I purchased my first eReader today, not the Kindle or Sony eReader but a Kobo. For those that don’t know Kobo is a new startup from Indigo Books and Music that sells exclusively online content, specifically books. Their new eReader comes preloaded with 100 books and the online store boosts a collection of over 2 million titles.
Specifications
- Size: 184mm x 120mm
- Depth: 10mm
- Display: 6′ E Ink diagonal
- Grey Scale: 8 level
- Memory: 1GB
- Memory Slot: Yes
- Font Sizes: 5
- Font Styles: 2
- File Formats: ePub, PDF, Adobe DRM
- Connectivity: USB, Bluetooth
Compared to the other major devices the Kobo stacks up very well, it’s the same size as the Kindle and Sony, is expandable like the Nook and like all can read multiple file formats.
What’s in the Box
The un-boxing was a little uneventful, there really is nothing to the packaging. Open the box and you find is the device, power/sync cable and a simple 5 page manual.
When you first take it out of the box it feels sturdy and well put together. The textured back has a nice feel to it along with the rounded edges it fits nicely in your hand and is very easy to hold. At only 221grams it weighs less than a paperback and your hands won’t get tired holding on to it for a long period of time. There are four buttons on the side, Home, Menu, Display, Back; they are well place and won’t get in your way. The buttons are rubber and do have a bit of a cheap feel to them. A big blue button in the lower right hand corner is used to navigate through the menus and books.
A small 5 page manual is the only paper that is in the package, makes sense since this is an eReader. There isn’t very much to the manual just a quick overview of the device and instructions on how install the desktop software and create an account in the Kobo bookstore.
One thing that I really like, the power adapter is a regular mini USB cable and can be swapped out for any of my other mini USB cables. The only downside there’s no wall plug, you’ll either need to buy a USB adapter or always charge it through the computer.
Desktop Software
To install the desktop software just connect the Kobo to your computer then run the installer from the Desktop Installers directory. After the software has been installed you’ll be asked to either log in with an existing Kobo account or sign up for a new one.
Once you get logged in the interface is fairly basic, you can browse the top books, search for books based on title, author and category and order books from the store. A nice feature of the software is that it is also a reader so you can read any book downloaded on your computer as well as the eReader. A great feature from the store, the Kobo comes loaded with 100 classic books including Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, The Count of Monte Cristo and many others.
The Reader
As stated earlier the reader itself is a small, light and well designed. It is not backlit so you will need an external light source to read in low light conditions. The display is a 6 inch E Ink display and can be best described as an electronic paperback with black lettering and a light gray background.
Navigation is easy with the big blue button in the bottom corner, left and right to flip pages back and forth. The top and bottom is used to increase or decrease the font and the center button brings up the main menu where you can select a chapter, go to the table of contents or return to the main page to select another book.
The response time of the navigation commands is not a quick as I would expect, a few times after pressing the button it takes a second or two to react. Not sure if the processor goes to sleep to save power or if there is a just a delay in the software. There are 5 choices for the font size (smallest to largest) and 2 types of fonts (serif and sans serif).
Overall the Kobo gives a real nice reading environment and I would have no problem spending the entire day completely engrossed in a fine novel. I haven’t had it long enough to fully test the battery life, it was fully charged when I picked it up and has been going for about 6 hours and it still shows a full power bar.
Since this is my first eReader I can’t say one way or another whether or not the Kobo is good I can say that for the price ($149 CDN) it does everything I expect from an eReader. The software is nothing great and is really only an interface for purchases. The hardware looks well put together and should stand up to everyday use. It’s small enough to carry around on a purse or nap sack which makes great for commuting or vacations.
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