Fair warning
Reviewed by Eric from Jhb on 26 March 2012
50 of 92 people found the following review helpful:
I ordered two of these and the one did not work straight out the box (yes, we charged it).
We returned it to kalahari.net as soon as possible and have been waiting for about a month and a half with no word from them. We gave them a call eventually and they still cannot even tell us whether the supplier will replace or repair the item.
So just be aware that if you do order one of these and it does not work, you will have to wait for a very long time for any replacement.
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Not suitable if spoilt by a touch screen tablet
Reviewed by Abraham from Johannesburg, South Africa on 07 November 2011
122 of 236 people found the following review helpful:
I found the Gobii to be a good eReader and easy to load pdfs. However, I find the screen too small and the lack of touch functionality less appealing. Also the processer is a bit slow, even for going to the enxt page.
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Gobii - not bad but could be improved
Reviewed by Michele from Cape Town on 11 January 2012
84 of 162 people found the following review helpful:
My husband bought a Kindle and I bought a Gobii. With respect to the Gobii : Its not a bad product but could improve in certain respects. Biggest annoyance - it needs charging far too often and the battery runs down even if it's not being used. This is extremely frustrating and warrents a backup book on the side, since I read a lot. It is bac@#$&, so reading in bed is far superior to the Kindle - no need for a bedside lamp, but reading in full sunlight is an issue - Kindle is better for that. With the Kindle you are locked into the mobi format whereas with the Gobii - it reads epubs and pdfs - which is great for those who have documents to read in pdf format. Though Calibre can probably covert all three formats. Format conversions can be an issue - in some cases formatting is lost and the books end up as one huge paragraph. Its just not readable.
I have spoken to Kalahari about the prohibitive price of e-books and it the usual publishing industry issue. They are new to the e-book market and Kalahari are paying a premium until they are more established with suppliers. However - I do believe that it would serve Kalahari well to subsidise e-book prices if they wish to promote that segment of the market. Can't comment on the magazine issues - I don't read magazines. But I did have some "protected file" issues in the begining and the Kalahari Helpdesk guys were very helpful in sorting those out.
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I love my Gobii
Reviewed by Nienke from Bloemfontein, South Africa on 27 April 2012
17 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
I bought my Gobii about a month ago and I love it. It's easy to use and it's very easy to load ebooks on my Gobii.
Thank you Kalahari for a great product. I certainly recommend it to everyone who want an affordable e-reader.
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How is your sound quality?
Reviewed by Unknown from Cape town on 26 March 2012
42 of 82 people found the following review helpful:
I purchased my Gobii eReader and i'm very happy with the little wonder, however so is my 2 year old son.It's light and just big enough for him to hold in he's hands to watch he's favourite movies and videos. I do find that the sound quality is very poor even when on MAX, the speaker volume is nearly inaudible. i was just wondering whether anyone else has this experience with the product as i can't find anything regarding it online.
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Luv my gobii
Reviewed by Tilana from Bellville on 01 December 2011
100 of 200 people found the following review helpful:
I luv my gobii so much I've even bought my son one! Cannot complain ..excellent buy!
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Not the best
Reviewed by Luzel from Pretoria on 25 April 2012
18 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
Bought this as a present for my mom, as she lives far away from shops but loves reading. Very dissapointed! You have to download about a applications before you can even start using the e reader. Besides the fact that it does not have wireless, it has a short battery life as well. My mom is not very good with technology, so she's been struggling badly with the gobii. I have a kindle, an absolute delight to use it, and for only a R100 more. I am very dissapointed in the Gobii, should rather have gone for the kindle for my mom as well, much faster to download books, no hassle, no apps to download first, just register and start reading!
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Arlene
Reviewed by Arlene from Randburg, South Africa on 03 February 2012
85 of 171 people found the following review helpful:
I absolutely LOVE my Gobii!!!!!
