I know I probably didn’t really need it but I bought a Kobo yesterday. I’d been contemplating an e-reader for a little while but there was no rush as I have been reading on my phone and iPad for a while now. My perspective changed once our local libraries started offering e-books for loan. The only contenders for my reader were the Kindle, Kobo, and Sony’s e-reader. I ruled out the Kindle pretty early on since the library doesn’t use its format. The Sony was far more expensive but I considered it if I could justify the extra expense. The Kobo Touch seemed to meet my needs pretty adequately but I wanted to try the devices out before making a decision.

The Scientist and I went back and forth between JB Hi Fi and Good Guys, which were in the same shopping center. One had both on display but the Kobo wasn’t charged so it took some time for a salesperson to get it connected to charge. We had to wait a while to try it out. The Sony felt really comfortable in my hands and navigation was quite good too. The Kobo seemed quite a bit heavier to me, which made me think more seriously about the Sony. But trying them both out, the Kobo did what I needed and didn’t cost the earth…That said, I found a cover for the Sony reader with booklight for only $15, which seems to be a bit of a steal as it was far more when I saw it at Target earlier in the day.  We did a fair bit of traipsing about to check prices and then to attempt a purchase. This got old pretty fast as I was wearing thongs to keep a bit cooler on what was a fairly warm day and my knee started hurting after awhile. Eventually ended up buying at Good Guys as they were able to undercut the lowest price by $4 and they did actually have a single one available.

A while back, the Scientist got a Kindle and set up was really fast and easy. The Kobo was far more time-consuming  although not really difficult. Eventually, I had it up and running and worked out how to transfer my downloaded library books so I could read them on the device. So far, I’m really liking it a lot although I will find it even better once I’ve found a cover for it and don’t have to worry so much about scratches. It does have an odd system, though, of giving out awards for certain accomplishments. I was a bit surprised get an award for turning pages! Looking forward to reading lots more e-books now that I have a device more suitable for my eyes.