Comments on: Kobo Mini and Kobo Glo: First impressions

By: marie

marie — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 21:55:05 +0000

I am not impressed with Kobo Glow at all. I bought to give to my mum for Xmas and will not be doing so. I was told there was a charger with it only to find out that he meant the one to charge with a computer.
I cannot get home to work on it and it just stays on the novel that I downloaded. It is not a user friendly piece of electronics to give to an elderly woman.
Only good thing is the screen is bright and does not glare and the fonts can be changed.

By: Guillermo

Guillermo — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:08:11 +0000

Hi Guillaume, no problem to sync with Calibre, it works perfectly. Really except for looking for firmware upgrades, using Calibre is the best way of managing your own book library.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 03:29:39 +0000

One thing I really like about Kobo ereaders, is that you can download books from public libraries. You can’t do that with any Kindle product in Canada. I will also reiterate what several reviewers pointed out that was erroneous in your review, the new Kobo Glo does not need to plug into a computer to download. IT USES WIFI RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX.
For those who are looking for a tablet style ereader, something important to note about the KINDLE FIRE is that MOST OF THE APPS DON’T WORK IN CANADA! It really only works to download books so don’t waste your money if you want a tablet to download movies, newspapers, videos, games etc.
I have been doing a lot of research about tablets recently and came across some really good information on goodereader.com.

By: Steph

Steph — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 13:05:31 +0000

On the ‘Room for Improvement’ regarding displaying the number of remaining pages, this is down to the way the ebook file is created. On my own Kobo Touch, I find some ebooks count pages chapter-by-chapter (as described), but others use a total page count. Strangely enough, it’s usually DRM-free ones that do the latter.

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:28:35 +0000

Joanna, if you want to see a video comparison between the Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight and the Kobo Glo, see:

http://bit.ly/QVoALR

This was done after the Paperwhite announcement but before its release, which is why only those 2 are included. I am SO impressed with all the adjustments the Glo can make. I have a Kindle Paperwhite and love it, but also need an e-pub reader because some digital library books are only available that way. I don’t think you would go wrong with the Glo. I am really leaning toward getting one to add to my stable of e-readers which is getting embarrassing.

By: Joanna Cabot

Joanna Cabot — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 12:00:26 +0000

I was comparing them to my Kindle Touch. I have never seen a Paperwhite and was not referring to them at all.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 01:06:19 +0000

Why is she referring to the Kindle Paperwhite as the “Kindle Touch”? Quite confusing…

By: Guillaume

Guillaume — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 14:40:43 +0000

Hi,
Concerning Calibre, it’s impossible to use it with the Kobo Glo for the moment.
The device is not yet recognize.

By: Alexander Inglis

Alexander Inglis — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 12:38:57 +0000

If I am reading the post correctly, Joanne, you reviewed this device in the store without taking it home?

I bought a Kobo Glo a couple of days ago; the “glow” in a darkened room is not blue and is remarkably “paper white”. It’s much more impressive than I was expecting, and a far better experience than using a booklight (such as Kindle offers in some of its Kindle cases).

I have not plugged Glo into a computer yet. Right out of the box, it updated over my home wifi to the most recent firmware and, once I logged into my account, found my books and loaded them. There is a brief tutorial which steps you through all the features — very slcik (it can be invoked again from the help). I also have a Kobo Touch and the new Kobo Glo automatically found and loaded my current Shelves. My two current open books synced properly with the bookmarks (I am reading one on the Touch and one through the Android app on a ASUS Nexus 7 tablet).

Kindle has a more elegant way to handle archives. But you don’t need to go to a computer if you delete something from your Touch or Glo (or app). From the Glo, go back to the store and locate the item and “buy it” again: the button flips to download (no charge since you own it). But, no cable or computer is required — it’s all on the device over wifi.

You can add additional non-Kobo content over the air, too, if you are so inclined. Again, not the same as Kindle: you don’t email yourself stuff. Calibre, for those who like to manage their own content from a variety of sources, can be setup for a private webpage you can access anywhere you have wifi. Content can be added over wifi using that option. Personally, I stick to Kobo content. If I want to read Kindle or Overdrive library books, I switch to the tablet where I have access to all three apps on one device.

Not mentioned: it’s not just the font customizability that Kobo delivers. The new screen is crisper thanks to higher resolution e-ink (“XGA”). Only the Kindle Paperwhite and Kobo Glo have it. And, of course, Amazon only sells the old Kindle in Canada. If you want the latest screen technology and a built in light, Kobo Glo is for you.

Kobo Glo is the slickest, most complete ereader Kobo has released yet and is a joy to read on. I highly recommend it.

By: KHA

KHA — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 21:57:14 +0000

Sounds like the Paperwhite is really what you want since you now can get more fonts on it.

By: Joanna

Joanna — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 21:08:03 +0000

I mean that there is no ‘archived items’ functionality. If you delete something off your device and then you want to load it back again, you have to go to a computer to re-sync it into your library. Way too many steps.

By: fbr

fbr — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 20:18:04 +0000

“I also dislike how difficult Kobo makes it to reload books from your library. After all this time, they still make you re-sync with your computer for that. That is just unconscionable to me. My Kindle Touch can be used without a computer at all. It even updates over-the-air. I can’t believe that this allegedly cutting-edge new Kobo still makes you hook into your desktop and run updates through their clunky desktop software.”

Not sure what you are referring to. I have a Kobo Touch and I never use the desktop application and I have never needed to. It also updates “over-the-air”.