I was going to have a look at a kindle in Tescos just to compare, but they have none out to look at.

the speed difference in page turns so I have been told is minimal and as IvanIV and Bobcar said you don't notice it when you are reading, because your mind should be in the book you are reading.

The Kobo do clear the whole page which may be why it is a bit slower and do go black for a split second, but it is fine.

It does the job, no doubt if I had found the Kindle in a shop by me first I would have got it, but I did not.

The page turn speed difference was a lot in the ones that I played with. I naively assumed that this would be one of the most important things in general use, but having not used an eReader for a prolonged period I have to bow to experience on that one.

Hi
Just to return to the theme of which ereader I am in the process of defining which ereader to buy. One of my criterion is that the current library I have accrued, (for my HTC Desire HD, and my home computers), must be readable on the ereader.
This immediately knocks out Kindle because of its limitation in not displaying ePub files. So I am stuck with alternatives and a limited budget.
I have looked at the Sony stable, Kobo & Elonex (plus many others) online. So far I am coming down on the Sony PRS T1 as it has a neat .mp3 playing capability which will enable me to carry a collection of music and maybe more importantly my audio book collection. I can rest my eyes and part read part listen to my favourite Dickens volumes.
The Elonex looked attractive especially at the price Waterstones UK are offering the 705EB 7" LCD but it is an LCD (low battery staying power) and turns out to be a tablet more than an ereader, however (providing it works), good value for money.
The current Kobo doesn't support .mp3 but the promised Kobo Vox (a colour tablet), will - so I'm told.
I am ambivalent about WiFi as I do not intend to download on the move and I have a 'phone that can surf if necessary. I will want note taking and one of the ereaders promised a sketching facility which i still have to pursue.
Initially I was looking to put it on my Santa list but now i have decided to wait until, after the New Year when shops will be discounting furiously - if its a bad retail season.
Now I just have to remember which device has the sketching mode??
John

It depends how long the delay is, but the Kobo is not that long and as been said if you are lost in a story then you don't notice.

The only thing that have annoyed me now is that Kobo have now been taken over by the same company that took over Play.com, so another massive company which I was trying to avoid.

It depends on what you want at the end of the day, I wanted a e-reader, a unit that allows me to read e-books and give me a screen that is as good as paper.

The Kobo does that, if I wanted to play mp3s be it audio books or music, I would get a MP3 player.

i am still a firm believer that units that does evey thing is not always the best, look at most mobile phones, you can take pictures with them, um, many are useless at that, videos, very few are that good, most will play music, but their organising system is awful.


LCD readers will strain your eyes if you use it for a long time without a break, that is the whole point of E-ink.

When colour E-ink readers are available at a decent price I may look into one as they are useful for comics.

I see the Kobo has wifi, can you buy books on the device without connecting to a computer and messing about with Abobe Digital editions. Also if you can buy books directly on the device, is that only from the Kobo store or can you buy from other stores that sell epubs??

@jon529320 you may ask Santa for a tablet instead, if those whistles and bells are too important. All eInk readers with the latest screens are excellent at that one thing, as a book readers. Anything beyond that is a bonus, that may help you choose the right one, but if you want to read the books in the first place and during the most of the time you use the gadget then it should be eInk. LCD screens are just not good for reading for long periods of time.

@Anika, if the reader has a wi-fi and a web browser I can imagine you could go to the bookshop webpage, click through the purchase and then download the file using the provided link directly to your reader. Not sure if it's really how it works,it would make sense, though. I don't think there's a way around the Digital Editions, you still need it to set up your computer and the reader with your Adobe ID for DRM purchases. But once this is done, you could possibly download directly to your reader, the encryption happens at the source not on your computer/reader.

EPUB files are easily converted using freeware like
http://calibre-ebook.com/about works

"Input Formats: CBZ, CBR, CBC, CHM, DJVU, EPUB, FB2, HTML, HTMLZ, LIT, LRF, MOBI, ODT, PDF, PRC, PDB, PML, RB, RTF, SNB, TCR, TXT, TXTZ

Output Formats: EPUB, FB2, OEB, LIT, LRF, MOBI, HTMLZ, PDB, PML, RB, PDF, RTF, SNB, TCR, TXT, TXTZ"

I had a go of the Kobo touch today, thought it was crap. Wouldn't replace my Kindle(s) with one if they were giving them away. I think the quilted back is quite feminine as well, even on the black version.

Seems to be having a lot of teething problems, certainly touch screen problems so maybe best avoided for a few months while they sort it out.

i am happy with my Kobo, i was considering the touch version, but then thought what on earth do I need a touch screen e-reader for?


The kobo does what I want and I am not limited to just one supplier for my books. that is the good thing.

The quilted back is a bit strange, but it does make it nice to hold.

Thankfully we are not all the same and we buy what we think we like, i never used a Kindle, so I have no idea what it is like. I can read books with my Kobo and that is why I got it in the first place.

too many features that are not needed are being put onto e-book readers, I don't even see the point in Wi-fi to be honest.

the wi-fi only works with Kobo own store, but then the Kindle wi-fi only works with Amazon own store.

at least with the Kobo you can get books from other sources, even if you have to use a computer to get them. T

You can put non amazon books on the Kindle too

Not epub unless they have at last decided to support the format, but i doubt it as they will lose book sales.

epub can be converted to a kindle format (mobi), and vice versa.

the complication is DRM, which means the 'criticism' of being 'tied in' to a particular format works both ways....

I have a "touch" Sony Reader and find the touch feature to be useful. changing pages with a finger swipe comes slightly more easily than a key press and features like the dictionary are more convenient.

I am considering a Touch Kobo for £60. I don't need wifi and certainly not 3G. aDownloader is a great app for free downloads on Android. I now have about 2000 books on my tablet and phone but I think they would look better on eink.

On the Kobo touch can you change it so each page turn is a full refresh and not the horrible page turn where you can see the previous page's leftovers? Also has anyone used/got an opinion on the Kobo Vox?

http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq.html

I work at WH smiths and we got them in yesterday, They were brilliant.

Are you talking about the Vox?

I assume he was:

WHSmith and Kobo bring Vox to the UK

I thought so, but was hoping that he would confirm it along with something more informative than "brilliant"

The Vox is LCD though rather than e ink (I think). That makes it unsuitable as an eReader so it should be looked at as a tablet.

Not necessarily unsuitable, just less than ideal...