Kobo eReader Owners discussion thread

[xray]

So when you say you get 3 days out of the Kobo, what's the breakdown between time on vs standby vs off? It's hard to compare to what I'm getting otherwise.

I can believe the occasional defective unit but if you are on your 4th unit then it might be a design issue.

[smoggy]

Crisco. I've had similar issues with the battery, the tech support replaced my kobo 3 times for batteries. You might want to persist with the tech support. I'm looking into sourcing the batteries and offering them for resale.

There is also on Amazon, a little plugin unit that uses 4 AA batteries, and plugs into the KOBO mini USB. It goes for around $20.00 (If I remember right) and would be ideal for weekends where you didn't want to take a computer along to keep the thing charged. I'm going to get me one, but need to wait for my wife's next Hardcopy Book order so the shipping is covered.

[smoggy]

>> When you say you get 3 days out of the Kobo, what's the breakdown
>> between time on vs standby vs off? It's hard to compare to what
>> I'm getting otherwise.

Xray - I read for maybe half an hour, go do some stuff, come back in an hour or 2 & read for another half, and carry on through my day like that, but shut it off at night.

I had a book showing as 240 pages, I finished a fresh charge, for 4 or more hours.
I read on & off throughout the day and shut it off at page 135.

When I got up in the morning, I was on the recharge page,
and when it finished recharging, I had to browse to find my page
where I had left off.

I love the reading, it is very easy on the eyes.
The gadget gets lots of comments & questions
when you're out for coffee or a meal.

The BIG frustration was the battery.

The KOBO senior management team told me by
phone & email they will ensure I get one that meets specs.

I don't want a reader that is one of those multifunction gadgets
that does everything but BBQ the chicken. I like the simplicity
opf it and the ease of reading.

[crisco]

When my Kobo was about 8 months old I dropped it on a rock at the cottage and cracked the case - the screen just began to fade away so you could still see the words but not quite make them out. I was pretty annoyed with myself since it was obviously my fault, and then finally phoned Kobo to see what I'd have to pay for repairs and to find out where to send it. To my surprise, they sent me a return package by Purolator and in a couple of days I had a new unit, no charge. That was great. Then a couple of weeks back, someone kneeled on the screen -- again obviously my fault -- and now the unit is well past warranty anyway being about 18 months old. When I called again, this time I was sure to be paying, right? No! They sent me another return package and are sending a replacement unit, no charge!! this is an original Kobo, no wifi, no touch -- but with this service, why would i change?? Amazing service.

[BGY11]

I had the same experience when I dropped mine. Kobo customer service was awesome for me.

[maryann ns]

I have a question on another topic. I would like to be able to buy books from Kobo but download them direct to Adobe Digital Editions. I do not see that option when buying a book. Is it possible to do this?

[Drainc]

When you purchase the ePub version of the book from the Kobo store (and not all books have an ePub version in the store IIRC) you are given a link that automatically opens up ADE and starts the download of the book.

Hope that helps.

[kobobob]

I have a question on a different topic. I’m trying to find help detailed instructions for getting a word processing document from my Macintosh to read in my Kobo. I’m new to using e-readers because just today I was given a Kobo Touch for my birthday. I want to be able to read a document on my Kobo that I created with Pages on my iMac. I was told I could do it by using the “Export” function in Pages to convert the doc to PDA or RTF, then with the Touch plugged into my USB port, drag and drop that doc onto the Kobo icon. When I did that, the doc showed up when I double-clicked the Kobo icon, but that doc doesn’t show up in the Touch home. So my question is, what are better instructions (very detailed, please, because I’m such a newbie) for being able to read a word processing document on a Kobo Touch?

[Drainc]

Unfortunately my Mac is currently dead and my new one hasn't arrived yet or I would try to help. I think you want to export it to PDF (not PDA, I'm guessing that's just a misstype). Kobo can read PDF's well, it won't necessarily show up on the home screen but if you go to the title or author list you should see it show up.

[John Grinsted]

I was given a Kobo touch (WiFi) for Xmas. A few weeks afterwards it started to misbehave; in particular, tapping the screen to turn the page (or for other functions) usually resulted in a return to the home page. But if the machine is used while charging, it works perfectly. A problem with the battery? But what.
The problem started after a software upgrade (probably coincidental?). There have been several software upgrades since: the present version is 1.9.17.

[John Grinsted]

Kobo recommended a Factory Restart. This appears to have done the trick.

[John Grinsted]

I now think that my problem was with the micro SD card that I had in the machine. I took it out before the reset; the reset seemed to do the business. But when I replaced the card, the problem reappeared. Took it out, and now no problem.

[JamesK]

^^^^
Entirely possible. I had a flaky microSD card that caused problems for my smart phone.

[Spike4881]

I've had my Kobo touch for just under a year - I use it every day and it's still my favorite piece of tech kit. Interesting thing I've found with mine: it won't charge properly unless it's in sleep mode. If it's powered off while charging, it will only charge a little over halfway.

[JamesK]

^^^^
My Kobo Wifi turns on when I plug it in to charge. I then get a prompt asking if I want to manage my books or keep reading.