The just-released Kobo Vox ereader Tablet...

[Sesquashtoo 1,872]

Hey Everyone,Since I decided to purchase an electronic reader so I could enjoy reading where ever, I also decided to wait for the new Kobo Vox full color ereader. It was released for sale yesterday, and I went out and bought one.It is a 7 inch full color capacitance (you use your fingers to tap/swipe/etc) screen, seven hour battery-life (with wi-fi active, more with it not) and the best part of it all....is that it also is a full-function Android 2.3.1 TABLET! Hundreds of dollars cheaper than other Tablet manufacturers!!!So..why do I mention this on a flight-sim site? Simple...For $199.99 (list price), you can have not only an electronic reader for all flight sim books and magazines you can download for free, fee, or paid subscription, but you can also with its excellent Internet browser app, hook up with AVSIM and any other Internet interest site. While you can also do that with a varied amount of Smart phones, this is most readable at the screen being a full 7 inches, was designed with legibility in mind, has all the zoom/reduce pinch-mode finger control options, etc that makes an Android powered Tablet a pleasure to use and own. Its WI-FI connectivity is superb, and does not cost you for any data plan!!!! That was a big motivator right there. With all the WI-FI hot spots, you can download and interact with the Net until your eyes close. It has on board sound, and a 1/8 mini jack for headphones. Yes, you can download pictures as well as it supports most every sound file for music out there. Just hook it up to your computer to sync. I have enjoyed already (in learning how to use the features) listening to some great music as I browsed the Net, and/or read my books, magazines, and newspapers. The battery is quite long lived. If you use the Airplane Mode to turn off Wi-Fi, then the battery lasts that much longer before needing recharging.The O.S. currently is Android 2.3, and as soon as you fire it up (you need a WI-FI connection, but not a computer...) and run through the set up menu...it will download the latest O.S. to v2.3.1 This unit's firmware can be updated as the firmware is released. You are not locked to the original features for the life of the unit.Considering that any Apple iPad Tablet and such like it is many hundreds of dollars more expensive, the just released Kobo VOX is a steal! It has a micro-SD slot for a total of 32GB, that can be added to it's 8GB internal memory, for a grand system total memory capacity of 40 GB! See how much that would cost you, if you went with an iPad product, or from Samsung, etc.If interested, just google Kobo Vox e-reader, and you'll get all the information you want. There are also already pro reviews on the product. It is a direct competitor for the new Kindle Fire e-reader from Amazon that is being released in a couple of weeks. One important thing--- The Kobo Vox is a totally open platform. You can download any format of file (book, magazine, music) and be able to play/read it. This is not the true for the Kindle from Amazon. You are (just like the iPad) locked into their format and store. All in all, I find this reader/tablet to be very well made, a pleasure to use, and thought to pass on this info....Becuase this is a totally open platform from Kobo, you can download thousands of free ANDROID apps from the Net. The same for books. In fact, on Kobo's Store site, you have over 1,000 FREE books to download .et alone the largest stock of for-sale books, magazine, and yes...comicbooks. Yesterday, I downloaded books, magazines, even COMIC books (to try it out...lol) and that can be read and or played back in full color, and if the book/magazine has audio, that as well. This model can display great, high-rez graphics so video and cookbooks for instance are fully supported. Youtube videos, movies...all of it run smoothly, so this unit truly is a communication jack-of-all-trades. For half the price of a top-end video card, you can own one for yourself. Having a blast...and will enjoy owing it.P.S. I bought mine from BestBuy, was there at store opening, and already (I couldn't believe it) there were three persons besides myself waiting to get into the store to buy one. This is going to be a very popular Christmas purchase Item...so if you are at all interested and want to check it out, I suggest you RUN to the store very soon and grab a unit for yourself. At this price...it will be an out-of-stock item very, very fast.... Available Colors Hot Pink, Lime Green, Ice Blue, Jet Black Wireless Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Micro USB* Audio Built-in speaker and universal 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack Device Size 192.4 mm X 128.4 mm (7.57 in. 5.06 in.) Device Depth 13.4 mm (0.53 in.) Weight 402.6 g (14.2 oz.) Diagonal Display Size 7" FFS+ multimedia display; 1024 x 600 resolution Screen Qualities Multi-touch screen with exceptional +/- 89 viewing angle Navigation Home, Back and Menu touch sensor; Power and Volume buttons Processor 800 Mhz; 512 RAM Operating System Full open access to Android^™ 2.3 Storage 8GB of internal storage, holds 8,000 books** and unlimited Kobo eBook cloud storage Memory Expansion Option to add a 32 GB SD Memory Card Battery Life 7 hours*** Content Over 2.2 million titles. 1 million available for free download Social Reading Kobo eReading App with Reading Life^™ and Kobo Pulse^™ Fonts 7 Font Styles, 42 Available Sizes Advanced Features Library personalization options, Predicitive search, Brightness controls, Automatic Bookmarks, Highlights, Annotations, Built-in Dictionary. Software Free Kobo eReading apps available for Mac^® and PC^® computers and Apple^®, Android^™ and BlackBerry^® smartphones and tablets available at kobo.com. Supported File Formats Books: ePUB, including fixed layout and enhanced ePUB. Images: JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP Audio: MP3, AAC, .3gp, mp4, m4a, flac, ogg, wav, mid. Video Formats: 3gp, mp4, webm Web Browsing Open Web browsing Utilities Email (POP, IMAP, Microsoft^® ActiveSync support), Address Book and Calendar Media Music Player, Photo Gallery, Video Player Pre-loaded Apps Facebook^®, Twitter^®, Rdio^® for unlimited music, Zinio^® for over 4,500 magazines, PressReader for over 1,900 newspapers, Merriam-Webster Collegiate^® Dictionary and more. http://www.kobobooks.com/kobovoxCheers,Mitch

