Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Sorry, Kindle, I Ordered A Kobo
In looking at the bookstores in Portland that I could buy eBooks from (Broadway Books! Powell's!), I realized that I couldn't buy a Kindle and had to think of something else. I started researching the Kobo Touch and immediately fell in love. It was everything I wanted in an eReader and was just like the Kindle, but better. Expandable memory? Check. Ability to download Google eBooks, of which there are over twice as many as Kindle books? Check. Ability to buy from my local bookstore?! CHECK!! The evidence was there and it was clear - I wanted a Kobo, not a Kindle.
I had been *anxiously* awaiting the receiving of my trade-in books to Amazon, thus giving me a gift card that I could use on my Kobo. Every day, multiple times a day, I was tracking my box of books that I'd sent to Amazon in receipt of a gift card. This was $60 at stake here! Plus, I still had $6.50 from previous trade-ins. I have been hitting the Mechanical Turking hard lately, because I figured that it didn't make sense for me to pay for the balance of the Kobo with real dollars. Why not just spend several hours Turking and make that money on my own? And so I did just that. But then I still had to wait for Amazon to officially receive my trade-in books and authorize my gift card amount.
Yesterday was the day!!
As soon as I refreshed the trade-in page Monday morning it said it was verifying my last mailing of books. Then I received the email that I'd been waiting for. Amazon had officially received my books and given me money - more money than I'd expected! - and I was able to use that money to order anything from their site. Well, I'd had a used Kobo in my shopping cart for about five days. It was used, but in "like new" condition, and it sounds like perhaps it was a store demo model. Plus, it was silver! It will match Mackie, my beloved MacBook Air. (Yes, I name my things. Yes, I am dorky in that respect.) The silver Kobos retail for $129.99, but I got mine for $95, which is awesome because I could have gotten a black one for $99 or I could have gotten the color I wanted - silver! - for the same price. :o)
I even splurged an extra $3.99 on expedited shipping! I'm a crazy girl!
As soon as I receive my Kobo, which should be in the next week, I will report on how I like it. I've Turked enough to have some money to buy a few books with. I really am curious on how it will react since I was initially pro-Kindle and didn't know anything about any other eReader.
Do you have an eReader and how do you like it?
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Woowhoo! Yay for things working out better than we had originally planned.
ReplyDeleteALSO, thanks for turning me onto mechanical turking! I'd never heard of it before you mentioned it last week... so cool, and such a good way to make extra money!
Seriously!! I am hoping to get it tomorrow. FedEx was closed today, so I'm crossing fingers. It was supposed to be delivered here on Saturday, but we were out of town, so I had it held at the FedEx place down the street from us, which is great but it added on a few extra days. I just reeeeallllly want to hold my Kobo. :oD
ReplyDeleteI have been spending a lot of time going through my books and finding them online at Broadway Books and if I can't get it from them sometimes Google Books has them, so it's awesome to be able to support local first still.
You are welcome for the turking info!! I just made several dollars earlier this afternoon. It's so easy! I have made over $100 this month, seriously. That's a good feeling!