Nook STR or Kobo Touch for the type nerd?

[fezley]

Hi all, this is my first post on the forum, but I have been scouring the threads for sometime now. Hopefully you can offer some friendly feedback. =)

I'm having a hell of a time deciding between the Nook Simple Touch and the Kobo Touch. The Kindle Touch is completely out of the question for two reasons: 1) I find the GUI fiercely unattractive, and 2) I'm not a fan of Amazon's proprietary format. My biggest concern is the GUI and in particular, the typography. I can't stand full justification. It seems as though publishers and/or Amazon/B&N/Sony etc. are trying to replicate the experience of reading an actual book and have forced justification onto us all because that's what we tend to see in books. The difference there is that a real human with some knowledge of typography likely formats the type in a real book, and e-readers use algorithms to format type. Without a real human behind the formatting (excluding the user of course, I suppose they don't want us to have that sort of power), the type is no longer considered and all I see on most e-readers is a valley of rivers. I seriously can't stand that.

I know the Kobo Touch now gives us the ability to control leading, margins, type size, fonts, and justification but I'm still not sure that's the right choice for me. Here are some of my needs and concerns over both the Nook and Kobo...

Me:
- I'll mostly be sideloading epubs but still want to easily purchase a book if I need to
- I'll be borrowing books from the library
- I'm not too concerned about PDF support
- I'm not interested in extras like text to speech, mp3 players, browsers, games, etc...I just want to read!
- I'm not a heavy reader now but am hoping this e-reader will get me excited about reading more often
- I live in the US
- I currently own zero epubs so I'll be starting from scratch
- I'm pretty handy with computers...so stripping DRM, using Calibre, formatting epubs with Sigil shouldn't be too much of a problem for me and I'll do it if it'll get my collection looking the way I want it
- Most importantly, the type needs to look nice and if I can poke around or hack things to get the type to look the way I want it to, so be it

Concerns/questions about the Kobo Touch:
- I've heard these break and malfunction pretty often and customer service is dismal. I live in the US and fear this will make fixing the Kobo, if I ever needed to, much more difficult than fixing the Nook. Are there any US KTouch users that haven't had trouble or have had problems resolved fairly quickly?
- I have no problem buying from the Kobo bookstore but did a bit of research and saw that some titles are $1 to $2 more expensive than on B&N and Amazon. I also vaguely recall reading somewhere that people have had issues with charges on the Canadian Kobo store when buying from the US. Truth or untruth?
- No page turn buttons. I frequently use my iPhone with one hand when eating, sitting at my desk, etc, and imagine I'd be doing the same with the Kobo. Is it that difficult to turn the page using one hand (the left)?
- How annoying and/or common is the unresponsive touch screen page turn issue?

Concerns/questions about the Nook:
- Not a fan of half the homepage being dedicated to B&N's bookstore. Don't know how often I'll be using it.
- I played around with one at B&N and noticed that choosing a particular type size didn't always yield the same results depending on the book. This was incredibly annoying. Has anyone else noticed this?
- The GUI isn't as nice as the Kobo
- They don't offer Georgia (a favorite of mine that the Kobo also has)
- There aren't many formatting options for the type either. I emailed B&N's customer service about this and they gave me some canned response about not having any plans for type updates in the future. Is B&N reliable with firmware updates? Any thoughts on whether or not they'll add this kind of functionality in the future?
- How difficult will it be to get books on this thing left justified/rag right? Can I do this in Calibre and have it stick after transferring to the Nook?

Sorry for the long-winded post!

[robko]

Originally Posted by fezley

Concerns/questions about the Kobo Touch:
- I've heard these break and malfunction pretty often and customer service is dismal. I live in the US and fear this will make fixing the Kobo, if I ever needed to, much more difficult than fixing the Nook. Are there any US KTouch users that haven't had trouble or have had problems resolved fairly quickly?

Not sure they really break and malfunction pretty often. I have all three of their e-ink readers and I've never had a physical problem with them. Boards tend to get the people with problems and more so when the service isn't great. I won't try and defend the customer service because overall currently it isn't great.

