I just noticed that I have a solid line of what seems to be dead pixels going down the screen. When the screen flashes black you can see a solid line of white going down the screen. Also it is there when the screen saver is on and there is black in the picture. This seems to have just happened over the last few hours. Has anyone else experienced this and is there a fix? I wonder if a reset would work. I did turn the unit on and off but it didn't seem to do anything. I didn't think e-ink acted like pixels on a screen.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Greg

This has shown up in the 505 and 500 before, but this is the first time that I've heard of it in the Kindle. You can try a reset, but most likely the screen is defective. You'll probably have to send it in to be repaired.

Arggghhhhhh! Well I have tried a reset and have removed the battery and the line is still there. The thing is still readable but annoying to some degree. You really can't tell it is there when reading a book only when the page flashes to turn and you use the screen saver. I put in a trouble ticket with Kindle support. We shall see what happens :-( I might have to get a Sony 505 just as a back up. I can't imagine not having some kind of ereader to use :-)

Greg

Take a photo of the defect just in case. That way Amazon cannot claim it's your fault if for some reason it gets worse during shipping or whatnot.

Take a photo of the defect just in case. That way Amazon cannot claim it's your fault if for some reason it gets worse during shipping or whatnot.

GREAT idea!!!! Thanks! I will take a picture of it. That way I can also send it to the Kindle Support folks.

Thanks!
Greg

It's probably a problem with the screen controller rather than the screen itself. Yes, needs to go back to be fixed.

First broken screen:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2007/12/29/kindle-screen-woes-anyone-else/

A classic picture of a broken substrate.

I have what I assume is one dead or inverted pixel right near the very top of my Cybook. It is only visible when choosing a book as it shows up on the black border. When reading a book the text doesn't get written to that area of the screen anyways, so no big deal.

The picture above is what I have except I only have one single line going down the screen. Hopefully it won't spread. I would cry if my Kindle was like the one pictured above!

Amazon got back to me but wants me to call them, which I will do tomorrow to see how they will fix it. I'll keep you posted!

Greg

My daughter got a new Nintendo DS a started seeing these dead pixels after just two days. Is this broken substrate thing all physical or is there a software error too?

My daughter got a new Nintendo DS a started seeing these dead pixels after just two days. Is this broken substrate thing all physical or is there a software error too?

If they're really dead pixels, it's entirely physical. On something like a DS, you can tell by using different software - if the pixels are still there, then it's not a software bug.

Sometimes, gently or forcefully massaging the affected area can restore the dead pixel to its normal operating state, but it's not very likely.

Nintendo used to have a 0-dead-pixel policy, and would replace any DS with dead pixels. However, that was back at launch, not now that the DS is selling like crack-laced hotcakes. I don't know if the policy still exists.

Just to keep everyone up to date on my single line of dead pixels down my Kindle screen - Amazon has shipped out my replacement and I should have it on Thursday. I called the problem in last Wednesday so it hasn't really taken to long to get the replacement. Hopefully the new one will be okay. Time to back up my old Kindle to get ready for the new one :-)

Greg

Just to keep everyone up to date on my single line of dead pixels down my Kindle screen - Amazon has shipped out my replacement and I should have it on Thursday. I called the problem in last Wednesday so it hasn't really taken to long to get the replacement. Hopefully the new one will be okay. Time to back up my old Kindle to get ready for the new one :-)

Greg

Kudos to Amazon for reacting promptly! :thumbsup:

For the most part I'm a happy Amazon customer so I'm glad to see that their CS is still good.

The best part about my current customer service experience with Amazon was that I didn't need to send the broken one back first before I got the new one. That is just awesome since the one I currently have still works and is readable. I couldn't imagine a day without my Kindle now :-)

So I am impressed with how Amazon has handled this...one other note...it was weird pressing the little pop-up box on the Amazon support site and having my phone ring.

Greg

Got my new Kindle today and it is just as pretty as when I got the first one. The only problem I had was I couldn't get the newspaper and magazine files to recognize the new Kindle. Called Amazon Kindle support and they fixed it in like 2 minutes. The broken one is ready to be shipped back to Amazon.

All in all a happy ending to my straight line pixel saga!

Greg