Amazon vs Kobo

[Wearever]

I haven't seen a Kobo since Borders closed here a long time ago. At that time I had my first e ink reader, and that was the first Nook. I've since moved onto Kindles. I am glad that Walmart is now selling Kobo's in the U.S. Although I still haven't seen one in my area. I hope to see them soon, especially the Kobo Forma. I like that Kobo is competing with Amazon, with new e ink devices. Who else will ? B&N was but blew it. I'm interested in kobo now, and will be reading the reviews on the Forma. Competition is good for everyone.

[robko]

Originally Posted by stumped

A lot of verified purchase reviews do say the oasis 2 is too heavy to hold one handed for long periods, so when we start seeing kobo forma reviews we could see the same critisisms again

I think they are different markets. The too heavy was not a big issue in reviews with the H2O or the Aura One (which are actually heavier than the Forma) probably because people were willing to trade off a heavier device for larger screen size. Sure there were people that thought it was too heavy, but since there is a benefit to the added weight (bigger screen) it's accepted more easily.
A lot of it depends on the balance of the device too. The original Aura HD was really nicely balanced IIRC, so even though it was heavier it was nice to hold. The Aura One isn't quite as nicely balance IMHO so one or two handed isn't as nice, but I keep using it for the bigger screen.

[stumped]

Weight does not bother me as I rest any reader or tablet on my body and read propped up in bed. Hand is only there to steady it and to flip pages.
The lack of a real left hand mode on kindles annoys me though, as I like to page turn with left hand? Yes I can stretch out a left thumb and tap an inch or so in ,but with tablet apps I can configure for full left handed operation.
Not sure of where kobo is on the left hand thing.with newest models. My son uses my old kobo aura hd but I don't recall being able to configure it for a lefty.

[Deskisamess]

The left hand page turn on a Kindle is only ½" from the left. I've got very small hands, and have no problem with it.

The Kobo Glo I have has more user defined touch areas if I remember correctly. I haven't used it since I got the Oasis.

[stumped]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

The left hand page turn on a Kindle is only ½" from the left. I've got very small hands, and have no problem with it.

The Kobo Glo I have has more user defined touch areas if I remember correctly. I haven't used it since I got the Oasis.

Sure but it's the principle of the thing, the cost of adding a proper lefty mode is surely minimal.
Kobo has more options but no true left handed one I think .i.e. no mirror image of the default settings

If the reader apps authors can fully cater for this, Why can't the e ink makers ?

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by stumped

Sure but it's the principle of the thing, the cost of adding a proper lefty mode is surely minimal.
Kobo has more options but no true left handed one I think .i.e. no mirror image of the default settings

If the reader apps authors can fully cater for this, Why can't the e ink makers ?

I guess it all depends on what the user focuses on. I've never given it much thought, unless I see it being talked about on the forums. I've been so happy with access to digital readers and books in general, some of the stuff other users find lacking I've never been bothered by.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by stumped

Not sure of where kobo is on the left hand thing.with newest models. My son uses my old kobo aura hd but I don't recall being able to configure it for a lefty.

You've got options to change the screen to page forward from the left side. Oddly enough, no options to "mirror" the default setting, however.

(I've attached a "screen shot" from my Kobo Mini. I assume it's the same for the newer Kobos.)

[John F]

Originally Posted by stumped

Sure but it's the principle of the thing, the cost of adding a proper lefty mode is surely minimal.
Kobo has more options but no true left handed one I think .i.e. no mirror image of the default settings

If the reader apps authors can fully cater for this, Why can't the e ink makers ?

When was the last time you checked out a Kobo? I'm on an older version of firmware, and I can't figure out why you would say "no mirror image ..." as all the page turning option look symmetrical or have a mirror option of each other.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by John F

When was the last time you checked out a Kobo? I'm on an older version of firmware, and I can't figure out why you would say "no mirror image ..." as all the page turning option look symmetrical or have a mirror option of each other.

