# Kobo ereader: "The Real Kindle Killer?"



## TubeStack (Jul 16, 2009)

I just bought a Kobo ereader yesterday at Chapters and I gotta say - I love it!

It's incredible how book-like the reading experience feels and how closely "e-ink" resembles the printed page. Absolutely fantastic.

I also love how the Kobo is a "do one job really well" type of device, no frills or bells and whistles, just a really solid, well-designed, inexpensive ereader - very cool. Love the minimalist, streamlined design and absence of a bunch of buttons/controls. The "quilted" rubber back is nice, as well.

I immediately purchased an Elmore Leonard book for about $6 Cdn and have been reading it all day, both outside and inside the house. The e-ink looks great outdoors. The Kobo also came with 100 classic books already loaded (ie. Dickens, Twain, Doyle, etc), love that too.

The leather cover, which I bought separately, is really nice and also very "bookish" feeling (made by Roots).

The Kobos are flying off the shelves this weekend, it's basically half the price of the Kindle and offers very similar performance, as far as basic ebook reading goes.

Anyone else grab one yet? What are you reading?


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

How Much? Can it view regular PDF books?


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## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

That is cool, never knew about those.

I like the idea and love to read but just not into purchasing books anymore unless its special. 
The libary is next to my house so I have an unlimeted supply.

Is that the average price for books?
Are free books available for download?


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## TubeStack (Jul 16, 2009)

Robert1950 said:


> How Much? Can it view regular PDF books?


$149+tax

Yes, it views PDF files, though I've heard it's not the greatest at it, requires a lot of scrolling around, etc, which I think is common to all the ereaders (Kindle, Nook, Sony?)


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## TubeStack (Jul 16, 2009)

Average price for book is around $9-10. 

There are lots of free books - anything published before 1923 is free, I'm pretty sure. As well as some newer ones, promotional, etc.

I know what you mean re. libraries - I love going to the library and esp. love the freeness. LOL!

I've read that the Kobo is, or will be, associated with the Toronto Public Library and that users will be able to download library books for free. Eventually all libraries will have this, where you'll have the file in your ereader for 2 weeks and then it will self-erase itself.


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## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

I was checking the features and it says you need a "Kobo account" to get books. How does that work? Can you download books (i.e. does it have internet connectivity such as 3G)? Can you just put books on an SD card and read away or does it have to come from this account?... and more importantly is there a cost for this account (membership fees)?


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## TubeStack (Jul 16, 2009)

Hamstrung said:


> I was checking the features and it says you need a "Kobo account" to get books. How does that work? Can you download books (i.e. does it have internet connectivity such as 3G)? Can you just put books on an SD card and read away or does it have to come from this account?... and more importantly is there a cost for this account (membership fees)?


The Kobo doesn't have wireless/3G abilities, but can connect to a Bluetooth device and download via the connected device. I use it like my iPod, ie. downloading content on my laptop and then transferring it to the Kobo. There are no membership fees.

Here's an article from wired.com with more info.


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

I have an iPad and I download books from Kindle and iBooks. I never thought I would use the iPad to read books but it's great. Probably a similar experience to the Kindle And Kobo. You can change font size, bookmark any page you want. It's fantastic. I can't see myself buying too many books (I also prefer the "freeness" of my local library) but I have purchased a few that I couldn't find at the library. Very convenient little app.


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