Kobo Mini on sale for $40

[elf]

The Kobo Mini is on sale until July 18, for $40+shipping.

• 5" touchscreen (smaller than most ereaders)
• 1GB user-available storage
• Available in black or white
• 8 font styles with 24 font sizes
• EPUB, PDF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, TXT, (X)HTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR
• Pearl E-Ink screen (long battery life, B&W only)
• Various cloud and internet features that I know nothing about

Technical specs

I've ordered one. I'll post a review when it shows up. This may be the ereader I've been waiting for. (Well, except for touchscreen, which I don't like, but for $40 I'm certainly willing to give it a try.)

ETA: Kobo apparently has problems with double-billing; I checked my purchase, which had an authorization error at first, and sure enough, I've been billed twice. I've sent an email to try to get it fixed; if that doesn't work, I can contact my bank to contest the charges. Just a warning for people whose money is tight--if you get an auth error, DO NOT attempt to repeat the purchase right away.

Comments

[laceblade]

Wahh, I already have a Kobo e-ink reader, BUT this would add wifi?! Decisions are hard :(

[cinco]

That's such a good price that I'm seriously tempted, even though I am very happy with my Kindle 3. The bargain shopper in me is just so excited! $40!!!

[elf]

See above ETA: there are potential billing problems. (But yeah, $40 is a great price.)

[shanaqui]

They're on sale in the UK at WHSmiths, too -- £30, at the moment. I have one, and for such a cheap ereader, I like it a lot. It's a good size to hold and the touchscreen is quite good. If anyone has any specific questions, feel free...

[sketchme]

In the UK, it's been reduced to £29 for a while now. I've been thinking about getting one.

[alasen]

On sale again in Australia for $50 (at least at JBHiFi). I've had one a few months and while the touchscreen is very occasionally non-responsive (at least in comparison to my iphone, which was my previous ereader) and the wifi initially wouldn't connect until I hard restarted (as recommended at mobileread), I haven't had any problems.

I like it a lot, particularly the size!

[sprat]

I just bought one of these for my kid and he's really liking it so far. It froze twice the first day we had it, but resetting fixed it, and the problem hasn't repeated itself. It's pocketable and easy to hold. Seems like it was a pretty good deal.

ETA: I bought it in person, so I avoided the double-billing issue. Indigo/Chapters has them if you are Canadian!

[snottygrrl]

i got one of these for free a while back. free was a good price for it. i find the navigation super annoying. it's a bitch to sideload and it won't talk to anything but the kobo app, but i still use it. $40 isn't a bad price, but personally i wouldn't pay it unless i absolutely couldn't afford a different reader ::shrugs::

[lauredhel]

Can I ask what trouble you had sideloading? My Touch and Glo have no problems, either using Calibre or just dragging and dropping. Maybe it's something we can help solve?

[snottygrrl]

i'm on a mac, and i can drag and drop into the mounted mini if it's plugged in to my machine. but i calibre can't see it, and i can't see anything on the mini past what i've dropped there.

mostly i'm just annoyed that kobo claims to be the reader that's fightin' The Man, and i find it much more difficult to load independent book store books on than my kindle ::shrugs::

[lauredhel]

There's definitely something hinky going on with your Mini or your setup - I'm on a Mac too, and there's no issue with any of that. Maybe ask on mobileread, if you want to get it working?

[snottygrrl]

huh, maybe it's all the different version combinations (as in what version of calibre i have, operating system, kobo version, etc.)

it is nice to know it's not quite as annoying for everyone. not sure my interface is easily fixable (i am fairly computer savvy, and have tried a few things), and also not sure i care enough to put in extra effort at this point, but will keep in mind for possible later attempts.

[lauredhel]

Maybe just start over, with a fresh Calibre install (latest version), latest version of the Mini firmware after a factory reset (not just simple pinhole reset), Mini set up but Kobo Desktop closed? Then use the Calibre setup wizard rather than trying to do the settings manually.

Is your USB cable good? Sometimes, weirdly, switching that out seems to help.

[snottygrrl]

thanks for the suggestions. i might try some of that later, but frankly don't use the kobo enough to care at this point. i am much fonder of my kindle ::shrugs::

I really do appreciate you taking the time to try and help nonetheless ♥