01-26-2012, 10:37 PM | #16 | |
Retired
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I really like the Kobo Touch, I did have to return my first one because it had a hardware defect, the customer support is not very good but not horrible and they replaced my Kobo Touch for free. Last year I had to return my Kobo-1 because I had some problems (After a year so I wasn't terribly upset about it) and they replaced it for free also. So if you do have to deal with Kobo support just remember to be patient and they will reply back to you, it took about 2 days in between responses for me. Last edited by The Terminator; 01-26-2012 at 10:41 PM. |
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01-27-2012, 03:39 AM | #17 |
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Hmmm...I have only dealt with Kobo bookstore support but found them to be quite responsive. I only dealt with them by email.
OP, I have a Sony 300 which I bought while travelling in the US a couple of years ago and have had absolutely no problems with. I don't particularly care that the bookstore doesn't work - I use the library and buy from Kobo mainly. I prefer the feel of the metal frame to the plastic - it feels sturdier to me, even if it's just my imagination. I'm not a fan of the iRivers - they seem expensive for what you get. Any particular reason you're looking at buying in Australia? A lot of the time, even the models available here are cheaper to import, shipping and all. If you are going to be reading pdfs - are they text or with formatted graphics? If the latter, then the general recommendation from this board is to get something big enough to read a pdf full size - that means a tablet becomes more cost effective. If it's text, then it doesn't matter so much though I will say that good reflow is worth it! Most of the early library books I borrowed were ADE pdfs which didn't reflow properly on my Sony and it's most annoying! - not sure whether that is ADE or Sony problem, but I believe it's fixed now. Thankfully my library moved to epub after that so it's all good. Harry, OP has already checked the Amazon environment and found it wanting. Granted, s/he has not indicated that they've checked epub availability and if those titles were important then it's worth doing before making a decision. |
01-27-2012, 09:45 AM | #18 |
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None of the e-readers are going to easily read books purchased from any of the big bookstores (Sony, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Amazon) or e-books with DRM unless they are purchased from the specific e-readers store.
If you have a Kobo, you will be able to read Kobo books hassel free. I believe you can read Sony books hassel free as well because they share a DRM. You cannot read Amazon books, DRM and a different format, on a Kobo without removing DRM and converting to EPub. You cannot read books from Barnes and Noble without removing the DRM. You can read EPub books without DRM purchased from most indie bookstores. The same goes for the Kindle, Kindle books and non-DRM Mobi books work great. Everything else will require DRM removal and converting from Mobi to EPub. I think that there are folks who buy and EPub reader and think that they will be able to read any and all EPub books without any issues. They do not realize that not all EPub is the same and that there are DRM issues that can screw things up. My guess is that someone is trying to load EPub books with a Non-Kobo DRM and that those are not working for them. Which sucks but can easily be fixed by doing a Google seaerch for Apprentice Alf. |
01-27-2012, 06:50 PM | #19 |
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I have a Kobo Touch and my husband has the Sony T1. We are both happy with our ereaders. I think if you want to read PDFs the Sony has a slight edge on the Kobo because of being able to enlarge the text by touching the screen, but PDFs are probably a problem on all ereaders. He has pretty well given up on PDFs and reads them on the computer rather than the ereader.
The other thing which Sony has over Kobo is the ability to categorise the books in your library, eg History, Poetry, Crime or whatever. I can't comment on purchase of books because we are cheapskates and so far have only public domain books on our ereaders! Hope this helps a bit. |
01-27-2012, 11:16 PM | #20 |
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Thanks again for all the replies.
jehane, I'm looking to buy in Australia because that's where I live but I'm out of the country right now. I got bored and started doing research early. Yes, I have noticed that most models are much cheaper to import but the exception is the Kobo which is why I am partial to it. It is the only one that isn't at least 10% more expensive than in the US. A larger reader is not an option, they are just too expensive. I won't frequently be reading PDFs, it's just an option I think I should have. As long as the reader supports zoom and landscape mode, I am okay with it. ProfCrash, I'm not too worried about the availability of bookstores anymore. I've done some searching and found a couple that sell Adobe DRM, all the major titles I am planning to read are there so that is fine. I can't buy from the Sony bookstore outside of the US/UK. Bookpossum, I forgot that the Sony has the ability to organise books. I don't think I will need to store so many books on the device so I probably won't need it but I would really like to have it anyway. Thanks for pointing this out. Thanks for all the information everyone. I think I've made my decision. It's now between the Sony and Kobo and I'll wait till I get to see them in person before I pick one. |
01-27-2012, 11:37 PM | #21 | |||
Wizard
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Don't get me wrong, I love my Odyssey, but then I do not take notes when reading - the most I might do is highlight something or add a bookmark. I lived without built-in dictionary so long, that getting it supported right in the Odyssey is only going to be a bonus in the future. |
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01-28-2012, 01:12 AM | #22 |
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Yes that is why I am no longer considering the Odyssey. Looks like it is shaping up to a be great device but I'm not going to buy one with the hope of them adding functionality. I hadn't realised how much has yet to be completed until reading this forum. Thanks for the heads up.
