Just bought the Glo HD. Is the hardware reliable?

[Seanpr]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

https://us.kobobooks.com/products/ko...paign=Glo%20HD

The Kobo Glo is on sale until the end of May 1st, 2016 for $89 with free shipping. Better price than a PW3 which uses the exact same screen and has the exact same chance of breaking.

It says $109 for me.

[Barbara1955]

IF you live in the US then depending on the Exchange rate when you order it Yes it could be $89

Keep in mind there may be Shipping charges too

[filmo]

All ereaders have eInk screens with a glass substrate easily broken by excessive pressure on screen or twisting of ereader. Major design feature is light weight making them easy to hold for hours of reading. I damaged the screen on my first Kobo Wifi and not another one has been damaged knowing how delicate they are and being careful. I had a Kobo reader in pocket at amusement park while riding every roller coaster and other ride at 6 Flags. Only protection was silicone sleeve with stiff 23 gage steel that covered screen retained by silicone sleeve. My Kobo Mini with no protection is almost always in a shirt pocket with me all day unless I'm sleeping or in water. My kobo touch is sometimes in a cover but I still handle the reader as if this very good cover offers no protection. Often pack a reader next to a tablet, computer, or a wood board so the reader is protected a little better with screen next to a more ridged device. For best protection in suit case or out, carry your reader in a ridge wood case or a Pelican Case made for tablets, cell phone, or computer. I sometimes see low priced copies of Pelican Cases (Attwood Dry Case) in boating department at Walmart.

[TimeEffect]

I know both are on sale. Keep in mind Im in Canada, where Kobo actually is the market leader, if Im not mistaken.

Regarding shipping somethng back... would Kobo really charge me a lot to ship back a defective product? I would assume that I'd make a big deal out of it to customer support if they tried to do that, especially since Amazon is great in comparison.

And the sale for both of these products is the same up here:

Original price: $140, save $20 with free shipping.

I feel like I could have gone either way. I assume both ereaders are just as susceptible to hardware issues, but I guess I wanted to make sure the issues I see with the Glo HD were mostly just because there are fewer Kobo users on the internet, and they just go online to bring up a problem with their product.

I am sincerely hoping my product doesn't have an issue with lines or dead pixels. I trust that the warranty would cover it if it did, but I am kind of worried that this issue may not become apparent until months after the fact.

How many of you actually have a Glo HD here?

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

This is just a few people saying this. If the Glo HD was really that unreliable, we would have read many more posts from unhappy users.

To be honest, I've read about damage to most eInk Readers including Kindle and Kobo. It's not just a matter of being reliable. It's a matter of being careful. eInk screens use a glass substrate and if they get damaged, the screen is broken. Some people treat Readers like they were a cell phone and break it and then complain the Reader is faulty. I've never heard of a Reader just breaking on it's own. There's always been a cause even if the user doesn't know what that is.

Did you see the one about the guy that put his elbow through the kindle?
He asked if there was a better e-reader that his elbow wouldn't break.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Katie1

IF you live in the US then depending on the Exchange rate when you order it Yes it could be $89

Keep in mind there may be Shipping charges too

From Kobo it is free shipping.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Seanpr

It says $109 for me.

Thanks for catching my mistake. I've edited my post to put in the correct info.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Did you see the one about the guy that put his elbow through the kindle?
He asked if there was a better e-reader that his elbow wouldn't break.

Yes, there are better Readers than Kindle. But, are they elbow proof? Nope.

[Blossom]

I own a Glo HD. I love it! It's perfect hardware wise. Once I got use to IR touch versus capacitive. The lighting is perfect. It's has a clean lovely background and is perfect for night reading in the dark.

Because you can change font weight on your fonts. I read at several sizes smaller than I ever did on my Kindles.

I got a great deal on mine during Christmas. I only paid $80USD from Chapters. I read on that little reader every night. I use the default Amasis font with a ton of weight added. The Patch is a must just for that. I got my case for $10 on Amazon. I'm very happy with my purchase. This is coming from a former Kindle fangirl.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by TimeEffect

How many of you actually have a Glo HD here?

