Is a Kobo Mini worth buying?

[samhy]

Hello,

I have been perusing this forum ever since I bought my Sony PRS 650 and how helpful it was! However, I am now pondering whether it would be wise to change my eReader and I think the best thing to do is to ask the ones in the know.

Right now, I'm using a Japanese PRS 650 which is not authorized since I was told to use a Japanese Windows running computer in order to do that. When I convert a Japanese web page to an ePub file, unless I use Calibre to convert it I can't read it. All the kanji are question marks. I guess it has to do with the encoding, but I haven't totally understood this issue yet.
I'd like to point out that in addition to having a non authorized eReader, I'm an Ubuntu user. Talk about jumping through hoops to read legally bought DRMed books

I've been dealing with all those things since the beginning and I'm quite fine with that. I love my eReader, I take it everywhere with me (sometimes in my coat pockets and yes it's a bit bulky). I don't really need to change it right now. But sometimes, I'm kinda weak and I wish things would be easier. For instance, I really wish I could search for Japanese words in the dictionary.

The Kobo mini's price point is still 79.90€, but 20€ will be put back on one's account to buy anything, not necessarily ebook related. Oh, and I have a 30€ voucher to redeem in that store, but my first idea was to use it to buy books. All in all I could pay it 49.90€ and buy the books with the 20€ put on my account.

I have been considering the PRS-T2, but I think I can't have the Japanese dictionary if it'S not bought in Japan. It's possible, but not very soon and I'll be back to square one regarding the authorization unless I can deal with that by WIFI while being there.

I have put aside anything Kindle for many reasons, one of them being the closed ecosystem of Amazon. But reading an other thread, I realized I was somewhat close-minded on that one. Is there a good option to consider there?

Mainly I'm interested in the Kobo Mini because it seems so easy in comparison to my current situation and it's cheap. If another eReader is really standing out of the crowd, I guess I'll have to wait and save money.
Do you think it's worth buying a Kobo Mini now? Is it worth buying one knowing I'm coming from a Sony PRS 650?

Thank you very much for any advice

Japanese PRS 650
+ good Eng.-Eng. dictionary
+ good Eng.-Jp. dictionary
+ still works as new (battery life...)
+ classy look IMO
+ seamless integration of Calibre and Sony

- bad rendering of ePubs made from Japanese web pages without Calibre
- no Jp.-Eng. dictionary
- no Jp.-Jp. dictionary
- non authorized (only an issue once in a while)
- no WIFI


Kobo Mini

+ easier to carry around
+ firmware and contents doesn't seem to be region specific
+ interesting offer for a limited time

- too small to read???
- difficult to sale my Sony and I can't keep 2 eReaders
- no frontlight*
- no ePub3*
* either of which can be included in next releases

[ciscopixie]

Hello

I've played around with the Kobo Mini, Touch, and Glo before finally settling on the Glo. My reasons? It had built in dictionaries in many languages (Japanese is one and Jap-Eng is another so you know ); secondly, the built-in light was a huge factor. I bought the Touch, went home and tried to read later that night but OMG was it horrible.. So I returned it the next day for a Glo and never looked back. I had a play with Kindles and some Sony models too, but I didn't find the same satisfaction.

As for the frontlight in Mini (as you've suggested) I don't think they'd even do something like that? The battery life on my Glo is great (I switch off the WiFi unless I need to use it).

I think it comes down to personal preference. For me, I couldn't really buy the Mini because it had no SD card slot and for me, that's a big negative point. The size of the screen didn't bug me either, but it's the small things that count.

Someone with a Mini will most likely come past this thread and tell you what they like about their Mini and maybe you'd like what they have to say.

So if I were in your position, I'd wait. Simply because newer eReaders are being made and released and diving into an offer because it looks good now is not the smartest idea *blush* I speak from experience of buying a phone and then have the price drop $200 a week later.. But do have a play around with the Kobo range if you're interested. I would have put a Japanese book onto an SD card, plugged it into a Touch or Glo, and see how it reads and how the dictionary is for you.

Good luck!

[samhy]

Thank you for your input ciscopixie It's nice to hear from a happy Kobo user (not that the devices are made of poor quality, just that everyone seems to be Kindle/Sony/Nook adept).

