Kobo H2O - throwing money away?

[brucemow]

hey All,

I've a Kobo H2O (v1) purchased in Feb 2015. It has worked fine until last night when it simply stopped working - the screen went dark, and restart brings a blinking white light. Can reset it; can't factory reset it (paper clip x 5). Kobo help say 'sorry about that' we'll offer you $20 off' a new one.

Searching forums it seems this happens sometimes.

I'm quite shocked - perhaps I've been lucky, but I expect quality items to have a significant working life - I've had a broad range of electronic equipment, and as a tech at a library, I see and look after a lot of gear. So I'm pretty hesitant to spend another $200 buying something which might die after a couple of years.

Thoughts? Go to a different brand of eReader?

best,

Bruce

[MGlitch]

Every brand will have situations like this one. Amazon might give you a new device but they also might just offer you a similar discount, Barnes and Noble would offer a similar discount.

I've had an H2O since they launched and I haven't had any issues with it nor have I had issues with my Kobo Aura 1. I've only had issues with the Nook Simple Touch and the NST with Glowlight but those were likely from disuse rather than anything else since I stopped using them once I had the H2O

[Ksquared]

Sorry about your broken H2O.

I read all of my ebooks from the library. In 2 years since I bought my Aura, I've read about 70 books. Had I bought those books, I would have spent more than the cost of my Aura. If something happened to my Aura, that is the logic that I would use to justify a new one.

Of course, given that I am frugal, I would most likely drive to the library if I didn't have an ereader, but I wouldn't read as much.

Go for an Aura One!

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by brucemow

hey All,

I've a Kobo H2O (v1) purchased in Feb 2015. It has worked fine until last night when it simply stopped working - the screen went dark, and restart brings a blinking white light. Can reset it; can't factory reset it (paper clip x 5).

For the paper clip to work, it actually has to start. And for the five-times to trigger a factory reset, it needs to boot to a certain point. Have you tried the last method on https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kobo_Reset:_Aura_H2O?

[graycyn]

FWIW, this kind of thing happens. As mentioned, any brand can have something like this occur. Mostly, it doesn't, but once an electronic item is out of warranty, very few manufacturers are all that helpful. I can understand being discouraged, but it is a risk to most any electronics purchase. My Nexus 10 tablet has an awful red blotch on the screen that developed just this past year. And the battery went south MUCH quicker than a rechargeable battery should. This in a $400 tablet! Yet my Nexus 7 (2013) is still going strong!

My Kobo Aura HD is also still going strong, it was purchased in 2013.

If you enjoy the Kobo reading experience, you could try for a pre-owned device on eBay to cut costs. I bought my husband an Aura HD on eBay, it also is still working as well, though hubby essentially abandoned it for a Kindle.



Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk

[meeera]

Originally Posted by brucemow

hey All,

I've a Kobo H2O (v1) purchased in Feb 2015. It has worked fine until last night when it simply stopped working - the screen went dark, and restart brings a blinking white light. Can reset it; can't factory reset it (paper clip x 5). Kobo help say 'sorry about that' we'll offer you $20 off' a new one.

[...]
Thoughts? Go to a different brand of eReader?

Try davidfor's suggestion. If that doesn't work, what country are you in? Some have consumer protections much stronger than standard warranties; some don't.

[booklover6]

Bruce, did it update the firmware right before this happened? There is a bad one that causes black screens.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Bruce, did it update the firmware right before this happened? There is a bad one that causes black screens.

If that was the case, the factory reset method he used would have worked.