E Readers

Here is something I would have never thought I would end up buying. I like having a physical book to read. Flip through the pages, and heft when I'm reading. There was just something satisfying about it. Even though the larger books would sometimes make my wrist sore holding it up just so I could keep reading.

After a short couple weeks reading up on them, having only really having any brand awareness about the Kindle and the Kindle Fire. I ended up with a Kobo Touch. Once I found out that it was essentially 'Region' free there was little other choice.

I certainly didn't want to be locked into any formats. And the Kobo would read the current comic book formats. As it has turned out, I am almost done reading my second novel on it. And won't be reading any comics I don't imagine.

The screen is fantastic, bit of a matte finish which is awesome, I was concerned about the visibility of fingerprints like my iPod Touch. And that is not a problem. And the look of it is just like paper. It's rather amazing how they have made it look just like a book page. It's light weight, and has a rubber coating on the whole thing to make it easy to grip and hold onto. The only real gripe I had, and it pretty much vanished once I got used to it. Was the slight delays with the touch screen. It messes me up still when typing, but now that I have gotten used to it. It's not a problem flipping pages.

It has 2GB of ram, only 1GB available to the user. I installed a 4GB Micro SD card and will be plenty since I won't be carrying my comics around. The problem with them is that they don't display as they would on the PC. You can zoom in, and scroll about the pages. But I find the text hard to read, and would have preferred it to operate the way the PC readers do. Displaying each page in halves, zoomed in. So when you flip pages it just goes from the top of the page to the bottom. So each comic page is presented as two full screen pages. This is something I would think could be address in an update if they so choose.

A great part of my satisfaction with the device I don't doubt is the Targus Black leather case I got for it. It makes the kobo look and feel like a real leather bound book. It has pockes for cards inside, and has two bands and a slot / pocket at the bottom to hold the device. And with the rubberized exterior it just kinda sticks in place. The case was originally designed for the Kindle. But is great for the Kobo. If I didn't have a great case for it, it would probably stay on my desk. And I would never carry it around or get any use out of it.

So it has been a surprisingly good purchase. And if I finish the other half dozen or so books I plan to read in the short term. It will have been worth the cost to get into.

4 out of 5 stars