Kobo Touch - #RandomBuy

With the integration of a digital market in Facebook it has rapidly become one of the easiest if not the go to places for buyers and local sellers in the Philippines. You can find anything here really. From a broad selection of jewelry to apparels for all ages up to electronic tools or mechanical parts you can build a bicycle or even a house. There are also art pieces and as well are rare finds. Some merchandise(s) are new and some are broken items. Since Facebook messenger is fully integrated it's always very easy to haggle. Well if you have the skills but I digress.

Here is a short review of the Kobo Touch. This is the first generation model of the electronic ink ebook reader from Rakuten Kobo. Fun fact the name "Kobo" is a play on word "book" hence the name. This ebook reader was introduced June 2011. At the time of the introduction it offers an improve 6" touch sensitive E-ink Pearl screen, 2GB internal storage (capable of storing a 1000 books), MicroSD slot for additional storage, 170 PPI (800x600 resolution), a faster processor (800MHz Freescale i.MX507) and Wifi.


To be honest if we'll be comparing this model to newest and closest model which is the Kobo Clara HD, it won't hold a candle to it. This is especially true since the the Kobo Clara HD has an adjustable front illumination for better reading anytime of the day or night anywhere. 

So what it's like using a Kobo Touch first gen in 2018. For someone who have used other gadgets (Desktops, laptops, iPhones, iPads and other tablets) to read PDFs and ePub's it's quite refreshing.

It's fantastically similar to reading from an actual physical book. The diminutive size is pocketable and perfect for holding one handed. And the weight? Oh don't get me started on that! It's so lightweight that you can hold it for hours on end. 

The screen is a 6" touch sensitive E-ink Pearl screen with an 800x600 resolution which isn't so bad but you can see pixels if you'll look very close. And I mean close, so close your nose will touch the screen. With the latest firmware update 4.811073 there are 8 available fonts to choose from. Font size, margins and line sizes are all adjustable to one's preference. Battery life is very good with an e-ink screen and don't use much of an energy. My Kobo Touch lasted more than 2 weeks with light reading and Wifi turned off. There is also a beta feature where you can browse the web, sketch on it and play games. The two games are Sudoku and UnBlock It. As for the web browser don't get your hopes up as it's only good for a quick search. Youtube and any kind of multimedia doesn't work on this. Obviously it doesn't have a speaker so there. As for the storage it's not exactly 2GB as the operating system, dictionary, language and reading statistic take space too. Currently I have 33 books in my Kobo Touch and I still have more than 1GB of free space. If you have a big collection of ebooks then you'll need a microSD on the Kobo Touch. 

Now that the review of the Kobo Touch is done. What is the relevance of the Facebook marketplace and this device in this article. As I mentioned above Facebook market is the easiest way to buy person to person or via delivery in the internet now. I was searching for a random item to buy in another region. Australia to be exact as I have friends and relatives there. I hit a gold mine with the seller as she was selling the Kobo Touch and an unused Kobo Vox (Colored ebook reader) for AUD $70 or $35 each. All comes complete with a box. I was able to bring down what she is asking for to AUD $60 for the two. At the time AUD $30 for the Kobo Touch is only P1,400 converted. This week I searched the Philippine FB Marketplace for a Kobo Touch. Someone is selling it for P7,500 which is a bit absurd to me. With that it made me all the more happy with the purchase.

I'll post another blog for my user experience about the Kobo Touch, Kobo store and it's online support. So come back again for that. Thanks!