I read in a review BEFORE I bought it that you can't download magazines - that's fine - I bought it to read books! Also the Support Staff at Kalahari are awesome. Thank You Kalahari for my fantastic new toy!
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gobii
Reviewed by Stefan from Port Elizabeth, South Africa on 19 December 2011
92 of 186 people found the following review helpful:
Books at Kalahari more expensive than for example at Amazon. Variety at Amazon much bigger and CHEAPER. Cant download from Amazon if the book is marked KINDLE. I download a book with photos, 95% of the photos didnt download, I report to Kalahari, after 10 weeks still no reply. So bottom line of the story, rather pay more for a better product and service. When I wrote to Amazon with a problem, within 2 hours (on a sunday) they report back with an answer.
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One book holding so many books
Reviewed by Sheila from Somerset West, South Africa on 18 April 2012
24 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
I love my gobii. I appreciate Kalahari keeping up to date with popular reads. Thanks for a great product
Sheila McFarlane
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Gobii eReader is Great
Reviewed by Hannes from Kempton Park on 20 February 2012
67 of 147 people found the following review helpful:
I bought the Gobii eReader and found it to be a wonderful buy. I have been reading non stop.
It is worth purchasing this item as it will come in handy at any time while waiting in ques or on rainy days.
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gobii ereader
Reviewed by Unknown from Johannesburg on 13 September 2011
117 of 248 people found the following review helpful:
I purchased a gobii ereader at the end of August and by the 9th of September it already stopped working and refused to turn on. When I called Kalahari to get assistance of this product. I was told that I couldn't phone the supplier and that I have to send the gobii ereader back to Cape Town and it may take up to 3 weeks before I can get it back.
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Gobii eReader
Reviewed by Unknown from Cape Town on 09 September 2011
102 of 220 people found the following review helpful:
Easy to copy books and files from PC to eReader. Screen does not put strain on your eyes and speed between turning pages very fast. However the sound quality is poor, have to put it on max even when using the ear phones.
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What a bargain!!!
Reviewed by Janine on 24 August 2011
127 of 271 people found the following review helpful:
This is an awesome product...so easy to learn and use
Love it love it!!!
Well done to you guys for securing this brand!!!'
You wont be sorry!!!!
I am recommending it to everyone i know!!!
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Simple and Effective
Reviewed by Volric Rongar from Johannesburg on 24 August 2011
126 of 270 people found the following review helpful:
I was quite skeptical about ordering the Gobii E-Reader due to lack of reviews on the internet.
It has however a 1 year warranty so I decided to take a chance and get it for my wife while still on special.
I must say that this is great value for money. For R900 you get an e-reader, a photo viewer (so like a photo frame), even a video player which played my FLV files flawlessly.
There is no propriety software. All you do is plug it in via usb to your computer and transfer your files, pretty much how you would with a flash disk.
I used Calibre (free software from internet) to convert most of my files into epub format (although the e-reader can take a variety of formats)
Reading PDF's on the E-reader proved to be difficult, but this is not perfect even on an Ipad2 or Galaxy Tab!
I do hope the build quality is good and will last! (I wondered if the middle buttons could take constant use, and the tab for the SD card was quite hard to open)
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free ebooks?
Reviewed by Jean from Durban, South Africa on 26 November 2011
103 of 238 people found the following review helpful:
I would like to know if you are able to download free ebooks onto the gobii7
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Value for money
Reviewed by Heidi from Johannesburg, South Africa on 23 August 2011
98 of 241 people found the following review helpful:
I ordered the Gobii eReader because I wanted something I could read with while travelling, and the gobii seemed like a value for money product. The gobii eReader is easy to use and the fact that you can listen to music in the background while reading is awesome! I can even load my photos or video onto the gobii! Even though the space available is only 4GB, you can buy a memory card of up to 16GB.
It's easy reading with the gobii, the words are clear and crisp and the screen brightness perfect.
I love my Gobii!
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