By "mirror image" I mean the opposite of the default setting. In other words, just like the default setting (three full-length, vertical panels of equal size), except the left side goes forward and the right side goes backwards.

[stumped]

Originally Posted by rcentros

By "mirror image" I mean the opposite of the default setting. In other words, just like the default setting (three full-length, vertical panels of equal size), except the left side goes forward and the right side goes backwards.

That is what I meant also. That is what my phrase mirror image of default settings means..
an option that means a tap anywhere along the left edge of the screen flips to next page, and a tap anywhere along the right edge flips back a page..

[John F]

Originally Posted by rcentros

By "mirror image" I mean the opposite of the default setting. In other words, just like the default setting (three full-length, vertical panels of equal size), except the left side goes forward and the right side goes backwards.

Be that as it may, I was interested in stumped's definition.

[John F]

Originally Posted by stumped

That is what I meant also. That is what my phrase mirror image of default settings means..
an option that means a tap anywhere along the left edge of the screen flips to next page, and a tap anywhere along the right edge flips back a page..

Which the Kobos have had for quite a while.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Atunah

Sorry, I snipped the quote to only have what pertains to me. It would annoy the heck out of me to have large blobs of white space on the screen and it would annoy the person using the device most of the time. So right there is something that wouldn't work out of the box. I want optimal reading reading experience right out the box. Why would I get a device that doesn't do that. Sounds like a defect to me.

The person I had thought of getting a kobo is using an older Paperwhite right now and never has to deal with screen not filling pretty much the same no matter the book. I just wanted to make it easier to get the library books and that is most he reads anyway, aside a few purchased titles.

Like all kindles, besides some formatting differences, text looks the same if I buy a book, borrow a book and even if I convert a book in calibre. Mind you, I only know how to do convert with one button press. I don't have any skills to fiddle with any formatting in books. And besides not having covers when I convert from epub to mobi format, it looks about the same, same margins all around and font what I choose.

If they ever had any of the kobo's at the walmart near me I could at least check them out and see. But I don't want to get something to fiddle with. And the walmart here doesn't have them. Maybe they'll get them at some point.

Hi Atunah--

Here's a picture of what my Kobo looks like with the margins and the line height both set to the smallest they can go without patching. Picture

This is without any fiddling or tweaking.

Note also that I have set my kobo so that the books are left aligned. I know that some people don't like it, but I do. It's easy to change that so that books show fully justified.

Shari

[ebusinesstutor]

We have Kobos in our household (hand me downs from my stepdaughter) but I purchased a Kindle Paperwhite so that I could get Kindle Unlimited.

So a Kobo wasn't in the running.

[dakini]

FWIW, my advice would be to go with the Kindle. Kobo's lost me as a loyal customer after being with them since they started selling e-readers.

I'm a Kobo to Kindle convert. I have had three Kobos; needing a repair I got a several-month absolute horrendous runaround in which Kobo kept telling me I needed to buy a new machine, until the time for the warranty ran out and they denied my claim to get it fixed; according to customer service, they no longer repair, even if under warranty. I gave up and bought a used Kindle off Facebook marketplace (the 2014 model). It converted me ... library books get sent automatically through Amazon to the device, I got a 3-month trial of Kindle Unlimited which has been great. We then went and bought a paperwhite since reading in the dark was something we missed. It's so easy to put multiple devices on a family account and choose what to download or which device to send something to. Sideloading can happen through email, too. It's so much easier not having to connect it to a computer for these tasks.

The readers themselves feel about the same -- same quality, same feel in the hands. We always use cases, so I can't speak to any device taking great knocks.

So yeah, after the sudden downturn in Kobo customer service now that it's provided by Walmart, and the much easier integrations of the Kindle, I don't see us going back to Kobo. It's too bad, we enjoyed them from the beginning, but they're not the company they used to be and pushed us away.