Is it worth the risk purchasing a Kobo?

Originally Posted by murg

Same page. It was at the lower price for a day.

Strongly suggests what the street discounted price will be (can you say JBHiFi?)

I hope JB or Collins launches at that price. Now that I've seen it at that price (and with free shipping, no less), I'll be unwilling to pay any more.

[murg]

Originally Posted by cyvros

I hope JB or Collins launches at that price. Now that I've seen it at that price (and with free shipping, no less), I'll be unwilling to pay any more.

It'll just be Collins screwing themselves. By pricing a AU$32.49 premium on the Glo, it will just make the Kindles look that much more attractive.

And Collins makes exactly zero on Kindle sales (I think).

The premium is 25% of the AU$127.50 RETAIL price in Canada. So at that price Collins is effectively wholesaling the Kobos in Australia at their retail price. You just have to wonder if Kobo understands how negative it can be for their distributor to be engaging in price-gouging.

[fbrII]

I have owned a variety of reading devices both e-readers and tablets. I would list them all but it would just be an embarassment to admit and make it even more difficult to attempt to answer my wife's constant question, " And why do feel you need another reading device??"

Well based on an experience with e-readers that is both difficult to rationalize or to afford, I can simply answer your question by saying, yes. Based on my experience, I would say the perfect reading experience would be a Kobo Touch with an internal light.

And, that is why, I will be buying a Kobo Glow ..as soon as I figure out how to answer her question.

Which unfortunately, may take a awhile

[TongueTied]

Originally Posted by murg

It'll just be Collins screwing themselves. By pricing a AU$32.49 premium on the Glo, it will just make the Kindles look that much more attractive.

And Collins makes exactly zero on Kindle sales (I think).

The premium is 25% of the AU$127.50 RETAIL price in Canada. So at that price Collins is effectively wholesaling the Kobos in Australia at their retail price. You just have to wonder if Kobo understands how negative it can be for their distributor to be engaging in price-gouging.

This is Australia, mate. Retailers here have taken the idea of ripping off customers to new heights. They also nievely think that because we are so far away from anyone else, Australian's will only buy from local distribution channels. That is probably changing with the high dollar making it only sensible to buy online from overseas. I don't think Kobo can do anything about it and that is assuming they have done a comparison with Kindle prices here, if you want to put the device on local shelves, you have to accept the high margin local distributors and retailers charge here. And, let's face it, Kobo really doesn't have the mass or momentum to dictate profit margins to retailers her (I wish they did)

So, I'll probably buy a Glo but will likely buy online or pick one up on a trip out of the country. Hmmmm, I'll be in the UAE in early October, I wonder what it will be selling for there?

[TongueTied]

Originally Posted by fbrII

I have owned a variety of reading devices both e-readers and tablets. I would list them all but it would just be an embarassment to admit and make it even more difficult to attempt to answer my wife's constant question, " And why do feel you need another reading device??"

Well based on an experience with e-readers that is both difficult to rationalize or to afford, I can simply answer your question by saying, yes. Based on my experience, I would say the perfect reading experience would be a Kobo Touch with an internal light.

And, that is why, I will be buying a Kobo Glow ..as soon as I figure out how to answer her question.

Which unfortunately, may take a awhile

There are a few ways to answer that question. You could always hope she doesn't notice or "this time they have produced a near perfect reading experience", or "because I thought your new Kobo Glo would be lonely if I didn't get one for myself to keep it company".

[fbrII]

There are a few ways to answer that question. You could always hope she doesn't notice or "this time they have produced a near perfect reading experience", or "because I thought your new Kobo Glo would be lonely if I didn't get one for myself to keep it company".

I had already tried the first two. Tried the third one and got slapped.

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by Katel

So glad to have made you happy.

Originally Posted by fbrII

I had already tried the first two. Tried the third one and got slapped.

Agh! Slappings. Do you at least sell your old ones? If so, I don't see why there should be any/much problems...

[fbrII]

Well actually she didn't slap me. I suggested his and her Kobo's, she suggested, his and her bedrooms. I guess, I just took it as a slap.