Originally Posted by fezley

- I have no problem buying from the Kobo bookstore but did a bit of research and saw that some titles are $1 to $2 more expensive than on B&N and Amazon. I also vaguely recall reading somewhere that people have had issues with charges on the Canadian Kobo store when buying from the US. Truth or untruth?

I know at one point a quite a while ago Kobo was in the process of setting up a U.S. legal entity for credit cards. Some people were having issues with bank thinking they had fraud going on due to multiple charges from a "foreign" country and/or getting dinged with service charges for buying in a foreign country. I assume this got worked out but since I live in Canada I can't confirm that.

Originally Posted by fezley

- No page turn buttons. I frequently use my iPhone with one hand when eating, sitting at my desk, etc, and imagine I'd be doing the same with the Kobo. Is it that difficult to turn the page using one hand (the left)?

This should work. I do it all the time but YMMV. Newer firmware (might not be on display models) allows you to set left or right 1/3 of the screen to be forward or back. Default would be right side of screen takes you forward, but if you want you can make left side forward/right side back.

Originally Posted by fezley

- How annoying and/or common is the unresponsive touch screen page turn issue?

I don't really have an anything more than the rare time with this. I know there are some people that have bigger issues with this. I think it is a combination of firmware/hardware and the way some users might tap or swipe.

Originally Posted by fezley

Concerns/questions about the Nook:
- They don't offer Georgia (a favorite of mine that the Kobo also has)

One nice thing about the Kobo is that you can just drop whatever font you want to use (common formats compatible) on it and select them as you desire.

Personally, I love my Kobo. I think for e-readers it's important to actually get one in hand and compare it to see what you like as preferences will vary. The one caveat to this is to realize that the demo models will often have outdated firmware that may not show off all the features and/or may exhibit problems that have been solved by firmware upgrades.

[cghipp]

My first post on the forum, as well. I'm a fellow type nerd with the same issues. I think the slab serif font used in the Kindle is hideously ugly and would not be out of place on a communist bloc propaganda poster. The Kobo reader shot to the top of my list right away because it was the only one of the latest readers that allows you to override the default justification. I am also considering the Nook ST and the Sony PRS-T1. It's so frustrating that there isn't one reader that offers the Kobo's font selection and ragged right justification options, plus the Sony's brightness/contrast options. If it came with the Nook ST's form factor that would be great, too!

The ability to root the Nook and use a variety of reader apps is very attractive; however, you can't assume that features available on a company's reader device will be available on their reader app. For example, the Kobo reader on my Android phone does not support forcing ragged right justification. If it did, my decision would be made already.

I'm also frustrated that the Nook and Kobo models I've seen in stores are essentially slide show demos that don't allow any interaction with the device, so I can't see all of the available type/screen options or the degree to which they are effective.

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Originally Posted by fezley

Hi all, this is my first post on the forum, but I have been scouring the threads for sometime now. Hopefully you can offer some friendly feedback. =)

I'm having a hell of a time deciding between the Nook Simple Touch and the Kobo Touch. The Kindle Touch is completely out of the question for two reasons: 1) I find the GUI fiercely unattractive, and 2) I'm not a fan of Amazon's proprietary format. My biggest concern is the GUI and in particular, the typography. I can't stand full justification. It seems as though publishers and/or Amazon/B&N/Sony etc. are trying to replicate the experience of reading an actual book and have forced justification onto us all because that's what we tend to see in books. The difference there is that a real human with some knowledge of typography likely formats the type in a real book, and e-readers use algorithms to format type. Without a real human behind the formatting (excluding the user of course, I suppose they don't want us to have that sort of power), the type is no longer considered and all I see on most e-readers is a valley of rivers. I seriously can't stand that.

I know the Kobo Touch now gives us the ability to control leading, margins, type size, fonts, and justification but I'm still not sure that's the right choice for me. Here are some of my needs and concerns over both the Nook and Kobo...

