I’m a full-time blogger and a stay-at-home mom. A typical day consists of me running after my daughter while trying to fullfill all my blogging duties. So, when my daughter is in bed and my work is done for the day I unwind by sitting back and reading. My favorite books to read are Art History related, but in the night when my brain feels like mush I like reading cheesy romantic novels!
I’ve been a loyal Kobo customer since I started using E-Readers, so I was excited to make the switch over to the new Kobo Arc tablet. This was my first time using a tablet to do my reading.
The Arc boasts a 7” 1280×800 HD display with 215 ppi which makes every word and image clear. Running on Google’s Android platform you can read all your favorite books on the tablet while having access to a whole array of multimedia, apps and games through the Google Play Store. To make things easy, all the best Google apps – Google Play, Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, StreetView, Calendar, Contacts, Google+ and Google Chat are already installed.
I constantly need to be connected to the internet because of my business, so I really enjoy reading on the Arc tablet. I love that I don’t have to put down the tablet while reading to answer an email. Switching from screen to screen is fluid and writing a email is easy with the Arc‘s well designed keyboard. The keys are well defined and allow you to type at a good pace.
The customized Jelly Bean interface offers Kobo’s exclusive Tapestries interface which is easy and fun to use. Tapestries enables the tablet to learn what you like and intelligently recommends new eBooks, videos, music and more based on the content you “pin”.
I particularly like this feature when it comes to discovering new books. Tapestries saves me from having to search hours for the perfect book. The Arc recommends new books based on the contents of your library and learns your reading personality better the more you read books it recommends. Likewise, the Arc learns what type of books you aren’t interested in when you mark a book as ‘not interested’.
When it comes to the actual reading experience the Kobo reading app can’t be beat. I’ve tried competing reading apps in the past and they just don’t stack up to the Kobo. If possible, I think the reading experience is even better on the Arc. My most favorite reading feature is the ability to read in dark. Talk about a feature made for moms!
The most impressive feature about the Arc is it’s HD display. Most tablets use a standard setup that only displays 262,000 colours, but the Arc takes the full-colour experience of a vibrant display to the next level with over 16 million colours. Unlike an eReader, I am able to read my favorite art books which come with tons of high resolution images. The images are crisp and clear. The Arc can also zoom in on the high-resolution images to see the finer details.
Parent Tested Parent Approved (PPTA), the Arc is perfect for children. The display brings the illustrations of my daughter’s favorite stories to life and the image quality is as good as in print. Older children can also download educational books that usually come with a lot of images.
The Arc is also great for those long car trips with your children. Not only can children read their books on-the-go, but the Arc also allows them to play fun games.
The Kobo Arc is a perfect holiday gift for readers of all ages. Perfect for the mom who wants to unwind by reading a book after a long day and the little bookworm in your life.
The suggested retail price is $199 for 16GB version of the Kobo Arc table, but at the moment Kobo is offering it at $139.99 for a limited time.
Disclaimer: Celeb Baby Laundry has not received any payment as a result of this review. We were sent the product for the purposes of review. All products featured must meet Celeb Baby Laundry’s Holiday Gift Guide standards. All opinions are our own.
