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Old 10-03-2011, 10:02 PM   #1
cabbot
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Jumping ship from Kindle

Amazon has lost me as a customer by cutting the 3G web browsing in such a sneaky way and worse yet giving out misinformation when people noticed this.

I have seen lots of posts about growing pains with the Kobo Touch. Have the bugs been worked out yet if someone were to purchase a brand new one?

I would also prefer not to use an proprietary software so can I totally skip installing the Kobo Desktop and side load everything or is that not an option?
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Old 10-03-2011, 10:17 PM   #2
Shankill
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You'll need the Kobo Desktop software for initial setup (and if you want to purchase the two-year protection plan), but it can update its software over wifi, so you only need to use it once.

Overall, most of the bugs have been worked out. Some people are having issues with sideloaded books, some aren't. All of my books are DRM-free and sideloaded through my SD card, and I've had no issues. My only issue right now is the latest software update has broken the recording of new reading stats.

It's a fairly solid device now, and I find that stuff like PDFs and web browsing (over wifi, of course :P) is much less of a pain on this than the Kindle 3, which I sell at work.

Customer support varies, but my gf and I have only had good experiences with them, and we're in Australia contacting them in Canada. Also, some Kobo staffers are on the MR forum, and they seem to respond well to issues and feedback and feature requests.
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Old 10-03-2011, 10:28 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cabbot View Post
Amazon has lost me as a customer by cutting the 3G web browsing in such a sneaky way and worse yet giving out misinformation when people noticed this.

I have seen lots of posts about growing pains with the Kobo Touch. Have the bugs been worked out yet if someone were to purchase a brand new one?

I would also prefer not to use an proprietary software so can I totally skip installing the Kobo Desktop and side load everything or is that not an option?
I haven't experienced any problems. Bought my KT a little over a week ago, updated straight to 1.9.11, the most recent firmware.

It does require you to install Kobo Desktop to set up, but I did this, then uninstalled it, went to Calibre, and never looked back. Calibre is an open-source, non-proprietary software. It is not associated with any device, but rather can be used with any device. It can be your library, your newsfeed, and also your store (it isn't a store, but rather searches many stores at once for the best price, and it displays whether the book is DRM'ed).

Calibre syncs perfectly with my KT. You could side load if you wanted to, of course, but it's nice that Calibre recognizes Kobo and I can just do it that way.

You don't have to use Kobo Desktop for anything except install. I'm not *thrilled* with having to install either, but for all the other things about it I like, it's a small compromise that took up 2 minutes of my time.

Last edited by SmokeAndMirrors; 10-03-2011 at 10:31 PM.
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Old 10-03-2011, 10:28 PM   #4
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Thanks for the quick replies. Can you transfer books from the SD card to the internal memory by using the device itself? I plan to use all DRM free ePubs...going to "Caliberize" the non ePubs I have. But am I correct in that I can sideload by dragging and dropping books to the device in mass storage mode, or to the SD card and they will work? Or must they be added to the device or card with Calibre or the Kobo software?

What kind of battery life are you getting in your experience? I tend to shut all wireless radios off unless I am using them at that moment.

Last edited by cabbot; 10-03-2011 at 10:31 PM.
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Old 10-03-2011, 10:34 PM   #5
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If you intend to use the Kobo with only drm unencumbered books, you don't need to use the desktop software or set up the device at all. Search the from for instructions on Manual update, and away you go.

Edit: It's a shame Kobo makes you search the dark corners of the net for this simple inforation... That's a nice thing about the Kindle.. Updating is straightforward and the firmware binary download is prominently provided. If only the damn things could read epub straight up. *sigh*
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Old 10-03-2011, 10:48 PM   #6
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Thanks Rashkae,

I got into the Kindle ecosystem before I really understood the DRM issues so I just stayed with them...and the 3G web browser was nice for checking email or Google Maps etc. So I didn't see the need to change since I knew if I ever HAD to I could strip their DRM and convert formats. But now I see no reason to stick with them and the KT has always caught my eye and felt good in my hand when at the shops. Might give it a go.
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Old 10-04-2011, 12:28 AM   #7
Shankill
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cabbot View Post
Can you transfer books from the SD card to the internal memory by using the device itself? I plan to use all DRM free ePubs...going to "Caliberize" the non ePubs I have. But am I correct in that I can sideload by dragging and dropping books to the device in mass storage mode, or to the SD card and they will work? Or must they be added to the device or card with Calibre or the Kobo software?
You can absolutely drag-and-drop books through a file manager like Windows Explorer or Nautilus or Thunar or whatever floats your boat.

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What kind of battery life are you getting in your experience? I tend to shut all wireless radios off unless I am using them at that moment.
Wifi tends to be automatically off unless you're browsing or syncing, though there is an Airplane Mode control. The most I've gone before charging has been a couple of weeks, and I read two to three hours a day. That said, I tend to get new books or manage my existing ones fairly regularly, so it usually doesn't spend more than a week without being plugged into my computer at some point.

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So I didn't see the need to change since I knew if I ever HAD to I could strip their DRM and convert formats.
With the right plug-ins, Calibre does an amazing job of this. Maybe 10% of the books I buy are from the Kindle store because they're unavailable anywhere else, and I've had no issues with the EPUB-ised versions Calibre outputs from its conversion (default settings, but with the output optimised for a Kobo).
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Old 10-04-2011, 03:49 AM   #8
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Nevermind the font question I see the updates have added some.

Last edited by cabbot; 10-04-2011 at 04:11 AM.
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