Bad experience with Aura HD

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Sonist

I understand that people love whatever device they bought, but this "blame the customer" is akin to going by a Kobo service rep's book.

Blaming someone for leaving the reader in the sun a bit much -- these things are sold over tablets for reading in the sun.

Kobo's build quality is definitely not as good as a Kindle DX. The Kobo squeaks and flexes noticeably at minimal pressure, while the Kindle DX does not. I have had a number of readers over the years, the Kobos are the only ones to break. For what it's worth, my Kobos were the least abused of my readers.

Plus, Kobos customer service is at a level I'd expect from a Chinese manufacturer of $30 readers. Nowhere near the level of service provided by Amazon.

Wait until you have to deal with them....

Hmmm.... oddly I haven't noticed any of my Kobo devices squeaking and flexing at minimal pressure (going from the original Kobo to the H20). But then I don't set out to twist and bend them either. Pop the cases open carefully is another matter.

As for the customer service? I've actually dealt with some offshore support located in Asian countries. Sorry but I would not place Kobo's customer support in the same category. If nothing else, the representatives I've dealt with have had little difficulty speaking either of Canada's official languages.

Recent example being the purchase of an ebook which when downloaded turned out not to be the expected omnibus but rather a single ebook. Took about 5 minutes on the phone to get the issue straightened out and refund processing started. It would have taken a bit less time but the service representative actually went to the trouble of checking that both the epub and kepub versions were the incorrect versions before processing the refund.

And the build quality of the Kindle DX? Hmmm... larger screen which suggests a more rigid case would be a necessity and with the $479 US cost, Amazon could afford it. Admittedly, the only Kindle DX I saw in person was the DX Graphite. Using USB with it was a pain and Rogers charged for the joy of using 3G to send your ebooks. The font support sucked if you read anything that had international characters. As for the PDF, the old saw applies -- if you can't say something nice, don't say anything.

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by meeera

Was the car outdoors? If so, it wasn't luck, it was outright abuse.

I was thinking similar, meeera. If the car was in the sun, even if the sun wasn't directly on the reader, the heat could have been enough to warp the device and crack the substrate.

I've never pulled a Kobo apart -- is the screen mounted in a metal frame to guard against torsion? Since eink screens are inherently so fragile, maybe that would be a positive step Kobo could take in future builds?


[Edited to add:
Yes, sorry, I've realised I'm stating the obvious after so many others have already posted similar comments. I misread the thread, and thought it was just one page. Oops. Still, valid question about a metal chassis, I think. It would help.]

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That is just SO WRONG! The H2O is not more fragile than a 6" Kindle.

I don't know if it's more fragile than a 6" Kindle (I returned mine after a week, just don't like sub-7" screens), but the Kobo is definitely less well-made than the Kindle DXG or DX (of which I have had a total of four).

The fit and finish of the Aura HD is noticeably inferior the fit and finish of the Kindle. The Kobo exhibits considerably more flex than the DXG, despite that the DXG has larger screen and is thinner than the Kobo.

Out of the three Aura HDs I have had, two ended up with bad screens -- one left in the sun, as the OP's. An Aura HD I gave as a gift met similar fate.

Yep, I still have one Kobo Aura HD -- over a year old and it still works!

I suppose the H2O may be built a bit better, but in my experience, the Aura HD is of rather poor quality.

And Kobo's customer service is unique, in a bad way. I don't care if they are fluent or not in the official languages of Canada, but I do mind that they are, in my experience, largely unhelpful and ineffective, at least when dealing with hardware issues. I picture a lot of gum-chewing and shoulder-shrugging in that office.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by darryl

You may be right. But based on my experience I'm not taking any chances. It's a great device, and I've got no hesitation recommending it. But I also recommend a good case and treating it very gently.

For ANY Reader, I always say to use a good case and to treat it gently. I've never had a broken screen and I've had/have six different Readers.

