Ok, I am sick of hearing...

[m0_joe]

...about all the problems and how everything was released too early etc, etc, etc...

I bought 3 Kobo's one I had to return for an obvious defect (a line running down the middle), but the other 2 work great. It's been dropped, water splashed on it and walked on by cats. It still works great.

I would like a firmware update now, but I know Kobo will release one as soon as they can. The obviously want it to be perfect considering all the "complaining" their customers are doing.

Customer service seems to suck according to some people, but what do you really expect them to do about your defective device. There's only so much you can do to troubleshoot it. Just return it, get another or your money back.

As for the font size. When you buy an ebook from Kobo it works fine from what I know. But you say it doesn't work when you buy an epub from someone else? Other than the seller's of the device? Really, why would they make it so difficult for you to buy ebooks from competitors? Strange.

At the very least be thankful they attempted to make it a little open source so we can use things like Calibre and they choose the epub format.

i realize the Kobo desktop software sucks. It really does. Again, I am 100% confident that kobo will eventually fix that. Considering it's an online store and they want you to buy books from them. Therefore they want you to use their software and not a 3rd party.

Finally for all those who say Canada is their test market. You know what, who cares. Kobo is a Canadian company, I am glad we got the Kobo first, even if it is "buggy". We got to buy the cheapest (and in my opinion) the best ereader out there.

For those of you who haven't bought one yet and are thinking about it. Do it! Buy one now. It's the closet thing you will get to an actual book. No stupid wi fi (I got it on my phone, laptop and desktop, I think that's enough) no keyboard (who the hell needs a keyboard while reading???) and nothing else frilly. If you want to read PDFs, print them. The Kobo is a great device and will only get better as time goes on.

To everyone else. Be patient. A great Canadian company is working hard to create a great Canadian product. We need to encourage them. If you can't wait there are some very smart people who have come out, using their own free time to create free software and plugins to help make the Kobo experience that much better.

Mind you I am venting. There has been a lot of support on here for 'defective' products. Some of it works some of it doesn't. I am so happy I got an ereader and I am so happy it was cheap and it's Canadian! (well as Canadian as things can be in today's global economy).

[artificial]

I agree kudos are due to Kobo for releasing a no frills, reasonably priced mass-market eInk device. It's about time, and it is exactly what I was waiting for. I bought one the first day they were released in Australia, and I really love mine despite its shortcomings.

However, it's clear that the Kobo has had more than a few teething problems, and I think it's perfectly reasonable for people to share their experiences on this forum, be they positive or negative.

I think it's unfair to tell people to "just return" their Kobo Reader if it is faulty. A lot of the faults with the Kobo would not be fixed by swapping it for a new device. Other faults are quite hard to pin down, and may or may not be fixed by returning the device, for instance battery life. Also bear in mind that in some place (e.g. Australia) the Kobo Reader has sold out, and swapping it might require weeks or months or waiting for a replacement.

[Stinger]

heh, I find a certain bit of comedic irony in the fact that you're complaining about people complaining...

All joking aside, if you've been reading these forums you probably already know I'm one of the many people around here that is very much enjoying their Kobo. I'm sure there are MANY other people in this same boat too, but they're probably out enjoying their Kobo, not posting here about their problems.

I agree with most of what you said, but there is one point I have to disagree with:

As for the font size. When you buy an ebook from Kobo it works fine from what I know. But you say it doesn't work when you buy an epub from someone else? Other than the seller's of the device? Really, why would they make it so difficult for you to buy ebooks from competitors? Strange.

I purchased my Kobo because it was touted as having epub compatibility. Out of principle, I will not purchase ANY books with DRM. I will buy a 1st hand paperback edition of a book to support authors, but this usually happens after I've effectively pirated the ebook version.
Being locked in to a certain vendor is what has been holding back the ebook market for years, and my hope was that the Kobo's epub compatibility, coupled with the great price point, would help in changing that. I still have that hope.

I also think you're wrong in implying that Kobo is creating the font issue on purpose to try and goad users into using official 'Kobo' books. If this were the case, I would have returned my unit the day after I purchased it. The font issue is just a bug.

[Stinger]

Originally Posted by artificial

However, it's clear that the Kobo has had more than a few teething problems, and I think it's perfectly reasonable for people to share their experiences on this forum, be they positive or negative.

+1 to this.

I'd also note that there is a difference between between "I'm having font issues.... f**** piece of shit Kobo! I'm returning it tomorrow!" and "I'm having font issues". The first is clearly indicative of a naive, overreacting douchebag. The second is just a statement of fact, which is more along the lines of the 'complaints' I've seen here at MR.

[artificial]

Originally Posted by Stinger

I'm sure there are MANY other people in this same boat too, but they're probably out enjoying their Kobo, not posting here about their problems.

