Touch Got My Touch !!

[Zoshka]

Originally Posted by siraks

we will have to see if loaded through ade if they'll work.
and maybe this is going to come in future update.
otherwise the device is pretty slick and fast.
the multiple font sizes works well, i wish there were more fonts available. i wonder if there's a way to get new ones onto there?

Actually in this video the Kobo rep says they plan to increase the number of fonts. Fortunately, Georgia is my favorite font, so having that as the Kobo default font is ideal for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLXjD...eature=related

[kiwipippa]

Yahoo - just ordered one from Borders US to ship to New Zealand. I didn't even think they would ship internationally but they do. $8.98 shipping to New Zealand which is pretty good. Paid by credit card, so all up $139 USD - about $169 NZD.

The old kobo still on sale here for $199! Now just have to wait......

[SensualPoet]

Yah, so I jumped on board tonight as well at the Manulife Chapters. Even though I wanted the Blue one (sold only at Best Buy / Future Shop and not until Jun 24) ... what the heck ... Black is chic!

I chose to follow the instructions ... ... www.kobosetup.com ... and allowed it to do its thing even though I already have Kobo Desktop (since I have an OK and KW already).

I like the slider on button; not crazy about the micro SD but then I'm unlikely to use it; I don't mind the new micro USB since that's what the Kindle and my Blackberyr use; currently my 97 books are still "syncing".

It came pretty much fully charged and I played a moments with the menus. The touch seems very responsive.

Nice touch on the desktop: all the titles in my library I have not yet bought (these are a pseudo wish list) now pop up on the shelves with "free preview".

[taming]

I have set-up and worked with the Kobo Touch for 30 minutes or so. These are some of the things I have noticed so far. There are a whole lot of other features to check out of course.

• The process to update the reader software and sync with the library was flawless. Some folks will be pleased to know that you have the option NOT to download your books, during the process. It appears to be book-by-book.
• The desktop application is much improved. Shopping in it, or browsing for new books is as good as it is on the website. The tabs include one for the book you last read (from whatever device you last did a sync I believe).
• Sync appears to just plan work on the desktop. I had five open books, and when I finished my update sync, each of them was correctly bookmarked.
• The reader itself is much thinner, much shorter, and somewhat narrower. The bezels are very small and the actual reader screen seems the same (maybe a skosh wider?). The change to the quilted back is noticeable, but doesn't seem to make any difference in terms of how it feels to hold it.
• The pearl screen really does make a difference. The background colour is not all that different, but the Touch screen has better contrast.
• It took me a few tries to get my WiFi set-up. I really don't know what was going on, but it didn't like the WPA key even though I am absolutely 100% certain I put it in correctly. The, suddenly, it worked anyway, even though I never got a message about it having successfully connected.
• The Touch remembers your WiFi networks and turning WiFi on and off is as easy as going to settings and checking or unchecking "Airplane Mode". You can also toggle WiFi on from the bottom of your home screen when you press the sync icon. No more having to choose which WiFi network each time you turn WiFi on. Apparently it can choose among several networks if, for example, you have one at work, one at home etc.
• You can specify how much time before the reader goes into sleep mode, including a choice of never, and if the reader displays a cover, or not. You can also make these kinds of choices for turning the reader off.
• The keyboard is reasonably responsive and if you have used an onscreen keyboard on another device, it should be pretty much intuitive. As an aside, I was a die-hard Palm user, and used my Palm TX to read books before I got my first Kobo. For that reason, I am pretty handy with a stylus. When I type on my cell phone's capacitive screen, I often use a Targus capacitive stylus. It's handy on the non-capacitive Touch as well.
• With the WiFi on, when you open a book, the reader checks for your last sync on the server (made by another device or the deskktop app) and asks you if you want the sync applied to what you are opening. This is a very big deal as it would let two people (or more) read the same book at the same time without screwing up their bookmarks.
• Page turning seems fast. [EDIT]When ghosting happens, and it seems to from time to time, going back a page and then forward again seems to clear it up.
• The browser works, though it is hard for me to imagine using a black and white ugly as sin browser display when I have either my cell phone or computer available.
  

[Nigol]

Here is what small issue I have found out

- When closing or sleeping your reader the cover is a bit small, compared to what it was before, I would have liked a full screen cover.

