Kobo or Kindle?

[drag n' fly]

I want to buy my Mom a e reader. I see Kobo and Kindle both have colour ones now. I have a Nook colour however the loopholes to use it in Canada adds too many complications for her.
Any suggestions?

 

[Alderbrook]

I think the Kindle is the same way. I have a Kobo & love it. I can download books from my library no problem as well.

 

[bankr63]

We have 3 Kobos (kobi?) in the house. 2 Classic and one Touch. As PP says, easy to use and you can buy books from Kobo as well as borrow from many Public Libraries. It will also load books and pdf files from just about any other source. The earlier hardware was a bit unreliable (we replaced 2 units), but now seems to have the bugs out.

The Kobo VOX is actually an Android device, so it is closer to a tablet than a reader only. You can download all kinds of useful apps, mostly free, from the android marketplace. I use the free Kobo reader software on my android phone and love it! It syncs up to my regular reader so that I can pick up on one where I left off on the other.

The Kindle I am not too sure about, but I think it is pretty locked to Amazon only - worth investigating before you pop for one.

Read on!

 

[canadianjovigirl]

My daughter got a Kobo Vox for Christmas and she loves it...........easy to use and so much more than just a e-reader.

 

[drag n' fly]

Yes I think I have settled on the Vox. Thanks for the info!!

 

[Disney_Mama]

I have the Kobo Vox and love it. I have not heard great things about the Kindle for Canadian use.

 

[C&B Young]

We love our Kobo - went with it over the Kindle because of the Kindle's proprietary file format. If you're going to use it primarily for reading, I highly recommend the eInk-type reader over the colour readers - much less eye strain.

 

[Polydweller]

The Kindle Fire is not sold in Canada and is so integrated to Amazon US that it won't work here. We have two Kobos one being the Vox. They are great and very happy with both.

 

[drag n' fly]

We love our Kobo - went with it over the Kindle because of the Kindle's proprietary file format. If you're going to use it primarily for reading, I highly recommend the eInk-type reader over the colour readers - much less eye strain.

Thanks for the advice. I really like the Nook Colour I have as I use it almost like a mini tablet. P.S I follow you on Twitter....you guys do a great job!

 

[mom_rules]

Another vote for Kobo Vox-had ours since November and love it.

 

[disneyred]

The Kobo VOX is actually an Android device, so it is closer to a tablet than a reader only. You can download all kinds of useful apps, mostly free, from the android marketplace. I use the free Kobo reader software on my android phone and love it! It syncs up to my regular reader so that I can pick up on one where I left off on the other.

Read on!

does the free kobo reader app take the place of buying the kobo touch ?

 

[bankr63]

does the free kobo reader app take the place of buying the kobo touch ?

If you run it on any decent sized tablet, by all means! It has the same functionality, but readability suffers a little bit on my Sony Ericsson android phone. The VOX is really an inexpensive android tablet with the Kobo app really well integrated, and any other andriod tablet with the Kobo reader app is really just an expensive VOX.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Am I the only one with a Kindle?

I have the Kindle 3 with wifi. I have no problem using it here in Canada. It has an automatic conversion program that converts a bunch of basic files such as .txt and .html into Kindle files when you send it to your reader.

There are also lots of places online you can download from. I just bought my uncle the newest Kindle and he's loving his as well.

Just don't want people to get the idea that the Kindle is no good in Canada...

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

I have a sony touch and it has been easy to use for sure. Nothing at all beats my ipad though!!

 

[KNovacovschi]

Am I the only one with a Kindle?

I have the Kindle 3 with wifi. I have no problem using it here in Canada. It has an automatic conversion program that converts a bunch of basic files such as .txt and .html into Kindle files when you send it to your reader.

There are also lots of places online you can download from. I just bought my uncle the newest Kindle and he's loving his as well.

Just don't want people to get the idea that the Kindle is no good in Canada...

Nope your not. I have a Kindle 4 and love it. I use it here with absolutely no problems.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Nope your not. I have a Kindle 4 and love it. I use it here with absolutely no problems.

Thank goodness! Btw, I love your avatar picture. Pop Century is my "home".

 

[modegard]

I have a Kindle as well. I have had it since September and have not read a paper book since. I love it!

 

[Salinger]

I have an iPad, Kindle and just bought a Kobo Touch.

As others have noted, if you want it to be used mainly for reading, I would definitely stay away from the colour/LED screens. They are great as tablets, but you'll rue the day you try to read on them for any length of time. Certainly when compared to e-ink readers.

Kindles work fine in Canada, but you are limited in where you can purchase books for it. The kindle store for Canadians is woefully lacking in content when compared to the US. I've noticed that many prices are the same, but often the Canadian price is significantly higher.

I am surprisingly impressed with my Kobo touch, and actually prefer it to the Kindle. (never thought I'd say that!) The outlets to buy books are numerous as it will accept almost any format, most importantly epub which is pretty much the gold standard for all readers (except for Kindle). Of course, like any electronics, there are work-arounds, but for straight forward use, the Kobo is at the top for me.

With the Kobo you can also borrow books online from the public library. Here in Toronto, I've noticed the selection of books available has improved dramatically over the last couple of years since I got my first Sony reader. So, in many cases, you don't even have to buy your ebooks. This feature is not available for Kindle in Canada, and when asked, Amazon indicated there are no plans to roll it out in Canada in the foreseeable future.

Having both Kindle and Kobo is great and allows me to find the greatest selection and lowest price for my books. But if I was only going to have one, I would definitely choose the Kobo Touch.

 

[Carina]

LOVE my Kobo Touch, I didn't like how the non touch kobo changed the pages (looked like a page turning graphic - was goofy and sloooooowwww!) when I checked it out in store.

 

[pigletto]

Kindle.
Kobo was without a doubt the worst customer service I've ever experienced. It broke 2 months after I got it. I plugged it in to charge it and several partial images froze into the screen. I put a service ticket in with them. After several emails, scanning receipts etc., they sent me an email saying they would replace it and they were sending a box.
It never came. I gave it three weeks and called and emailed again. They had no record of my service ticket. Fine. Resent everything.
Got a new trouble ticket.
Waited 3 weeks.. never received the box. We're now going on 3 months of a broken Kobo. Longer than I had the silly thing.
Got an email that they were revamping their customer service website, and that someone would contact me shortly about my open ticket.
Nothing came. Emailed and called again to be told I didn't have a customer service ticket in and would need to start from scratch.
I gave up. After so much back and forth only to be told to start the process alllll over again, I will gladly eat the 120 bucks and NEVER deal with them again.