New Kobo Aura HD eInk eReader 1440x1080

[Nil Einne]

I mentioned this on the thread in the Kobo forums, might as well mention it here too. Seems that the Espresso is now officially out of stock on the Kobo site, they don't let you order it. Was still order-able when I was trying yesterday :-(

If you con the website it says

Some of the products are currently out of stock
This product is currently out of stock.

[Dr. Drib]

If they got 300,000 screens and divided the color evenly between the the 3 colors, then that means 100,000 were sold.

Somehow, I doubt that.

More than likely, Espresso probably had the least number of the other two and was the first to sell out from Kobo's site.

But hey! What do I know?! I don't work for them!




Don

[Nil Einne]

I don't think this means it's sold out for good, I suspect more will be coming. It's just sold out/out of stock for now waiting for more stock to come. (They probably also need to reserve some of the current production for retail partners including outside the US, Canada, various places in EU where it launched.) It probably doesn't help that Kobo doesn't seem to have a good way of indicating estimated delivery date or keeping people up to date with their orders so most likely don't want to take orders too far in advance. (And even Google who had a slightly better system in place stopped taking orders for the Nexus 4 when the pre-order time was about 8 weeks.)

As for numbers, it's hard to say. From what I've seen Espresso seems to be the most popular, perhaps because it's somewhat unique yet isn't so bad as to be unappealing so that may be one of the reasons it sold out first.

In any case, I don't think the number of screens is really known, the 300k number seemed to came from the same source that said they were going to be for the Nook/B&N, which seems to be incorrect so I'm not sure how reliable that is, and there's no indication (or really any reason) to think eInk isn't still producing them. While Kobo have branded the reader as limited edition, it's not really clear what this means, if anything beyond marketing and the fact that it's an expensive device so they don't expect it to be their mainstream model and aren't sure of how well it will sell. (There is speculation it could be replaced in September-October but who knows?)

[Ken Maltby]

The brown coloring is applied to a shiny black plastic case. The insides/electronics are
all on one printed circuit board that is made to simply plop into the case and be secured
by a screw at each corner. I posted some pictures at:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=640
and
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=650

They could have many of the cheap plastic bodies made and apply color as they estimated the demand to be then do the final assembly in numbers that match whatever
was ordered.

Luck;
Ken

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

The brown coloring is applied to a shiny black plastic case. The insides/electronics are
all on one printed circuit board that is made to simply plop into the case and be secured
by a screw at each corner. I posted some pictures at:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=640
and
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=650

They could have many of the cheap plastic bodies made and apply color as they estimated the demand to be then do the final assembly in numbers that match whatever
was ordered.

Luck;
Ken

This idea of applied color:

I'm wondering how these will wear from constant use and holding.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how well plastic bodies wear? (The nearest thing I can think of is how rapidly my mouse wears - the one I currently use and the others that I've owned over the years. For example, the red color is considerably worn from my Microsoft mouse, whereas the lower black/shiny plastic area is still perfect.)





Don

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's perhaps worth pointing out that the Kindle only shows you the "row of awful bestsellers" if you have the "Recommended Content" option turned on. Switch it off (Menu -> Settings -> Device Options -> Personalize Your Kindle -> Recommended Content) and you won't see them (or indeed any other form of advertising).

That's a trick which doesn't work with my android kindle app; I even contacted Amazon about it. Their response: "No one else has complained about bestsellers being displayed so removing them isn't on our list. If more people complain, we'll look into it."

Under Settings > Device Settings, the only option seems to be Volume Buttons Control.

Back to the Kobo Aura: The only aspect of the body that really bothers me is the pink power slider.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

This idea of applied color:

I'm wondering how these will wear from constant use and holding.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how well plastic bodies wear? (The nearest thing I can think of is how rapidly my mouse wears - the one I currently use and the others that I've owned over the years. For example, the red color is considerably worn from my Microsoft mouse, whereas the lower black/shiny plastic area is still perfect.)

Don

I have the impression that the coating is more than paint, but so would
have been the case with your mouse. Materials Science advances very
rapidly and it's hard to say how wear will effect the case.

I may still spray a reasonably thick coat of the tool handle stuff on the case,
for some added cushioning as well as a better grip. One thing about the
"Plastic Dip" product is that it can be peeled off, even after it has cured,
yet it can still function as a tool grip surface and is unlikely to come off as
you use the Aura HD.
--------------------------
On my 5th coat with 1 more to go. I'm giving it an hour between coats and it says
to wait at least 4 hrs before using what you have applied the coating to. So, my
cushioned, easy to grip Aura will then be black instead of brown, in about 5 hrs.


Luck;
Ken

[ballfresno]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Back to the Kobo Aura: The only aspect of the body that really bothers me is the pink power slider.

The pink goes well with the brown!

[Thrasher]

Originally Posted by Nil Einne

I mentioned this on the thread in the Kobo forums, might as well mention it here too. Seems that the Espresso is now officially out of stock on the Kobo site, they don't let you order it. Was still order-able when I was trying yesterday :-(

If you con the website it says

Some of the products are currently out of stock
This product is currently out of stock.

Espresso is showing in stock for me... http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/home/e...5536-item.html

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Thrasher

Espresso is showing in stock for me... http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/home/e...5536-item.html

It's out of stock when ordering directly from Kobo. Third parties will have whatever they had ordered for their stock of course.

[Ken Maltby]

Ironically, I'm on my 5th coat of "Plastic Dip" putting a black cushioned, easy grip surface
over my brown Aura HD.

Luck;
Ken

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

Ironically, I'm on my 4th coat of "Plastic Dip" putting a black cushioned, easy grip surface
over my brown Aura HD.

Luck;
Ken

Odd that you didn't choose brown, considering your initial purchase.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Odd that you didn't choose brown, considering your initial purchase.

The local Home Depot only stocks the black spray cans. I could have gone
online and ordered the kit to mix your own Plastic Dip colors, but that would
have taken time and if I want I could peel the black off later and try a
different color.

Luck;
Ken

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

Ironically, I'm on my 5th coat of "Plastic Dip" putting a black cushioned, easy grip surface
over my brown Aura HD.

Luck;
Ken

Wow, that sounds interesting. Let us know your results.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

Wow, that sounds interesting. Let us know your results.

I just put on the last coat, now I have to wait 4hrs until I can put the
Aura back together. I'll take some pics as well.

Luck;
Ken