- The Home page is not your I am reading page from the old Kobo. I put 1 book in (that I was reading) and read a few page to test it out. I then put all my library in (using calibre) and the book I was reading was not on the home page anymore, instead replaced by the last 5 book of my library. Previously the book you where reading stayed at the top. I guess this is why they added the shortlist function.

- A Good thing is that now you can access the table of content of a book without opening it.

- You can also mark a book as finished from the device itself, but there is no indication anywhere that it is marked as finished, only that it removes the book from the home page.

- And the speed is way better, I tested it side by side with my original and just opening a book is now almost instantaneous. Also the power on is very much improved, I was able to open it and start reading and my original wasn't even finished loading the progress bar.

All thing considered, I am very pleased with it.

PS. Also please note that when setting up your kobo with their new desktop software it also applies an update from 1.9 to 1.9.2, so make sure you update (probably last minute fixes)

[robko]

Originally Posted by taming

[*]It took me a few tries to get my WiFi set-up. I really don't know what was going on, but it didn't like the WPA key even though I am absolutely 100% certain I put it in correctly. The, suddenly, it worked anyway, even though I never got a message about it having successfully connected.

I had the same issue. I tried with and without password showing and even made it show the password after it said it couldn't connect and password was right. I finally manually added the network and it worked. Not sure what's up with that, but something is whacked with it.
Doesn't seem to have an option to turn automatic updates of your newspaper on/off other than airplane mode. Not a big deal, but I guess I'm a control freak .

[Suzanna]

I'm really loving my Kobo Touch! I already tested out tweeting on the web browser.

I never realized just how often I touched the screen! It wasn't an issue with the WiFi, but I just opened three different books by moving my Kobo elsewhere on my desk or picking it up. I'll have to break that habit.

And thank you, so much, to the people at Calibre! I just moved quite a number of non-Kobo ebooks onto my KT seamlessly.

[Joyful]

I just got a Touch (already have a WiFi that I LOVE).

Things I love about the Touch:

I really like the touch feature (it's very responsive, only requiring a very light touch) and the speed.

Love being able to slide through the pages with the navi bar.

Contrast seems quite good. I haven't noticed the ghosting so it's not an issue for me.

I love the feel of the front - the bevels seem to be similar material to the back, just not quilted.

Things I don't like about it or really, really wish they hadn't changed:

1).There is not indication in the list of books as to which ones have been read or marked as finished. I don't understand why they did that!
If I'm reading books that are in a series (and it's been a while since I finished one so I can't remember where I left off) I can't tell which one I last read.
I have a few books that didn't come as an epub but rather individual chapters were loaded into Calibre and each one converted to epub. On the Wifi, I could tell where I was by the "finished" designation.
With my memory, I'm hooped on the Touch.


2). I find the smaller size of the Touch makes it less comfortable to hold. The smaller side bevels and the curved back aren't nearly as comfortable (to me) as the Wifi is. It's quite cute but I'd rather have the larger WiFi size.

3). The homepage doesn't hold onto what I'm reading. It lists the last 5 books I've added.

Nevertheless, I love my Kobos!
And a big thanks to Kobo for the $10 coupon! That was a very nice surprise.

Joyful

[taming]

You can sort your books list by "last read", which my help with some of this. I would expect some reasonably quick updates to fix some of the other things. They figured a lot of this out for the iOS platform already and they have been steadily improving the Android app as well. Sameer has written here and there on this board about changes of this sort, known issues etc and has said they are working them out.

[HarleyB]

Ooohh.... after reading all these reveiws I want one. I'm still really happy with my original kobo but now I just want one.

[nightfool]

Mine arrived today. At first I was going to return it because I bought it as an impulse and Idon't really need another ereader. But now I'm keeping it because it's cute, and I'm shallow. The only thing is that since I'm coming from a kindle 3, I find the kobo and the kobo store kinda lacking. But I'm willing to make it work since I don't really want another kindle.

I found the ink was washed out with some serious ghosting after I left it on sleep mode for awhile. Has anyone else had this issue? Thankfully resetting the device fixed this problem.

Originally Posted by Dedale

For those who have it and use dropbox, is it possible to log on dropbox.com and download one file?
If it's the case, it would be really nice!

I tried this, and I couldn't download the epub file.

