• jqubed@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I was wondering why anyone would go to the trouble when you can just buy a different brand.

    In Brazil, you can pick any e-reader you want, as long as it’s a Kindle. (Kobo, Boox, and other brands don’t sell their devices here.)

    That’s too bad, and surprising since later in the article it mentions that Kobo does have a store in Brazil to sell EPUB files, but not their readers.

    • ghedinOP
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      1 month ago

      It’s a shame indeed. Kobo used to sell their devices here, but they pulled out years ago. We also had a local bookseller that tried to face off Amazon, Saraiva, that released its own e-reader in ~2017, called Lev. (Probably a rebranded Chinese device; it was awful.) It didn’t last. Right now, we have only Kindle devices for buying, and even that isn’t complete — Kindle Scribe hasn’t arrived yet.

      • obbeel
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        1 month ago

        I bought a Kobo Clara last year and it works. I can even buy books. I live in Brazil.

        • ghedinOP
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          1 month ago

          Where did you get your Kobo?

          • obbeel
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            1 month ago

            Ebay or Aliexpress, I don’t remember. It works in conjunction with “Livraria cultura”, though.

            • jqubed@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              I’m assuming the purchase came from outside Brazil, then? How was the import process? I used to work for a device manufacturer and we had some customers in Brazil. It seemed like import duties were often quite high and there was a good likelihood the customs inspector might want a bribe. Most customers would have us ship to someone in the US and it seemed like they weren’t freight forwarders, just someone they knew traveling to Brazil soon who would bring the device with them. Actually, most of Central and South America was like that.

              • obbeel
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                1 month ago

                I didn’t pay that much. It was 300 to 500 reais. I received the product in my doorstep.