someone who already has a good ereader, I don't see the point in upgrading, but if your current platform is lacking, Kobo is a fine choice.

This is what I've been saying all along. Why upgrade/change now if you have a working reader? Sure, we know about the hardware and some of the features and they sound very nice. But what we do not know about is the actual system software. The old Kobo models have bugs that have never been fixed. Does the new Kobo have bugs? Does the new nook have bugs? No idea. Let others be the beta testers and report in before deciding to do anything. Also, when buying a reader, take it as it is. Do not buy one thinking this or that problem will be fixed. Bugs/problems may never be fixed. So if there is a problem or a bug you cannot live with, don't buy until such time as the issue(s) has been fixed.

I mean, if you have a read you can use no problem, wait. What problems will the new nook & Kobo have? Will there be a touch/sans-physical keyboard Kindle with ePub? What will Sony do? These are questions we have no answer to and if you have a good enough reader, wait.

By the time Sony (they've released new devices in October) should announce a new line of Readers, we'll know about bugs/fixes/etc. for the new nook & Kobo. Also, we may know what's up with the Kindle by then too maybe. Not really sure when that will be, but if you can wait 4-7 months, then you'll know a lot more and can actually make a well informed decision instead of rushing and maybe wishing you didn't.

[magnus117]

In My case, I'll wait and see how it goes. One thing that I noticed is how the new Kobo lags. Kobo reps have said that it will be fixed with a firmware upgrade. That's fine with me but I'll still wait. I also heard that the new Kobo has certain audio features (unlike the nook touch). I sure hope thats the case. I'm hoping for some kind of browser or at least a rss solution. All in all, I like the KTouch and I'm very impressed with new PDF support which is not the case for the Nook Touch. Whats the point of a battery lasting 2 months if it cant go landscape or support pdf decently??

[zoran]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The old Kobo models have bugs that have never been fixed. Does the new Kobo have bugs? Does the new nook have bugs?

No software carved in rock. Even openvms happens to fail in a decade or more.

Let others be the beta testers and report in before deciding to do anything.

Call it "user who likes to have new features".

So if there is a problem or a bug you cannot live with, don't buy until such time as the issue(s) has been fixed.

In a time when people use internet, there is no place to hide those features. At
least, this forum will notify you. It is not a small fortune. Even I would get new
reader somewhere at the end of the year, spite I'm fully happy with my first ver-
sion device.

What problems will the new nook & Kobo have? Will there be a touch/sans-physical keyboard Kindle with ePub? What will Sony do? These are questions we have no answer to and if you have a good enough reader, wait.

Wrong. That way you will wait whole life. There will always be better reader
next year/century.

By the time Sony (they've released new devices in October) should announce a new line of Readers, we'll know about bugs/fixes/etc. for the new nook & Kobo.

Reflashing should be easier, if kobo finds wifi good enough to upgrade such a
way. I reflash almost every electronic device, including music player, router...
My only concern is how long new device would process loaded files, since I have
them a lot now.
Best regards all.

[MechR]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

How will content be accessed with the actual reader itself. Will I be able to upload non-kobo content (books, instapaper, calibre recipes) wirelessly and simply? Or will I still have to connect to calibre directly to get that kind of stuff?

AFAIK the current model cannot receive files wirelessly, unless maybe you hack it to enable FTP access. For USB transfers, besides Calibre, you can also just drag-and-drop files in Windows Explorer.

[Donnageddon]

Originally Posted by dmacmart

@Canuck_In_Japan - I've started using Dropbox for my iPad and iPhone Kobo apps. Copy the file to a dropbox folder, open dropbox on your iDevice, navigate to the required file, and open it. Dropbox will be unable to but use the "open" icon (box with arrow sticking out) and "Open in Kobo". You can then delete them using the Kobo app. SO MUCH BETTER than iTunes.

Not that this will work on the KTouch.

What a great tip!

Thanks.

[gyuen]

Originally Posted by Sregener

You will almost certainly need to use a desktop application like Calibre or ADE to load non-Kobo content.
...

I hope that will change. I'm not sure what would be ideal for reading ePubs on on my desktop and reader with syncing of books, place, highlighting, and last page read. Kobo could do with an upgrade to their Desktop software. The new reader looks nice but perhaps Nook might have a better chance of doing that or getting towards it sooner.

Ah yes I've looked at Nook for Mac and it seems to have potential.

[Psyke]

Originally Posted by zoran

Quote:
"What problems will the new nook & Kobo have? Will there be a touch/sans-physical keyboard Kindle with ePub? What will Sony do? These are questions we have no answer to and if you have a good enough reader, wait."

Wrong. That way you will wait whole life. There will always be better reader
next year/century.

While I agree with most of your post Zoran, I don't necessarily agree with this; I'm usually an early adopter whether it be hardware or software, and more often than not, I get burned, because the developer/manufacture rushed to market, or didn't test sufficiently. I fully accept getting burned because despite experience, I usually buy first production runs, although I've tried to stop this practice because I just don't have as much disposable income as I used to.

It makes much more sense for people to wait for a reviews, or even reviews of second revisions/first firmware updates that usually fixes many of the problems that fell through the cracks with the first production runs. It also makes sense to be fully informed about a purchase and your options prior to purchasing, and unfortunately, information like what we're currently seeing for the new Kobo is nothing but marketing hype. you can't assume that they've fixed all the problems from previous versions because you know what they say about when you assume, right?


But you're not entirely wrong though, at least when it comes to features. yes, if you keep waiting for particular features as they are announced, ie - kobo announces touch screen for June...just before release, kindle announces the same, but with a virtual keyboard for september, so you decide to wait for that, and again just before release, Sony announces all the above but adds yet another wanted feature, but for release another 3 months down the line and again you decide to wait for that...you're absolutely right, you'll never make a purchase as you wait for the next best thing, or you'll be like I used to be and have a lot of similar devices piling up that you're not using anymore


and his last point is dead on; if you have a device that's doing the job already and doing it well enough, you can afford to wait longer to make sure you're not purchasing a lemon.