Aura One - Terrible Quality Control?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Their other devices aren't so prone to issues as the Aura ONE. Think of it as the Kobo Edsel. Lots of people love it, but the fact is, QC wise it's not as up to snuff as the rest of their line.

Interesting. When I was at the local Chapters picking up two as Christmas presents, I was asking the salesperson about returns on the Kobo ereaders. According to her, their return rates on the KA1, H2O2 and Aura E2 are about the same as their return rates on other electronics other than fitbit which seems to have issues with their Bluetooth headphones--no details on exactly what the fitbit headphone issue is. Sound quality? Dropping Bluetooth connections? Battery life?

BTW, the two KA1s I purchased are being happily used by their new owners who have no complaints about the display or lighting. They are not happy with the price of the Kobo sleepcover but then who is?

Given the number of comments in the Kindle forum, I would not say that Kobo is not alone with screen lighting quality issues -- see uneven lighting, gradient, light cones, etc.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Interesting. When I was at the local Chapters picking up two as Christmas presents, I was asking the salesperson about returns on the Kobo ereaders. According to her, their return rates on the KA1, H2O2 and Aura E2 are about the same as their return rates on other electronics other than fitbit which seems to have issues with their Bluetooth headphones--no details on exactly what the fitbit headphone issue is. Sound quality? Dropping Bluetooth connections? Battery life?

BTW, the two KA1s I purchased are being happily used by their new owners who have no complaints about the display or lighting. They are not happy with the price of the Kobo sleepcover but then who is?

Given the number of comments in the Kindle forum, I would not say that Kobo is not alone with screen lighting quality issues -- see uneven lighting, gradient, light cones, etc.

It seems kindle has more light problems or more light sensitive readers. That is just from the comments.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Interesting. When I was at the local Chapters picking up two as Christmas presents, I was asking the salesperson about returns on the Kobo ereaders. According to her, their return rates on the KA1, H2O2 and Aura E2 are about the same as their return rates on other electronics other than fitbit which seems to have issues with their Bluetooth headphones--no details on exactly what the fitbit headphone issue is. Sound quality? Dropping Bluetooth connections? Battery life?

BTW, the two KA1s I purchased are being happily used by their new owners who have no complaints about the display or lighting. They are not happy with the price of the Kobo sleepcover but then who is?

Given the number of comments in the Kindle forum, I would not say that Kobo is not alone with screen lighting quality issues -- see uneven lighting, gradient, light cones, etc.

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

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by koboy

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

Given the nature of these forums, I would expect the regular posters to be more sensitive to and vocal about lighting and any other issues.

Considering the price tag? Given the cost of a KA1 or even a new Oasis 2 compared to my ebook collections cost? Last time I did the numbers, the price of the KA1 compared to my ebook collection was not a significant percentage. To run the numbers again, 8,102 ebooks at an average $3.14 price gives me a cost for my collection of $25,440.28. 1% of that is $254.40.

If you wish to complain based on price, in Canada, the KA1 is $249.99 while the Oasis 2 is $389.99 (Kobo Canada site vs. Amazon.ca). A mere $100 more for the 32GB model of the Oasis though Amazon.ca seems to have the 8GB with WiFi and the 32GB with WiFi and "Free 3G". Looking at the Voyage and Paperwhite, it would appear that "free" translates to $70.

I'm tempted to ask why I don't see you in the Kindle forums complaining about Amazon's lack of quality control in light (pun intended ) of the number of complaints about gradient on the Oasis 2's screen -- such comments as "looking at an image of the screen, I can tell what side the buttons are on" would seem to be tailor made for you to kvetch about.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Given the nature of these forums, I would expect the regular posters to be more sensitive to and vocal about lighting and any other issues.

Considering the price tag? Given the cost of a KA1 or even a new Oasis 2 compared to my ebook collections cost? Last time I did the numbers, the price of the KA1 compared to my ebook collection was not a significant percentage. To run the numbers again, 8,102 ebooks at an average $3.14 price gives me a cost for my collection of $25,440.28. 1% of that is $254.40.

If you wish to complain based on price, in Canada, the KA1 is $249.99 while the Oasis 2 is $389.99 (Kobo Canada site vs. Amazon.ca). A mere $100 more for the 32GB model of the Oasis though Amazon.ca seems to have the 8GB with WiFi and the 32GB with WiFi and "Free 3G". Looking at the Voyage and Paperwhite, it would appear that "free" translates to $70.

