Whitcoulls in New Zealand

moffattm · 09-16-2010, 08:04 PM

I've been in a few Whitcoulls stores in Auckland recently and was pleased to see that they all seem to have stepped up their Kobo marketing. They all had stands showing off the Kobo, along with a list of the 100 free books that come with the Kobo, and offers of a demo of the unit by asking a staff member.

Whitcoulls in the Albany Mega Centre even had a comparison table of the Kobo vs other e-readers, and they were also selling silicon gel covers (the first I've seen for sale in NZ, but unfortunately they only had bright red).

Well done Whitcoulls!

kiwipippa · 09-16-2010, 09:39 PM

Moffattm, good to see. Pity their selection of ebooks is so poor and so expensive. I have only bought one book through them, the rest I buy through kobobooks or Book Depository

moffattm · 09-17-2010, 12:07 AM

Yup, I've only bought a few books but I've bought them through KoboBooks because I've used their discount codes.

Whitcoulls have also dropped the price to NZ$249. I'm sure it will be down to $199 at Christmas.

steerpike · 09-18-2010, 03:49 AM

Are they still selling those with the problems with fonts and battery life first announced in June? Don't buy unless they have firmware 1.4 installed. Ask about after sales service - they may be the only NZ retail ebook reader but unless they are prepared to help users upgrade, may be better to buy offshore.

neilmarr · 09-18-2010, 04:28 AM

Good to see NZ getting an even break at long last Mofattm. Best wishes. Neil

SameerH · 09-18-2010, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moffattm

Yup, I've only bought a few books but I've bought them through KoboBooks because I've used their discount codes.

Whitcoulls have also dropped the price to NZ$249. I'm sure it will be down to $199 at Christmas.

you can use a Whitcoulls-bought Kobo eReader to sync your Kobo-bought books. You just need to use the Kobo Desktop application, not the Whitcoulls application.

kiwipippa · 09-19-2010, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moffattm

Yup, I've only bought a few books but I've bought them through KoboBooks because I've used their discount codes.

Whitcoulls have also dropped the price to NZ$249. I'm sure it will be down to $199 at Christmas.

Where do you get the discount codes from? I am signed up to receive emails from kobobooks but haven't received anything from them ever - and I bought my kobo in July.

artig · 09-19-2010, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SameerH

you can use a Whitcoulls-bought Kobo eReader to sync your Kobo-bought books. You just need to use the Kobo Desktop application, not the Whitcoulls application.

Does this apply even if you have already purchased some books with the Whitcoulls application? Will both the Whitcoulls and the KoboBooks titles be present in the reader?

However, I probably won't be buying any more ebooks until there is some way of determining whether an ebook (non-fiction) includes the original illustrations, diagrams, tables, etc. None of the ones I've bought so far have included illustrations, making the reader somewhat less than ideal.

moffattm · 09-19-2010, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwipippa

Where do you get the discount codes from? I am signed up to receive emails from kobobooks but haven't received anything from them ever - and I bought my kobo in July.

Kobo have sent me one discount code in the past, but I've found others by people mentioning them on this forum. Have a look at https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96044

Rothbardian · 09-21-2010, 05:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steerpike

Are they still selling those with the problems with fonts and battery life first announced in June? Don't buy unless they have firmware 1.4 installed. Ask about after sales service - they may be the only NZ retail ebook reader but unless they are prepared to help users upgrade, may be better to buy offshore.

At NZ prices, you could afford to ship it back and forth overseas a few times for upgrades, etc., and still save money.

kiwipippa · 09-21-2010, 11:13 AM

Artig, I was surprised by kobo's post about running the two aps together. I had read that you could only run one. When I buy books from kobobooks I use ADE to sync them to my reader. I only use the Whitcoulls ap for Whitcoulls books (which is now never for me as they are too expensive).

I'd be interested to see if any other NZ'ers are running the Kobo ap instead of or as well as the Whitcoulls one.

moffattm · 09-21-2010, 09:26 PM

I'm running the Kobo app and Calibre. I've got ADE installed but hardly ever use it. I never installed the Whitcoulls app at all.

artig · 09-23-2010, 03:56 AM

Reluctantly, after advice from the Kobo helpdesk, I've now installed ADE and downloaded the books purchased from Whitcoulls in ePub format. In ePub format the books now have the diagrams and illustrations. It's only the Kobo native format that does not include these. Until it's updated so illustrations are included it will be goodbye Whitcoulls/Kobo desktop app.

At the same time I got Calibre installed and connected to the Kobo.

