Kobo Glo and eBook Shopping

Earlier this month, thanks to a seasonal spike in income, I finally got myself a dedicated ebook reader. And as one can surmise from this blog's title, I got a Kobo.

Why a Kobo?

Because it's not a Kindle.

Look, I don't want to turn this into a Kindle vs Kobo thing because I've only ever had the experience of using the one device. And while I have nothing against Amazon (except maybe the closed ecosystem), I do believe in growing the industry by encouraging competition. So while everybody and their mother enjoy their Kindles, I'm going for the alternative experience.

National Bookstore also made the accessories available, so I got my Kobo a nice sleep cover.

Sidenote: This is pretty consistent of me. As I mentioned on Instagram, back when the iPod was king, I went Creative. Heck, I'd be using Palm/WebOS right now if the platform was still active.

Anyway, I got the Glo, which is Kobo's mid-range offering that competes directly with the Kindle Paperwhite and Nook Glowlight. The model was launched last year and I've all but given up on ever getting my hands on one locally.

Then something near to miraculous happened when National Bookstore partnered with Kobo Inc. to be the official distributor of Kobo products in the country. The Glo, along with the Touch and the Arc, was officially launched at the Manila International Book Fair mid of this year. But I still bided my time because: a) Limited income; and b) I still had a collection of droids that I can read books on. For the same reasons, I also waited for a sale that never happened and mentally debated whether I should just get a Mini from one of the local online gray market shops.

Image credit: Kobo's device line-up

All the while I keep thinking that I don't really have a collection of eBooks to merit a separate device specifically for reading. I have a small collection of pirated epubs but every time I try to read one, I just couldn't help feeling uncomfortable. As a writer, I just didn't like the idea of cheating authors out of their due royalties. Also: most of these typed up epubs are really crappy.

Then fate handed me a good one once again when just last month, Kobo sent me a 50% discount code that I can use multiple times on their online store! I also stumbled upon other discount coupons online that went as high as 85%! Long story short, I'm almost broke by P10k thanks to my eBook spree.

TIP: BPI My ePrepaid has a down-time from 10am to 6pm. Paying either directly or via Paypal can result in failed transactions during that period. My account was locked after three unsuccessful attempts, so I had to use my Metrobank Mastercard debit card.

The great thing about the Kobo eBook store is that their prices are already in Philippine peso. The downside, I notice, is that there is no Add To Cart option. I had to Check-out every item individually, which can get pretty taxing.

By the end of the promo period, I had acquired a good number of ebooks and the Kobo virtual library on my tablet was looking pretty filled up. I got books by Neil Gaiman, Brandon Sanderson, Guy Gavriel Kay, Jim C. Hines and young adult fantasy series like the Last Apprentice/Wardstone Chronicles, Ranger's Apprentice, and Septimus Heap. Gee, I think it's gonna take me a couple of years to go through them all!

A small section of my virtual library from the Chrome app.

When I finally got my Kobo Glo, all that content was waiting and ready to go! Theoretically, I can also load pirated epubs and other non-Amazon formats as well as the free titles I got from Google Play Books but I have yet to try them.

It's been three weeks since I've had the Glo and I've experienced no problem with the hardware or the store. And if there were, I'm glad to report that the customer service has been excellent. I sent a request for a change of cover and I was promptly advised to contact the publisher, which I did. Within a week, the cover had changed but wouldn't sync to my device. Contacted Kobo customer service via email; they gave me instructions; and presto! Nice, updated ebook cover!

Is it worth reading on a Kobo than on a tablet or smartphone? Hell yeah! I don't know what it is but reading on either devices make me sleepy and disconnected from what I'm reading. I've also tried reading in a moving bus but I got dizzy and nauseated. On the Kobo, I felt more engaged. I also didn't have problems reading in a bus. I don't really know if this adds to the e-ink vs. LCD debate but that's been my experience.

Oh, and don't even get me started on ComfortLight! There's really something about reading in a dark room with the only light coming from my back-lit book that's so engrossing! I love it!

ComfortLight in action. Kobo Glo in front, laptop LCD in the background.

If there's one feature that I would like to add, it's a dedicated notepad app. After all, the Glo does have some games and even a web browser. Evernote integration perhaps - similar to what they've implemented with Pocket?

Either way, it's been a pretty amazing experience so far and I dare to say that next to the PDA and the PMP, I think the dedicated ebook reader is my favorite gadget ever (though I'd probably say that with any ereader).