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Old 03-16-2013, 04:44 AM   #1
Jewelfox
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Should I get an Arc

Hi, everyone. Nice to see at least one of the actual Kobo staff seems to hang out here.

I currently own a 16 GB Nexus 7. I use it for reading, web browsing, and occasional gaming. I have a large collection of games that I've bought from various sales, which no longer fits on its internal storage. I can't even begin to put music on it because of this, and my smartphone -- which I use as a music player -- often runs out of battery power halfway through the day.

I am looking at getting a 64 GB Kobo Arc here in the States, if I can. This is partly because of its expanded storage space, and partly because I feel a lot better about Kobo than I do Google. Everything from using stock Android (and letting users customize it), to letting you read Kobo ebooks on other platforms, to distributing it through indie bookstores tells me that they're better than most other companies.

I'm mildly dismayed at the lack of Bluetooth and a Tegra 3 processor. But I rarely use my game controller anyway, and I'm not sure I want to always be trying to make sure my future devices use Nvidia graphics hardware. I have few games that are Tegra exclusives anyway.

I am concerned that I may have buyer's remorse if Google announces a shinier tablet at Google I/O this May, although I'm not really fond of Google to begin with. I just don't want to be left behind and suddenly not be able to run a particular new and interesting game.

Is there anything I should consider here?
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Old 03-16-2013, 05:01 PM   #2
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The nexus7 has OTG capability to add more storage. Look at the new Archos tablets coming out. We're still waiting for jelly bean and the lack of GPS and Bluetooth does affect whats available in the app store. Most of the apps I use have been sideloaded. I wouldn't buy again.
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Old 03-22-2013, 04:52 PM   #3
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I'm with Steve. Other devices have much more features and flexibility. One other thing is that the Arc can't be charged by a standard USB port which means you must have an appropriate A/C adapter with you when traveling. Also I'd suggest a micro SD card slot on whatever device you decide to buy.
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Old 03-22-2013, 05:24 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyToews View Post
I'm with Steve. Other devices have much more features and flexibility. One other thing is that the Arc can't be charged by a standard USB port which means you must have an appropriate A/C adapter with you when traveling. Also I'd suggest a micro SD card slot on whatever device you decide to buy.
It can be charged by usb it just takes longer.
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Old 03-22-2013, 05:36 PM   #5
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It can be charged by usb it just takes longer.
Agree I regularly charge mine from my laptop .
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Old 03-22-2013, 07:16 PM   #6
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I think it depends on what you want from the device. Others have said they wouldn't buy it again; I am completely happy about my purchase & would absolutely buy it again. But for me it does exactly what I wanted it to do.

I really was interested in the tapestries feature with this device as I use bookmarks on my computer in such a way that I knew the pintrest style of bookmarking would be something I'd really like. And I do really like it. I also like that you can use a different launcher with the device without sacrificing the tapestries feature. I have a main launcher I use daily for regular things & then the tapestries launcher has all the stuff I look up & want to save in nice folders where I can find it easily, & organize it.

I have not missed not having GPS on the device at all. The apps I haven't been able to get from google play because of no GPS I have been able to get from Aptoid so I haven't missed anything.

I was not able to find a place that sells the 64gb storage device in the states, but I have seen it on ebay. If you're looking for that size storage that would probably be the best place to find it. But Family Christian services sells the 35gb one. Not sure what storage size other stores might be carrying.
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Old 03-23-2013, 06:25 PM   #7
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I am in the camp with buyer' s remorse. This is my first kobo anything and my experience is...meh to awful ( customer service). I wish I had upgraded my Sony reader to the latest model and bought the nexus 7. Kobo can't hold a candle to my iPad, not that I expected it to but apple's reliability and push of new software ( except for the iOS 6 map fiasco) makes kobo look pretty lame.

Last edited by ppowell002; 03-23-2013 at 06:27 PM. Reason: Typos
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Old 03-25-2013, 04:24 PM   #8
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I really like the Kobo Arc and you would probably be fine with 64gb of storage the pretty performance and the nice screen.

But a lot of more power is around the corner and maybe it's better to go with new generation tablets we'll see in next future.
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Old 03-25-2013, 04:27 PM   #9
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I too am a huge fan of the Arc.... oh wait....
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Old 03-27-2013, 01:27 AM   #10
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I too am happy with my Arc. Even after the JB update. I don't find the bar at the top of the page to be much of a hindrance at all. I mentioned it to my mum (who also has an Arc) and she said it hadn't really registered with her. It takes so little screen space.

I am curious as to why with JB, Android returned to the two-step shut down that was on the Vox (Gingerbread, IIRC), after the one-step shutdown in ICS. But that's not Kobo's fault.

The Arc does everything I need it to.
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Old 03-29-2013, 08:53 PM   #11
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It can be charged by usb it just takes longer.
Ahh, thanks. I was unaware of that. The Vox can't be charged via a standard USB port.

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Old 03-29-2013, 09:00 PM   #12
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I have not missed not having GPS on the device at all. The apps I haven't been able to get from google play because of no GPS I have been able to get from Aptoid so I haven't missed anything.
There is one particular amateur radio app that I would find useful for which the GPS would be nice. But otherwise I don't want Google or anyone else knowing where I am. So I'm not quite sure how to handle this mental conflict of mine. I would likely ensure the GPS is turned off most of the time and/or ensure my position reporting to the Internet cloud is turned off.

So I do agree that the GPS or lack thereof isn't that important.

However Bluetooth to me is important. And given that you can purchase a USB Bluetooth device for $1.01 with free shipping out of China the lack of this feature, which likely costs $.25 or less in bulk quantities is utterly surprising to me.
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Old 03-30-2013, 02:32 AM   #13
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There is one particular amateur radio app that I would find useful for which the GPS would be nice. But otherwise I don't want Google or anyone else knowing where I am. So I'm not quite sure how to handle this mental conflict of mine. I would likely ensure the GPS is turned off most of the time and/or ensure my position reporting to the Internet cloud is turned off.

So I do agree that the GPS or lack thereof isn't that important.

However Bluetooth to me is important. And given that you can purchase a USB Bluetooth device for $1.01 with free shipping out of China the lack of this feature, which likely costs $.25 or less in bulk quantities is utterly surprising to me.
Google doesn't need gps, it finds you everytime you connect with wifi unless you have location turned off. GPS can be turned off also. In this day and age your comings and goings are already known, mobile phone use,bank machine use,bank/credit/store card use,CCTV, Google is the least of your worries. The big mistake for me was not enabling OTG which would have allowed for Bluetooth dongles ,pen drives, keyboards etc.
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Old 04-12-2013, 11:54 AM   #14
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Google doesn't need gps, it finds you everytime you connect with wifi unless you have location turned off. GPS can be turned off also. In this day and age your comings and goings are already known, mobile phone use,bank machine use,bank/credit/store card use,CCTV, Google is the least of your worries. The big mistake for me was not enabling OTG which would have allowed for Bluetooth dongles ,pen drives, keyboards etc.
This being said about the USB OTG would that be possible to enable through ROOT or is that locked via a lack in hardware? Then again we still have no progress on rooting this thing.
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Old 04-12-2013, 12:36 PM   #15
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This being said about the USB OTG would that be possible to enable through ROOT or is that locked via a lack in hardware? Then again we still have no progress on rooting this thing.
Still no root AFAIK.
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