[taming]

Originally Posted by nightfool

I found the ink was washed out with some serious ghosting after I left it on sleep mode for awhile. Has anyone else had this issue? Thankfully resetting the device fixed this problem.

When ghosting happens as I read, I go back one page, then go forward. The ghosting disappears (until it happens again).

[doodlydood]

There are lots of good insights in here. I thought to share my own perspective, a self-avowed 'technophile' with a collection of ebooks.

I currently own the Kindle 3G, Nook Touch, and Kobo Touch. Went through most of the Sony readers too.

Kindle is my primary reader. I wanted - very much - to like the Kobo Touch. It has a lovely small casing, is easy to hand, and a great feature set. However, I am sending the Kobo back.

(1) The Font Rendering! The Kindle - on the same screen - achieves a crisp, sharp black, whilst the Kobo has an indecisive greyish tinge, and lots of ghosting as noted earlier. I want sharp text, and there is a clear difference here.

(2) The book organization. The Kobo supports no bookshelves, folders, or groups. For even my modest collection of 250 books this is too unwieldy.

These, coupled with the fact that there is no dictionary support for my own content make it a poor option compared to the Kindle 3G.

Too bad. I so wanted to keep it. Perhaps a software update will remedy this.

[sophiek]

I have the original Kobo and have read over 50 books on it, all purchased thru Kobo and downloaded using ADE. Yesterday, I bought 2 of the new Touch versions (for my husband and I) and am only opening one until I am sure I want to keep both. So far so good, but I am not technologically savvy and have a few questions. Taming, you were a great help a year ago- hopefully you can help me here.

1) When I downloaded the new desktop it didn't ask me to register or anything- all of my data (credit card, etc just magically appeared). If I plug in the second Touch, will it differentiate between the 2?

2) In ADE I lose the original covers so I decided to try the desktop instead to keep the nice covers. It downloaded 37 of my 58 purchased books. This is a 2 parter: the other 21 are books I had read before the software upgrade on the original. If I return these to 'I am Reading', will they sync onto the Touch? Second, my husband will only want to read about 5 of my 58 books- how do you sync one at a time? All I could do was sync all and then delete individually. Again, I am sure this is just my incompetence but I can't figure out how to do it.

3) How does the desktop know which Kobo you are syncing? I don't want to set up both until I know how it works. The help section didn't provide any guidance.

4) I purchased a book using Wifi and now this is the only book appearing on my Kobo desktop. The other 58 still show as purchased on kobobooks.com, with the option to download to ADE but don't appear on the desktop. I am totally confused and may revert to ADE, which I know and understand how to load and delete books on. I just want the nice covers (please don't suggest Calibre- I don't like it).
5) This is the scary question- every now and then when laoding a book or in search mode my screen goes from the 'spinning wheel' in the corner (ie- porcessing) to totally blank. I wait several seconds then just push the button at the bottom whih takes me back to the Home screen and start over. This also happened to me in the Store. Anybody else have this or have I got a dud? I am not worried because I know Indigo will replace it if it's a dud (I had a problem with my first original and they just replaced it for me), but am wondering if I should be taking it back or just sitting tight.

Sorry so much in one post. I love Kobo and want to get this up and running and problem free for my husband who is a 'one at a time' book reader on his Kindle. I am hoping he will be a convert.

Thanks everyone for any guidance you can provide!

[taming]

sophiek--I don't know if you started the process by going to kobosetup.com, as was suggested on the screen of your new Kobo Touch, or if you just plugged the new reader into your USB and opened the old desktop. If you did the latter, that might be the reason you were not asked to login again.

When I updated, I was given the option to download/sync one book at a time. It sounds like this is what you would want when setting up your husband's machine. To see if this is what you want before opening the 2nd reader, I'd suggest that you do a factory reset on your machine, uninstall the new desktop, and then follow the instructions on kobosetup.com as if this were the first time.

I am not sure about this, but I don't think that the desktop software recognizes that you are using two different Kobo readers. Instead, I believe it compares what is on the reader you have connected by USB with what is on the Kobo server and then syncs the two.

PS: my husband reads like yours does. I sync across both the reader and my phone. He just wants to open the book and read. He was perfectly happy with a Kobo-1 and would never have gotten the WiFi if it hadn't been a gift. He is not getting a touch.