Me:
- I'll mostly be sideloading epubs but still want to easily purchase a book if I need to
- I'll be borrowing books from the library
- I'm not too concerned about PDF support
- I'm not interested in extras like text to speech, mp3 players, browsers, games, etc...I just want to read!
- I'm not a heavy reader now but am hoping this e-reader will get me excited about reading more often
- I live in the US
- I currently own zero epubs so I'll be starting from scratch
- I'm pretty handy with computers...so stripping DRM, using Calibre, formatting epubs with Sigil shouldn't be too much of a problem for me and I'll do it if it'll get my collection looking the way I want it
- Most importantly, the type needs to look nice and if I can poke around or hack things to get the type to look the way I want it to, so be it

Concerns/questions about the Kobo Touch:
- I've heard these break and malfunction pretty often and customer service is dismal. I live in the US and fear this will make fixing the Kobo, if I ever needed to, much more difficult than fixing the Nook. Are there any US KTouch users that haven't had trouble or have had problems resolved fairly quickly?
- I have no problem buying from the Kobo bookstore but did a bit of research and saw that some titles are $1 to $2 more expensive than on B&N and Amazon. I also vaguely recall reading somewhere that people have had issues with charges on the Canadian Kobo store when buying from the US. Truth or untruth?
- No page turn buttons. I frequently use my iPhone with one hand when eating, sitting at my desk, etc, and imagine I'd be doing the same with the Kobo. Is it that difficult to turn the page using one hand (the left)?
- How annoying and/or common is the unresponsive touch screen page turn issue?

Concerns/questions about the Nook:
- Not a fan of half the homepage being dedicated to B&N's bookstore. Don't know how often I'll be using it.
- I played around with one at B&N and noticed that choosing a particular type size didn't always yield the same results depending on the book. This was incredibly annoying. Has anyone else noticed this?
- The GUI isn't as nice as the Kobo
- They don't offer Georgia (a favorite of mine that the Kobo also has)
- There aren't many formatting options for the type either. I emailed B&N's customer service about this and they gave me some canned response about not having any plans for type updates in the future. Is B&N reliable with firmware updates? Any thoughts on whether or not they'll add this kind of functionality in the future?
- How difficult will it be to get books on this thing left justified/rag right? Can I do this in Calibre and have it stick after transferring to the Nook?

Sorry for the long-winded post!

I own a Kobo Touch and have had no problems at all. A recent survey on MobileRead showed that only 2% of Kobo Touch owners regretted their purchase. Another 12-ish percent wanted more features. The rest were satisfied.

The genesis of the threads you see? I suspect it's because Kobo is actually very responsive to user requests, and thus they get more of them, since people know Kobo is listening. It'll be a cold day in hell before you see a Nook representative on the forum taking suggestions. But that's what Kobo does. The Kobo Touch has gotten 3 firmware updates since I joined MobileRead, which was only a couple months ago. The Nook has had none, as far as I'm aware.

Although it's worth noting there's no shortage of complaints on all of the reader's subforums. It's still an imperfect technology.

I can't tell you about the Kobo customer service via phone/email as I haven't used it. I've heard mixed results, but then... the percentage of people who are truly unhappy is very low. It may simply be that unhappy people tend to speak up more. I don't know.

As to your other concern, you can tap-to-turn as well. You don't need to swipe. So it would work just as if it had page turns buttons, but you'd be tapping the screen (tap the right side of the screen to go forward, left to go back - but you can change this with the new firmware, if you want).

I've had no problems with the responsiveness of the touch screen, either.

As to your needs, the Kobo Touch will do all of those things. You can even load your own fonts if you want to.

[SCION]

If you're removing DRM from the jump I don't see why it matters what device you get. Automatically ruling out the Kindle because of it's proprietary format doesn't make sense. Buy from whatever source you choose and remove the DRM. Simply use calibre and any other tool(s) to format your entire library the way you want. Seems like your deciding factor would be based on aesthetics. Pick a device that appeals to you the most.

