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I moved to Kobo because I bought my partner the Kindle Oasis and just after a year the battery couldn't hold a charge. I contacted Amazon and they would only gi

I moved to Kobo because I bought my partner the Kindle Oasis and just after a year the battery couldn't hold a charge. I contacted Amazon and they would only give me 10% off a new device. I only found one person on the internet who was courageous enough to open one up. The screen was epoxied to the body with no way of opening the device without destroying the screen. So I got her a Kobo Libra H2O. Just as waterproof, significantly cheaper, and you can actually repair it. I ended up getting a Libra Colour for myself and love it.

taspeotis 2y ago
Don’t they have a 12 month warranty? What do you want Amazon to do after more than 12 months? 10% discount is above and beyond their obligations.
- lwhi 2y ago
  It's completely reasonable to expect it to last longer than 12 months, especially considering this is their premium model.
  - donalhunt 2y ago
    In Europe, consumers should be getting longer protection than 1 year. May require a fight / small claims court submission to exercise one's rights.
- TheSpiceIsLife 2y ago
  Yes, every device should fail immediately upon warranty expiration. You should build a company founded on that principle. Call it GTL Pty Ltd Formerly known as Guaranteed To Last, but they dropped that naming and are now know simple as GTL after a social media smear campaign where people were saying ‘guaranteed to be the last thing you ever buy from that company’.
  - wizzwizz4 2y ago
    Oh, come on, they could totally own that smear campaign. "Guaranteed to be the last [class of device] you ever buy, unless you give it away." Something something heirlooms, put together a simple, 30-second narrative for the advertisement campaign, job done.
- simion314 2y ago
  Would be normal/natural if we could change the batteries and not throw away devices when the battery fails even more natural when the device is not dirt cheep.
- callc 2y ago
  Have human wellbeing as the priority in making products. Treat users with respect. Make hardware open, firmware open, repairable. Let’s be honest here, there are user hostile products and pro-user products. Let’s make making user hostile products illegal / unprofitable with laws.
  - averageRoyalty 2y ago
    For the record, my Kindle died after 4 years and Amazon replaced it. That one died after 2 and they replaced it again - all free. Australian Consumer Law is required to be followed if they want to trade here. If you want respect, speak to your lawmakers.
    - jamesy0ung 2y ago
      ACL is fantastic, gotten my 2017 MacBook Pro 15" fixed multiple times for free even out of applecare, last time it was fixed, it was 6 years old. Had issues with the keyboard, and the screen. Seems to be a common issue with this model. https://gregsamborski.com/macbook-pro-led-screen-discoloration-spots-15-2017-touch-bar/ https://gregsamborski.com/macbook-pro-led-screen-discolorati...
    - sharpshadow 2y ago
      I thought 4 years is not bad at all but it’s even better because „consumer guarantee rights under the Australian Consumer Law, … don’t have a specific expiry date“ and „apply for a period of time that is considered reasonable having regard to the nature of the products or services“[0]. 0. https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/broken-but-out-of-warranty-your-consumer-guarantee-rights-may-still-apply https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/broken-but-out-of-warr...
- IanCal 2y ago
  Consumer protections in the UK and EU means they have to last a reasonable length of time, and if not you get a proportional refund (or repair, or replace). I've had refunds from devices several years old.
- netfortius 2y ago
  Amazon is [d]evolving the concept of "owning" what you paid for - slowly, but surely [1] [1] https://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/amazon-removing-download-and-transfer-on-the-kindle-feb-26th https://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/amazon-removing-download...
- lostlogin 2y ago
  Here in Mew Zealand we have the consumer guarantees act. Stuff needs to last for a duration commensurate with its price. Nice and vague and super good for the consumer. An iPhone can generally get fixed under warranty for 2-3 years. I’ve never tried a Kindle but the premium model should get 2 years without too much fuss.
- karparov 2y ago
  12 months is a laughable amount of time. Sadly, companies have normalized such short periods of time, so much so that everybody would give me looks when I say that 5 or 10 years would be more appropriate. Especially tech folks, so I'm expecting pushback in a forum like HN. My in-laws have a few kitchen appliances from the 80s. Still working rock-solid. Not the wifi-enabled modern crap with some shitty cloud-based app that you need to replace all the time.
  - eloisant 2y ago
    In Europe the minimum is 2 years, but I agree it's still too short.
    - karparov 2y ago
      That's kinda my point. Two years are better than one, but celebrating it as the achievement is really missing the bigger picture (and is a great success of lobbying work)
zuppy 2y ago
my biggest fear from moving out of kindle is losing access to the store. they did a good job securing most of the authors and books. what’s your source for books and how often it happens for the books you’re looking for to be unavailable?
- pmx 2y ago
  You can browse the Kobo book store here https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebooks https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebooks
  - _thisdot 2y ago
    What are the prices compared to Amazon's? Books are generally cheaper here in the subcontinent. I did a price comparison of 30 books and found out that Kindle editions cost significantly lesser than Kobo. And Kobo editions cost slightly higher than paperbacks. The total amount for these 30 randomly selected books came to: Paperback price: ₹13,017 (~$149) Kobo price: ₹13,252 (~$152) Kindle price: ₹9,171 (~$105)
    - OvbiousError 2y ago
      I found that it's often best to use google search to search the kobo store. Books sometimes have multiple editions with significant price differences. Not sure if it would make a difference in this case.
      - _thisdot 2y ago
        What other popular stores exist? And I assume you sideload those books to Kobo afterwards? In that case, is the experience of reading sideloaded books inferior to that of reading store bought books?
- londons_explore 2y ago
  google search "book_name epub"
JansjoFromIkea 2y ago
I got a Kindle (moving on from an absolutely ancient rooted Nook) purely because the Oasis looked so nice I'll never get a Kindle again because I was blown away by how impossible it was to repair (plus the closed system really sucks). Mine broke for no reason at all a bit ago; my best guess is the battery started to swell inside it and that broke the screen. Got a Forma super cheap ($25!) and I've been super happy with it, feels a bit cheaper but it's actually got some level of grip. Have read more on it in a month than I did on my Kindle in the last 3 years. Haven't even dabbled into the custom tools stuff much but it all sounds great. Might get a cheap secondary one to play with, can become an (outdated) offline Wikipedia reader if nothing else.
- GTP 2y ago
  Where did you find a Kobo Forma so cheap? A quick check on Ebay lists the cheapest at 150€, but maybe I'm looking at the wrong model.
  - JansjoFromIkea 2y ago
    Just got really lucky. Someone hadn't a clue what they were selling, was listed as "Kobo e reader" or something very vague like that. Fully expected it to either be broken or not match the image. In general the Forma looks overpriced imo, the benefits of the 8 inch screen don't really warrant a price that nears the Libra Color or Sage.
barrkel 2y ago
Shocking that battery didn't work after a year. I still use my Kindle 3 from 2010; it still holds weeks of standby charge, days worth of reading.
anon743448 2y ago
This shows the decline in Amazon's customer service. I had several Kindles starting with Kindle Keyboard. At that time, Amazon's service was beyond amazing. At one point, I had some issue with one of the Kindle while it was past 1 year. Amazon sent overnighted new Kindle for free when I was just hoping they give me some troubleshooting steps. I stopped using Kindle about 4-5 years ago mostly because of all the bad press especially around them removing purchased books. Now I mostly buy paper books. I also use BOOX e-ink tablet to borrow books from library or newspapers. (BOOX is not ideal but there is no other choice of e-ink tablets that can let you use 3rd party apps, sadly.)
- nunez 2y ago
  I'm on the BOOX train as well. I wanted a device that I could read books and catch up on HN on. Kindles do great with the former (if you're bought into their ecosystem) but suck badly for the latter. (Silk Browser is still too slow and renders all pages server-side with no ability to change this.) My BOOX Page 7 does everything I want and more, though I did choose to root and debloat it as well as install a firewall given the company's (ONYX) shady backgrounds.

