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Kobo Ereader Review

This is my sad review of the Kobo ereader. Sad because I have had to return my fun new toy since I was only reviewing it. I know that purists still argue ereaders are ruining book publishing and are not the same as books. But I had this for almost three weeks and loved every minute of it. A recent piece in the London Free Press notes that ebooks are outpacing regular books at library checkouts for the first time ever. The interesting thing about the Kobo is the fact that it’s changing the market for consumers. That’s good news for most of us. Did the novelty wear off? Sure, it did. But let me tell you a bit about the Kobo. This device is changing the market for ereaders because it is priced at a much more affordable price point than the Sony ereader or Kindle for instance. The Kobo retails for about $149 and is sold at Chapters/ Indigo in Canada and Border in the United States. It is the perfect size for a human hand and wowed me over with the comfort, convenience and sheer enjoyability of the device. It felt like a book but lighter. Kobo has done a lot, in my opinion, to make this experience user friendly. There are no extra cords with this, which I liked. I have enough cords. One simple cord connects to the USB of your computer and functions to charge the reader also. The Kobo comes loaded with 100 books, popular classics like Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery and Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky is there and so are many others. The back of the device is a soft quilted material that was quite comfortable to hold. The slim size meant this could be tucked right into my purse and toted along anywhere. That scores high points with me. I carry enough items around like a lot of Moms. Battery lasted well and didn’t run out at all in the time I had it. The battery easily last two weeks before it needs to be recharged. You can store upto 1000 ebooks on the ereader. They are simple to download and slightly less than the cost of a paperback or hardcover novel. The library of books for this device continues to grow. My single complaint would have been that there aren’t that many children’s books available yet for Kobo. My daughter, now 8, an avid reader, loved this new toy. She would have happily taken it over for her own if I had let her, and I had a number of people ask me when I was out reading on the Kobo if it would be suitable for kids and how durable it was. I think for a responsible 10-year-old it would be fine. The cost isn’t much over that of a Nintendo and it is fun. Kobo can be synced with your smartphone or Iphone or Blackberry. Print is a good size and you can easily magnify it. Left-handed individuals have noted some complaints with the Kobo’s controls being on the right- side of the device. I am a right-handed person. An enjoyable part of this experience is the fact that you can read and then bookmark electronically where you left off and instantly come back the next day. Kobo has access to over 2 million ebooks, newspapers and magazines in the Kobo store. It has a 6 inch e ink screen and a 1 GB memory. It supports EPub books. It has an 8 level grey scale and Bluetooth connection with a four-way navigational pad and centre select.4.7 inches by 7.2 inches by 10 inches thick. Really, dollar for dollar, the only question for me, would be whether to bump up my investment and get an IPAD which does everything, or buy a Kobo for fun now.

Thriftymommastips rating $$$$1/2 out of $$$$$. Excellent value.

In order to review this Kobo I received free use of one for a few weeks. The opinion in this blog is my own and I was not paid to review this product.

Mom of two beautiful active girls, traveller, fitness junkie, social media consultant, and keeper of the sanity.

One Comment

  • Sandy

    Great review. I’ve had a Kobo for several weeks now. I had my 10-year-old daughter test it out, and she’s in love with it. She already has had her nose buried in it for hours, and has begged to bring it to school to show her friends. All her books in one place, and it makes her feel “hip” to have the latest gadgety item…hey, whatever gets her to read more! This Kobo is very user-friendly…anyone who knows how to read will find it easy to use. It has WiFi and supports ePub, PDF, and Adobe DRM! ~Sandy, ShesConnected Kobo Community Manager