Kobo E-reader Videos - Page 3

ficbot · 04-05-2010, 09:00 PM

Weekend is best for me. You guys free Saturday for lunch?

Pholy, didn't you see one already?

pholy · 04-05-2010, 09:04 PM

Yup, I did hold one briefly at BookNet. But the one I ordered won't arrive for a few weeks, so I'm eager to play some more.

Saturday is fine with me...

Shopaholic · 04-05-2010, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

LOL I only have it for a week. He told me I could do whatever I wanted with it except go on TV...

ooooh very cool! Is it like the Kindle in that the books you buy are stored online? Can they do what Amazon did with 1984 and pull the book from you or is there a desktop program to load & organize & store your books? What are your thoughts on the 4 way pad? My concern there is possible tearing of the plastic/rubber when using it constantly for page turns and scrolling through menus etc.

Can you buy an AC charger for it or is it USB only? If USB only can you charge it like an iPod with a USB wall plug or only through the computer? What about charging on the computer? Is it like the Sony reader in that if the computer goes into sleep mode it won't charge?

A friend of mine is looking at one of these and wanted to know. Thanks!!

ficbot · 04-06-2010, 07:27 AM

>>>Is it like the Kindle in that the books you buy are stored online? >>>

In a sense. You can download local copies to computer and device, but it is also in the 'cloud' and you can sync via bluetooth (i.e. read on your blackberry, sync your device with your blackberry and resume where you left off.

>>>Can they do what Amazon did with 1984 and pull the book from you>>>

The device does not have its own connection. They cannot pull a book directly from the ebook reader device.

>>>or is there a desktop program to load & organize & store your books?>>>

Yes, but the beta version I am testing does not have it completely working yet so I didn't test it.

>>>What are your thoughts on the 4 way pad? My concern there is possible tearing of the plastic/rubber when using it constantly for page turns and scrolling through menus etc.>>>

So far, so good

>>>Can you buy an AC charger for it or is it USB only? If USB only can you charge it like an iPod with a USB wall plug or only through the computer?>>>

Right now, USB only but he said there will be accessories for sale when it goes retail and that may include add-ons.

>>>What about charging on the computer? Is it like the Sony reader in that if the computer goes into sleep mode it won't charge?>>>

Don't know. I plugged it in with one bar left, left it charging foe an hour or so and it went to three bars, so it seems like a decent battery.

First impressions so far are it's definitely light and comfortable and by far the best reader for reading without needing a fancy case etc. I do have a few concerns, but I am not sure how much of that is 'beta testing unit, it will be fixed later' so I won't say anything until I hear back from my contact.

MaggieScratch · 04-06-2010, 12:24 PM

Does the Bluetooth sync work to sync the place in the book where you are reading, or just to load the book from phone to reader?

ficbot · 04-06-2010, 02:11 PM

I don't have a bluetooth device so I can't be sure, but I can check this for you. I'll keep a file over the next few days and email my guy at Kobo all the questions then.

Shopaholic · 04-06-2010, 04:20 PM

Thanks so much Ficbot. Greatly appreciated. As soon as you're able I'd love to hear your concerns with the unit. I like looking at new toys but would share your thoughts with my friend looking for a reader. She's going between the Sony and the Kobo. If the Kobo wasn't around she'd go with the Sony.

She's thinking she can take her reader to the book store and say I want this book, put it on my reader. LOL um.....NO!

ficbot · 04-06-2010, 06:44 PM

Well, I am happy to have a Toronto get-together this weekend so you can see. I spoke to my guy a little today and I think he is waiting to answer questions until I send him a whole pile at the end (for example, some people at Teleread had very specific questions about fairly esoteric things like when it will hit specific countries and whether it had support for certain languages).

Remember that this is an entry-level unit. No text to speech, no wifi, no dictionary, no on-board store etc. There is a reason it's going to be $150 and they were very upfront with me about that (I mentioned TTS and it was pretty much 'yes, but that is not one of the features we identified as most popular/necessary, so it got the boot.') There are things their techie guys may know how to implement and are choosing not to (in this model, anyway) to keep the cost down. But to give you some context, I showed it to two co-workers today and both of them were very impressed with the size, simplicity, and the price. One of them said it would be perfect for her mother. Both of them the eyes positively bugged out when they saw the pretty bookshelf view. They are not aiming this at the power user who wants to scientific manuals written in Cyrillic languages or something.

Concerns, let's see. Page turns felt a little laggy to me. Not inexcusably so, but definitely not as zippy as the Kindle (I did not feel the Sony was as zippy as the Kindle either, fwiw, and that was a very highly regarded Sony model). I think some people may raise the same issues as the Kindle regarding how to organize the books, especially since it's coming with 100 titles of clutter pre-loaded onto it (he did say these will be removeable via the desktop conduit, but I was not able to test this as the desktop conduits are not quite finished yet). And there were some epubs I couldn't zoom the font on, but I am not sure that's their fault completely.

