Aura One - Terrible Quality Control?

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by PeterT

I wonder if one reason people have had to do multiple returns to get a unit they're happy with is the likelihood that all units at a given store will be from the same manufacturing batch

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

I think you just hit the nail squarely on the head.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I think you just hit the nail squarely on the head.

I remember reading somewhere – probably here on one of these forums – that the "glue" used between the layers on these eReaders has to dry or "cure." Until it does that you'll have the off-color. Maybe some of these Aura Ones were shipped before the "curing" process completed? That might explain why (at least) one poster mentioned that his/her Aura One "fixed" itself of this issue.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Sorry, but for most, this is a really silly (beside the point) argument. My entire eBook collection probably cost less than your Kobo Aura 1, so does that make the cost of an Aura 1 "super monumental" to me instead of merely expensive? I've seen some pictures of those green smudges on the Aura 1's screen. I don't really think this is something Kobo can afford to ignore and I don't see where it is helpful to try to sweep it "under the rug."

Yes, the green smudges happened. Yes, they only happened on the KA1 at that time (not many other ereaders with colour temperature control at that time).

Sadly, I've only seen them in images as none of the KA1's I've looked at have shown the problem. Looking at the poll on Mobileread, there were about 39% of the owners complaining about the issue. Is it still happening on a consistent basis? I haven't seen many recent complaints. Quite a few of the people who did complain also mentioned exchanging their KA1s for ones that did not display the screen problems. OTOH, there were those who complained about receiving multiple bad units in the same BaM store which suggests there were batches which exhibited the issue so that chances that all the units in a store came from a batch that had screen issues were good.

As I said, my collection cost me a lot more than my KA1. Perhaps you might want to share approximately how many books in your collection and what your average cost was? Even sticking mostly to $0.99 and $1.99 specials, it would take less than 200 books to exceed the cost of my KA1. Very reminiscent about the razor adage -- we'll give them the razor and make money selling the blades. Yes, I might be a bit anal in recording the costs of an ebook purchase in it's own column in calibre but it costs me a second per ebook and lets me keep track of my spending on them.

Do I think Kobo ignored the problem? Did it cost them money? If so, I suspect they would not have ignored the issue. As I said, the number of complaints from new KA1 owners that I've seen appear to have tapered off (not completely disappeared but fewer) which, to me, suggests that QC problem has been addressed. Have you seen any evidence to the contrary?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by koboy

it's nice to know you follow my posts so closely (i think) and i'm not the only one (take a look in the mirror) who takes every opportunity to give the counterbalance.

No need to follow your posts. Search does a much better job with less of the feeling of drowning in regurgitated bovine excrement.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by DNSB

No need to follow your posts. Search does a much better job with less of the feeling of drowning in regurgitated bovine excrement.

and a happy new year to you too. giveth but need to learn to taketh.

best wishes koboy

[koboy]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Yes, the green smudges happened. Yes, they only happened on the KA1 at that time (not many other ereaders with colour temperature control at that time).

Sadly, I've only seen them in images as none of the KA1's I've looked at have shown the problem. Looking at the poll on Mobileread, there were about 39% of the owners complaining about the issue. Is it still happening on a consistent basis? I haven't seen many recent complaints. Quite a few of the people who did complain also mentioned exchanging their KA1s for ones that did not display the screen problems. OTOH, there were those who complained about receiving multiple bad units in the same BaM store which suggests there were batches which exhibited the issue so that chances that all the units in a store came from a batch that had screen issues were good.

As I said, my collection cost me a lot more than my KA1. Perhaps you might want to share approximately how many books in your collection and what your average cost was? Even sticking mostly to $0.99 and $1.99 specials, it would take less than 200 books to exceed the cost of my KA1. Very reminiscent about the razor adage -- we'll give them the razor and make money selling the blades. Yes, I might be a bit anal in recording the costs of an ebook purchase in it's own column in calibre but it costs me a second per ebook and lets me keep track of my spending on them.

Do I think Kobo ignored the problem? Did it cost them money? If so, I suspect they would not have ignored the issue. As I said, the number of complaints from new KA1 owners that I've seen appear to have tapered off (not completely disappeared but fewer) which, to me, suggests that QC problem has been addressed. Have you seen any evidence to the contrary?

(YESSSSS) it might be a good idea to look at post 1 from just over 2 weeks ago.

Aura One - Terrible Quality Control?
The Kobo Aura One is by far the best e-reader I've used. But it's terribly let down by the QC. I'm wondering how it can be so bad:

Of the five I've used, only two worked as they should.

First one worked great for a couple weeks, then the screen froze and it was dead, never to return to life.

Two have light issues:

In one, even at the end of the night slider, the light is very yellow, as opposed to the nice red it should go to (as it does in the others); in the other, the light has the right color, but there is totally, distractingly uneven, with big dark shadows covering the lower corners.

(Even more annoying, customer service just told me to reset it, and that would solve all my problems. I wonder if I was communicating with a chatbot. Sure felt like it. Generally does when I chat with most customer service reps, which is why I always try to email, thought it's less and less an option.)

