In the argument of real books vs. eBooks I have always come down on the side of real books. Especially hardcovers. I just love flipping the pages, and feeling the weight of the book. I enjoy the smell and being able to take a sneak peak at what’s going to happen in a couple chapters. Also, I don’t like buying eBooks. I’m not a fan of buying anything that I can’t hold in my hand.
But I don’t like reaking ebooks on my computer which puts a damper on places like Netgalley and Edelwiess. So when Kobo sent me an email asking if I wanted to receive one of their special edition Kobo Aura HDs for review, I immediately said yes. Well, I said yes after sending back a very carefully worded email to see if this was very clever spam.
While waiting for the Kobo Aura HD to arrive in the mail, I looked into the technical specs and such. Most of which don’t mean a thing to me. It holds lots of books and has a slightly bigger screen than most eReaders. I took note of those two things but then. THEN.
So. Kobo introduced this new social media tie in called Reading Life. where you can earn badges for reading. EARN BADGES FOR READING! It is now my life goal to get all of them. Though, I’ve already gotten all but three. So I hope they add more. And while it is relatively simple to share all your Reading Life accomplishments on Facebook, there doesn’t seem to be a share on Twitter option. And Twitter is really my life, so I’d really like that.
Now I originally got the Kobo Aura HD in April but I wanted to hold off on reviewing it until I traveled with it. And I took it to San Diego with me for Comic Con and it was AMAZING.
First off, having that many books without taking up so much space is really important for Comic Con trips. And because you can just browse your eBook library, I found myself reading books I wouldn’t normally but still wanted to try out. It was a good mix of reading that I wouldn’t have even had the option of had I stuck with real books.
And it is so comfortable to hold while standing in line for hours! The strange…pointy? back…I don’t even know how to describe it, but it just fits in my hand so well. I love it!
And then disaster struck. I’m not sure what happened or why but my Kobo froze. For about a day it was completely unresponsive to either being restarted or connected to the computer. Then it randomly did restart when plugged in…but the screen was completely messed up and there was nothing I could do about it. I didn’t really think the warranty would apply to me as I’d gotten it for review, for free, but I emailed Kobo Help anyway. And they helped me right away! No waiting, no fuss, just asked for picture proof and then for my info and sent me a new one very fast.
They were amazing about the whole thing. Basically I’m in love with Kobo and, I’ve even spent money and bought two eBooks from them. My original plan was just library and Netgalley books, but they convinced me. I highly recommend them to book lovers everywhere!