Overall, my first impression was that it's a solid start and a good entry-level unit. Once I have had more time to play, I'll post a proper review.

Oogami · 04-06-2010, 08:27 PM

ficbot: Thanks so much for answering all of our questions!

Although I know it's a low end unit, will it support non-latin fonts? Like Japanese or Chinese? Or would people need to load PDF files with embedded fonts like with the Sony Readers?

And someone already asked about the bluetooth syncing. Weather it's just syncing between bookmarks, last read page and such or if you could buy a book on your iPhone and then wirelessly send the book to the Kobo Reader.

BongoBong · 04-11-2010, 12:56 AM

Thanks for the info so far ficbot. I just recently got into shopping for an ereader at this price point and definitely want to see how good the kobo is before i make any decisions. Keep us updated!

Also a couple questions. I read on another preview that it doesn't have bookmarking? Is this true? I know they want barebones but that seems a little excessive!

How is the startup time? on the other said preview I read around 40 seconds.

ficbot · 04-11-2010, 01:51 AM

By bookmarking, what do you mean? It does remember the last place you were at in each book. Yes, start-up time is about 40 seconds. Honestly, the standard I would use for 'should you get this reader' is:

- You are on a tight budget but still want a decent reading experience (i.e. a 'proper' e-ink screen, decent aesthetics)

- You want to simulate a paper reading experience (i.e. the bookshelf view appeals to you, you don't care about advanced features and just want to read a book straight through)

- You want to buy a reader for a child or an elderly parent (i.e. not too much cash outlay, not too many buttons/features to confuse them)

- You don't like the Sony but you want to buy epubs and use that format so a Kindle is not a choice for you

EricLandes · 04-11-2010, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

- You want to buy a reader for a child or an elderly parent (i.e. not too much cash outlay, not too many buttons/features to confuse them)

This is exactly why I'm looking at this device. My 6yr old daughter loves reading on my Kindle, and something like this would be perfect for her. And given I'm relatively adept at stripping and format conversion, it fits right into our ecosystem, assuming Calibre supports it.

BongoBong · 04-11-2010, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

By bookmarking, what do you mean? It does remember the last place you were at in each book. Yes, start-up time is about 40 seconds. Honestly, the standard I would use for 'should you get this reader' is:

- You are on a tight budget but still want a decent reading experience (i.e. a 'proper' e-ink screen, decent aesthetics)

- You want to simulate a paper reading experience (i.e. the bookshelf view appeals to you, you don't care about advanced features and just want to read a book straight through)

The function im talking about is while reading, to be able to bookmark a page that maybe has important info, and then later on while reading being able to go back to that bookmark.

Basically the two reasons you listed there are me. It's between this and the jetbook lite it is looking like for me. While I don't need the advanced features bookmarking, and 0dictionary would be nice. The main thing I like about this unit is the price for the 6 inch display.

I don't suppose you could make a video of it in action and post it up

?

m-reader · 04-12-2010, 02:11 AM

This is a great value-for-money device. If I was in the market for a reader, I would buy it in a flash.

astra · 05-01-2010, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrouchoM

No dictionary? What is the point

To read books?

A very good price for 6" eInk, indeed.

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04-05-2010, 09:00 PM	#31
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Weekend is best for me. You guys free Saturday for lunch? Pholy, didn't you see one already?

04-05-2010, 09:04 PM	#32
pholy Booklegger Posts: 1,801 Karma: 7999816 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Device: BeBook(1 & 2010), PEZ, PRS-505, Kobo BT, PRS-T1, Playbook, Kobo Touch	Yup, I did hold one briefly at BookNet. But the one I ordered won't arrive for a few weeks, so I'm eager to play some more. Saturday is fine with me...

04-06-2010, 07:27 AM	#34
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	>>>Is it like the Kindle in that the books you buy are stored online? >>> In a sense. You can download local copies to computer and device, but it is also in the 'cloud' and you can sync via bluetooth (i.e. read on your blackberry, sync your device with your blackberry and resume where you left off. >>>Can they do what Amazon did with 1984 and pull the book from you>>> The device does not have its own connection. They cannot pull a book directly from the ebook reader device. >>>or is there a desktop program to load & organize & store your books?>>> Yes, but the beta version I am testing does not have it completely working yet so I didn't test it. >>>What are your thoughts on the 4 way pad? My concern there is possible tearing of the plastic/rubber when using it constantly for page turns and scrolling through menus etc.>>> So far, so good >>>Can you buy an AC charger for it or is it USB only? If USB only can you charge it like an iPod with a USB wall plug or only through the computer?>>> Right now, USB only but he said there will be accessories for sale when it goes retail and that may include add-ons. >>>What about charging on the computer? Is it like the Sony reader in that if the computer goes into sleep mode it won't charge?>>> Don't know. I plugged it in with one bar left, left it charging foe an hour or so and it went to three bars, so it seems like a decent battery. First impressions so far are it's definitely light and comfortable and by far the best reader for reading without needing a fancy case etc. I do have a few concerns, but I am not sure how much of that is 'beta testing unit, it will be fixed later' so I won't say anything until I hear back from my contact.