Two have worked just as they should with no issues so far.


I don't get how it can be that bad. Still.

I want to give these as gifts. I want to send one to a friend in Australia, for example. But I can't just order it from a retailer there and have it sent. Rather, I have to have shipped to me in the US, where I am now, make sure it works properly, then send it along. It's already not cheap, and that just adds too much to the expense.


With a defect rate as high as it is, it seems they need to have someone physically inspect each screen before it goes out. That would surely be cheaper than paying the shipping for all the returns, having so many duds, and giving so many customers bad experiences.

unbelievable

best wishes koboy

[koboy]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Quality control does not assure a 100% of quality but the lowest percentage. And everybody knows that happy towns have no history (or posts in the forums ).

if your going to quote me then please do me the courtesy of including all of my comment. don't just take a part of it out of context to suit your own narrative.

full comment = two wrongs don't make a right. the KA1 certainly suffers from poor quality control as far as some users on this forum are concerned. imo it should work pretty much flawlessly for everyone considering the price tag.

best wishes koboy

[dordale]

I guess I have to consider myself very lucky--the screen on my Kobo Aura One is great--not blotchy and the comfort light works very nicely. Turned all the way up (which is not how I read) it's very orange. I usually have the slider set about 20-25% above the "off" position and this proves to be very comfortable for me when reading in a dark area.

I did turn off the auto light adjust features--as the adjustments made were wacky. I do use the auto adjustment on my Voyage and like that. One nice thing about the way the Voyage handles auto adjustment--if you manually adjust the light it accepts the adjustment, but doesn't turn off the auto adjust feature. Any manual adjustment on the Kobo immediately turns off the auto adjust feature, so there isn't any way to "fine tune" the Kobo's auto adjustment features that I can see.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by koboy

(YESSSSS) it might be a good idea to look at post 1 from just over 2 weeks ago.

unbelievable

best wishes koboy

And nowhere in that post does it say when those problems happened. There is no real timeline. Did this happen when the devices were first released and the OP wants to know if it is still happening? Or was it devices they purchased the week before. My guess is somewhere in between, because if they had just finished going through this, they wouldn't have needed to ask the question.

And no-one, including DNSB, is trying to claim that there are no problems now. The claims are that the problem have reduced. I tend to agree with it, but, I have no real idea as I haven't been counting the reports and graphing them. Have you?

p.s. If you are going to complain about other people quoting, make sure you quote other people properly to make it obvious which is your text and which is the quoted text. I have fixed it here so that people can see.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by davidfor

And nowhere in that post does it say when those problems happened. There is no real timeline. Did this happen when the devices were first released and the OP wants to know if it is still happening? Or was it devices they purchased the week before. My guess is somewhere in between, because if they had just finished going through this, they wouldn't have needed to ask the question.

And no-one, including DNSB, is trying to claim that there are no problems now. The claims are that the problem have reduced. I tend to agree with it, but, I have no real idea as I haven't been counting the reports and graphing them. Have you?

p.s. If you are going to complain about other people quoting, make sure you quote other people properly to make it obvious which is your text and which is the quoted text. I have fixed it here so that people can see.

complain me? surely not. KA1 issues/nightmare QC in 2018 well let's wait and see shall we.

best wishes koboy

[Cinisajoy]

I just want to know what the OP got his girlfriend for Christmas.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I just want to know what the OP got his girlfriend for Christmas.

A set of clay tablets, a hammer and a chisel?

[DorianaGraye]

Quality control was a huge problem for me when I was trying to buy my KA1. (Spoiler alert: I don’t have one. I couldn’t keep eating the return shipping!) First model: comfort light cast huge streaks up the screen. I bought that one straight from Kobo, and after a two week nightmare back-and-forth, I was finally able to return it. Decided to order the second from Chapters. The comfort light was fine, but there was an eraser-sized spot of broken pixels on the screen. Exchanged it for a new one, which had the same lighting issues as the first (but just the right side of the screen this time). So I returned my third KA1 and didn’t repurchase.

I don’t want a Kindle, and I’m massively disappointed in the new Nook, so I guess I’m just going to wait and see what comes out in 2018. But OP’s experiences aren’t unique.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DorianaGraye

...and I’m massively disappointed in the new Nook, so I guess I’m just going to wait and see what comes out in 2018. But OP’s experiences aren’t unique.

What is it about the new Nook that was so disappointing?

And have you considered an Aura H202? They don't seem to have the same issues as the Aura ONE.

[Richwood]

New Kobo Aura One 32 GB arrived today and the Wi-Fi transmission or reception seems to be defective. Cannot get it to connect to Wi-Fi. It detects my network but when I enter my password I get a error message "Unable to Join "My Chart...". Please try again." I even tried it within 3 feet of my wi-fi equipment. I suspect the transmitter on the Kobo is defective as it picks up lots of wi-fi signals and indicates mine is full strength. BTW I have multiple other Kobo and Kindle readers and none has had a problem joining the network. Battery is fully charged. This is a first. Be contacting Kobo tomorrow. Any ideas?