Kobo or Kindle?

Kobo is all but dead technology. It’s left over from the days of Border’s bookstores, and they have been gone for 5 years.

Yes, it works – the Japanese company that owns it still puts some effort into Kobo, but it’s not mainstream and you’ll never see the types of features and development on Kobo that Amazon puts into Kindle or Barnes and Noble puts into Nook (which isn’t very much).

So keep using it if you like it, but in the end, Kobo is going to fade away.

I’m interested in this Q, because I’m thinking about a Kobo, but I disagree that Kobos are dead, etc. There’s not a waterproof and dustproof Kindle, but there is one such Kobo. The top-tier Kobo uses the exact same e-ink screen as the top-tier Kindle, but costs $70 less. Kobo gives way more font and text justification options, plus Kobo isn’t tied to a proprietary file format. Kobo is not mainstream in North America, but it is competitive everywhere else.

Because the Kindle is widely used in the U.S., and the Kobo is not, I would go with the Kindle.

I would get a Kobo.

I don’t like Kindles because they lock you into the Amazon Store. You can read only what Amazon wants to sell you.

The big advantage of the Kobo (and the Nook) is that they read the EPUB file format, which is the open world standard. Millions of free books are available as EPUBs from Google books and other sources like Project Gutenberg.

Also, Kobo is not dead. Kobo is not from Borders. The Nook is from Borders.

When people are saying you MUST buy a Kindle, it’s like saying you MUST buy an iPhone. You don’t. Other devices work perfectly well for millions of people.

@jaytkay – Nook is from Barnes and Noble. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/nook-glowlight-ereader/379004122

@elbanditoroso Doh! I have a Nook. Barnes and Noble, thanks.

Anyway, it’s true the Kobo isn’t popular in the US, but that doesn’t mean it’s dead.

I have no experience with others, but I love my Kindle. As far as being locked in to Amazon’s store – not at all. I have tons of stuff on my Kindle that I did not purchase through Amazon. And it’s quite easy to convert .epub to .mobi.

Im using a kindle as we speak. The tie into amazon is kinda annoying and you cant even change your backdrop images without jailbreaking it…

The onscreen keyboard response lags out quite often forcing me to reboot.

All that said, I like it just fine. It works.

Kindle, no contest. Why? CyanogenMod!

I run CM on my old Nook Color, so I have a full-on Android tablet that was under $100. Unlike the Kobos, it can handle .PDF files, the format most of my e-books are in, and display color.

I tend to not read in the tub or the rain anyways, so the only electronics I really see myself using in conditions that may lead to them getting wet are my wristwatch and my smartphone. IP-67 certification isn’t a selling point for me; I know the specs on IP-67 too well to be impressed. IP-68 maybe, depending on the impact protection.

Kobos read PDF files.

Here are the files formats combatible with Kobo.
Books: EPUB, EPUB3, PDF, and MOBI
Documents: PDF
Images: JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, and TIFF
Text: TXT, HTML, and RTF
Comic Books: CBZ and CBR

@jerv, isn’t cyanogenmod for Fire tablets only? That’s what it looks like at first glance.

@kevbo I linked to the page just for Kindles, but it actually supports hundreds of devices. Kindle, Nook, Asus, Acer, Nexus, HTC, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony, and a few more. There are also versions of Ubuntu Touch for both the Nook and Kindle tablets in the works but not for Kobos, which I consider another ding against them.

@jaytkay The Kobos Arc is not the cheapest though, at least not if you know how to shop around. My wife has a knack for finding deals, so I could probably score a deal on a Kindle or Nook easier than something that is a little lacking in US distribution like the Kobos.
The Kobo Arc does have the advantage of running straight Android out of the box as opposed to doing the sort of stuff I tend to do for fun anyways though, so if you’re averse to ROM-flashing then is may be worthwhile for those willing to live without one feature I consider mandatory; read on.
The Nook has an SD card slot that Kindle and Kobos lack. That right there is enough of a plus that even if not for the other things, I would go Nook. The possibilities open to you with removable storage (dual-booting, ease of “side-loading” from computers that don’t support plug-and-pray….) are not only good, but I personally consider them mandatory for any Android device. Conversely, the non-expandable storage of the Arc and Kindle is enough of a minus that I would hesitate to pay more than about $50 for one, and would only go that high for a brand new 64GB.
I simply won’t pay nearly as much for something that fails to meet my needs, assuming I even buy it at all instead of finding something I can use. If other people have different needs, or are willing to pay more for things I place little/no value on, that’s okay. But “superior” is subjective, and I consider Kobos inferior on enough levels that it’s superiority in a couple of areas is negated and then some.