My main complaint with the ePub/ADE format is that the text lines are now justified, and the fonts and line spacing make it more difficult to read. But I'll learn to live with that.

kiwipippa · 09-23-2010, 04:32 AM

Thanks for this Artig. One thing that annoyed me about Whitcoulls was that I did not have the actual epub file - it was saved in the "cloud" under "My Library". However, after reading your post I went back onto their website to my library and I saw a very small link allowing you to download the file into ADE. So I have done this for the books I have bought off them, meaning I now have the files.

The one I had loaded via the Whitcoulls cloud has a cover image, but no pictures inside. The EPUB has no cover image but has pictures inside! How does all that work?

Rothbardian · 09-23-2010, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by artig

Reluctantly, after advice from the Kobo helpdesk, I've now installed ADE and downloaded the books purchased from Whitcoulls in ePub format. In ePub format the books now have the diagrams and illustrations. It's only the Kobo native format that does not include these.

"Kobo native format" isn't epub? AFAIK it only does epub and pdf, ne?

09-16-2010, 08:04 PM	#1
moffattm Addict Posts: 333 Karma: 1440670 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Device: Kobo Original, Kobo Glo	Whitcoulls in New Zealand I've been in a few Whitcoulls stores in Auckland recently and was pleased to see that they all seem to have stepped up their Kobo marketing. They all had stands showing off the Kobo, along with a list of the 100 free books that come with the Kobo, and offers of a demo of the unit by asking a staff member. Whitcoulls in the Albany Mega Centre even had a comparison table of the Kobo vs other e-readers, and they were also selling silicon gel covers (the first I've seen for sale in NZ, but unfortunately they only had bright red). Well done Whitcoulls!

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09-16-2010, 09:39 PM	#2
kiwipippa Fanatic Posts: 578 Karma: 613022 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: New Zealand Device: kobo glo, kobo touch (dead), kindle touch, android phone	Moffattm, good to see. Pity their selection of ebooks is so poor and so expensive. I have only bought one book through them, the rest I buy through kobobooks or Book Depository

09-17-2010, 12:07 AM	#3
moffattm Addict Posts: 333 Karma: 1440670 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Device: Kobo Original, Kobo Glo	Yup, I've only bought a few books but I've bought them through KoboBooks because I've used their discount codes. Whitcoulls have also dropped the price to NZ$249. I'm sure it will be down to $199 at Christmas.

09-18-2010, 03:49 AM	#4
steerpike Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kobo	Are they still selling those with the problems with fonts and battery life first announced in June? Don't buy unless they have firmware 1.4 installed. Ask about after sales service - they may be the only NZ retail ebook reader but unless they are prepared to help users upgrade, may be better to buy offshore.

09-18-2010, 04:28 AM	#5
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Good to see NZ getting an even break at long last Mofattm. Best wishes. Neil

09-21-2010, 11:13 AM	#11
kiwipippa Fanatic Posts: 578 Karma: 613022 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: New Zealand Device: kobo glo, kobo touch (dead), kindle touch, android phone	Artig, I was surprised by kobo's post about running the two aps together. I had read that you could only run one. When I buy books from kobobooks I use ADE to sync them to my reader. I only use the Whitcoulls ap for Whitcoulls books (which is now never for me as they are too expensive). I'd be interested to see if any other NZ'ers are running the Kobo ap instead of or as well as the Whitcoulls one.

09-21-2010, 09:26 PM	#12
moffattm Addict Posts: 333 Karma: 1440670 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Device: Kobo Original, Kobo Glo	I'm running the Kobo app and Calibre. I've got ADE installed but hardly ever use it. I never installed the Whitcoulls app at all.

09-23-2010, 03:56 AM	#13
artig Zealot Posts: 137 Karma: 681012 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New Zealand Device: kobo, kindle pw	Reluctantly, after advice from the Kobo helpdesk, I've now installed ADE and downloaded the books purchased from Whitcoulls in ePub format. In ePub format the books now have the diagrams and illustrations. It's only the Kobo native format that does not include these. Until it's updated so illustrations are included it will be goodbye Whitcoulls/Kobo desktop app. At the same time I got Calibre installed and connected to the Kobo. My main complaint with the ePub/ADE format is that the text lines are now justified, and the fonts and line spacing make it more difficult to read. But I'll learn to live with that.

09-23-2010, 04:32 AM	#14
kiwipippa Fanatic Posts: 578 Karma: 613022 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: New Zealand Device: kobo glo, kobo touch (dead), kindle touch, android phone	Thanks for this Artig. One thing that annoyed me about Whitcoulls was that I did not have the actual epub file - it was saved in the "cloud" under "My Library". However, after reading your post I went back onto their website to my library and I saw a very small link allowing you to download the file into ADE. So I have done this for the books I have bought off them, meaning I now have the files. The one I had loaded via the Whitcoulls cloud has a cover image, but no pictures inside. The EPUB has no cover image but has pictures inside! How does all that work?