Kobo eReader - Overview
Not so long ago I was at an event where there was a presentation of a new Kobo eReader book reader. The official release will take place in mid-May, then the dispatches will begin to those who ordered it in advance.
Today I received a “hold on” test sample. I am pleased to present the first Russian-language review.
')
The rest is under the cut. Traffic !!!
I will not describe the specifications - they can be found on the official site. In a nutshell - support for Adobe DE, ePub, PDF, there is Bluetooth for synchronization with Blackberry phones (since I don’t use this kind of garbage, I can’t check it), USB for recharging and flooding books. SD card slot. Under the system is visible as a USB-drive.
Books can be poured both directly into the root and into subfolders. The device itself will find everything.
By default, there is software for MacOS & Windows. Plus on the device is a free book in English so that you can immediately see how it works.
The device itself is assembled very high quality, nowhere squeaks, does not move. Small size, very comfortable to hold. Here's a photo for comparison with an iPhone to visually assess the size:
The blue (blue) button on the front panel is five-button (up, down, right, left and center as “ok”). Button "left" - page back, "right" - page forward. "Up" and "down" are needed to work with the menu.
The bottom panel lists the various certificates. There is also a USB connector for connecting to an older brother:
On the top panel is a power button and a slot for SD cards. 4-gig card was perceived with a bang. When connected to a computer, it is visible as a second USB-drive.
On the left side there are 4 buttons - “Home”, “Menu”, “Screen” and “Back”:
The Home button always returns to the main screen with a list of books:
There will be books in AdobeDE and ePub. Above you can see a small menu “Books - Documents”. Using the blue joystick button, you can switch to the "Documents" mode. It will display PDF files uploaded to the device:
The “Display” button brings up the read control menu. For PDF, this is the scale and view mode - portrait or landscape:
For books, this is the choice of one of two fonts (with or without serifs) and size (5 sizes). Sorry, pictures of this screen will not be.
The “Menu” button in reading mode will bring up a menu from which you can read the book annotation, switch between chapters, call up the screen settings menu or go to the library:
On the background of the menu is one of two medium-sized fonts.
Here is the list of chapters:
Navigation with the buttons "up" - "vnih" on the joystick. The choice is the central button.
And now a fly in the ointment:
Yes, this is a selected chapter from a Russian-language book. For some reason, despite the excellent display of the title of the book, the author, the list of chapters, and even annotations in Russian, when you try to read the text, this kind of garbage comes out. I already informed the manufacturing company about this bug, tomorrow they promised to connect me with technicians. There are several possible options:
- I have an old firmware (the more so it's still a test device sample)
- In reality, there is no support at all (the device is still made for North America and, as a company representative said, the main income is not a reader but the sale of books. All books are in English)
- Russian support will be in the release (as soon as I know the exact info, I’ll let you know right away).
In any case, I haven’t succeeded in forcing her to read Russian from ePub. Even with the help of various tricks like modifying the ePub file, with bitten-out styles.
By the way, if someone has ideas how to make her read Russian, welcome to the comments. I will have a reader until Friday evening. So I can try-experiment.
But in PDF Russian is read without problems:
But alas, reading books in PDF is not so convenient - there is neither a table of contents, nor a neat scrolling through the pages. But you can use as an option.
From the main menu, you can go to the settings and synchronization.
Synchronization is performed only with Blackberry phones with Kobo native software installed. Neither one nor the other I have so I can not say anything about it.
In the settings menu, too, there is nothing interesting. Is that the installation date-time.
So, I summarize:
Pros:
Minuses:
To take or not to take?
If the support of the Russian is not needed - definitely take it. I think this is the best value for money. In addition, as far as I remember, this is the cheapest reader of all of them on the market.
If you still need a Russian, either take something else, or wait for the release of the firmware with support. I promise to notify the public about the release of this right away.
PS I have a device until Friday evening (GMT-5). If anyone has questions, or wishes for me to take something else or try, you are welcome.
