Kindle ebooks vs Kobo ebooks

[bokolobs]

Yes, I know there is another thread about this but please indulge me.

The thing is, where I live, Kobo ebooks are almost always cheaper than Kindle ebooks. Plus, I can enter discount codes on Kobo. Take for example the The Rabbit Series by John Updike. Each book is just $9.99 on Kobo but $11.99 each on the Kindle store. Another example is Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach which is $9.36 on Kobo and $9.99 on Amazon. Again, I can use discount codes to bring the prices down. And I can use Calibre and some tools to convert the epub books to azw3.

Now, I have a Kindle Paperwhite and I was just wondering if there is any sense for me to buy exclusively from the Kindle store with these price differences. Enlighten me please. Thanks guys!

[meeera]

If you're happy to strip DRM and convert formats, and don't want features that require you to buy from your device's store, buy from wherever you want.

[soulfuldog]

The only advantages I can think of is that you can automatically have your booked stored in the Amazon cloud when you buy from there, and you can easily sync if needed. Plus, you can take advantage of getting the books delivered wirelessly to your Kindle. I tend to download all my books to my computer so I have a copy stored in Calibre, then sideload them onto my ereader, but even I occasionally buy a book from Amazon and send it directly to my Kindle to read - it's just so quick and easy to do so.

That apart, buy from wherever, it's not like kepubs v epubs, so if you are happy to strip and convert, despite all the "locked into Amazon" stuff you read, apart from the 'ease of use' of buying from Amazon, you can buy from wherever is cheapest. That's exactly what I do, the difference for me is, that is usually always Amazon.

[Shopaholic]

In addition to the above, some books are only available through Amazon so that's an advantage.

[bokolobs]

Thanks for the responses. Turns out the Rabbit books are $13.99 each ($58 for the 4 books) on Amazon so even with the additional features such as syncing, etc. and ease of buying, I just can't justify the $26 price difference to myself. With the discount codes I used with Kobo, I bought the 4 books for a total of $31.00. I have some issues with the formatting and conversion (page breaks). But I could live with them.

I have a friend though who insists on buying only from Amazon even though I mentioned the codes and price difference to him. I don't fully get it. I told him to try to convince me to do the same. Because really, I want to buy from just one store. I want to buy books using only my device and wifi. I want my highlights and notes backed up. I want immaculate formatting. But do those features amount to almost 50% of the price? I'm still not convinced.

[Katsunami]

As I prefer epub over the Kindle format, I buy my books about everywhere, except Amazon, even though I have a Kindle, as I prefer that reader at this time. Stores I frequent are Kobo, Feedbooks, Diesel, eBooks.com, BooksOnBoard before they went bust, and since some time, I check out Baen too. I buy wherever a book is cheapest, even going as far as splitting series between two or even three stores.

The only thing required is that you need to be comfortable downloading epubs using Adobe Digital Editions, and that have DRM-removal set up in Calibre.

[Tarana]

There really is no advantage. You can buy these books where-ever you can get them cheaper. Be sure that you are comparing apples and apples however. Some books might have an interactive Table of Contents or Index on Amazon and not on Kobo and visa versa. This is not common among the books that I buy, but it may be an issue for reference works.

I do the same as you. If it's cheaper at Kobo, I buy it there. I often buy it at Kobo anyway because converting to epub for my Nook works better.

[Blossom]

I buy from the cheapest place. Period.

I wont be locked into a device. I cleaned up my books in Calibre and convert them to mobi and epub. I then send the mobi to my personal documents cloud.

Using The Kindle Personal Document Cloud you pretty much get the same benefits you get from Amazon bought books. Syncing Last read, bookmarks, highlights and notes and it stays on the cloud so you can download it from any Kindle or Kindle app.

There is no real advantage over either store even with a Kindle.
It's just who has the lowest price.

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I buy from the cheapest place. Period.

Yep. And that includes checking to see if there is an ebook available to borrow from the library.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

Yep. And that includes checking to see if there is an ebook available to borrow from the library.

I do that too. I use Overdrive and Kindle Lending. Free is good.

[bokolobs]

Thanks guys.

But how about updated books. I read somewhere that Amazon updates kindle books automatically or that they email the customers when there are new versions of their purchased books. Personally, I have had 4 books purchased from Amazon which had updated versions. They didn't email me but when I went to the MYK page and downloaded my titles, I noticed they were in azw3 rather than azw format. I don't think this is the case for Kobo but I'm not sure. I noticed that The Early Stories by Updike is version 3.1 on Amazon while stil v3.0 on Kobo. Or am I being a nut?

Anyway, having read your comments, I just purchased a book which is $9.39 on Kobo while being $11.99 on the Kindle store hoping that I would get a good enough version. (The preview of the book from Kobo only got as far as the dedication page.) I sometimes wonder if $2.60 is also the price for peace of mind.

[Blossom]

One thing to keep in mind about Kobo is anything published before July 2010 could be a kepub and not the publisher's epub. If I am going to buy something that old I get it somewhere else. I have in the past bought kepubs by accident and they are pretty much ugly plain text books.

[Katsunami]

IIRC, you always get an epub, if you download a book from Kobo using ADE.

[detayls]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I buy from the cheapest place. Period.

I wont be locked into a device. I cleaned up my books in Calibre and convert them to mobi and epub. I then send the mobi to my personal documents cloud.

I don't understand all this rooting and DRM stripping. Here's my take:

• Ignore ALL the foofuraw about rooting - it's an eBook reader. Get over it.
• Ignore ALL the foofuraw about DRM removal - that's just silly paranoia
• Buy from one place - I chose Amazon
• Enjoy the synching - why I chose Amazon - I have iPhone and Kindle
• Wait for the price to be right with sales - pay $1.99 or less
• Borrow as much as you can from your local library - you will be amazed
• Find the correct reader for comfortable reading - Paperwhite
• Use a bolder font and don't be ashamed of older eyes - caecilia is the only choice
• Read more shop less

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

IIRC, you always get an epub, if you download a book from Kobo using ADE.

Yes but that epub made not be the publisher's version if it's before July 2010. It's called a kepub. Here's some screenshots of one I bought. So you can see what it looks like and why you don't want to buy one of these. They don't even have the images. All downloaded in ADE.

You see before epub was dominant on the market there was Lit and Mobi (Not Kindle) and so books were in that format. So Kobo would convert those books to look like this. They still sell them too so you just got to be careful when buying older books. I bought one last Christmas by mistake.