KAI one?

[schooncw]

Nubie with a question,
I have never owned or used an e reader and had decided on the KA1 but it seems that many are experiencing problems.
Should I wait or should I give more consideration to a Kindle? Any opinions on the Oasis? I know it's way pricy but reading pleasure is my main priority and any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Craig.

[ZodWallop]

Craig,

I'd recommend heading to the 'Which One Should I Buy' section with your question. You'll get more feedback from both Kobo and Kindle owners there: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=123

[Dr. Drib]

Post moved to the correct forum.

And please do not triple-post again, posting at three different forums.

Thank you.


Don
(Moderator)

[meeera]

Originally Posted by schooncw

Nubie with a question,
I have never owned or used an e reader and had decided on the KA1 but it seems that many are experiencing problems.
Should I wait or should I give more consideration to a Kindle? Any opinions on the Oasis? I know it's way pricy but reading pleasure is my main priority and any advice is much appreciated..

First up, I would recommend getting to a physical shop with display models, if at all possible. It is best if you can hold them in your hand and get a sense for what it's like to read on them. Don't be alarmed at the black negative-screen flash when the screen refreshes; I didn't think I could adjust to that at first, but within one book's worth of reading my brain just tuned it out. (It's also much less with modern eink tech than it was when I was starting out.)

After that, there are a pile of opinions here, but they're based on what features are important to the individual. What sort of reading will you be doing? What is important to you? The smallest, lightest reader? The biggest screen? Waterproofing (very useful if you're prone to spilling coffee etc!) A bigger screen? Ability to customise the display finely (font size, line spacing, margins etc)? Access to sync systems like Kindle Whispersync? Access to public library books?

[church mouse]

In my opinion size is currently the deciding factor. Kobo currently have stopped selling a 300dpi 6"model, so for 6" you go Kindle, for bigger you go Kobo.

I stopped using my H2O because I found that for reading sessions of 30mins plus it became uncomfortable to hold. The KA1 is bigger still. (If you could find someone still selling the Glo HD, then that would be my choice).

[meeera]

Originally Posted by church mouse

In my opinion size is currently the deciding factor. Kobo currently have stopped selling a 300dpi 6"model, so for 6" you go Kindle, for bigger you go Kobo.

I stopped using my H2O because I found that for reading sessions of 30mins plus it became uncomfortable to hold. The KA1 is bigger still.

Note that the KA1 has a bigger screen, but it is a little lighter.

Size isn't the deciding factor for everyone, which is why I seek more info from the OP.

[HarryT]

I've never heard of the KAI one. Do you have a link?

[church mouse]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've never heard of the KAI one. Do you have a link?

Kobo Aura One

Sent from my YOGA Tablet 2-830F using Tapatalk

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by church mouse

Kobo Aura One

Sent from my YOGA Tablet 2-830F using Tapatalk

Thank you. I'm familiar with that, but I'd never seen it referred to as a "KAI one" before.

It seems to be a nice piece of hardware let down by poor firmware - a common failing of Kobo.

[llcj]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Thank you. I'm familiar with that, but I'd never seen it referred to as a "KAI one" before.

It seems to be a nice piece of hardware let down by poor firmware - a common failing of Kobo.

Sorry HarryT, the Kobo firmware is what attracts me to its devices over Kindle devices.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by llcj

Sorry HarryT, the Kobo firmware is what attracts me to its devices over Kindle devices.

I'm not talking about its features, but about its problems - eg the battery drainage issues that many people seem to be experiencing with the Kobo One.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm not talking about its features, but about its problems - eg the battery drainage issues that many people seem to be experiencing with the Kobo One.

Those have been largely fixed. The next firmware release will hopefully fix the rest. Of course, then there will be the claims of bad battery like because people don't understand what the battery claims mean.

[llcj]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm not talking about its features, but about its problems - eg the battery drainage issues that many people seem to be experiencing with the Kobo One.

Yeah, sorry. I took it as a general statement as the firmware is generally the same across Kobo devices.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by llcj

Yeah, sorry. I took it as a general statement as the firmware is generally the same across Kobo devices.

Most of the battery problems would have happened on the other devices as well. But, Kobo hasn't officially released the firmware to anything other than the Aura ONE and Aura Edition 2. Some of the problems seem to be related to what firmware the device was setup with, so people manually installing the firmware on other devices wouldn't have seen them.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm not talking about its features, but about its problems - eg the battery drainage issues that many people seem to be experiencing with the Kobo One.

And even that is not always. I still haven't updated my One and I really have to think when I last charged it..

If Kobo has one failing, it's that they're not consistent. Some devices are perfect, others not so...

And like llcj, I got attracted to the Kobo, mainly because the features of the software. The few bugs that might be there, I'll live with. Chances are that bugs will be fixed before complete new features will be added (especially features like custom font selection, better margin control, better font size control...)