[Chi Cygni]

(cghipp) I think the slab serif font used in the Kindle is hideously ugly and would not be out of place on a communist bloc propaganda poster.

I have times new roman on my Kindle and only then the look is digestible to me. Funny how we all differ though, I force full justification in calibre while converting as I find left/right justification too messy to read.

[fezley]

Originally Posted by robko

One nice thing about the Kobo is that you can just drop whatever font you want to use (common formats compatible) on it and select them as you desire.

Being able to add fonts is HUGE. It seems like Kobo is all about giving their audience the ability to customize. That's really exciting and definitely a point (or a couple) towards the Kobo.

Originally Posted by cghipp

My first post on the forum, as well. I'm a fellow type nerd with the same issues. I think the slab serif font used in the Kindle is hideously ugly and would not be out of place on a communist bloc propaganda poster. The Kobo reader shot to the top of my list right away because it was the only one of the latest readers that allows you to override the default justification. I am also considering the Nook ST and the Sony PRS-T1. It's so frustrating that there isn't one reader that offers the Kobo's font selection and ragged right justification options, plus the Sony's brightness/contrast options. If it came with the Nook ST's form factor that would be great, too!

The ability to root the Nook and use a variety of reader apps is very attractive; however, you can't assume that features available on a company's reader device will be available on their reader app. For example, the Kobo reader on my Android phone does not support forcing ragged right justification. If it did, my decision would be made already.

I'm also frustrated that the Nook and Kobo models I've seen in stores are essentially slide show demos that don't allow any interaction with the device, so I can't see all of the available type/screen options or the degree to which they are effective.

I agree about Caecilia on the Kindle. I've seen it used in books before and it looks great, but I suspect Amazon has cut their own chunkier, more legible version of it. Not a fan.

I feel the same way about all the readers. If I could conjure up the perfect e-reader, it would have the Kobo's interface, the Nook's form factor, the Kindle bookstore, and the Sony's brightness/contrast options. If only they could all come together and make this happen.

This weekend I was able to freely play with a Kobo at Best Buy and the firmware was even up to date. I've also seen it at Target, but it (along with the Nook) was only being shown with a demo reel. The Nook can be played with at any B&N.

Originally Posted by SmokeAndMirrors

I own a Kobo Touch and have had no problems at all. A recent survey on MobileRead showed that only 2% of Kobo Touch owners regretted their purchase. Another 12-ish percent wanted more features. The rest were satisfied.

The genesis of the threads you see? I suspect it's because Kobo is actually very responsive to user requests, and thus they get more of them, since people know Kobo is listening. It'll be a cold day in hell before you see a Nook representative on the forum taking suggestions. But that's what Kobo does. The Kobo Touch has gotten 3 firmware updates since I joined MobileRead, which was only a couple months ago. The Nook has had none, as far as I'm aware.

Although it's worth noting there's no shortage of complaints on all of the reader's subforums. It's still an imperfect technology.

I can't tell you about the Kobo customer service via phone/email as I haven't used it. I've heard mixed results, but then... the percentage of people who are truly unhappy is very low. It may simply be that unhappy people tend to speak up more. I don't know.

As to your other concern, you can tap-to-turn as well. You don't need to swipe. So it would work just as if it had page turns buttons, but you'd be tapping the screen (tap the right side of the screen to go forward, left to go back - but you can change this with the new firmware, if you want).

I've had no problems with the responsiveness of the touch screen, either.

As to your needs, the Kobo Touch will do all of those things. You can even load your own fonts if you want to.

Thanks for your input...I hadn't considered that all the complaints on the forum exist because Kobo reps frequent the site. That makes perfect sense.

Originally Posted by PhillipA82

Welcome to the Forum fezley

Thanks!

It seems like the Kobo Touch is the right choice for me. I also read their recent blog post apologizing for their terrible customer service. This at least sounds like they're interested in rectifying that problem, and that gives me confidence things will get better in the future.