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Old 10-06-2010, 05:33 PM   #1
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Disappointed with K3 - Redux

(Disclaimer: Part of this post appeared in another post earlier today.)

So when I brought home a shiny new K3 last week and posted my initial thoughts on it, primarily how disappointed I was by the lack of a bookshelf view and the primitive collection management. A day or two later, I went to B&N and was persuaded by a VERY knowledgeable and helpful clerk to bring home a nook.

One of the things about the nook that really struck my fancy was the LCD screen, particularly the coverflow ("Show covers") feature. I really hate that my K3 doesn't show cover art thumbnails anywhere. Alas, the coolness factor of that wore off very quickly. With a few hundred books loaded, the coverflow has a definite lag. The LCD screen, as with most LCD screens -- fades away to the point of being useless in the sunlight. When I turn on the nook to resume reading where I left off, the LCD screen distracts me more that anything shiny does to my missus' cats.

There have been a number of debates on weights of the various e-readers to each other and to a hardback novel. I think my K3 is a bit lighter (without the lighted case, that is) than the nook. Perhaps not to you, but I do feel a difference when reading one-handed in bed.

I'd initially noted that I thought the page turns were about the same but after a while I realize the delay on the nook is slightly longer and more annoying than it is on the K3. Mind you, the difference is probably measurable in milliseconds but it's still noticeable when switching back and forth between the two readers.

The K3's graphite case fades away while the shiny white iplastic bezel on the nook (and presumably on the white K3, to be fair) reflects glare, especially when using the cover's attached LED light. The pearl e-ink display on the K3 really does look better and offers better contrast. Some letters on the nook (especially the lower case "d") aren't well-formed and the contrast is striking after long periods of reading.

I'm still disappointed with the limitations on collections management on the K3 but the nook fares no better here. The e-pub format will probably still emerge the winner in a few years but at that point my K3 will be ancient history. Besides, I can convert all those MOBI formatted files to e-pub, thanks to calibre. I would truly appreciate a bookshelf view and I know that thumbnail cover art can easily be displayed.

All in all, I bonded better with my K3 than with the nook. And yes, I really do like it!
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Old 10-06-2010, 06:50 PM   #2
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I'm glad to see you actually tried both and gave a fair comparison.

I don't care for the touchscreen or the color cover display myself. Its distracting, and I find the touch screen a pain to use......on the other hand, I love the 5 way controller the K3 has.

This is in direct opposite to what some others feel.....which just goes to show.....

There is something out there for everyone......
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Old 10-06-2010, 07:10 PM   #3
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I noticed about myself that more the number screens I have (in general mind you) the more distracted I usually get. An instance is/was my multimon setup. I was so awed by it initially that I would totally forget what I was supposed to do. Instead I'd waste time trying to "tweak" it, or something but sure as hell no actual work was getting done

In general I'm very anti touch screen (yes even with cellphones) and that was why I did not like the PRS ones. I believe I must change myself, but the convenience of operating blind far outweighs anything I can think of (for me ofcourse).

Thirdly, I'd like to mention that on my Kindle the only thing I hate with passion is the navpad. Give me the Joystick of the k2 any day of the week .

I'm not sure about the weight issue, but I noticed that on the iPad no matter how fancy or magical the device is, there is only a limited amount of time that I'm willing to actually hold it with one hand and operate it with another. Subconsciously I try to rest it on something (engineering nitpick: bending moment maximum on cantilever beams, which is what the Ipad acts as). I guess when you're using a device for an extended period every gram counts. But I still don't think it should make that much of a difference since it weighs just as much as a K2.

Oh and Happy Reading which ever device you choose!
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Old 10-06-2010, 08:19 PM   #4
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I bought a few of the too..

I bought a Nook, Sony prs-900, Kindle 3 and Sony prs-350. The touchscreen and sluggishness of the Nook did bother me, but overall it's still a viable device I'd say. It was a little heavy, but for my hands it was a nice size, nothing really bothered me about it physically. For just reading, it was fine. Where it annoyed the heck out of me was whenever I had to navigate thru the touch screen for anything...completely slow and unresponsive.

The K3 is also a great device. It's interface is completely unique, but overall I'm satisfied with it...and honestly, what I like about the K3 the most is how responsive it is compared to the other readers I've owned. What I dislike the most about it is the idea that Amazon can snoop at anything I load onto the device.

The Sony 900 was a great device, I only returned it because I'm waiting for the 950.

The surprise in the bunch has been the Sony 350. I thought I wouldn't care that much for it, but it's become my favorite reader because of it's light weight and small size. It literally will fit in the front pocket of my pants. The screen on the 350 and the K3 is beautiful, very easy to read with a slight edge to the Sony for their nicer serif font. I'm not a fan of the K3's fonts. Also PDF reflow on the Sony works really well...something the K3 doesn't have...on the other hand the Sony has no wifi or 3G..

