Why do you prefer Kobo ereaders to Amazon ereaders

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by artekxp

I gave my Kobo to my gf and got myself Kindle Paperwhite. It just feel much more premium just like iPad vs Android pad. Build quality, responsiveness, functionality.

You gave your girlfriend your reject and kept what you consider to be more premium for yourself? True love indeed!

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by artekxp

I gave my Kobo to my gf and got myself Kindle Paperwhite. It just feel much more premium just like iPad vs Android pad. Build quality, responsiveness, functionality.

If I gave my gf the better Kindle (or Kobo), my wife would get extremely upset.

[maddz]

Originally Posted by puremagic

I have the oasis kindle and found that the battery life is shocking compare to my old kindles which I passed to family. I’m looking at the kobo ones but in the Uk don’t know anywhere or anyone with one that I can see and get a idea of how tactile it is.

I got a Kobo Forma sight unseen and have been very happy with it. I did try and meet up with someone in London to try it out, but we never managed to arrange a time and place.

I was concerned the larger form factor would put undue rotational strain on my wrists (I'm prone to tendonitis) but I'm happy to say that's not been the case. The angled edge with the buttons is actually very comfortable to hold. I find I prefer to page turn in a book using the screen, but prefer to use the buttons for page navigation outside books.

Having the plastic substrate means it's almost as light as the Libra, and having the expanded memory (I went for 32GB) means I'm not worrying about what to side load and can happily load PDFs as well as ePubs.

Battery life isn't too bad; I get better performance if I have Wi-Fi off and manually sync every few months. I have it set to sleep after 15 minutes of inactivity, and power-off after 30 mins inactivity. Even with Wi-Fi on, I only need to charge every 10 days or so.

Compared to my iPad, it's a doddle (that needs charging in less than a day if I'm playing a graphic intensive game).

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

If I gave my gf the better Kindle (or Kobo), my wife would get extremely upset.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Check out the Kobo Libra 2 - by all accounts it's the pick of the bunch at the moment, and is competitively priced.

Very well said. And true.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by artekxp

I gave my Kobo to my gf and got myself Kindle Paperwhite. It just feel much more premium just like iPad vs Android pad. Build quality, responsiveness, functionality.

More premium?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

You gave your girlfriend your reject and kept what you consider to be more premium for yourself? True love indeed!

But he did give his GF the better Reader.

[ilovereading.com]

The big A are shady AF and that is the reason I would never buy any of their branded products. It's also very rare for me to buy any physical products from them too.

Unfortunately, they have exclusivity on many of the authors I read (indie authors) so I'm forced to borrow (KU) a lot of my books from them but I also have a tablet that I use for the kindle app or on rare occasions my phone.

And sometimes there is a significant price difference when buying from them as opposed to Kobo, although if it is only a small difference I do still buy from Kobo instead.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by ilovereading.com

The big A are shady AF and that is the reason I would never buy any of their branded products. It's also very rare for me to buy any physical products from them too.

Unfortunately, they have exclusivity on many of the authors I read (indie authors) so I'm forced to borrow (KU) a lot of my books from them

Well, no. I have to quibble here. You’re not “forced” to use KU; there are a lot of books out there and you could find something else to read. Your moral or paranoid or both stance against Amazon doesn’t really hold up, since you’re prepared to violate it at will.

[JSWolf]

One thing with Kobo is the screen is getting better and Kindle screens are getting worse.

The PW4 and PW5 (from what I've seen in some good photos) are not as good as the PW3 screen.

[ilovereading.com]

Originally Posted by issybird

Well, no. I have to quibble here. You’re not “forced” to use KU; there are a lot of books out there and you could find something else to read. Your moral or paranoid or both stance against Amazon doesn’t really hold up, since you’re prepared to violate it at will.

Quibble all you like!

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ilovereading.com

Unfortunately, they have exclusivity on many of the authors I read (indie authors) so I'm forced to borrow (KU) a lot of my books from them but I also have a tablet that I use for the kindle app or on rare occasions my phone.

Why are you forced to borrow when you could assuage your conscience by buying? I have never seen a KU book that was not also available for purchase.

Originally Posted by ilovereading.com

And sometimes there is a significant price difference when buying from them as opposed to Kobo, although if it is only a small difference I do still buy from Kobo instead.

Perhaps you could have Kobo price match? They've done that for me even on a Kindle 1 day special.

[Quoth]

KU benefits Amazon more than buying a book via Amazon, which can be 70% to author / publisher.
AFAIK all KU books are available to buy and not all ebooks on Amazon are in KU.

I read bought ebooks from anywhere except Apple or Barnes & Noble because they are far more a Walled garden than Amazon is, in reality. I read on a Sony PRS350, Mars, Libra and Elipsa. My three kindles are only used to test converted epub2s before upload to KDP (as epub2) and Smashwords (epub2 for local and distribtion, dual mobi for local) and Google (as epub2).

[ilovereading.com]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Why are you forced to borrow when you could assuage your conscience by buying? I have never seen a KU book that was not also available for purchase.

As a paid for 'subscription' service, KU is basically a 'library' and I'm primarily a library user. And as my library systems hold and purchase very few of the types of books I prefer in one of my two primary genres of choice, this is the best way for me to read those. Also, with the amount that I read, it is not financially viable for me to purchase every single book I read/want to read, nor is it preferable as I do not want to have a permanent (and even that is not the case with amz in particular) copy of every book I read. I choose primarily ebooks now for that very reason. And as far as forced, I say that because of the fact that if the author publishes on KU, they are not allowed to publish their books anywhere else.

I don't feel like I need to assuage my conscience because I already do what I can, given my own circumstances, to put my money where my mouth is (or more to the point, not). Also, I'm a prolific reviewer on a number of different platforms and am very active in the bookish internet so I also support many authors on a regular basis by promoting their books which I know (from feedback) aids, albeit in a tiny way, in their sales via a variety of different sources and in all formats.

PS. Borrowing a book from KU also sometimes helps me decide to actually buy a copy if I do decide I want to have a (semi)permanent copy of it or in very rare situations, a print copy.

Originally Posted by DNSB

Perhaps you could have Kobo price match? They've done that for me even on a Kindle 1 day special.

I wasn't aware that they did that. Thanks for letting me know.

[ilovereading.com]

Originally Posted by Quoth

KU benefits Amazon more than buying a book via Amazon, which can be 70% to author / publisher.
AFAIK all KU books are available to buy and not all ebooks on Amazon are in KU.

I read bought ebooks from anywhere except Apple or Barnes & Noble because they are far more a Walled garden than Amazon is, in reality. I read on a Sony PRS350, Mars, Libra and Elipsa. My three kindles are only used to test converted epub2s before upload to KDP (as epub2) and Smashwords (epub2 for local and distribtion, dual mobi for local) and Google (as epub2).

Smashwords is a hidden gem that not nearly enough indie authors use which is a huge shame. I'm always happy when I find a book I actually want to buy from them these days, but I was buying from them before I started buying from either Kobo or amz.