Kobo Glo HD

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by ryuji35

What I can't think of is how bold Amazon can be when they made the Voyage $199 if the 300 ppi screen can be replicated easily (If this is really its unique selling point.) I mean, when I bought the Voyage, I thought the high price tag is maybe because of how "pricey" the screen might have been to produce. The fact that Kobo was able to do it and offer it in their "midrange" product means, the screen is not that expensive at all. Were they able to foresee this? Or they intend to make the Voyage a cash cow for just a few months?

It's not just the screen with the Voyage, it's page press sensors and auto light adjustment. Both those functions are unique to the Voyage and personally I like and use both those functions.

[ryuji35]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

It's not just the screen with the Voyage, it's page press sensors and auto light adjustment. Both those functions are unique to the Voyage and personally I like and use both those functions.

I understand, but are these really worth $70 more?

[shalym]

Originally Posted by ryuji35

I understand, but are these really worth $70 more?

They are to me...

Shari

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by ryuji35

What I can see here is that Amazon will retain Voyage as their premium product (and its price) and maybe respond this year by making the Paperwhite 300 PPI as well and, who knows what "surprise" we'll get with 2nd Gen Voyage.

I think if the PW has the same screen as the Voyage, the remaining features will not be enough to justify the extra price to many buyers.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by Hrafn

The vast majority of those who "baulked at the price of a Voyage" are likely to simply stay with the PW2, rather than move to Kobo simply for increased resolution.

I'm not sure about that. I read the Voyage screen is a significant upgrade. Add to that the Kobo (presumably) better front-light...

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by ryuji35

I understand, but are these really worth $70 more?

For me yes, definately.

[ryuji35]

Originally Posted by shalym

They are to me...

Shari

Originally Posted by Josieb1

For me yes, definately.

So I guess, there ARE people who will still buy the Voyage at that price point even if Glo HD exists.

Specs-wise alone, we can argue that the Glo HD is more a "bang for the buck" than the Voyage. But overall, in terms of ebook availability, the unit's availability, and the brand itself, for a hardcore reader with average tech skills, no wonder people will still go for the Voyage, or Paperwhite. At this moment, the term Kindle is like "colgate" for toothpaste, "Kleenex" for tissues etc. etc. If Kobo targets those readers who are yet to switch from physical books to e-reading, they must make their brand stronger first because if you ask those people who are yet to make the switch and hears the term e-reading, first comes to mind is the word Kindle (I have no support in this claim but this is based on my experience.)

It's the trust and the familiarity in the brand that is the greatest challenge that Kobo currently faces from Amazon. So, my bet is Amazon won't change its price for the Voyage. There are people willing to pay that price for Amazon. If they buckle, I will be very surprised since I really have this notion that they are very confident in terms of their monopoly in the Ebook market.

P.S. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Kobo and I am itching to get my hands on the Glo HD. But my case in point is that, if Kobo believes that offering a more affordable 300 ppi unit will lure people to their brand based on this alone, then they might get disappointed. I bet that majority of the people who are already into e-reading do not tinker with their e-readers about additional fonts and stuff. They used whatever came from the box.

Also, there are people who don't scrutinize the tech specs. Some people believe that if a model is more expensive then it's much much better.

[Nick_1964]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The 300dpi is good, but the glass backplane still means I'm not going to be getting one.

If the new Kobo would have such a screen, I will not buy it, I had the Aura and had to polish it almost every day to remove the stains and was glad to sell it, so if someone can confirm it has such glass in stead of the normal screen, I can remove this topic from my list,it would be such a bummer !

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The 300dpi is good, but the glass backplane still means I'm not going to be getting one.

Originally Posted by Nick_1964

If the new Kobo would have such a screen, I will not buy it, I had the Aura and had to polish it almost every day to remove the stains and was glad to sell it, so if someone can confirm it has such glass in stead of the normal screen, I can remove this topic from my list,it would be such a bummer !

All Kobo, all Kindle, and almost all other e-ink readers have a glass backplane, which is underneath the e-ink layer. Only the Kobo Aura and Kindle Voyage have the extra layer on top of the e-ink screen (in addition to the light guide and capacitive touch layers.)

[Nick_1964]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

All Kobo, all Kindle, and almost all other e-ink readers have a glass backplane, which is underneath the e-ink layer. Only the Kobo Aura and Kindle Voyage have the extra layer on top of the e-ink screen (in addition to the light guide and capacitive touch layers.)

Sorry for the misunderstanding and thanks for pointing it out,in the translation I got the idea that it really would have the glossy type of glass like the Aura has.

[rjcroy]

Originally Posted by shootist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTz3apOFyro

Glo hd versus Voyage

I admire the enthusiasm of the GoodEReader guys who cover a fairly niche market that doesn't get a heap of attention in other media. But I find the quality of their reviews frustrating too. A comparison of this review with a review such as this, http://mariusmasalar.me/kindle-vs-kobo/, really makes you realise what these reviews could be.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Rizla

It actually states the Kobo font options are too complicated (for them, perhaps?).

The Kindle formatting options are very simple. It's bad to worse to just plain awful. And then there are the limited font size choices where a lot of people want more in between sizes.

It doesn't mention page formatting at all. I guess it was too hard for them to work out.

They had the eBook on the Glo HD setup so it looked worse. It's like they wanted the Voyage to look better.

They were also unable to turn off the light and turn on the front-lights. How do these people get past puberty, never mind run a web-site?

Not comparing the front lighting was a very bad omission. But then I think they did that because Kobo does a better job and they didn't want to give something so important to the Glo HD.

But it does make the shocking point about the price. Half the price! Though, again, obviously, they don't mention shipping, which you might able to get free in the US, or about $15 CDN, so it's not much.

I think that's the killer right there. Wow

The price of the Glo HD is very nice,.

The killer is the reviewers. They killed what could have been a good review. How could they say that the Voyage is a top end model and the Glo HD is an entry level model? That's just nonsense. Some of the feature the reviewers were tooting on the Voyage are ones that are hardly used like language translation.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The 300dpi is good, but the glass backplane still means I'm not going to be getting one.

I can say that after having used a nook STR, the Kobo software just makes the any eInk nook look like a Fisher Price toy. I do think you'd really enjoy the Glo HD over any nook.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ryuji35

What I can't think of is how bold Amazon can be when they made the Voyage $199 if the 300 ppi screen can be replicated easily (If this is really its unique selling point.) I mean, when I bought the Voyage, I thought the high price tag is maybe because of how "pricey" the screen might have been to produce. The fact that Kobo was able to do it and offer it in their "midrange" product means, the screen is not that expensive at all. Were they able to foresee this? Or they intend to make the Voyage a cash cow for just a few months?

The problem (for Amazon) would have been what the heck do they do with the PW2? The Glo HD is $129.99 and the PW2 without special offers and just WiFi is $139. So in order to match the Glo HD in price, the PW2 would have to have the price dropped to about that of the Kindle and the Kindle would have to not exist. This would lose significant money for Amazon

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

It's not just the screen with the Voyage, it's page press sensors and auto light adjustment. Both those functions are unique to the Voyage and personally I like and use both those functions.

I find that once you figure out a light level that works, you tend to stick with it. I know I do. I only really read with the light sometimes in bed and I use 4% or 5%.

Now the page turn buttons would actually not work as well as swiping the screen when laying on my side (in bed) reading. I don't always have my hand in the same place. But with the touch screen, I just do the same exact swiping and it works very well.

I have a light sensor on my Surface Pro 2 and it's turned off because it's just annoying.