Sony Reader PRS-500
Sony Reader PRS-505
Sony Reader-PRS-650
Sony Reader PRS-T1
Barnes & Nobel nook STR
Kobo Aura H2O

Not a broken screen in the lot. The 500 I sold. The 505 the screen controller failed and I managed to get Sony to give me credit towards the 650. The T1 I got when the battery of the 650 wasn't lasting long enough. The nook STR I got as a spare Reader because it was only about $20 on clearance from Roadi Shack. The Kobo Aura H2O I bought because I wanted the front light, the Carta screen, and the larger screen.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I'm a very pleased Kobo and Kindle owner, so try to understand (for a moment) what I am suggesting as a possibility:

Isn't it conceivably possible that the larger a thin piece of glass may be, that this piece of glass MAY be more fragile and prone to breakage than a smaller piece of glass?

Remember the Bookeen Cybook Readers that sometimes seemed to spontaneously have screen breakage? That was 6".

Take a drinking glass that holds 6oz of liquid. Now take that the same glass and make it so it holds 10oz. Is the glass any more fragile? Nope. It's the same glass. Just more of it.

[John F]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

...

Take a drinking glass that holds 6oz of liquid. Now take that the same glass and make it so it holds 10oz. Is the glass any more fragile? Nope. It's the same glass. Just more of it.

Of course it is going to be more fragile (assuming you don't add some sort of support), since it is "the same glass", you have to "stretch" that glass out to get the extra volume?

[Ripplinger]

Comparing a drinking glass to a flat pane of glass is apples and oranges. A larger flat pane of glass will naturally have more flex to it than a smaller pane of glass, especially as thin as the substrates are in ereaders. Going from 6" to 6.8" is probably not going to be a lot more flex to it, but the larger you go with a flat pane of glass, the easier it will be to flex and break.

[frostschutz]

If you put your elbow on it or drop it on concrete it probably does not matter either way.

[doubleshuffle]

FWIW, I've had my Aura HD for over two years now. I take it everywhere. I am careful with it, but not super cautious. It's still in perfect working order.
A few weeks ago I thought I'd killed it because I dropped it onto a concrete floor from a height of about one meter. But I was lucky. It landed flat on its back and is still working perfectly fine. Not exactly poor workmanship I'd say.

Kobo customer service, though... Don't get me started.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by doubleshuffle

FWIW, I've had my Aura HD for over two years now. I take it everywhere. I am careful with it, but not super cautious. It's still in perfect working order.
A few weeks ago I thought I'd killed it because I dropped it onto a concrete floor from a height of about one meter. But I was lucky. It landed flat on its back and is still working perfectly fine. Not exactly poor workmanship I'd say.

Oh wow, did your heart stop?

[ottdmk]

Just for the record: I've dealt with Kobo's Customer Service dept on several matters over the past few years. Every time the matter has been resolved to my complete satisfaction, including a warranty replacement of my original Aura HD.

No customer service department is perfect, and it's true that people seem to report more satisfactory results when dealing with Amazon. However, I feel the need to point out that Kobo's department doesn't seem as bad (to me) as a lot of the reports around here would suggest.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck, Susie. I can sympathize; lost my last Kobo Aura HD to a drop on a set of stairs. My wallet hated me.

[doubleshuffle]

Originally Posted by meeera

Oh wow, did your heart stop?

You bet.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by John F

Of course it is going to be more fragile (assuming you don't add some sort of support), since it is "the same glass", you have to "stretch" that glass out to get the extra volume?

It is not the same glass. It's just more of the same since it now holds more liquid. It's not the smaller glass converted to hold more liquid. The glass that holds more liquid is using more physical glass.

It's the same with the H2O. You don't have the same amount of glass as wityh a 6" screen. You have more glass because the screen is 6.8".

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by filmo

Only one company makes all of the eink screens for Sony, Kindle and Kobo. They all are just as easily broken. Amazon might have more liberal return policy.

In my opinion, the qualifier 'might' is unnecessary when it comes to Amazon's return policy.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It is not the same glass. It's just more of the same since it now holds more liquid. It's not the smaller glass converted to hold more liquid. The glass that holds more liquid is using more physical glass.

It's the same with the H2O. You don't have the same amount of glass as wityh a 6" screen. You have more glass because the screen is 6.8".

I would argue that the Kobo Mini's substrate is less fragile than the Kindle.

If you had an ereader the size of a postage stamp, then I would suggest that that ereader is less fragile than the Kobo Mini.