Why do you prefer Kobo ereaders to Amazon ereaders

[ps67]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Better support (IMHO) is given on MR for both Kobo and Kindle.

It's true, on this forum you learn a lot of things.

Anyway when I needed support I was satisfied with from both: Amazon and Kobo

I prefer Kobo because it is More open and customizable (patch, Koreader, NM, better calibre integration...)

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

Same here, before I had Sony ePub readers, and I thought that Adobe DRM was stupid complex. Switching to Amazon seemed so much easier.

All DRM is stupid. Even Apple ditched it on iTunes.

[tomsem]

I think one reason Kobo threads are more active here is that Amazon hosts Kindle forums and many people just discuss things there and don’t know about Mobileread at all. And there is also kboards.com. Kobo users have fewer options, here and I suppose Reddit.

Also of course, there’s less to talk about when it comes to Kindle of late — 2 years since newest device shipped.

[Ripplinger]

My first ereader was a Sony PRS-350 and I absolutely loved it and how customizable it was. But after a few years I really wanted a front light, and I got the Kobo Glo after thoroughly researching both Kindle and Kobo here through the forum posts and absolutely loved it as well.

About a year after I had the Kobo Glo, I picked up a refurbished Paperwhite 2 at a price too good to pass up for an extra reader. And I hated it. It was right when a firmware change meant you couldn't do any customizing at all. You couldn't go back to an older firmware either to get around that, it doesn't shut off to save battery, and I was really appalled that I couldn't add my own fonts and the line spacing was so huge with no way to reduce it... Amazon making Kindles longer I would have thought they'd have the most options. I kept it just to get a free book once a month and testing books, but I've never used it to read from, it's just an emergency spare laying around. And I then got an extra Kobo Glo as a backup in case it broke.

I'm now using a Kobo Glo HD and it's so perfect for me that I can't see myself ever changing it for another reader at this point. Nothing newer has come close to tempting me to switch from any company. And by a post office fluke during a sale, I have 2 backup Glo HDs.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tomsem

I think one reason Kobo threads are more active here is that Amazon hosts Kindle forums and many people just discuss things there and don’t know about Mobileread at all. And there is also kboards.com. Kobo users have fewer options, here and I suppose Reddit.

Also of course, there’s less to talk about when it comes to Kindle of late — 2 years since newest device shipped.

And no jailbreak for the current Kindle firmware.

[Pjama]

Originally Posted by Quoth

All DRM is stupid. Even Apple ditched it on iTunes.

But not on their ebooks, sadly.

I prefer Kobo as I like having everything sorted automatically by author, without having to manage collections. I also prefer the way the pages render, something about the format makes it appear more book-like to me, especially being able to see centered page numbers. It infuriates me that on my kindles that I have to press multiple times to see page 112 of 367, so much so, that I even read in the preview page within a page mode for a while, to see this. My Oasis has a beautiful screen, and I can read it fine, but only if I switch off the footer, I find it too distracting having items at the sides instead of centered.

I also missed the progress bar so much when amazon ditched it (it used to have chapter marks and everything!) so that was a big factor for me in moving to kobo. I always have my bar on display, it is so subtle and unobtrusive- I can look at it or ignore it depending on what mood I am in.

It is a 300 dpi reader that comes in white! This is very important to me, having a white surround, as I like the page to merge into the surround, it gives a very book-like effect. Not that I miss reading paper books, I don’t at all!

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Pjama

It is a 300 dpi reader that comes in white! This is very important to me, having a white surround, as I like the page to merge into the surround, it gives a very book-like effect. Not that I miss reading paper books, I don’t at all!

I have a reader with white bezels and one with black bezels and when I am reading, I don't really notice either.

[Pjama]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I have a reader with white bezels and one with black bezels and when I am reading, I don't really notice either.

I can get a bit obsessed with adjusting the light and color temperature to make the screen exactly match the bezels as the light changes throughout the day, meaning the white surround can vary between white and cream colored. Sometimes I feel they are identical, although when I take a photo, I can clearly see they are far from it.

When I go back to read on my Oasis, it takes me a long time to adjust to having a massive black outline round everything.

We are all different, and that is wonderful.

[Pajamaman]

Looks like most respondents prefer kobo over amazon because amazon software is locked down and because they prefer the kobo software. I recall there used to be a a lot more kindle interest activity on these boards when it was still possible to jailbreak. Lately the developer community has drifted to kobo. Possibly it helps as it seems that kobo hardware has improved and caught up with amazon.

[Pajamaman]

Repeat

[Apache]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

As this is in the General Discussion section, you really ought to have an "I don't. I'm happy with my Kindle" option.

You should also have "I don't prefer either and ma happy with a different reader".
Apache

[Joliet Jake]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Of late, I've noticed on mobileread an increased interest in Kobo readers, and a reduced interest in Amazon ereaders. For example, there is a lot more activity in the new Kobo devices thread than there is in the new paperwhite. In previous years, it would have been the other way round. Perhaps this is blip, or I am mistaken. But I personally have noticed a shift toward Kobo.

In any case, subjective or not, this poll asks why more mobilereaders are turning to Kobo, and away from Amazon.

The poll will probably lack good questions because I'm not sure myself. Feel free to add other reasons in your messages, and if you prefer Amazon kit to Kobo, and disagree with the basis of this poll, feel free to post your view.

I can add new questions if enough people feel I've missed important questions.

The poll is multiple choice.

I have posted this in general discussions instead of the Kobo subforum as I feel it is an important general question referencing a sea change I have noted among mobileread users.

I've never owned a Kindle (though I use Amazon frequently, and still buy some ebooks from them).

Kobo can handle Epubs, Kindle can't. However Kindle can convert Epubs into Mobi or AZW files, so that's not the main reason.

I live in Canada, and our libraries use mainly Epubs and work very well with Overdrive. I've heard that in the US many libraries use Amazon books. Library books have DRM and even Calibre cannot reliably remove these. I doubt I could DeDRM all these Epubs and then convert them into Mobi or AZW. (Maybe Americans have the opposite problem?)

It's a very minor point, but I recently bought a graphic novel on Amazon, and it was very hard to read in both Kindle for PC and Calibre. I bought the same graphic novel from Kobo and it was very easy to read in Calibre. (It was in color, so it wasn't going on an e-reader in either case.)

There's stuff about Kindle that I could probably learn pretty quickly but just can't be bothered to. It's a bit like having experience a Mac and not Linux, I guess. For instance, what is Whispersync? How do I sideload books on a Kindle? I am sure a five minute Youtube video would answer these questions but I just can't be bothered.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

As this is in the General Discussion section, you really ought to have an "I don't. I'm happy with my Kindle" option.

I would prefer to see a separate Why do you own an Amazon ereader? poll.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by Joliet Jake

I live in Canada, and our libraries use mainly Epubs and work very well with Overdrive. I've heard that in the US many libraries use Amazon books. Library books have DRM and even Calibre cannot reliably remove these. I doubt I could DeDRM all these Epubs and then convert them into Mobi or AZW. (Maybe Americans have the opposite problem?)

I'm in the US. When I browse the Overdrive library it seems like most books are available in both Kindle and Epub.

[Pjama]

Another reason, particularly relevant since the latest kindle firmware update: one touch bookmarking! I don’t even have to think about it, just tap the top right corner and a pretty dog-ear appears. Whereas the kindle now has an extra, extra step, bringing it up to a grand total of three taps to set a bookmark.