Other Any decent site for buying a Kobo ereader from? mx2games, desertcart, ubuy trustworthy?

nemo_online

nemo_online

Forerunner
The Kobo ereaders were officially available since last 5 months in India on Amazon and Flipkart but I missed the chance to buy them then. They are out of stock now. One third party guy on Amazon is selling it for 32K (last piece) instead of its official 20K price. Hence, not interested. I am specifically interested in the Libra color 7 inch device. Is it worth taking the risk of ordering from the above mentioned websites (which are also charging more) or should I just forget about this for a while and wait for Kobo to officially restock if and when that happens?

P.S. I don't have that "ask a friend or relative from abroad to get it for you" option.
Please ignore the query above. Have decided not to buy from any of these places. Don't want any mental trauma after paying these sites.
 
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mx2 is legit if you understand the risks involved, and have the patience to wait a long time- months even. I think they're just a 2 person strong team (not sure), so makes sense why things can be inconsistent. Don't know about the other sellers though.

Kobo Clara models are on Flipkart if those interest you.
 
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Reach out to mx2games via WhatsApp chat first for availability, they are legit and you may pay and expect goods delivered. Have bought few things myself and their response is good.
 
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mx2games used to be good but it has been acquired by some other company, and many of the last 3-4 months orders are not fulfilled yet. I would advise not to buy from there till the situation stabilizes.
 
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My only order from MX2 on 20th Dec 24 got delivered on 17th Apr 25. There was a lot of headache along the way.

In the case of my order, the product went from Hong Kong to the US (I actually got the box with the US deliery address intact) and then to Bangalore. The worry now in ordering from MX2 is the newer tariffs that would apply to products imported in to the US and the impact on prices and delivery timelines. It is most likely going to be painful to keep up with. Not sure if this helps but just my 2 cents here.
 
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Just wait it out, since the 20k + bank discount on Flipkart and Amazon is much better than what any of these sites offer.

You can also purchase directly from Kobo using Amazon Japan. During their sales, the price + shipping with the case is a bit above 20k INR on which you will have to pay customs.
 
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t3chg33k said:
You can also purchase directly from Kobo using Amazon Japan. During their sales, the price + shipping with the case is a bit above 20k INR on which you will have to pay customs.
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will check this option out or simply hope for some retailer to restock if and when they do.

I had written to Kobo about restocking timelines if any for India market. They responded that they don't have any definite timelines and asked me to try with the retailers Amazon and Flipkart which was what I had done in the first place since Kobo doesn't have a India store. Based on what I have observing about Kobo since around 2013, Kobo is not really interested in the India market. Once in a blue moon, they toss out few devices which are up for grabs for a short time. I don't blame them. Indians' reading habits are best captured when you see the 'bestsellers list on Amazon' which comprises of " Exam prep, Higher education exam prep" ( code for IAS ,medical and Engineering karenge books) and " the latest best-selling self-help" book. Coming back to Kobo, at least they try to sell here, other ebook reader making companies haven't even touched India.
P.S. Just came back in stock on Flipkart and I was alerted via the notifications which I had signed up for. Placed an order. Hopefully, product will be fine and delivered properly. - The end.
 
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nemo_online said:
will check this option out or simply hope for some retailer to restock if and when they do.

I had written to Kobo about restocking timelines if any for India market. They responded that they don't have any definite timelines and asked me to try with the retailers Amazon and Flipkart which was what I had done in the first place since Kobo doesn't have a India store. Based on what I have observing about Kobo since around 2013, Kobo is not really interested in the India market. Once in a blue moon, they toss out few devices which are up for grabs for a short time. I don't blame them. Indians' reading habits are best captured when you see the 'bestsellers list on Amazon' which comprises of " Exam prep, Higher education exam prep" ( code for IAS ,medical and Engineering karenge books) and " the latest best-selling self-help" book. Coming back to Kobo, at least they try to sell here, other ebook reader making companies haven't even touched India.
P.S. Just came back in stock on Flipkart and I was alerted via the notifications which I had signed up for. Placed an order. Hopefully, product will be fine and delivered properly. - The end.
Click to expand...
It is also presently in stock on Amazon.
 
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nemo_online said:
Finally, received the ereader, one day before scheduled delivery, from FK. So far, so good. Seems to be working as it should. Pics in the everday showoff thread. :)
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What made you choose kobo against kindle? My old kindle has some dead pixels and might die soon...i have been exploring what to get and came across kobo
 
reddead66 said:
What made you choose kobo against kindle? My old kindle has some dead pixels and might die soon...i have been exploring what to get and came across kobo
Click to expand...
In general, price, availability and Amazon lock-in are big negatives, even though you can jailbreak presently.

Kobo is a bit more open in terms of easy side loading of KO Reader and Libby integration.

Personally, I went with an Android e-reader last year as it has the same Kaleido 3 screen while being cheaper, completely open and faster.
 
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How is your experience with Kobo with PDF format? Does it support image, table good? I'm thinking to get Kindle but I heard poor support for PDF and specially for technical books (my interest area).
 
t3chg33k said:
In general, price, availability and Amazon lock-in are big negatives, even though you can jailbreak presently.

Kobo is a bit more open in terms of easy side loading of KO Reader and Libby integration.

