Not a happy Kobo owner

[julesjones]

The first time I killed one was my own fault, even if I don't think much of the software design that led to it. This time -- just taken my replacement Mini out to read something, switched it on, and was greeted with lines across the screen and part of the screen frozen. The innards are still live and doing things on half of the screen, but they're not much use without a working screen. And the screens don't come back from this. This is a dead screen, it is no more, it has joined the bleedin' choir celestial, etc, etc.

It's under warranty. It's less than two months old, because I bought it on 9 July. I know this, because there is a blog post bewailing the loss of the previous incumbant and noting that I'd called into Smith's and bought a new one. Next thing is to find the receipt, which I will have put somewhere because it's a tax-deductible business expense.

Not just kidding about the business expense. I need to check what my own stuff looks like, and I've been buying other people's romance and erotica ebooks as market research. Doubtless this will provide some amusement to whomsoever is responsible for assessing whether it's really an ex-Kobo.

Comments

[lexin]

Oh, this is just not acceptable, is it? Things should last longer than two months.

[mishalak]

Can you point me at a post of how your first Kobo got killed? I have a Kobo touch and I would just as soon not kill it by being under informed. Keep us informed about how fast they replace it. I enthuse about having a choice that is not Amazon, but I would just as soon not enthuse if the product is prone to dying like this.

[julesjones]

Didn't eject in software before disconnecting from the computer. Note that the computer was turned off at the time, which is why I'm not impressed with the software design. Post is here:

http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/274933.html

[vatine]

If you still have the old one it MAY be rescuable by the sequence of "factory reset, flash new firmware onto it". Still doesn't excuse the the software design (which is basically down to "USB drives have to present as floppies with a FAT filesystem, so the only way to be sure they're in a consistent state is to flush the entire state and stop allowing modifications") and definitely does not excuse the screen breaking.

My first Kobo had the "half screen is off" and I think it was down to it being under pressure with a paperback across half the screen, causing it to bend. Over a period of about half an hour, the broken part of the screen went from "looks faint" to "completely white, no changes visible".

[julesjones]

I've hung on to the old one with a view to flashing new firmware if and when I have the time/energy, but I wasn't going to do it at the time because I was coping with an elderly XP box. If they refuse to replace the dead one, I may just pull its memory card and put it in the one with a scrambled OS. (Unlikely, because Sale of Goods Act means that if it's treated with reasonable care it shouldn't be *that* fragile, and I can point to the fact that the old one lasted over a year and the screen is still fine.)

I've still got my Touch, but I much prefer the Mini for reading on the bus. :-( Unfortunately I didn't buy a custom cover for the Mini when I first bought one, because I couldn't have managed the weight then, and just put it in a sleeve I made from heavy card. I'd happily buy one now that I can handle the weight, but they seem to have stopped selling them. A fact I shall point out if I'm told it's my own fault for not buying a cover...

[espresso_addict]

That's ridiculous! Best of luck unearthing the receipt.