[Chock 12,351]

Looks interesting, but I can't buy one in the UK since I can't find anywhere that sells it, so that's that.Al

[Sesquashtoo 1,872]

Looks interesting, but I can't buy one in the UK since I can't find anywhere that sells it, so that's that.Al

-----------------------------------------------------------Hi Chock,Wow...you say that it isn't sold in the UK? You know..there is always 'plan B'. If you go to the KOBO home page and contact Customer Support, you can in fact purchase right from them, and have it shipped to your home address. I have to say...there is not much to go wrong with the Vox...and I am having a blast with it, Chock. It's small enough to go anywhere (think of a slightly largers paperback for a footprint) and the Internet function is fabulous. For instance, when reading AVSIM, I can use the pinch open or close to enlarge copy, or diminish it. It is a snap to merely tap at any part of the AVSIM page...and have your 'mouse click' function enact. This thing is very powerful---either reading, or browsing. Like I said, send them an email, or call them. Either way, you can have one sent directly to you...and at $199.99 (Can) (they are out of Toronto, Canada) ..this thing is a total steal..... Merry Christmas...ah..er...early that is...LOL!P.S. The text is as good as the printed page...that is how good this is. How clear everything is. When I was setting it up, the Vox found my router in an instant. If you want to use your MAC filter on your router...then after you set it all up, you can go to settings and find the unit's MAC address and add it to your router filter so as to only allow the VOX and your other computer(s) to have access to your WI-FI. That is the best way to go, besides having strong password security in place. The VOX's set-up has you up and running in 15 minutes. Probably the first thing it will do, is seek out and upgrade to the latest ANDROID firmware (O.S.) as it did with mine.Cheers,Mitch

[spilok 593]

You don't need to buy a data plan with the IPAD either. Yes, it's more expensive, but I wouldn't have any other. I buy into the future.Stan

[Sesquashtoo 1,872]

You don't need to buy a data plan with the IPAD either. Yes, it's more expensive, but I wouldn't have any other. I buy into the future.Stan

-----------------------------------------------The new Kobo Vox...is...the latest into the future, (smile!)Great dedicated eReader and Tablet...for way far below the cost of a standard Apple Ipad nearing 40 GB storage. It really is a steal for all that it can do...and totally open to any format....not locked into such as Apple and Kindle. That was a major for me...Mitch