I'm tempted to ask why I don't see you in the Kindle forums complaining about Amazon's lack of quality control in light (pun intended ) of the number of complaints about gradient on the Oasis 2's screen -- such comments as "looking at an image of the screen, I can tell what side the buttons are on" would seem to be tailor made for you to kvetch about.

i'm sure the Kindle forum will have the same die hard fandom equally trying to defend the undefendable.

some might say myself included that to acknowledge that some KA1's definitely do have quality control problems would be a more honest and accurate opinion to have.

but eh people who read this forum can judge for themselves and draw their own conclusions.

best wishes koboy

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by koboy

i'm sure the Kindle forum will have the same die hard fandom equally trying to defend the undefendable.

some might say myself included that to acknowledge that some KA1's definitely do have quality control problems would be a more honest and accurate opinion to have.

but eh people who read this forum can judge for themselves and draw their own conclusions.

best wishes koboy

From what I have seen in both the Kobo and Kindle forums, most of the posters do not attempt to defend the light issues. OTOH, most posters are also willing to admit that these problems seem to happen to a minority of devices. Oddly as well, in both forums, the vast majority of the posts are from people who actually own and use the devices.

As I said, given your ownership of a Kindle and your endless complaints about the quality control on the KA1, I would have expected to see more posts from you in the Kindle forum. After all, you have posted 424 times in the Kobo forum and a massive 10 times in the Kindle forum with not a single post from you in the Kindle forum since July. Kvetching about the ComfortLight on a KA1 just so much more soul-satisfying that kvetching about the light gradient on an Oasis 2?

[koboy]

Originally Posted by DNSB

From what I have seen in both the Kobo and Kindle forums, most of the posters do not attempt to defend the light issues. OTOH, most posters are also willing to admit that these problems seem to happen to a minority of devices. Oddly as well, in both forums, the vast majority of the posts are from people who actually own and use the devices.

As I said, given your ownership of a Kindle and your endless complaints about the quality control on the KA1, I would have expected to see more posts from you in the Kindle forum. After all, you have posted 424 times in the Kobo forum and a massive 10 times in the Kindle forum with not a single post from you in the Kindle forum since July. Kvetching about the ComfortLight on a KA1 just so much more soul-satisfying that kvetching about the light gradient on an Oasis 2?

i don't know about you but i tend to post if and when and where i like. sorry if my lack of pointing out how crap some Kindles are bothers you. funnily enough it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

my Kindle works 100% perfectly believe me i would be the first to complain if it didn't but i'm sure you already know that.

i don't have to own a KA1 to know how poor some of them are. all i have to do is read the almost endless posts on here by people who have bought the device for better or for worse.

best wishes koboy

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by koboy

i don't know about you but i tend to post if and when and where i like. sorry if my lack of pointing out how crap some Kindles are bothers you. funnily enough it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Oddly, it's the pattern of your posting that I find odd. You crap on Kobo especially the KA1 at every opportunity while not finding the time to crap on the Kindles Oasis 2.

Originally Posted by koboy

my Kindle works 100% perfectly believe me i would be the first to complain if it didn't but i'm sure you already know that.

I did seem to notice that you posted 10 times in a 10 day period wondering about having your Kindle display pages left in chapter (similar to Kobo when reading epubs) but haven't returned to the Kindle forum since.

Originally Posted by koboy

i don't have to own a KA1 to know how poor some of them are. all i have to do is read the almost endless posts on here by people who have bought the device for better or for worse.

I might be happier with your posting if you ever had anything new to say. For the most part, your posts could be replicated by Eliza.

We get the point that you feel that the Kobo KA1 violated your sense of cosmic justice by not having a 0% defect rate. If you spent the same amount of time complaining about the Oasis 2 and it's light gradient issue, it might be possible to say that you are a equal opportunity kvetcher but since you don't, I tend to the belief that you fall into a rather well defined category for deindividuated posters. If the sabot fits, wear it.

"Some people find courage from a bottle, for others it can come from having anonymity on the Internet." -- Ellwood Shreve

John Gabriel's GIF theory

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Interesting. When I was at the local Chapters picking up two as Christmas presents, I was asking the salesperson about returns on the Kobo ereaders. According to her, their return rates on the KA1, H2O2 and Aura E2 are about the same as their return rates on other electronics other than fitbit which seems to have issues with their Bluetooth headphones--no details on exactly what the fitbit headphone issue is. Sound quality? Dropping Bluetooth connections? Battery life?