And yes, strongly considering selling and simplifying/Kobofying

[soulfuldog]

A combination of selling one or two older/less used items and just getting really excited, enthusiastic and downright goofy over the Glo should do the trick for you. The latter seems to work quite well for my brother anyway, his wife usually just ends up giving in.

[Danger]

I've told my wife that she can have my KT when I get the Glo (pending on hands reviews). Her response was that she was happy with her Kobo Wifi. I said "Well you were happy with physical books before you tried the Kobo. And now I can't part you from it. Just think how much more you will like the KT..." I'm still trying to convince her how much more she will like the Touch than the Kobo she has now. My biggest argument so far is the difference in battery life. She probably has to charge to full 3-4 times to my 1 and I'm probably being conservative at that.

[Loafers]

anybody know how much of a factor the non-standard resolution of 1024x758 will be?

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by Loafers

anybody know how much of a factor the non-standard resolution of 1024x758 will be?

Other than covers maybe looking a little distorted or cut off (assuming it doesn't do the smart thing and scale only to the vertical), there should be no problems at all on epubs that aren't just converted text files with hard newlines at the end of each line.

[spindlegirl]

My husband and I successfully persuaded my Father in law toward a T2 (his first Bookreader) for his Birthday. After describing the foibles with the Kobo, he was sufficiently turned off, and went to the store to test out all the models for himself, drove home with a Sony T2.

Aside from my Kindle, it is the only ereader that has given me zero headaches, period.

[treadlightly]

I went back and read many of the 85 pages in the Kobo Touch firmware thread. I'm even more unsure as to whether the Glo will be the right choice for me. My Kindle 3 rebooted many times after receiving static shocks in the dry environment of the house in winter, but other than that, the reading experience was good. I was not happy with how little control the T1 gave me over text formatting, it shut-off on occasion and often wasn't recognized by my computer after plugging in the USB cable. My Nook STR has been stellar. Never reboots, gives me no trouble whatsoever, and the user interface is fantastic. But the Nook glowlight has received poor reviews about its durability, and returning it to B&N if there was an issue would be problematic for me. So it's the Glo or the Paperwhite. I'm leaning towards the Paperwhite at the moment, unless someone can convince me that the Glo would perform as well as the Nook.

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by treadlightly

I went back and read many of the 85 pages in the Kobo Touch firmware thread. I'm even more unsure as to whether the Glo will be the right choice for me. My Kindle 3 rebooted many times after receiving static shocks in the dry environment of the house in winter, but other than that, the reading experience was good. I was not happy with how little control the T1 gave me over text formatting, it shut-off on occasion and often wasn't recognized by my computer after plugging in the USB cable. My Nook STR has been stellar. Never reboots, gives me no trouble whatsoever, and the user interface is fantastic. But the Nook glowlight has received poor reviews about its durability, and returning it to B&N if there was an issue would be problematic for me. So it's the Glo or the Paperwhite. I'm leaning towards the Paperwhite at the moment, unless someone can convince me that the Glo would perform as well as the Nook.

Bear in mind that for the most part, the 85 pages on the firmware thread are full of old problems. The riot has quietened down. Newer Touches are getting newer firmware (2.1.1) and some of us have dared put on 2.1.1 if we didn't get it automatically. The newer firmware is very very near to perfect. Are there any specific problems described in the firmware thread that are worrying you?

There were some serious update problems to 2.0.0 for some devices. Kobo have narrowed down the cause of this issue and have said future firmware will not cause the same bricking (I don't have the link to the post where this was said handy at the moment. If I find it later I'll add it to this post).

Basically I think you should not let your decision be influenced by the firmware thread. It's a scary thread, and it's talking about problems that are in the past. Yes, there probably will still be some bugs in future Kobo firmware releases, but I'm guessing it won't be as bad as it was any more, since they are now so close to perfecting the firmware.

Choosing between Kindle and Kobo, I think the most important aspect to consider is: do you want to be bound to mobi and quite firmly tied in with Amazon, or would you prefer a more open device. For the latter, you'd have to bear in mind that there probably will be some firmware quirks at first, but Kobo is young and still implementing features that their users are requesting.

Personally, I like the huge potential Kobo has. I also prefer the design of Kobo's hardware (just gorgeous!). But I can also understand if someone were to choose for a more stable and established Amazon...