Kindle Paperwhite drops to 3.5 star rating on Amazon.com

[Chucky77]

Originally Posted by Trauma Doll

I've said this before, but if you're going to toss out the bad reviews you don't agree with, you also have to toss out all the 'fanboy' reviews from people who post reviews saying stuff like "I haven't gotten my PW yet but I've seen the pics and I know it's going to be AMAZING, so ignore all these bad reviews!!!!!"

In short--the average is the average. I know people really, really want to believe you should just toss out X percentage of pointless negative reviews, but they're there on every high-profile product. It doesn't stop stellar high-profile products like iPads from hitting 4.5 stars.

Fair enough. For the record i'm no fanboy running to Amazons defence and have as yet never even owned a Kindle (I am however taking the plunge and have a PW on pre-order from the Amazon UK). If you look through the reviews though I have to say that the idiotic 1 star reviews as I described, far far outweigh the idiotic 5 star ones.

[Trauma Doll]

Originally Posted by Chucky77

Fair enough. For the record i'm no fanboy running to Amazons defence and have as yet never even owned a Kindle (I am however taking the plunge and have a PW on pre-order from the Amazon UK). If you look through the reviews though I have to say that the idiotic 1 star reviews as I described, far far outweigh the idiotic 5 star ones.

Well, for what this is worth, I also usually downvote the "No TTS, shipping was delayed, why doesn't Amazon sell this device to my country, I hate you" reviews.

[Chucky77]

Originally Posted by Trauma Doll

Well, for what this is worth, I also usually downvote the "No TTS, shipping was delayed, why doesn't Amazon sell this device to my country, I hate you" reviews.

[shanghaichica]

Originally Posted by petrucci

And the DX was discontinued with a 4.0. If reviews are taken into account, I would expect the PW to be replaced.

Maybe the flaws in the PW are part of Amazon's grand plan to get consumers to use lcd products so they can sell them videos.

I do hope that amazon will not force people to buy tablets. They should keep at least 1 e-ink device.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by Gameboy70

Learning is always a pleasure.

I saw it in Santa Monica, California. Didn't see any Kindles, though.

Originally Posted by Helgetus

To you the screen looks fine apart from the lower area where the LED's are. When I look at the picture I see a large red area (top center and to the left). Do you not see it?
Maybe the top right looks greenish?

I see it as well. Top line of the pink is "notice the difference in" and it extends on the lines below it.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by Chucky77

I'd be curious to know what the PW's average rating would be when you discount all the reviewers furiously giving one star reviews as it doesn't do text to speech / has smaller storage capacity than they'd imagined (both listed in the specs when they ordered) or that they are annoyed that despite ordering 2 weeks ago it's not arrived yet.

These idiots seriously throw off the average.

I also wonder what the ratings would look like, if users could review each device they have received defective.

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by xendula

I also wonder what the ratings would look like, if users could review each device they have received defective.

You can review defectives and then send them back for a refund.

However, most folks, who return defectives for a refund, lose interest in those discussions.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by Trauma Doll

I've said this before, but if you're going to toss out the bad reviews you don't agree with, you also have to toss out all the 'fanboy' reviews from people who post reviews saying stuff like "I haven't gotten my PW yet but I've seen the pics and I know it's going to be AMAZING, so ignore all these bad reviews!!!!!"

Good point.

[TongueTied]

Originally Posted by Gameboy70

The first picture is from day one with the Paperwhite, taken in somewhat dim light with the brightness set at 17, where I usually leave it. The second picture was taken indoors, in mostly window light, with the brightness set to the same level. I did have some initial problems with Whispersync, but never with the screen.

Last Sunday I finally checked out the Glo at Target. I actually didn't think the light distribution was noticeably better than the PW; in fact, I liked it less. I get that it has more LEDs, but I found the GlowLight's top-down light cones way more distracting than the Paperwhite's bottom-up light cones. But I did like its physical page turn controls and the fact that it has real page numbers. I can't figure out why Amazon still can't provide page numbers.

The one you saw at Target, was it a Nook GlowLight or a Kobo Glo? You mention both in your description so I'm curious as this is possibly the first comparison I seen of the PW and KG.

[Avwriter]

Originally Posted by TongueTied

The one you saw at Target, was it a Nook GlowLight or a Kobo Glo? You mention both in your description so I'm curious as this is possibly the first comparison I seen of the PW and KG.

I must have been a Nook GlowLight. Target does not list the Kobo Glo on its site at all.

[Gameboy70]

Originally Posted by TongueTied

The one you saw at Target, was it a Nook GlowLight or a Kobo Glo? You mention both in your description so I'm curious as this is possibly the first comparison I seen of the PW and KG.

I probably missed the distinction when I was first asked. It must have been the GlowLight, since it had the "N" home button.

[Trauma Doll]

No Kobo Glos yet in US.

[nigmol]

I would class myself as fussy. I've had each generation of Kindle as it's come out as well as 3 x Sony. I think the Paper White is brilliant and far, far better than any of them. Yes the light is slightly uneven at the bottom but lets face it this is still an emerging technology and doesn't effect my reading. A solid 5 stars

[l_macd]

Originally Posted by nigmol

Yes the light is slightly uneven at the bottom but lets face it this is still an emerging technology and doesn't effect my reading. A solid 5 stars

If the only problem people were having was the uneven light distribution at the bottom of the screen, that'd be fine. However, so many people seem to be getting screens that are blotchy and discoloured. I don't have perfect eyesight nor do I consider myself to be particularly sensitive to light or colour, but I can see the green & pink hues on the screens of some of those pictures people are posting.

It's great that some people are getting good screens and are perfectly happy with their new Kindle's but Amazon are really letting the ball drop here with poor quality control. I probably won't upgrade this year, but if I did, right now I'd buy a Kobo Glo over a Paperwhite... (although as I'm not desperate for a light, I'd probably just go with the improved K4).

[Psykhe]

Keep in mind, though, that these discolored screens only really look that way without any ambient light and low PW light levels.

If you do not read in "person next to me will wake up if there is any light" scenarios but with some ambient light (which can still be low enough to make reading on the Kindle uncomfortable if it had no light) discolorations do not really exist.

On my Kindle PW it has a green shadow in the upper center at light level 5-10 and no ambient light. With my bed lamp on (but still not close to the Kindle - meaning I couldn't read well with a non-lit Kindle) and the PW on 18 however the screen is perfectly white.

The only thing which is still there are the shadows on the lower end of it, but the effect of these is so miniscule that I find people who complain about them considerably more irritating than the lights themselves.