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I thought when I bought the replacement Mini that it might be going discontinued -- there were almost no accessories on the shelf in Smith's, and they had only the white model in stock and not many of those. I did consider buying another for a spare, but I do have a Touch as well, so wasn't sure I could justify it, and decided to think about it a little longer. Of course, they've been out of stock every time I've been in since. Having just done some hunting around online, it's now vanished from the Kobo website, and there are reports from all over that it's vanished from shelves and Kobo's marketing literature, so yes, it's been discontinued even if there's been no official announcement and Smith's is in theory still selling it. It would be nice if this was because a new 5" model was in the works, but I doubt it, and so do others. That niche has been taken over by the smartphone. Which is sad for those of us who prefer to read books on an e-ink screen and like to have one in pocket size. :-(
It is officially an ex-Kobo
Sep. 19th, 2014 10:00 pmYou will remember the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth just shy of two weeks ago, when I discovered that my second Kobo Mini, delight of my heart, had had a meeting with a gentleman who speaks in SMALL CAPITALS. I hauled it into Smith's the next time I was in town, and was informed that as it was over a month old I would have to return it to customer services by post for evaluation, and moreover, they did not have any in stock in the store and were not entirely convinced that they ever would again. This prospect did not seem to delight them, and they'd been running low on stock even when I acquired Mark 2, so I think it was not a mere excuse. My own view is that the Sale of Goods Act does not really give them the option of "post it to Customer Services" were I to make an issue of it, but given that I wanted a replacement rather than my money back and they in all honesty had no replacement to give me then and there, I took the proferred freepost envelope and a returns form.
Which, it transpired when I got it home and looked at it, should have been in part filled in by the shop staff before it was handed to me. Which meant another delay before the next time I could get into the shop, and wait while it was filled out correctly.
After all that, O Best Beloved, the paperwork was scanned in case of accidents, and then placed in the envelope together with the late lamented, which went to the front desk at work to be handed to a passing postie on Wednesday evening. And tonight I got home to an email telling me that it is officially an ex-Kobo, and a new one has been ordered for me.
If perchance I do see any more in Smith's at thirty quid, I shall grab another as a spare. I like my Touch, and have been using it this past fortnight, but the Mini really is much more convenient for the daily commute.
Which, it transpired when I got it home and looked at it, should have been in part filled in by the shop staff before it was handed to me. Which meant another delay before the next time I could get into the shop, and wait while it was filled out correctly.
After all that, O Best Beloved, the paperwork was scanned in case of accidents, and then placed in the envelope together with the late lamented, which went to the front desk at work to be handed to a passing postie on Wednesday evening. And tonight I got home to an email telling me that it is officially an ex-Kobo, and a new one has been ordered for me.
If perchance I do see any more in Smith's at thirty quid, I shall grab another as a spare. I like my Touch, and have been using it this past fortnight, but the Mini really is much more convenient for the daily commute.
Not a happy Kobo owner
Sep. 7th, 2014 03:11 pmThe 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.
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.
killed my Kobo
Jul. 10th, 2014 08:29 amThat thing in the Kobo manual about always eject the Kobo in software before disconnecting it from the computer?
Nine times out of ten you'll get away with it. The tenth, you'll curse, because you've bricked the Kobo. Sometimes it will need a few presses on the hard reset button. Occasionally it will do a Lazarus impersonation if you let the battery run flat, and then plug in and restart with the hard reset button, and cycle the hard reset a couple of dozen times.
And when all else fails, you can, if you're of a geekish turn of mind, Google for hacker forums and find out how to download an image of the system drive, and install it on the internal memory card.
But I don't do Linux at all, and I don't really feel like downloading and installing the necessary tools on my elderly and increasingly unreliable XP box, and then spending a stressful few hours wrestling stuff into submission before I can use my tiny e-ink reader again. Not when my data on this device is toast anyway, and a new one is only thirty quid. The time I'd probably need to spend is worth more than that. So I'm putting a few links here for later, when I feel like conducting surgery, and called into Smiths on my way home last night. The shiny new one is indeed shiny, because they only had the white/silver version in stock.
The Mini snapbacks (and a lot of other Kobo accessories) have been drastically reduced, so I've also bought a nice purple snapback. This is because at some point I will probably fix the old one, and then it's going to be used for the books I don't want on the device that gets handed to the Aged Parents when they want to borrow a book. Purple seems a nice discreet colour-coded reminder for "this is the one with the porn on it." :-)
Some useful links for cloning a working card for backup or to to put into the old device:
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193321&page=3
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212243
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2462847&postcount=1
Nine times out of ten you'll get away with it. The tenth, you'll curse, because you've bricked the Kobo. Sometimes it will need a few presses on the hard reset button. Occasionally it will do a Lazarus impersonation if you let the battery run flat, and then plug in and restart with the hard reset button, and cycle the hard reset a couple of dozen times.
And when all else fails, you can, if you're of a geekish turn of mind, Google for hacker forums and find out how to download an image of the system drive, and install it on the internal memory card.
But I don't do Linux at all, and I don't really feel like downloading and installing the necessary tools on my elderly and increasingly unreliable XP box, and then spending a stressful few hours wrestling stuff into submission before I can use my tiny e-ink reader again. Not when my data on this device is toast anyway, and a new one is only thirty quid. The time I'd probably need to spend is worth more than that. So I'm putting a few links here for later, when I feel like conducting surgery, and called into Smiths on my way home last night. The shiny new one is indeed shiny, because they only had the white/silver version in stock.
The Mini snapbacks (and a lot of other Kobo accessories) have been drastically reduced, so I've also bought a nice purple snapback. This is because at some point I will probably fix the old one, and then it's going to be used for the books I don't want on the device that gets handed to the Aged Parents when they want to borrow a book. Purple seems a nice discreet colour-coded reminder for "this is the one with the porn on it." :-)
Some useful links for cloning a working card for backup or to to put into the old device:
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193321&page=3
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212243
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2462847&postcount=1