FWIW I've had a GloHD since June 2015. I'm sorry to disappoint the scaremongers but it still has a beautiful screen - evenly lit, sharp, no bright pixels and absolutely no lines of unresponsive pixels. For all epubs (sideloaded or otherwise) it has pretty good typography (hyphenation, font sizes, weights, line-spacing, kerning, ligatures etc) some of which can be made even better with the simple patches available via these forums. Library management, Collections, cover thumbnails and screensavers are also easily managed via Calibre.

Call me a reckless fool but I've always based my own gadget decisions on the features it does/doesn't have rather than the supposed quality of its Customer Service department, mainly because in 7 years involving 9 eink devices (Sony, Pocketbook, Kobo) I've never needed to call them. Other opinions are available, of course, and I prefer not to tell others what they should/shouldn't buy.

[TimeEffect]

Thank you, friends!

@Blossom

You know what, I was pretty much deadlocked between Glo HD and PW3.

One of the reasons I went with Glo HD was because of Amasis/font options! Love Amasis myself. I feel like Kindle's font options all look the same.

As far as covers go, is the official Glo HD cover a safe bet? I'd go for cheaper if I could get a good recommendation, but the best third party option I see is from a company called Poot (or something like that), and Im reading complaints about the cover not fitting the HD and the plastic cracking after a few months.

Seems like the official Glo HD Cover is the best bet

[Blossom]

I am a Amasis fan too and on the Kindles had to modified fonts in a font program so I could read comfortably before they fixed that loophole on the Paperwhites. I also had to up the font sizes. The wonderful thing about Kobos is you can easily add any font you want.

If you use epub not kepub there will be some you need to run through Calibre to remove font tags and font styles so you can use the font features.

I have this cover
http://www.amazon.com/OMOTON®-Thinne...dp/B00X560IC6/
and it works great for indoor protection. I'd get better protection if you plan to travel with it though. It's really lightweight which I read the official case adds too much weight. It's such a tiny light little reader compare to the Paperwhite Kindles.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[TimeEffect]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I am a Amasis fan too and on the Kindles had to modified fonts in a font program so I could read comfortably before they fixed that loophole on the Paperwhites. I also had to up the font sizes. The wonderful thing about Kobos is you can easily add any font you want.

If you use epub not kepub there will be some you need to run through Calibre to remove font tags and font styles so you can use the font features.

I have this cover
http://www.amazon.com/OMOTON®-Thinne...dp/B00X560IC6/
and it works great for indoor protection. I'd get better protection if you plan to travel with it though. It's really lightweight which I read the official case adds too much weight. It's such a tiny light little reader compare to the Paperwhite Kindles.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Sadly, this is unavailable for the Glo HD here in Canada. Looks lovely!

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I have this cover
http://www.amazon.com/OMOTON®-Thinne...dp/B00X560IC6/
and it works great for indoor protection. I'd get better protection if you plan to travel with it though. It's really lightweight which I read the official case adds too much weight. It's such a tiny light little reader compare to the Paperwhite Kindles.

I agree with it being minimal protection. It was the first cover I bought and really didn't like how flexible the front cover was, just pushing on it slightly caved it in, it really would offer no protection against anything pressing against the cover in a backpack for instance.

The cover I'm using now is this one, the front piece is pretty rigid and stiff. I originally had it in solid dark blue, you can find that type of cover around pretty easily.

And I have 3 Glo HDs and every one of them is perfect and I love the reader.

[Blossom]

I don't find the front flimsy on mine at all. It's quite stiff and plastic feeling. I agree I would not put it in a backpack or purse. It's too thin to protect against heavy weight but for the price It works good enough from keeping cats, dust and scratches. It fits perfectly and for those who like the lightness of the Glo HD it adds almost no weight. If I was to travel I would get a hard case for it like I have for my Nexus 7. You just put the whole thing with case in the shell and strap it in.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk