Kobo Touch $129

[Bani]

My interest in Kobo has basically shot from 10-20 to 100. The new reader looks very nice, nice interface, so small without sacrificing screen size, etc. Don't care much for the social media features but the statistics feature (particularly recording hours spent per book and most read genres) has me interested for some reason. Never heard about that feature on any other e-reader before.

[jocampo]

Does it offer landscape mode? ...

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Does it offer landscape mode? ...

Yes, at least for PDF, not sure about ePub.

From the Kobo Reader site...

PDF Zoom & Landscape

Zoom in 200% on image-intensive PDFs with a simple double tap. Drag to pan around images or touch Rotate to change from portrait to landscape and back.

[MechR]

The current Kobo does not do landscape for epubs. Dunno about the Touch.

On that note, image files are auto-fit and -oriented to best fill the screen. (Small images are expanded, and aspect ratio is preserved.) They cannot be zoomed/rotated manually. Don't know about the Touch, but it'd be awesome if it could zoom/pan images just like PDFs.

[jocampo]

Gosh! ...

Then I will remove it from my wish list. Same thing with Nook Touch. I do not understand why they refuse to implement landscape on epub.

[Rizla]

What's up with the single button? I have seven on my 650 and I need every single one of them plus the touch screen. A single button for me is a show-stopper. What were Kobo thinking ?

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by Barty

Kobo to Sony: eat me.

That was a cheap shot at Sony (from a Kindle owner...). Kobo and Nook have blown both Sony AND Kindle out of the water. Sony tech is current with these new devices (though over-priced) while the Kindle is last years tech and looks hopelessly outdated.

[Solicitous]

The new Kobo does look cool, but something (will probably come out in the wash) is one of the videos I watched talked about the Kobo being more suited to right handed people with the placement of the d-pad and the new touch over comes this (which is fine), but how can one comfortably read with one hand? If I want to just hold it with my left hand can I turn the pages with a funky little move or do I need to perform a swipe (how far across the screen for it to register as a page turn I don't know)??

I'm starting to think it might be a little hard to just read one handed and swap between hands. On the plus side it looks a very nice unit, and the features look fairly appealing (don't use any social media so that is all useless to me).

[Arthur Slade]

I certainly want one now. But since I own a Kindle and an iPad, that might be a little bit of overkill. I may wait until version two comes out, in case there are any "touch" kinks.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by Rizla

What's up with the single button? I have seven on my 650 and I need every single one of them plus the touch screen. A single button for me is a show-stopper. What were Kobo thinking ?

iPhone says "Hi."
I use the home button on my 650 but that's about it. I never use the page turn buttons-they feel uncomfortable to use one-handed. I always use my finger to swipe-it feels very natural.

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by John F

but by the 4th generation, hopefully, a product is relatively mature and has useful functionality and IS NOT limited by a replaceable battery.

I would love an MP3 player with a replaceable battery (all I want is a simple MP3 player that plays music). Ditto for an ereader.

The "3rd generation" Kobo -- the Kobo Touch -- arrives in time to mark the 1st anniversary of the US release of the "1st generation" Kobo. That's a new one, each with a significant evolution in capability, every six months. Yikes!

I'm not concerned about the replaceable battery: barring a defect, the battery ought to outlast my interest in the device, particularly when the product evolution is so insanely rapid.

And it's pretty amazing that each ereader has been released for about the same price -- one the positions itself as an affordable, serious contender.

When e-readers are in that $150 price point range, and ebooks are generally a savings for $5 or more each, a steady reader can "pay off" an ereader in a year or so ... effectively making the ereader "free". Penguin's Sixkill, Robert B Parker's last Spenser installment, currently on the New York Times bestseller list, is $31 in hard cover (no mass or trade edition is out yet) in Toronto in stores, it's around $25... it's $9.99 as a Kobo ebook. Or Grand Central's 9th Judgment, another James Patterson thriller ... $16.50 in paper, $9.99 as a Kobo ebook.

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

The new Kobo does look cool, but something (will probably come out in the wash) is one of the videos I watched talked about the Kobo being more suited to right handed people with the placement of the d-pad and the new touch over comes this (which is fine), but how can one comfortably read with one hand? If I want to just hold it with my left hand can I turn the pages with a funky little move or do I need to perform a swipe (how far across the screen for it to register as a page turn I don't know)??

I'm starting to think it might be a little hard to just read one handed and swap between hands.

That's what I like about the Kindle 3 and Kobos ... they are easily held in one hand; and the kindle 3 is easier to change pages with my thumb. This is mainly a function of weight (under 250 grams) vs. handed-ness, I believe. So the 200 grams of the Kobo Touch is that much more appealing.

Originally Posted by Solicitous

On the plus side it looks a very nice unit, and the features look fairly appealing (don't use any social media so that is all useless to me).

I'm not big on social media and books either ... but I do like how the Kindle 3 prompts me to post something when I reach the last page of a book ... and also offers others titles I might like and could shop for immediately.

Since recently joining goodreads, I see how easy it is to add what I'm reading to Facebook. So, I am intrigued to see what Kobo Touch has come up with on an eink ereader in this regard where the tools are far more limited than a tablet. I could become a convert if the interaction is reasonably simple.

Kobo's mantra has been "simple, basic, easy" and each version has enhanced that goal ... while adding more functionality. So I am optimistic the Kobo Touch will be an enabler of those features for me without losing the "simple".

[ApK]

When people say "user replaceable battery" does that only mean as provided by the manufacture, or does it include getting one off ebay for $10 including the tools to pry open the case? Cuz it seems like it's generally a hobbyist or above who would need that feature at this point. I bought an old iPod Video on ebay and replaced the battery, and only later did I learn that the battery 'wasn't user replaceable.'

[EricW]

Originally Posted by ApK

When people say "user replaceable battery" does that only mean as provided by the manufacture, or does it include getting one off ebay for $10 including the tools to pry open the case? Cuz it seems like it's generally a hobbyist or above who would need that feature at this point. I bought an old iPod Video on ebay and replaced the battery, and only later did I learn that the battery 'wasn't user replaceable.'

Usually when the phrase "user replaceable battery" is in the description, my assumption is something with an accessible battery door...or at the very least a back panel that doesn't require lock-picking tools to gain access. Not that I'm having any battery issues with the Kobo (or any of my other digital toys) yet, just defining terms.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Barty

Kobo to Sony: eat me.

Unless Kobo has a bug free version of ADE on the new Touch model, Kobo is the one that will have to eat crow. Given the remaining bugs in the original Kobo and the wifi Kobo, Sony has nothing to worry about.