Goodbye, Kobo
A good friend of mine bought a Kobo Clara just about 2 years ago. It died last week, it wouldn’t respond to any input and wouldn’t reboot. She called Kobo and they told her she’d have to buy a new one. Needless to say, she was a bit pissed. (She has since ordered a Paperwhite.)
This brought out a lot of mixed feelings I was having about my Kobo Libre 2, which I purchased a couple of months after my friend. Mine still works, but the software seems to be getting less reliable over time. The cover has never worked properly, if I accidentally move the cover when it’s folded behind the Kobo, the screen goes to sleep. I finally ditched the cover, it wasn’t worth the hassle.
My Libre 2 freezes at least once a week and I have to reboot it. When I finish a library book and try to return it, it doesn’t remember which wifi I’m on unless I sync it first. And that often results in duplicate books in my library, which are a pain to clean up.
After hearing about my friend bricking her Clara, I pulled out my 5-year old Kindle Oasis. I stopped using it (except for Kindle Unlimited books) because the battery was getting weaker, but the software reliability is much better. So… my Libre 2 is now gathering dust and I’ll probably buy the next gen Oasis when it’s available.
Sorry, Kobo, I tried.