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02-01-2012, 08:29 AM | #23 |
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Hi all,
I've been reading this conversation with great interest. I'm in a similar position to geenp, living in Australia and needing to buy an ereader. (In my case it will be a replacement, since my existing one has just given up the ghost, the service company says it "must" be due to user damage and so I have to pay for it, and wants me to fork out $399 for a replacement screen. Ugghh.) So, the two I am considering are the Kobo Touch or the iRiver Story HD. The following are my concerns regarding the possibilities, but I'd really appreciate any feedback on them that people here can offer: Kobo Touch I played with one of these breifly, but I found the touch aspect of the screen quite erratic. Sometimes it didn't respond, even when I tapped it sharply with my fingernail, and then swiping would turn two or even three pages at once. I think this would drive me nuts. I liked the contrast of the screen (even with the white case), but actively disliked the prospect of the store permanently taking up part of the screen or adding books to me book list. That's intrusive and, to my mind, objectionable. The documentation claims the Kobo will read .mobi formatted books - is this true, or only in limited circumstances? Does this mean non-DRMd books only? I really disliked the non-standard USB connector, which means neither of my wall chargers nor my car charger would work with this device, and seems to make the device quite vulnerable - where do you get replacements for this? I've never seen that plug type before, and even the Kobo website doesn't list the cable as a purchasable item. iRiver Story HD I'm wary of iRiver products, which seem distinctly overpriced and under-engineered, and from experience have an utter disgust (strong word, I know) for the distributors of the brand in this country and their predatory habits and pricing. But the options are limited. My concerns with this device include the lack of peripherals - almost no-one manufactures covers for this device - and the formats. Does anyone know if this model finally actually reads and reflows a DOC file, or is it, like previous iRiver models, just a static viewer function that displays the DOC as if each page was a .jpg? Kindle The Amazon ebook store isn't nearly as enticing a proposition for users in Australia, since such a hefty percentage of the titles is unavailable for purchase due to georgraphic restrictions. Since the Kindle doesn't support epubs, and my entire library is (currently) in that format, the Kindle's appeal is significantly reduced for me. Thoughts on any/all of this would be very much appreciated. |
02-01-2012, 09:20 AM | #24 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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For page turning, the Kobo is plenty fast. It does have nasty bug at the moment: some menu options appear to take forever, but when you tap somewhere on the screen, you then get a refresh, but then the tap may trigger another another action unintentionally. I also get a lot of dead taps when turning pages. If your thinking of the Kobo and not in a rush, I would wait to see if the next firmware update fixes these "problems". |
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02-01-2012, 09:23 AM | #25 | |
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02-01-2012, 09:44 AM | #26 |
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Are you sure, John F? It's not a standard mini-USB connection. I've never seen it before, and neither had the guy in the shop where i was checking out the Kobo (and they sell phones, tablets and laptops as well, so I'd think he'd have experience in the matter), plus I haven't been able to find anywhere here in Australia that sells that kind of cable. So my concern is still that it's non-standard, PLUS no-one accessible from here seems to sell additional cables of this type - including Kobo itself.
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02-01-2012, 09:59 AM | #27 |
Grand Sorcerer
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I'm relatively sure?
Looking at Wiki, it loooks like it is a Micro-b USB connector: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univers...cro_connectors The cord I'm using (with my Kobo Touch) is actually from my Nook. And my last Android phone and the same connector, and my wife's and daughter's cell phones have the same connector. I also use my Nook wall adapter, (and I think, a cell phone wall charger) to charge my Kobo. Seeing as how it is "standard" USB on one end and micro on the other, it seems pretty universal? Again, this is in the U.S. Good luck with your cabling problems, I sympathize. |
02-01-2012, 10:30 AM | #28 |
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Yeah, my apologies, that was a really dumb response of mine. I can only plead distraction as an excuse. Thanks for not being offended, because I didn't mean you to be.
It seems that the plug the Kobo uses is (according to Wikipedia) a Micro B USB, whereas most devices here in Australia (as far as there is standardisation) use a USB Mini B. So it counts as a point against the Kobo for me, since it means having to buy new spare cables - probably from overseas - plus a new charger just for the Kobo (not sure where I'd get that from, with the correct voltage, the correct wall plug and the correct cable type), and carrying yet more cables/plugs around if I travel. Definitely a tick in the negative column. Did you have any thoughts on the matter of support for other nominated formats? How does the Kobo handle documents in mobi and rtf formats? |
02-01-2012, 10:45 AM | #29 | |||
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An RTF file I tried had a lot of indenting and different font sizes, the result on the Kobo was not pretty. I got much better results running the RTF through Calibre to generate an EPub, but the formatting wasn't as nice as the original RTF. My 505 handles RTF much, much better. |
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02-01-2012, 02:48 PM | #30 | |||
Wizard
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As John suggested I convert RTF files with Calibre to e-pub and it works well. |
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