Exactly - it is the nature of product forums that they attract people who are not completely satisfied with their purchase. As a consequence this forum is the web's best source of troubleshooting information about the Kobo Reader.

Originally Posted by Stinger

I also think you're wrong in implying that Kobo is creating the font issue on purpose to try and goad users into using official 'Kobo' books. If this were the case, I would have returned my unit the day after I purchased it. The font issue is just a bug.

I agree that the font sizing thing is just a bug.

I think it is true that the Kobo Reader that steers new users towards purchasing book from the Kobo/Borders store (this is obviously true of the desktop software), but I don't think that Kobo have attempted to sabotage non-Kobo ePubs!

[neilmarr]

***I bought 3 Kobo's one I had to return for an obvious defect***

Hya MO_joe. I've read a lot of good things about the Kobo and, if I wasn't completely happy with my Sony 505, I might well go for one. The line above, suggesting a failure rate of over 33%, though, ain't too encouraging. Cheer. Neil

[Bismar]

Hang on, from what your saying OP, you are saying the device hardware itself is great (which i agree), but that the firmware/software is left wanting.

As a major complainer (yeah i know), my arguments have all revolved around that. Kobo did not really design the hardware at all. It was done by Netronix a Taiwanese company, not Canadian. They may have had a small part in the specifications of what they wanted, but the majority of the design would not have been by them.

That said i fail to see how country matters in the production of the product, its overall quality and how we judge it.

[leighisme]

I love my Kobo, I just happen to be having some issues with battery life. I came here to see if it was a common issue. I don't see a lot of complaining (although there is some), I see people trying to troubleshoot. Two totally different things!

[Turt99]

This post really doesn't make much sense, you state that you bought 3 had to return one, and then you go on to talk about all the issues that the Kobo has.

Font Size - sure you can buy from Kobo and get books that work but if you state that your reader can use ePub files then you need to support files from other locations.

Open Source - You state that we should be thankful for them letting us use products like Calibre. Sorry but that had nothing to with something Kobo did, Calibre can convert to all sorts of formats so we would just change our output format. And since we have the font size problems with file created with Calibre its not like it really works anyways.

Price Point - the PRS-300 from Sony can be purchased for the exact same price. Atleast if you look for sales. If you want to get picky it does have a smaller screen and a few less features but it also doesn't have all the issues the Kobo does.

With all that said, I am fairly happy with my Kobo. But that this point I don't think I would recommend it, because currently I think it has some major flaws and although I believe Kobo can fix the problems we really don't know when things will be fix or how effective the fixes will be.

[Orochi]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

***I bought 3 Kobo's one I had to return for an obvious defect***

Hya MO_joe. I've read a lot of good things about the Kobo and, if I wasn't completely happy with my Sony 505, I might well go for one. The line above, suggesting a failure rate of over 33%, though, ain't too encouraging. Cheer. Neil

Well just for fun - to put a fly in your soup, Neil, I bought three Kobos as well and they all work great. That's a failure rate of 0%, or if you count m0_joe's 3 that's 1 out of 6 with a failure rate of 16.66%. So all in all I would say things aren't that bad.

Yes there are a few issues, but I would consider them minor, considering everyone who bought a Kobo is really an "early adopter", wether they realize it or not. It's very likely the Kobo will get better and quite possible cheaper, in the future.

I've also checked out some of the other threads for other E-readers and alot of people had similar problems with other readers as well, when they first came out.

[juiceless]

Originally Posted by Orochi

Well just for fun - to put a fly in your soup, Neil, I bought three Kobos as well and they all work great. That's a failure rate of 0%, or if you count m0_joe's 3 that's 1 out of 6 with a failure rate of 16.66%. So all in all I would say things aren't that bad.

You're comfortable with a 16.66% failure rate? You're the dream customer....

[marnom]

Originally Posted by juiceless

You're comfortable with a 16.66% failure rate? You're the dream customer....

That is normal from someone who his avatar has Windows logo...

[Orochi]

Originally Posted by juiceless

You're comfortable with a 16.66% failure rate? You're the dream customer....

My point was, that you can't base a failure rate on just a handful of machines.

Originally Posted by marnom

That is normal from someone who his avatar has Windows logo...

At least I took the time to have an avatar. I only picked it because I like the blue hooded robe - not the windows logo, But I'll change it just for you.

[marnom]

Don't change your avatar for me, I like it! I wonder though how it would look with a penguin instead...

[neilmarr]

***My point was, that you can't base a failure rate on just a handful of machines***

Of course not, Orochi. But I was only pulling MO_joe's leg. I like your avatar, too. Looks like a wild party in Loch Ness. Hoots. Neil