taspeotis 2y ago

Don’t they have a 12 month warranty? What do you want Amazon to do after more than 12 months? 10% discount is above and beyond their obligations.

lwhi 2y ago
It's completely reasonable to expect it to last longer than 12 months, especially considering this is their premium model.
- donalhunt 2y ago
  In Europe, consumers should be getting longer protection than 1 year. May require a fight / small claims court submission to exercise one's rights.
TheSpiceIsLife 2y ago
Yes, every device should fail immediately upon warranty expiration. You should build a company founded on that principle. Call it GTL Pty Ltd Formerly known as Guaranteed To Last, but they dropped that naming and are now know simple as GTL after a social media smear campaign where people were saying ‘guaranteed to be the last thing you ever buy from that company’.
- wizzwizz4 2y ago
  Oh, come on, they could totally own that smear campaign. "Guaranteed to be the last [class of device] you ever buy, unless you give it away." Something something heirlooms, put together a simple, 30-second narrative for the advertisement campaign, job done.
simion314 2y ago
Would be normal/natural if we could change the batteries and not throw away devices when the battery fails even more natural when the device is not dirt cheep.
callc 2y ago
Have human wellbeing as the priority in making products. Treat users with respect. Make hardware open, firmware open, repairable. Let’s be honest here, there are user hostile products and pro-user products. Let’s make making user hostile products illegal / unprofitable with laws.
- averageRoyalty 2y ago
  For the record, my Kindle died after 4 years and Amazon replaced it. That one died after 2 and they replaced it again - all free. Australian Consumer Law is required to be followed if they want to trade here. If you want respect, speak to your lawmakers.
  - jamesy0ung 2y ago
    ACL is fantastic, gotten my 2017 MacBook Pro 15" fixed multiple times for free even out of applecare, last time it was fixed, it was 6 years old. Had issues with the keyboard, and the screen. Seems to be a common issue with this model. https://gregsamborski.com/macbook-pro-led-screen-discoloration-spots-15-2017-touch-bar/ https://gregsamborski.com/macbook-pro-led-screen-discolorati...
  - sharpshadow 2y ago
    I thought 4 years is not bad at all but it’s even better because „consumer guarantee rights under the Australian Consumer Law, … don’t have a specific expiry date“ and „apply for a period of time that is considered reasonable having regard to the nature of the products or services“[0]. 0. https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/broken-but-out-of-warranty-your-consumer-guarantee-rights-may-still-apply https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/broken-but-out-of-warr...
IanCal 2y ago
Consumer protections in the UK and EU means they have to last a reasonable length of time, and if not you get a proportional refund (or repair, or replace). I've had refunds from devices several years old.
netfortius 2y ago
Amazon is [d]evolving the concept of "owning" what you paid for - slowly, but surely [1] [1] https://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/amazon-removing-download-and-transfer-on-the-kindle-feb-26th https://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/amazon-removing-download...
lostlogin 2y ago
Here in Mew Zealand we have the consumer guarantees act. Stuff needs to last for a duration commensurate with its price. Nice and vague and super good for the consumer. An iPhone can generally get fixed under warranty for 2-3 years. I’ve never tried a Kindle but the premium model should get 2 years without too much fuss.
karparov 2y ago
12 months is a laughable amount of time. Sadly, companies have normalized such short periods of time, so much so that everybody would give me looks when I say that 5 or 10 years would be more appropriate. Especially tech folks, so I'm expecting pushback in a forum like HN. My in-laws have a few kitchen appliances from the 80s. Still working rock-solid. Not the wifi-enabled modern crap with some shitty cloud-based app that you need to replace all the time.
- eloisant 2y ago
  In Europe the minimum is 2 years, but I agree it's still too short.
  - karparov 2y ago
    That's kinda my point. Two years are better than one, but celebrating it as the achievement is really missing the bigger picture (and is a great success of lobbying work)

