Techy Tuesday: Kobo Mini Unboxing and Initial Thoughts

Back on Black Friday, Kobo had the pint-sized Mini on sale for $50 and I very nearly snapped one up back then...except I restrained myself because "What do I need 2 readers for anyway?"...and then I kicked myself for the next 7 months.

So, when the prices were slashed a couple of weeks ago to $40, I decided to take the plunge and get myself a little reader that would fit in the pocket of my purse and keep my Glo for home and vacation instead.  And after just a couple of weeks, I am so glad I did.

First the unboxing...and then I will tell you about my thoughts so far...

For some reason I decided that I would go with the black one in the mini, instead of the white that I went with for both my touch and my glo.  When you open the box, it is the first thing you see :)

Underneath lies the printed material to help you set it up and get it going

I was a bit disappointed in the change to the literature...it used to be that when you registered a new Kobo to your account, you automatically got a free book.  Now they say that if it is your first Kobo - you get the book, but if you already have one then you can just register for email deals (though I shouldn't complain - I am a rampant user of Kobo coupon codes - thank you RetailMeNot and the MobileRead Deals Thread.

Beneath the paperwork is a little trap door

which conceals the micro usb cable...

and that is it.  Pretty simple stuff for the little tiny box.

It did have about 70% charge on it so when I turned it on - it immediately sparked to life...

asked me to choose a language...

and let me proceed right to the setup.

Setup, as always, was a breeze...and soon it was connected to my account and installing firmware updates and downloading my library.

On a side note - I did decide to take the plunge for a snapback for it...and discovered that they were on sale at Best Buy for $12 (until July 18) - SCORE!...now my little buddy has a distinctive teal back - just like my Glo.

and a mini review...

Right off the bat, I can't tell you how happy I am that I picked this little thing up.   It's smaller size fits perfectly inside that zippered pocket in my purse without encroaching on the severe lack of space I have in the bag like my Glo and case used to.   I initially struggled with making my bookmarks transfer between the two devices, but a quick trip to the forums at MobileRead helped me solve that problem (tip: just make sure you have both devices on the home screen when you are syncing and you will have your bookmarks transfer between devices no problem)

The screen is an inch smaller than the Glo, but I don't find the reading experience to be that much different.  In fact - the smaller size fits really nicely in my hand without a case and I enjoy pulling it out to keep going with my book.

I do miss the light on it - especially when I decided that I would take it camping instead of the Glo - but that does help me reinforce the purpose of having this little guy...so I will have it when I am on the go and can still use my Glo for bedtime and vacation reading.

As for my decision to go with the black one - I waffle back and forth on it.  I find that the finish is different than the white readers and it shows every little smudge and fingerprint.  They wipe off easily enough, but it can drive me a little batty.

As for battery life - it keeps on going and going.  I'm confident in saying that you can probably get a solid 3 weeks of reading on it between charges...So far, I have only charged it once and that was just because i was taking it camping.  The initial "out of the box" charge was holding up nicely.  It uses the same charging port as all of the other Kobos so I could still use my blackberry charger to do so.

Overall - I'm pretty impressed with this little guy.  Some days, I think I like him better than the Glo - especially since the Glo has been locking up on me a fair bit lately (might be time for a factory reset on that one...).  As a second reader - I think it is totally worth the $40.  And while Kobo Mini cases can be a bit pricey - there are beautiful options on ebay for significantly less - should you decide you want an actual case.  I opted to knit myself a little sleeve instead to protect the screen from scratches and that is quite sufficient for me.

Psst - the Minis are still on sale for $40 until July 18 - and are readily available at both Indigo/Chapters and Best Buy - so if I managed to convince you, you can still snap one up for cheap cheap.

While it might sound like Kobo is paying me to write nice things about them (I wish) - they aren't.  I was not compensated for this post - I am just a big fangirl of the products and spend too much of my own time and money on geeky things....