One poster was P'd off because his kobo was a dud. Me and my club members have maybe 12 or so KOBO's among us. We've had a few duds....some faded screens some bad USB connectors...some trouble with power supplies/ batteries etc.

yes, we had a problem with a Kobo last year, and I've seen a few go belly up in our club. In my case, it seemed to be very sensitive to sunlight on the unit.

....and that's the sort of info I was after. Thanks! Not just my dud batch then.
Actually I wasn't really P'd off, more like "meh". And it was 3 duds out of 4. I still like them (and will probably keep trying them) but I have to make my own decision as to whether they're cheap enough to be considered a 'consumable' item.

DH
TX