zuppy 2y ago

my biggest fear from moving out of kindle is losing access to the store. they did a good job securing most of the authors and books. what’s your source for books and how often it happens for the books you’re looking for to be unavailable?

pmx 2y ago
You can browse the Kobo book store here https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebooks https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebooks
- _thisdot 2y ago
  What are the prices compared to Amazon's? Books are generally cheaper here in the subcontinent. I did a price comparison of 30 books and found out that Kindle editions cost significantly lesser than Kobo. And Kobo editions cost slightly higher than paperbacks. The total amount for these 30 randomly selected books came to: Paperback price: ₹13,017 (~$149) Kobo price: ₹13,252 (~$152) Kindle price: ₹9,171 (~$105)
  - OvbiousError 2y ago
    I found that it's often best to use google search to search the kobo store. Books sometimes have multiple editions with significant price differences. Not sure if it would make a difference in this case.
    - _thisdot 2y ago
      What other popular stores exist? And I assume you sideload those books to Kobo afterwards? In that case, is the experience of reading sideloaded books inferior to that of reading store bought books?
londons_explore 2y ago
google search "book_name epub"

JansjoFromIkea 2y ago

I got a Kindle (moving on from an absolutely ancient rooted Nook) purely because the Oasis looked so nice I'll never get a Kindle again because I was blown away by how impossible it was to repair (plus the closed system really sucks). Mine broke for no reason at all a bit ago; my best guess is the battery started to swell inside it and that broke the screen. Got a Forma super cheap ($25!) and I've been super happy with it, feels a bit cheaper but it's actually got some level of grip. Have read more on it in a month than I did on my Kindle in the last 3 years. Haven't even dabbled into the custom tools stuff much but it all sounds great. Might get a cheap secondary one to play with, can become an (outdated) offline Wikipedia reader if nothing else.

GTP 2y ago
Where did you find a Kobo Forma so cheap? A quick check on Ebay lists the cheapest at 150€, but maybe I'm looking at the wrong model.
- JansjoFromIkea 2y ago
  Just got really lucky. Someone hadn't a clue what they were selling, was listed as "Kobo e reader" or something very vague like that. Fully expected it to either be broken or not match the image. In general the Forma looks overpriced imo, the benefits of the 8 inch screen don't really warrant a price that nears the Libra Color or Sage.

barrkel 2y ago

Shocking that battery didn't work after a year. I still use my Kindle 3 from 2010; it still holds weeks of standby charge, days worth of reading.

anon743448 2y ago

This shows the decline in Amazon's customer service. I had several Kindles starting with Kindle Keyboard. At that time, Amazon's service was beyond amazing. At one point, I had some issue with one of the Kindle while it was past 1 year. Amazon sent overnighted new Kindle for free when I was just hoping they give me some troubleshooting steps. I stopped using Kindle about 4-5 years ago mostly because of all the bad press especially around them removing purchased books. Now I mostly buy paper books. I also use BOOX e-ink tablet to borrow books from library or newspapers. (BOOX is not ideal but there is no other choice of e-ink tablets that can let you use 3rd party apps, sadly.)

nunez 2y ago
I'm on the BOOX train as well. I wanted a device that I could read books and catch up on HN on. Kindles do great with the former (if you're bought into their ecosystem) but suck badly for the latter. (Silk Browser is still too slow and renders all pages server-side with no ability to change this.) My BOOX Page 7 does everything I want and more, though I did choose to root and debloat it as well as install a firewall given the company's (ONYX) shady backgrounds.