04-06-2010, 12:24 PM	#35
MaggieScratch Has got to the black veil Posts: 542 Karma: 2144168 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania Device: Kobo Aura One, Kindle Paperwhite 2	Does the Bluetooth sync work to sync the place in the book where you are reading, or just to load the book from phone to reader?

04-06-2010, 02:11 PM	#36
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	I don't have a bluetooth device so I can't be sure, but I can check this for you. I'll keep a file over the next few days and email my guy at Kobo all the questions then.

04-06-2010, 04:20 PM	#37
Shopaholic Cockatoo Mom! Posts: 1,509 Karma: 1812695 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: PW4, Kobo: A1, Clara, Libra 2, iPad Pro 11, iPad Mini	Thanks so much Ficbot. Greatly appreciated. As soon as you're able I'd love to hear your concerns with the unit. I like looking at new toys but would share your thoughts with my friend looking for a reader. She's going between the Sony and the Kobo. If the Kobo wasn't around she'd go with the Sony. She's thinking she can take her reader to the book store and say I want this book, put it on my reader. LOL um.....NO!

04-06-2010, 06:44 PM	#38
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Well, I am happy to have a Toronto get-together this weekend so you can see. I spoke to my guy a little today and I think he is waiting to answer questions until I send him a whole pile at the end (for example, some people at Teleread had very specific questions about fairly esoteric things like when it will hit specific countries and whether it had support for certain languages). Remember that this is an entry-level unit. No text to speech, no wifi, no dictionary, no on-board store etc. There is a reason it's going to be $150 and they were very upfront with me about that (I mentioned TTS and it was pretty much 'yes, but that is not one of the features we identified as most popular/necessary, so it got the boot.') There are things their techie guys may know how to implement and are choosing not to (in this model, anyway) to keep the cost down. But to give you some context, I showed it to two co-workers today and both of them were very impressed with the size, simplicity, and the price. One of them said it would be perfect for her mother. Both of them the eyes positively bugged out when they saw the pretty bookshelf view. They are not aiming this at the power user who wants to scientific manuals written in Cyrillic languages or something. Concerns, let's see. Page turns felt a little laggy to me. Not inexcusably so, but definitely not as zippy as the Kindle (I did not feel the Sony was as zippy as the Kindle either, fwiw, and that was a very highly regarded Sony model). I think some people may raise the same issues as the Kindle regarding how to organize the books, especially since it's coming with 100 titles of clutter pre-loaded onto it (he did say these will be removeable via the desktop conduit, but I was not able to test this as the desktop conduits are not quite finished yet). And there were some epubs I couldn't zoom the font on, but I am not sure that's their fault completely. Overall, my first impression was that it's a solid start and a good entry-level unit. Once I have had more time to play, I'll post a proper review.

04-06-2010, 08:27 PM	#39
Oogami Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Sony PRS-505	ficbot: Thanks so much for answering all of our questions! Although I know it's a low end unit, will it support non-latin fonts? Like Japanese or Chinese? Or would people need to load PDF files with embedded fonts like with the Sony Readers? And someone already asked about the bluetooth syncing. Weather it's just syncing between bookmarks, last read page and such or if you could buy a book on your iPhone and then wirelessly send the book to the Kobo Reader.

04-11-2010, 12:56 AM	#40
BongoBong Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 54 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Canada Device: none	Thanks for the info so far ficbot. I just recently got into shopping for an ereader at this price point and definitely want to see how good the kobo is before i make any decisions. Keep us updated! Also a couple questions. I read on another preview that it doesn't have bookmarking? Is this true? I know they want barebones but that seems a little excessive! How is the startup time? on the other said preview I read around 40 seconds.

04-11-2010, 01:51 AM	#41
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	By bookmarking, what do you mean? It does remember the last place you were at in each book. Yes, start-up time is about 40 seconds. Honestly, the standard I would use for 'should you get this reader' is: - You are on a tight budget but still want a decent reading experience (i.e. a 'proper' e-ink screen, decent aesthetics) - You want to simulate a paper reading experience (i.e. the bookshelf view appeals to you, you don't care about advanced features and just want to read a book straight through) - You want to buy a reader for a child or an elderly parent (i.e. not too much cash outlay, not too many buttons/features to confuse them) - You don't like the Sony but you want to buy epubs and use that format so a Kindle is not a choice for you

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04-12-2010, 02:11 AM	#44
m-reader Guru Posts: 785 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Sony PRS-300. PRS-650, PRS-900, iPad2, Iconia A500, Irex Iliad (sold)	This is a great value-for-money device. If I was in the market for a reader, I would buy it in a flash.