cuddling my Kobo

[julesjones]

I lost my Kobo Touch last month, probably by leaving it on a bus. Granted it was 7 years old, but it was still working perfectly well even if complaining about the number of books I'd stuffed into it. Getting a new one would involve a) money, b) actual thinking about what I wanted as a replacement. I took to eBay to see if I could find a cheap old one, and found WH Smith's outlet shop with a pile of refurbished Kobos they'd obviously found down the back of the sofa. So I bought a Touch *and* a Mini for £20 each, plus a couple of silicon sleeves for the Touch, because of course my original fancy leather book-style cover had gone along with the actual device.

The Touch is a bit temperamental but functioning well enough that I wasn't going to send it back. The Mini... was not. It couldn't connect to the Kobo servers, and it has to do this at least once to complete setup, even if you never connect it to Kobo again.

There was a Thing in 2019, with a new software update for most models but only as one last update push to the Mini, and after that if you hadn't already synched a Mini to get the update you would have to go to the website and install it manually before being able to synch with the servers again. Fair enough. I went to the website, and the Mini just sat looking pitifully at the server saying that it couldn't download, please synch again. I went and pulled out my previous Mini, which I hadn't used for some years other than to do the synch to get the update, and it was perfectly happy chatting to the servers. So the shiny new refurbished one has gone back to Smith's. :-( I'm not sure it was even a refurbished one, as it was in a sealed original box, and may have just been surplus stock left over when they stopped selling them, so presumably it never got the update.

As for the Touch, I prefer having ereaders in a rigid cover to protect the screen when tossed in a backpack. Back to eBay - and there was someone flogging a batch of the original branded covers! Brand new, and in original packaging. One arrived this morning, and it really is either the real thing or a good enough counterfeit that I'm happy to have it. The only thing not working is the sleep function when I close the cover.

I'll have to buy a new one sooner or later, but if this one manages to keep me going for another year I'll be very happy.

Comments

[lexin]

Sounds good! Pity about the Mini from Smiths not working properly.

[julesjones]

I'm rather sad about that, because if I knew I had a working spare I'd actually use the one I've already got. I love the Touch, but it's not handbag size, and occasionally I'd like an e-ink reader with me on the rare occasions I'm out and about without the backpack.