Originally Posted by ciscopixie

But do have a play around with the Kobo range if you're interested. I would have put a Japanese book onto an SD card, plugged it into a Touch or Glo, and see how it reads and how the dictionary is for you.

Wow, I've never thought of that I was always trying to see if the WIFI connection was working, thinking I could pick a book from Gutenberg or Aozoar,but not to avail.

So far, I have never felt the need to use the card slots (SD and Memory Stick Duo) of the 650. I don't put that many books on the eReader at once and they're not really heavy. But I see your points, and I'll take them into consideration.

I'm really curious regarding the step between the Sony PRS 650 (with the limitations I'm experiencing) and the Kobo Mini, if any.

I'm glad you're having fun with the Glo. I was attracted to it like a mosquito to the light in the very beginning, but I think I'll wait a little bit to see how the market evolves with those eReaders. Will Sony offer that kind of device? How the technology will improve with the 2nd generation. That been said, every evening when I'm reading in my bed I could order a frontlit device on a whim

Regarding the Kobo Mini's discount, the cash back (well, the points back ) is 25% of the price point. Not easy to beat. Well, the sales period over here will start in 10 days. It could be wise to wait until then, at least

[Cdesja5]

The Mini's firmware is the same as the Kobo Touch or the Glo's referred to by ciscopixie, and so the Mini's differentiating factors are that is is smaller and does not have the lit screen, not the firmware which works the same across the 3 devices.
I don't find it too small to read and suggest you try one out to see if that is an issue for you. For me it's size is it's main selling point and makes it very light and easy to carry in a pocket or purse. I find that I prefer my Mini to my Sony T1.
You can add your own fonts to Kobo ereaders and that is a big plus for many users.
Calibre works well also; Kobo Touch driver (used by mini and glo) allows for adding your own custom shelves for your device using Calibre.
Check out the Kobo threads, generally any info about what can be done on one model (ie. Touch or Glo) can be done on the others.
You generally see posts about Kindle, Nook etc. in this thread because they are the 2 best selling brands in the US; Kobo is Canada's #1 brand with about 50% of the market there.
Epub3 support is firmware related so a future upgrade could take care of that wish...but not the light unfortunately!

[samhy]

Thanks a bunch Cdesja5!

Originally Posted by Cdesja5

For me it's size is it's main selling point and makes it very light and easy to carry in a pocket or purse. I find that I prefer my Mini to my Sony T1.

That's good to know. Right now, It's also the size which is appealing to me. Having a truly pocketable eReader, what a dream! I'm also thinking of packed buses/trains.
So far, from what I saw in a shop, I quite like the size, but I'm a little bit wary of the inside-the-shop-feeling in comparison to the everyday-use-feeling

Since so many people seem to say "Sony has the best firmware/library management/provides the best overall user experience" I was starting to wonder if I wasn't taking things for granted because my sole eReader has ever been a Sony.

Do you think ePub3 can be brought through firmware update? That would be awesome! Most of the time, during day-time that is, I'm not that much into frontlit devices. But ePub3 seems to be a huge improvement, doesn't it?

I wish you a lot of nice time with your eReaders

[ciscopixie]

Originally Posted by samhy

I'm glad you're having fun with the Glo. I was attracted to it like a mosquito to the light in the very beginning, but I think I'll wait a little bit to see how the market evolves with those eReaders.

Well, the light is kind of a big deal [at least for me] because if I'm sitting in a darkish area or one that's not quite the right lighting conditions, the Glo doesn't show its writing properly

While front-light may not be important now, what you need to ask yourself is: do I read at night? *and* do I want to read in darkness in bed? If yes to either, the light is recommended. The way I thought about it is that if i have the light and i don't use it, it's okay because I have it if i need it

You *could* get a cover with the light built into it, and just flick it out at night but i didn't like it because of the glare I'm a tad picky. This is also my first ereader and quite frankly, I'll never go back to paperbacks.

No harm will be done if you wait for the sale to be over. It's a decision that you need to think about long and hard to avoid regretting your purchase. Besides, if your country is anything like mine, there's always a new sale - just a different name like New Years Sale or End-of-Season stock!

[davidfor]

Why is ePub 3 support important? From what I have seen elsewhere, there isn't much advantage over ePub2 for an e-ink reader. It adds multimedia support, but that won't be useful on any of these devices.

