Cyber Monday Sales

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I found it interesting that this is the first time Kobo has restricted a coupon to specific books. Usually it's to any non agency book but it seems to only work on the books under the coupon's category.

FYI, the 20 percent off code seems to work on any non-Agency book, not just the ones on the list.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Catlady

FYI, the 20 percent off code seems to work on any non-Agency book, not just the ones on the list.

Okay thanks for the heads-up.

[Fbone]

Kobo Touch $69.99 at Buy.com

Ebates 5%

[koland]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Kobo Touch $69.99 at Buy.com

Ebates 5%

Not to hijack the thread, but did anyone actually get a VOX reader that was pre-ordered?

Mine is still "delayed until Nov 7" (yes, weeks ago and not another word from Kobo). I've called and emailed and managed to get "escalated" but apparently my order is stuck in "pending" and no one there can look to see why or unstick it.

[SensualPoet]

I think the problem with Open Road and Kobo (at least in Canada) is the publisher has a much higher "standard price". Open Road are generally $9.99 in the US and $12.50ish in Canada. The 60% off is a much better price than we can normally get at Amazon ... except Amazon has its own sale.

I think it's worth pointing out this nonsense to Open Road.

[library addict]

Omni Lit and All Romance eBooks have a 50% rebate (credited as ebucks) on all non-agency ebooks until midnight Central time.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

I think the problem with Open Road and Kobo (at least in Canada) is the publisher has a much higher "standard price".

That's not just a problem with the Open Read Media books; Kobo also does it with some other publishers, and I suspect they're just another in a long line of Canadian book-price-setters who think that they're supposed to convert the US dollar cost in the other direction, towards the peso for the Mexican market.

For example, Macmillan's discount offerings are usually inflated by $1.00 for us at Kobo vs. Sony and Amazon's Canadian store branches. Whenever the Tor imprint does their monthly $2.99 introductory book sale, Kobo makes them $3.99 for Canadians, and of course you can no longer use the occasional $1 off coupon to even up the price discrepancy since Macmillan seems to have gone Agency in Canada.

Similarly, the Tor.com short stories which sell for 99 cents elsewhere? All $1.99 in Canada. HarperCollins' $1.99 "with Bonus Material" introductory specials? $2.99 Canadian at Kobo if available at all. And during the height of the loonie, no less, when it was above par with the US dollar.

But yeah, I'd complain to both Kobo Customer Service and Open Road in the hopes that they eventually do something about it.

[Indio777]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Amazon does that too with many of their Kindle Special Offers. No way to sort. Just manually sort through page after page after page. What a pain.

It's not just the Kindle Stuff.

Try searching for CDs just from Japan. Can't be done (at least not last time I checked). Or DVDs from a single studio. One can search for books by publisher. Why not DVDs?

Also, their non-option of not bring able to increase number of hits per page is a pain. Slogging thru page after page gets tiresome.

[jj2me]

Originally Posted by twobits

MP3 Players (for audiobooks)
[*]Samsung Galaxy Player 4" ($230) -- Amazon ($189) / Best Buy ($190)


I picked up one of these. I think they have it very mispositioned as an mp3 player only. It is basically a cell phone without the cell phone radio. So it can run most android apps and also works just fine as a wifi VoIP phone. So it is really a pda, pocket pc like device that can also double as a phone when you are in range of wifi. I set it up with csipsimple and it works well. However, due to the fact samsung thinks of it as an mp3 player (oh, it also plays a lot more formats the just mp3), the stripped out the dialer component of the OS so the contact list integration is not present with csipsimple. I had to switch to a paid app for now to get this. Cant wait for a custom rom to appear of Samsung to realize they should not strip out the dialer just because it does not have a cell radio. This is a neat device that I think will not sell as well as it should because Samsung marketing has it position all wrong.

I don't really get this type of "MP3 player." I expected it would support protected WMA (WMA9/PlaysForSure/MTP), which would add value over an Android cellphone. But no, it's like you said, a smartphone sans cell radio.