Personally, I went with an Android e-reader last year as it has the same Kaleido 3 screen while being cheaper, completely open and faster.
Click to expand...
which e-reader was it?

kindle was just made available on amazon but its almost the same price as the color kobo...
 
t3chg33k said:
In general, price, availability and Amazon lock-in are big negatives, even though you can jailbreak presently.

Kobo is a bit more open in terms of easy side loading of KO Reader and Libby integration.

Personally, I went with an Android e-reader last year as it has the same Kaleido 3 screen while being cheaper, completely open and faster.
Click to expand...
umm...thanks... for replying on my behalf. :D :D How is the Bigme working out for you? Out of curiosity, if the android version on it doesn't get any future updates, won't it slow down the device and interfere with your reading experience in the future?
reddead66 said:
What made you choose kobo against kindle? My old kindle has some dead pixels and might die soon...i have been exploring what to get and came across kobo
Click to expand...
As @t3chg33k pointed out , mostly similar reasons. Amazon has too many restrictions, is author unfriendly and I am into sideloading many books and hence Kobo seemed to be a better option to do that. Also, after 12 years of using a Kindle paperwhite, I was ready for some 'colour' in my reading life :Dand hence opted for the Kobo Libra colour. Now, I can enjoy comics whenever I feel like it. Testing the Kobo and so far it seems battery backup will be vastly inferior compared to the Kindle. Will post observations and review in a few more days. Having said that, please know that after sales service will be non-existent after purchase and in case there are any device issues, I doubt there will be any help available. If this sounds depressing, Amazon Kindles are also in the same boat.
Pyception said:
How is your experience with Kobo with PDF format? Does it support image, table good? I'm thinking to get Kindle but I heard poor support for PDF and specially for technical books (my interest area).
Click to expand...
I don't think Kindle is good for PDFs based on my experience on the 6th gen Kindle paperwhite. If they have improved the experience in the last decade or so, no clue. My general understanding is that ereaders are not the best for PDFs. Here are some sample images from a PDF doc I just downloaded randomly to check out on the Kobo. Let me know your take on them. Yellow night light was 'on' in the Kobo. I find them ok at first glance but as I said earlier, won't find it an enjoyable experience reading PDFs regularly on the Kobo ereader. I would prefer a larger screen and perhaps a device such as the Remarkable 2 or the Onyx Boox Go 10.3 would be more suited for reading academic/technical PDFs etc.

P.S. I have seen folks recommending the KOreader for a better PDF reading experience on Kobos and Kindles. Have no experience with it.
 

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nemo_online said:
umm...thanks... for replying on my behalf. :D :D How is the Bigme working out for you? Out of curiosity, if the android version on it doesn't get any future updates, won't it slow down the device and interfere with your reading experience in the future?

As @t3chg33k pointed out , mostly similar reasons. Amazon has too many restrictions, is author unfriendly and I am into sideloading many books and hence Kobo seemed to be a better option to do that. Also, after 12 years of using a Kindle paperwhite, I was ready for some 'colour' in my reading life :Dand hence opted for the Kobo Libra colour. Now, I can enjoy comics whenever I feel like it. Testing the Kobo and so far it seems battery backup will be vastly inferior compared to the Kindle. Will post observations and review in a few more days. Having said that, please know that after sales service will be non-existent after purchase and in case there are any device issues, I doubt there will be any help available. If this sounds depressing, Amazon Kindles are also in the same boat.

I don't think Kindle is good for PDFs based on my experience on the 6th gen Kindle paperwhite. If they have improved the experience in the last decade or so, no clue. My general understanding is that ereaders are not the best for PDFs. Here are some sample images from a PDF doc I just downloaded randomly to check out on the Kobo. Let me know your take on them. Yellow night light was 'on' in the Kobo. I find them ok at first glance but as I said earlier, won't find it an enjoyable experience reading PDFs regularly on the Kobo ereader. I would prefer a larger screen and perhaps a device such as the Remarkable 2 or the Onyx Boox Go 10.3 would be more suited for reading academic/technical PDFs etc.

P.S. I have seen folks recommending the KOreader for a better PDF reading experience on Kobos and Kindles. Have no experience with it.
Click to expand...
Looking forward to your review!
I'm in the same boat after seeing the new 2024 Kindle Paperwhite launch here.

I'm also eyeing the Supernote Nomad. Might go that route if I can get someone or some way to import it.
 
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nemo_online said:
umm...thanks... for replying on my behalf. :D :D How is the Bigme working out for you? Out of curiosity, if the android version on it doesn't get any future updates, won't it slow down the device and interfere with your reading experience in the future?
Click to expand...
Yes, the Android version will be stuck at 11. But then it uses a mid-range SOC from 4 years back which is still a lot more powerful than what you would get on a Kobo or Kindle which still results in a faster response time than those devices.

The biggest downside to Android is the battery life which is no where near a traditional one but still okay for an e-reader considering it will last a week and needs less charging than a phone.

It was quite easy to root it, remove all the Bigme bloat and apply some system tweaks which has also improved the experience. However, the biggest upside is being able to use it like an Android device with a full fledged browser and file explorer allows you to do everything on the device itself.
 
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