So happy to have gotten my hands on a Kobo e-reader! It’s a Canadian e-reader and so has access to all kinds of books American e-readers don’t, plus it’s one of the smallest, lightest e-readers out there, which should make my body very happy. I’ve got rheumatoid arthritis, and my elbows, hands and wrists have been getting quite sore of late when I’ve been reading, so this should ease some of that discomfort.
I have to admit that I’m still not quite sold on the idea of not having actual copies of books that I love on hand, but for other books — especially things that I’ll only read once, like mysteries — the e-reader is great. It’s amazing how quickly I’ve adapted to it. And Kobo books are device neutral, which means I can even read them on my iPhone if I should happen not to have my Kobo e-reader with me!
the pros
• it only costs $149, so it’s the cheapest e-reader out there
• it comes pre-loaded with 100 classic books — sweet!!
• you can order books from the comfort of your own home
• it’s Canadian, so you can access all kinds of books American e-readers can’t (ie. if you have a Nook, apparently you need a credit card with an American address in order to buy books), an estimated 2 million books at www.kobobooks.com alone, plus you can buy books at other online shops
• the charge lasts up to two weeks, which is approximately 8,000 page turns
• it holds up to 1,000 books with its 1GB of memory, plus you can buy SD cards to increase the storage to 4GB if you like
• it’s supercomfortable to hold, even with just one hand
• it’s easy to navigate — I didn’t even read the instructions before I started using it and I didn’t have any problems figuring out what to do
• you can download pdfs onto it, so you can even read work documents, etc., on it
• there are five text sizes available and two fonts styles: serif and sans serif — so it really looks no different from a book page, and for people who have visual problems, the larger fonts are fabulous!
the cons
• there’s no WiFi connection, which means you have to buy books from your computer, then sync the Kobo, so if you’re travelling without your computer, and just have the Kobo at hand, you can’t buy books while on the go; on the other hand, you’ll always have a backup of all your books! I have had some trouble with the syncing function — for example, the Kobo app on my computer doesn’t at all have the “I’m Reading” list so I can remove books from it, despite the fact that apparently it’s supposed to, so every single book I look at on the e-reader is added to the list and I can’t remove them (I’ve sent a message to the Kobo help desk re the problem and am waiting for a response…)
• there’s no adjusting the contrast between the type and the background (in nighttime reading situations, I would prefer just slightly more contrast personally)
• you can sort books by title, author or last read; I keep putting my setting to “By Author,” but every time I shut the Kobo down, the setting reverts back to “By Title” — frustrating!!
• you can only charge it via your computer, unless you buy a separate wall-charger accessory
Now I’ll just have to not go nuts buying books! I’ve always thought bookstores are dangerous places: I can rarely get out of them without spending money, and now I don’t have to go anywhere to get books, cause I can just go online and download them.
Scary, very scary!
Available at: www.chapters.indigo.ca
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