Today I received a “hold on” test sample. I am pleased to present the first Russian-language review.
')
The rest is under the cut. Traffic !!!
I will not describe the specifications - they can be found on the official site. In a nutshell - support for Adobe DE, ePub, PDF, there is Bluetooth for synchronization with Blackberry phones (since I don’t use this kind of garbage, I can’t check it), USB for recharging and flooding books. SD card slot. Under the system is visible as a USB-drive.
Books can be poured both directly into the root and into subfolders. The device itself will find everything.
By default, there is software for MacOS & Windows. Plus on the device is a free book in English so that you can immediately see how it works.
The device itself is assembled very high quality, nowhere squeaks, does not move. Small size, very comfortable to hold. Here's a photo for comparison with an iPhone to visually assess the size:
The blue (blue) button on the front panel is five-button (up, down, right, left and center as “ok”). Button "left" - page back, "right" - page forward. "Up" and "down" are needed to work with the menu.
The bottom panel lists the various certificates. There is also a USB connector for connecting to an older brother:
On the top panel is a power button and a slot for SD cards. 4-gig card was perceived with a bang. When connected to a computer, it is visible as a second USB-drive.
On the left side there are 4 buttons - “Home”, “Menu”, “Screen” and “Back”:
The Home button always returns to the main screen with a list of books:
There will be books in AdobeDE and ePub. Above you can see a small menu “Books - Documents”. Using the blue joystick button, you can switch to the "Documents" mode. It will display PDF files uploaded to the device:
The “Display” button brings up the read control menu. For PDF, this is the scale and view mode - portrait or landscape:
For books, this is the choice of one of two fonts (with or without serifs) and size (5 sizes). Sorry, pictures of this screen will not be.
The “Menu” button in reading mode will bring up a menu from which you can read the book annotation, switch between chapters, call up the screen settings menu or go to the library:
On the background of the menu is one of two medium-sized fonts.
Here is the list of chapters:
Navigation with the buttons "up" - "vnih" on the joystick. The choice is the central button.
And now a fly in the ointment:
Yes, this is a selected chapter from a Russian-language book. For some reason, despite the excellent display of the title of the book, the author, the list of chapters, and even annotations in Russian, when you try to read the text, this kind of garbage comes out. I already informed the manufacturing company about this bug, tomorrow they promised to connect me with technicians. There are several possible options:
- I have an old firmware (the more so it's still a test device sample)
- In reality, there is no support at all (the device is still made for North America and, as a company representative said, the main income is not a reader but the sale of books. All books are in English)
- Russian support will be in the release (as soon as I know the exact info, I’ll let you know right away).
In any case, I haven’t succeeded in forcing her to read Russian from ePub. Even with the help of various tricks like modifying the ePub file, with bitten-out styles.
By the way, if someone has ideas how to make her read Russian, welcome to the comments. I will have a reader until Friday evening. So I can try-experiment.
But in PDF Russian is read without problems:
But alas, reading books in PDF is not so convenient - there is neither a table of contents, nor a neat scrolling through the pages. But you can use as an option.
From the main menu, you can go to the settings and synchronization.
Synchronization is performed only with Blackberry phones with Kobo native software installed. Neither one nor the other I have so I can not say anything about it.
In the settings menu, too, there is nothing interesting. Is that the installation date-time.
So, I summarize:
Pros:
- Comfortable
- Easy
- Qualitatively made
- Nothing extra
- The price ($ 150 CAD is somewhere around $ 145 USD. Of course, plus taxes and shipping)
Minuses:
- Books in ePub format in Russian are not readable (I hope this is temporary).
To take or not to take?
If the support of the Russian is not needed - definitely take it. I think this is the best value for money. In addition, as far as I remember, this is the cheapest reader of all of them on the market.
If you still need a Russian, either take something else, or wait for the release of the firmware with support. I promise to notify the public about the release of this right away.
PS I have a device until Friday evening (GMT-5). If anyone has questions, or wishes for me to take something else or try, you are welcome.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/90227/
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