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Sunday, March 13, 2011

Kobo e-reader

First the tablet pc next the e-reader.

I got my tablet pc a few years back and i love it. simply because after 3 years of undergrad studies, i don’t end up with a huge pile of paper notes which i really don’t need anymore but can’t bear to throw them away because of the time and effort put into them. I got all these safely stored in my external hard disk – which is perfect.

I’ve been buying a good amount of books to read since being here and although i could have read the books on my tablet, it just isn’t as convenient and as easy. So i’ve stuck to paperbacks.

So when fish got me an ipad for christmas, it was perfect, i downloaded an app and started purchasing ebooks instead. and the ipad is great. there’s color, i can connect my books to facebook and the page turning is interactive. the only problem with the ipad is that although it is light, it is still of a certain weight and reading it on the bed makes my hand a little sore. though i still really like it.

The app i downloaded was called Kobo. and they have their own e-reader, much like a kindle but it can also read any generic epub and pdf files. which is why i chose it over the kindle. Borders.com had a reduction in the Kobo e-reader’s price and since US dollar and Aus dollar was almost at parity, i decided why not? It was cheaper than buying a second hand Kobo through ebay and borders au was selling the Kobo at AUD$179. I bought mine for USD$100 + $9 shipping. A second hand e-reader on ebay was selling for even more expensive than this.

Enough talk.

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They have 2 colour schemes in the borders US shop, either black or white. I chose the black version – i dunno why. maybe it’s easier to clean. or maybe i had thought to test drive it for my dad and if it is not too bad, i can give it to him. but. i’m liking it too much now. so we might just get another one. hehe

So the screen is e-ink. and the screen you see above is when the reader if switched off. yes. it does not go blank.

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One of the books i’ve just finished reading.

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The screen flickers every time you turn the page or try to access the side bar. It isn’t too big of a problem, but there is a slight lag, so don’t expect instantaneous action.

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The best thing about this is that since it isn’t a kindle so i can purchase ebooks from any site – i usually just use www.kobobooks.com since it’s most convenient, but i can also read loads of free ebooks. Without getting into whether it’s legal nor not – that is an option that is available with using this instead of a Kindle.

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I also tested it with chinese pdf files and a picture brochure. Both were obviously in black and white since the e-reader does not support color, but they worked. You could zoom in at the pdf file and change it from landscape to portrait. and the e-reader remembers your choice if you’ve changed it, the next time you read it, it will be exactly as how you left it.

So overall, i’m loving it. Only downside (well, not actually a downside), is that i can’t read at night. This is e-ink which means there’s no backlight. You have to have external light to read it. I like to read in the dark using the ipad. but i can’t with this, so i suppose it is good for my eyesight – so not really a downside.

Oh. and it can sync with my ipad, so if i’m reading a book on both devices, and i sync them through the computer they would ‘inform’ each other on which page i’m at.

Happy reading! :)

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