BTW, the two KA1s I purchased are being happily used by their new owners who have no complaints about the display or lighting. They are not happy with the price of the Kobo sleepcover but then who is?

Given the number of comments in the Kindle forum, I would not say that Kobo is not alone with screen lighting quality issues -- see uneven lighting, gradient, light cones, etc.

Of course, people on this board are more likely to be particular about the quality of the screen. I have seen complaints about the Voyage in the past. I can't speak to the Kindle problems. I can barely speak to the Aura ONE problems.

My point is only that on the Kobo board, most any thread relating to the Aura ONE is going to have discussions about issues with the front light. I don't see the same happen with discussions on any other Kobo model.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Oddly, it's the pattern of your posting that I find odd. You crap on Kobo especially the KA1 at every opportunity while not finding the time to crap on the Kindles Oasis 2.



I did seem to notice that you posted 10 times in a 10 day period wondering about having your Kindle display pages left in chapter (similar to Kobo when reading epubs) but haven't returned to the Kindle forum since.



I might be happier with your posting if you ever had anything new to say. For the most part, your posts could be replicated by Eliza.

We get the point that you feel that the Kobo KA1 violated your sense of cosmic justice by not having a 0% defect rate. If you spent the same amount of time complaining about the Oasis 2 and it's light gradient issue, it might be possible to say that you are a equal opportunity kvetcher but since you don't, I tend to the belief that you fall into a rather well defined category for deindividuated posters. If the sabot fits, wear it.

"Some people find courage from a bottle, for others it can come from having anonymity on the Internet." -- Ellwood Shreve

John Gabriel's GIF theory

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.

btw the solution to this tedium is quite simple although of course the choice is completely yours

if only the solution was as easy for the poor customers on their 3rd replacement KA1 which is as crap as the 1st.

best wishes koboy

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Of course, people on this board are more likely to be particular about the quality of the screen. I have seen complaints about the Voyage in the past. I can't speak to the Kindle problems. I can barely speak to the Aura ONE problems.

My point is only that on the Kobo board, most any thread relating to the Aura ONE is going to have discussions about issues with the front light. I don't see the same happen with discussions on any other Kobo model.

Hmmm... I seem to remember that many of the problems are complaints about colour which would not have been any issue for any earlier Kobo ereaders which did not have the colour temperature control (ComfortLight Pro). Gee, my colour TV has colour matching issues which my old B&W TV did not have.

My experience has been that the KA1 does not have that many issues with the front light at normal settings. A lot of the complaints I've seen are from those using the ComfortLight Pro at or near the maximum brightness and minimum colour temperature setting, preferably in a dimly lit room.

I compared a KA1 to a Tolino epos which have the same size screen and colour temperature control. On both, I can see the LEDs along the bottom edge when I set the brightness to maximum and the colour temperature to it's lowest (warmest) setting. With my usual settings, the screen looks very even on both of them. If I look along the screen from the top towards the bottom no matter what the brightness settings, I can see the LEDs -- is there anytime that looking at the screen at a 5 degree angle is how anyone is going to read? And yes, that was a complaint by one poster about his Kobo ereader.

I tend to browse the Internet quite a bit looking for damn near anything-- there are times at work where I am waiting for something to break at 3AM and it's browse the Internet, read or whatever it takes to stay awake. There is a rather large number of complaints pretty similar to this one: "The display seems to have a left-right gradient, where the screen is visibly darker at the side opposite the buttons and brighter at the side of the buttons."

Along with such gems as "I just talked with the Amazon Customerservice about that issue. They actually advised me not to send the kindle back, as a replacement would likely have similar issues. Wow"

On Mobileread, try a search in the Kindle forums on gradient. Or limit your search to the Got my new Oasis today, first impressions thread.

Anyhow, time to stop and have an illicit sip of bubbly... Happy New Year!!!

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Considering the price tag? Given the cost of a KA1 or even a new Oasis 2 compared to my ebook collections cost? Last time I did the numbers, the price of the KA1 compared to my ebook collection was not a significant percentage. To run the numbers again, 8,102 ebooks at an average $3.14 price gives me a cost for my collection of $25,440.28. 1% of that is $254.40.

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."

[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

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by koboy

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.

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 ).

[pagepack]

I think a good screen on kobo or kindle seem to hit and miss. Ive sent an H2O back for having a screen that was too yellow, and a Voyage back for having ridiculousness colour shift.

My feeling now is get a good one and stick with it.