In any case, the Kobo devices already have some support for ePub3. Kobo have their own format the "Kobo ePub" or more commonly "kepub". This is basically an ePub with a different DRM method and some Kobo specific extensions. These are read using a different reader application than a standard ePub. This application is supposed to support ePub 3. I don't know if all kepubs are ePub3 or only some of them

[stewacide]

Pretty sure the parts of ePub3 that are most relevant to eink devices - namely fixed layout - are already supported by Mini/Touch/Glo. Kobo claims they'll have full standard support for all their devices later this year.

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by ciscopixie

secondly, the built-in light was a huge factor. I bought the Touch, went home and tried to read later that night but OMG was it horrible..

In what way was it any more "horrible" than reading from a paper book?

[ciscopixie]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

In what way was it any more "horrible" than reading from a paper book?

Well, with a light and a paperback, my pages don't have glare with the Touch, it was that case. And I like reading paperbacks but I prefer reading ebooks.

[samhy]

Thanks everyone

Originally Posted by ciscopixie

You *could* get a cover with the light built into it, and just flick it out at night but i didn't like it because of the glare I'm a tad picky. This is also my first ereader and quite frankly, I'll never go back to paperbacks.

Besides, if your country is anything like mine, there's always a new sale - just a different name like New Years Sale or End-of-Season stock!

So far, I'm using a light that clips on the cover and I'm fine with that. No glare whatsoever (it's the same result as reading in the sun.
Regarding the sales, unfortunately we don't have that much over here. But one can always find a good deal given time

Originally Posted by davidfor

Why is ePub 3 support important? From what I have seen elsewhere, there isn't much advantage over ePub2 for an e-ink reader. It adds multimedia support, but that won't be useful on any of these devices.

Maybe I was mistaken, I thought the epub3 format would help in displaying nicely the Japanese characters. However, I've seen a Kobo Touch (1st generation???, it has a silver button under the screen) on a YouTube video and the characters were displayed the Japanese way with furigana (small characters providing the reading of some kanji).

Anyway, the Kobo seems to be a good contender and since my Sony PRS 650 started to act strange today , maybe I'll have to consider a new device rather soon.

Thanks again to all of you.

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by Cdesja5

You generally see posts about Kindle, Nook etc. in this thread because they are the 2 best selling brands in the US; Kobo is Canada's #1 brand with about 50% of the market there.

I get really tired of hearing this. You make it sound like it's a great device spewing those numbers as evidence but it's not.

The ONLY reason it has such numbers is because that's all they push on people up here. We only have access here to older Kindles or the silent Sony reader. It's not the #1 brand or have 50% market share because it's the best device. It's because there's little else to choose from in Canada! Don't make it sound like it's anything other than that. If it was so good, it would have a higher market share in the US but it doesn't. 'nuff said!

[Tacty]

kobo is too unreliable in my book..i wouldnt buy anything from them anymore. a whole software and hardware package looks like beta products...every simple task on mine kobo looks like life threatening operation...

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Tacty

kobo is too unreliable in my book..i wouldnt buy anything from them anymore. a whole software and hardware package looks like beta products...

I disagree on the hardware. I don't think either the Glo or Touch are less than the equivalent Kindles. The software development does leave something to desire.

every simple task on mine kobo looks like life threatening operation...

Like what?

[stewacide]

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

The ONLY reason it has such numbers is because that's all they push on people up here...

Ereader sales seem to be determined wholly by brand recognition and the strength of the retail channel. Amazon does well everywhere because it's already a known quantity in the book business everywhere. In most markets there seems to be room for at least one competitor tied to a large brick and mortar book chain: whether that be Nook in the US or Kobo in Canada, Japan, UK, France, etc.

I suspect the other ereader makers, without revenue from their own ebook stores, will be forced out of the market given how thin to non-existent hardware margins have gotten and how fast the product cycle has become. Amazon and Kobo can afford to come out with a cutting-edge new product every year and sell it at cost because they make it up on book sales: I don't see how even Sony can survive in a market like that (I'm not sure who would buy a PRS-T2 when the much-superior-spec-wide Paperwhite and Glo are the same price). The growth of cheap LCD tablets as book readers just compounds this: Amazon/Kobo/B&N can sell $200 tablets because they hope to make their money on content.