Kobo Aura now $50 at Walmart

[rcentros]

Walmart dropped the price of the Kobo Aura to $50.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kobo-Aura...bled/621781419

[GtrsRGr8]

I'm not familiar with Aura. How does it compare to a Kindle reader of a comparable level? I'll check Kobo's website to check the specs for myself, but I'm sure that it will not have a comparison between their respective readers.

BTW--Walmart bought Kobo back several months ago. This is probably a second sign that I've seen of the two businesses starting to integrate. The first one that I noticed is that when I signed in to Kobo the other day, I got several options: Kobo, Facebook, etc., etc. One of the options was to use my Walmart sign in information. Look for more and more of that kind of thing in the future. As far as Kobo's website is concerned, I think that Walmart should leave it alone or, at least, be very careful about tinkering with it. IMHO, Walmart's website (not to mention lots of other things about Walmart) is a mess. I "have to" place online/delivery orders with them about once a week, but I honestly dread placing orders online with them. For one thing, each time that I place an order, it seems sometimes that most of the things on my list are out of stock. But, the second annoyance is that the website has so many glitches (to be fair, I think that the website has improved slightly over the last few years).

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

I'm not familiar with Aura. How does it compare to a Kindle reader of a comparable level? I'll check Kobo's website to check the specs for myself, but I'm sure that it will not have a comparison between their respective readers.

The Aura 2 would probably be compared to the Paperwhite 2 (since, I think, both have 212 ppi screens). It would probably be placed somewhere between the Kindle Basic and Kindle Paperwhite 3 — which is pretty much how Walmart has it priced. It is front-lit, unlike the Kindle Basic.

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

BTW--Walmart bought Kobo back several months ago. ...

Walmart and Rakuten formed an alliance but Walmart didn't buy Kobo. Basically they just agreed to brand Kobo's book store in the United States. I was kind of hoping Walmart would give this a little bigger push because, what they're doing now, isn't going to threaten Amazon at all.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by rcentros

The Aura 2 would probably be compared to the Paperwhite 2 (since, I think, both have 212 ppi screens). It would probably be placed somewhere between the Kindle Basic and Kindle Paperwhite 3 — which is pretty much how Walmart has it priced. It is front-lit, unlike the Kindle Basic.

Thanks, I'll take a look at it--check its features, specs, etc. If it's a good reader, $50 for a new one is not bad at all in my opinion.

Originally Posted by rcentros

Walmart and Rakuten formed an alliance but Walmart didn't buy Kobo. Basically they just agreed to brand Kobo's book store in the United States. I was kind of hoping Walmart would give this a little bigger push because, what they're doing now, isn't going to threaten Amazon at all.

You are exactly right. I don't have to look that one up to see if you're right--I remember now that it is an alliance.

Historically, Walmart has had no presence in the ebook retailing business, as far as I know. I just checked and there is a smattering of ebooks for sale on their website, now (I might go over there again, and see if there are any grand opening bargains to be had). If you want one of the ebooks at Walmart, it appears that Kobo Rakuten, Inc. is the only source that you can get it from.

How all of this works out will be nothing if not interesting.

[wandalynn]

Originally Posted by rcentros

The Aura 2 would probably be compared to the Paperwhite 2 (since, I think, both have 212 ppi screens). It would probably be placed somewhere between the Kindle Basic and Kindle Paperwhite 3 — which is pretty much how Walmart has it priced. It is front-lit, unlike the Kindle Basic.


.

That's a good comparison. I have both the PW2 and Aura2 and they're very similar, both in screen resolution and size. The Kobo is better for borrowing library books because sometimes the Kindle format isn't available. Haven't had any not sync with the Aura although I understand that can happen.