MSE Blog: Kindle vs Kobo: Battle of the e-readers

Former_MSE_Guy

Hi all, this is a thread to discuss the MSE blog:

Kindle vs Kobo: Battle of the e-readers

"The Kindle is the undoubted market-leader in the e-reader popularity stakes, but it now has a rival in the Kobo....."

bcl999

Like Becca, I too didn't like the "creepy" (as she calls it) effect when turning the page on the Kobo so afraid mine was returned to the shop and I am back to print. Wll try Kindle touch-version when available here.

fifi29

Good review. I have a kindle keyboard with wifi, and the deciding factor for me (although Kobo wasn't available at the time) was the price of the books. Amazon is consistently cheaper than ePub book sellers. It is not usually possible to convert a book bought in one place to another format as they have Drm protection. Most free book sites such as Project Gutenberg have .mobi versions to download, so no problem there with the kindle. You can also have several kindles on the same account so you can share books.I also like being able to have audio files on the kindle (not available on the £89 version)
My daughter however wanted a touch screen, so went for a Sony! the Kobo would probably be a great option if you want the gadget bits!

jtcowie

I was thinking of buying an eReader recently so did some investigation into the various options. The Kobo touchscreen model was my favourite by far for functionality. The only reason I didn't buy it was that I am a big library user and several of the big publishers, whose authors I often read, haven't signed up to system used by Kobo.

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

I have a Kindle 3G Keyboard, love the device but hate Amazon's exploiting of Customers in Kindle E -Editions.

VoucherMan

Not a comment about about the readers but about the waterproof covers that are linked.

As with all things MSE it's worth bearing in mind that that similar covers can be bought much cheaper elsewhere.

Currently available on eBay for £2.49. Not bought one myself yet but they seem very popular.

Dreamnine

Not a comment about the physical ereaders but their apps for iOs and the Blackberry Playbook.

At times I've bought ebooks that were only available on Kobo or were only available on Amazon, so I've had to donload the apps.

I found the Kindle reading experience to be better..I didn't like the whole 'social reading thing' on Kobo, and it got in the way of my reading. Even though I could turn it off, I still found the Kobo app 'clunkier' to use.

Pamelamac

We bought our 11 year old daughter, who is an avid reader, the Kobo Vox for Xmas....she loves it. Our decision was based on the fact that she often reads one or two books a day at the weekend, plus several through the week. We could not have kept up to the purchases. Now she can download from the public library up to 9 books at a time and when she has read them or decided they are not what she wants she just returns them electronically and chooses some more. She, like most kids, is very happy with the technology and got to grips with it much quicker than her Dad or me. For her birthday in January we purchased 5 books from Kobo for her, it was a nice surprise when she switched on her Kobo and 5 new books were on the screen. The Kobo Vox is the all singing, all dancing ereader, she can go onto facebook, bbc iplayer and there's a 'pulse' to get realtime feedback on other peoples' opinions on purchased books. I can't recommend it highly enough....and our 6 year old son (also an avid reader) wants to know when he can have a Kobo. By the way, they both also read printed books and reread books they already own. In our house there's room for both electronic and traditional books, especially as the ebooks take up so little space!

Norman-B

Pamela, I read your post and was impressed. Both of your children avid readers. I am unable to get my grandson, 13,(lives with me) to turn a page! The suggestion of a trip to the library for us both is met with raised eyebrows. He is interested in the web and sport and nothing I do will get him to read. I offer him the sports pages of the daily paper and he is not interested. As a very young child, I read every night to him and he would read back to me. We would read a book together and I made reading fun but now, he is just not interested.
I read and listen to audio books and read every day but I am at a loss to why he won't read.

It is nice to read that your children have the reading 'bug'. Well done.

flowerclipper

I've just bought the Kobo because I was sure I good read papers on it but I can't. Does anybody know of a way to read the Guardian on it?

Hermia

I have the Kindle keyboard and love it. I love the i-ink thingy especially as I am prone to headaches and have eye problems so reading on a backlit screen for any length of time is a no no.

I do think it was a worthwhile investment. I do enjoy having a daily paper and paying £10 for a monthly Kindle subscription is considerably cheaper than buying a hard copy and a lot more pleasant than trying to read articles on the website. I also have been impressed at the amount of free and cheap books I have been able to get. Getting the whole of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for a couple of quid the other day was fab.