Kindle or Kobo

TeresaF

I'm looking to get an e-reader and my first thought was to get a Kindle. Then I saw the Kobo in WHSmith. Is one better than the other or are they both as good as each other? As well as downloading and reading a variety of books I would like to be able to put my Open Uni course materials on it to read - they are PDFs.
Thanks in advance for any advice

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

I think Kobo is copying the Kindle!
I now have a Kindle 3G Keyboard which is what I recommend you buy.
I think WH Smith is just 'doing an Amazon'.
I hope you make the right choice for you as probably both Shops are aiming to screw the E Book Readers.

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

On my Kindle Keyboard I can read PDF's but have yet to try this out.
I personally would aim for more rather than less, I would always prefer to have more rather than less as if I am abroad or in Scotland, the 'more' will help me more than the less which looks a cheaper deal.

debitcardmayhem

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver wrote: »

On my Kindle Keyboard I can read PDF's but have yet to try this out.
I personally would aim for more rather than less, I would always prefer to have more rather than less as if I am abroad or in Scotland, the 'more' will help me more than the less which looks a cheaper deal.

Is that not counted as abroad now

Teresa I have a sony PRS505 , old like me, but it is great and is more sturdy , as long as the PDF's are b/w then they render ok .

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

LOL@debitcardmayhem !!! I know it's off topic but I hope they get an economically viable Independence. Knowing the current political situation, no doubt Scotland will be made to acculmulate massive debts in order to hold them in hock to the banks, and the imposed Free Market system...

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

All my technological decisions have these key parts of Europe in mind.

debitcardmayhem

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver wrote: »

LOL@debitcardmayhem !!! I know it's off topic but I hope they get an economically viable Independence. Knowing the current political situation, no doubt Scotland will be made to acculmulate massive debts in order to hold them in hock to the banks, and the imposed Free Market system...

Nope RBS and HBOS have demonstrated where the blame lies, they were not the RBE nor the HBOE nor the RBUK HBOUK:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Bogtrotter

Can't give any opinion on anything other than the Kindle 3G keyboard which I think is fantastic as a normal text only book e-reader.

As for its use as a pdf reader I tried some technical programming and science pdf e-books which tend to have a larger format than the Kindle display and I have to admit I prefer to view the pdf on the computer rather than the Kindle as normally the larger format books are generally unreadable on the small Kindle display unless you try to use its rather cumbersome zoom and scroll.

I've been waiting for a larger format Kindle like the Kindle DX to be offered to the UK for all my techie/geeky pdfs but only as an addition to my Kindle 3G which is ideal size for normal paperback sized/text only books.

VoucherMan

I had the same query when I was looking into buying one.

The Kobo touch was on offer for £69 at the time vs £79 for the Kindle.

If you want a touch screen (and the possibility of fingermarks all over the screen) get the Kobo. - Kindle Touch not yet available in the UK though it can be bought via eBay.

The Kindle can be used to view PDF's but using calibre you convert most formats anyway so not really important.

I think Kobo has expandable memory but the 2GB on the Kindle should be plenty. I've got about 550 books on mine at the moment and it's used about 3/4 of the memory.

At the end of the day I chose Kindle because

a) It claims a longer battery life - 10 days for the Kobo, 1 month for the Kindle. (if you get a Kindle turn off the wireless if/when you're not using it - the battery lasts a lot longer)

b) Tesco had a £10 off offer & I had lots of Clubcard vouchers to use up so I only had to pay £1.00

RobTang

The only thing that makes the kindle better is Amazon itself, if you get all your eBooks from them its a great service.

However if you want to shop around or wont make use of their services you are better off with any other ereader.

PDFs never really reflow correctly as required by ereaders unless its just simple text, otherwise you are better off with an iPad or similar

marsbar989

I looked at kindle or kobo for my 14 yr old son who is a book worm.
what put me off the kindle is that it looked tied to Amazon and Im all for "open source" stuff.

I purchased a kobo touch and both of us are more than happy with it.
A big plus point for me was you can loan books from the libraries for free. Just set yourself up on line and download. Is so easy he selects the books himself and loads them.

People say memory is a issue. He hasnt come across any problems so far. It was a hit for Christmas and he uses it daily.