Why not just get a pre-paid Android phone, like the cheaper Optimus V (3.2") or the Motorola Triumph (4.1", but still holding its value at over $200)? Or get a used smartphone with a bad ESN for cheap. Soon, most of us will have old smartphones we've retired, with old phone OSs, that will still be servicable media players, and will do VOIP calling like you want (I use sipdroid/pbxes.org on an Optimus V).

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Yeah, it's a 4" tablet.

Yeah, that seems what it is. But what's the value proposition compared to a pre-paid or bad ESN smartphone?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by jj2me

Yeah, that seems what it is. But what's the value proposition compared to a pre-paid or bad ESN smartphone?

Those pre-paid Android phones generally have smaller and lower resolution displays, slower processors, little onboard storage, older versions of Android, weaker rear facing cams, no FM radio, no front facing cam, no wifi n support, etc.

That's too many hits to take and I won't do it.

As to the used market; no. I don't buy used products. You're buying older technology approaching the end of its support cycle. Additionally, you're getting a battery that's been used daily for the last two years. That means adding the cost of a new battery to the price. Plus there's no warranty and you have no idea how much longer the device will work. On top of all of that, there's the issue of the seller's reputability. I have no desire to play that game.

[jj2me]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Those pre-paid Android phones generally have smaller and lower resolution displays, slower processors, little onboard storage, older versions of Android, weaker rear facing cams, no FM radio, no front facing cam, no wifi n support, etc.

Thanks for that full answer, I hadn't noticed several of those features. Another benefit, I would think, is that you get more usable RAM in these devices. Cellphones use up some RAM for the phone, and for cellphone-provider crapware (hello, Verizon). I consider 512 MB RAM in an Android cellphone too low. In a media device it might be fine.

[baumgar]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

Pretty big deal sale at Kobo on Cyber Monday (Nov 28) only.

Web link for the sale (Canada): http://www.kobobooks.com/cybermonday...8cybermondayCA

Web link for the sale (US): http://www.kobobooks.com/cybermonday...8cybermondayUS

E-books:
60% off most OpenRoad books (no limit) - OpenRoad60
50% off select titles (one purchase only) - Cyber50
30% off select titles (one purchase only) - Cyber30
20% off select titles (one purchase only) - Cyber20

Plus order the Kobo Touch at regular price and get a 20% off gift card bundled in.

Legal: Offer valid from Nov 28, 2011 at 12:00 AM through Nov 28, 2011 at 11:59 PM. This offer is not valid in conjunction with any other offer or promotion and cannot be used to adjust amount paid on previous purchases. Cyber20 discount code is valid for 20% off any eBook purchase from this list, Cyber30 discount code is valid for 30% off an individual eBook purchase from this list and Cyber50 discount code is valid for 50% off an individual eBook purchase from this list. All discounts exclude eBooks from the following publishers: In the US - Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, Random House, Simon & Schuster, Wiley, and Zondervan, and all respective subsidiary imprints. In CA - Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, Wiley, and Zondervan, and all respective subsidiary imprints. OpenRoad60 discount code is valid for 60% off any eBook purchase from Open Road Media. Newspapers and magazines are excluded from this offer. Promotional code must be entered at time of purchase to qualify for this discount. Discounts cannot be applied nor the discount value refunded once a purchase is complete. We reserve the right to change or end this offer at any time without notice.

Thank you! It helps.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Those pre-paid Android phones generally have smaller and lower resolution displays, slower processors, little onboard storage, older versions of Android, weaker rear facing cams, no FM radio, no front facing cam, no wifi n support, etc.

This is what I don't like about CDMA. With GSM, you can pretty much buy any phone you want (albeit, prices are pretty steep for higher end phones) and just pop in a SIM card and you're good to go. Got myself a Nexus S for $300. At the very least, given the hardware and being the former flagship Android phone, it'll probably be better supported than the Samsung Galaxy Player.