Anyway, I'm probably sticking with the K3 and the Sony 350 for the time being.... For me, there is no perfect reader yet..Oh, the Nook is being given to a friend of mine..
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Old 10-06-2010, 09:18 PM   #5
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I really think it's a case of the technology not really quite being there yet. The flaws of the K3 are pretty obvious if you are new to e-readers. But all the other e-readers are worse...so I think a lot of the praise for the K3 comes from people used to flawed devices...
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Old 10-06-2010, 09:29 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JeremyR View Post
The flaws of the K3 are pretty obvious if you are new to e-readers.
I'd love to know of what you think are flaws for a first timer. The one thing I can think is the page flash.
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Old 10-07-2010, 12:07 AM   #7
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I handed my K3 to my secretary who immediately decided that the page forward/back buttons were much better than touch-screen where you interfere with your view using the touch-screen and it requires a more deliberate act to turn the pages. It was her initial first impression.
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Old 10-08-2010, 12:25 AM   #8
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i don't understand why bookshelf view is such an issue. does it do anything other than look flash in the commercials? just seems like ipad envy.

i will agree with you that collection management is clunky, but i honestly can't think of a way to improve it. the beauty of the kindle is in the simplicity, and adding a bunch of UI to deal with collections will just complicate things. i think that if you use the device the way amazon intended (i.e. buying a book, adding it to the necessary collections, and then when you finish reading it buy another book and repeat the process) it's not so bad, the problems just present themselves when you try to add a whole bunch of books at once.
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Old 10-08-2010, 12:28 AM   #9
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My mother, who's a technophobe saw the K3, picked it up... and LOVED it, I showed her the page forward/back buttons and she was off, reading the book.

While I agree the bookshelf lacks 'glitz' I've not found it a show-stopper in any way. For many people who aren't techno-fluent the process of selecting an item from a list is a lot more 'true' to the paper forms that they'd normally handle, as opposed to emulating a 'real world' which may cause them to have to think more due to the combination of the two environments.
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Old 10-08-2010, 12:07 PM   #10
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Flaw on the graphite colored one - the keys/keypad, for me, at least, are almost impossible to read in the dark even with the Amazon case with built-in booklight. Actually, even in daylight, they are too small. They could definitely have made the print of the LETTERS larger. In the dark with the booklight on, I have trouble entering my password. (I don't know about the white version).
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Old 10-08-2010, 12:43 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrPLD View Post
While I agree the bookshelf lacks 'glitz' I've not found it a show-stopper in any way. For many people who aren't techno-fluent the process of selecting an item from a list is a lot more 'true' to the paper forms that they'd normally handle, as opposed to emulating a 'real world' which may cause them to have to think more due to the combination of the two environments.
Hmmm, that very well may be for some. But I made the comparison early on to walking into the bookstore. I don't start at shelf "A" and scan my way down to shelf "Z" when I'm just browsing for something new. I much prefer the displays and tables with books piled on them so I can see their covers.

The bookshelf view on, say, MobiPocket for the PC, gives you several options to sort by title, author, date, etc while displaying a thumbnail of the book's cover. Yes, it is flashier on a color display but the Amazon website displays perfectly acceptable cover art when browsing from the Kindle; there goes the naysayers who opine that the Kindle can't handle cover art.

BTW, when you do a general search for books on the Amazon website, you see cover art with title, author and a bit of information. THAT'S the kind of bookshelf view I'd like to see!

What I wish is just for a little more personal choice. Give us the option to have a little flash or none at all.
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Old 10-08-2010, 02:47 PM   #12
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k3 work awesome for me 2
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Old 10-08-2010, 02:50 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jlmwrite View Post
Hmmm, that very well may be for some. But I made the comparison early on to walking into the bookstore. I don't start at shelf "A" and scan my way down to shelf "Z" when I'm just browsing for something new. I much prefer the displays and tables with books piled on them so I can see their covers.

The bookshelf view on, say, MobiPocket for the PC, gives you several options to sort by title, author, date, etc while displaying a thumbnail of the book's cover. Yes, it is flashier on a color display but the Amazon website displays perfectly acceptable cover art when browsing from the Kindle; there goes the naysayers who opine that the Kindle can't handle cover art.

BTW, when you do a general search for books on the Amazon website, you see cover art with title, author and a bit of information. THAT'S the kind of bookshelf view I'd like to see!

What I wish is just for a little more personal choice. Give us the option to have a little flash or none at all.
I ummm dare I say... quit choosing a book by its cover long ago...
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Old 10-08-2010, 03:16 PM   #14
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To the OP - have you considered any of the new Sony Readers, or the Kobo? Or a Bookeen device? They all offer thumbnail views.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kindlekitten View Post
I ummm dare I say... quit choosing a book by its cover long ago...
I don't purchase or borrow books by their cover, but I certainly like seeing the visual reminder once they have been added to my library for selection.

Also, I think a lot of the people at MR who started e-reading on a E-Ink device have different expectations than those who started e-reading on handhelds. The handheld software options offer more features, like book covers and organization, because it is more mature technology.
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Old 10-08-2010, 03:27 PM   #15
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In the dark with the booklight on, I have trouble entering my password.
Choose a different pw.
Like "qscft" (check it on the keyboard and you will see what I mean).
Very easy to enter and hard to guess.

I have not checked the password function on my kindle, no idea if there are some restrictions on the password, but even if there are using a graphical pattern instead of a word should be possible.
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