Discussions with Amazon CS about PW Defects

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by Chi Cygni

Please be careful m'dear. I returned my Cybook Odyssey because within 24 hours it got 4 specks. First one, two, already annoying and the next day another two. I didn't wait any longer, returned it while still in the "no questions asked" window. So that you have 2 non irritating ones now doesn't mean (hate to be a party pooper) that you won't have more in future. I've been going through withdrawals after I returned it and drooling over various readers but Opus and K3 just win every time. What a pity about PW.

Thanks for your thoughts, hon. That's something I didn't consider, hmm. I think I still I have to keep the old one with the specks and take my chances it doesn't get worse. I can't keep the newer speck free one as the screen is quite pink and annoying to read on. The older screen is much whiter and more even, plus the text is also darker. If they get worse maybe I can drop Andrew an email and he'll be willing to send me another replacement. If not, I guess I'll just have to live with it if it gets worse. Fingers crossed it doesn't. I agree it really is a pity the PW has had so many problems because it really is such a nice reader overall.

Originally Posted by Blossom

Awww Keep the speckle one or try again but the new one needs to go back. What font is that you are using?

I'm happy with the older one and reading on it is fine as I don't see the specks when reading. I have to say again I am really shocked that even the newer ones can look quite bad. I guess it really is luck of the draw.

As for the fonts, the font on the PW on the left is Georgia fat (which I got from Katsunami) and the font on the PW on the right is Gentium Book Basic, the font you gave me. (I really like those two fonts a lot.) I'll attach the pic again so people don't get confused which pic I'm referring to.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by xtine

Here are the two PW's again, 501 on the left, 603 on the right. Despite the pinkish tinge, the 501 just looks clearer and better to me. I'm not sure but to my eyes, the font also seems darker.

I agree, your 501 PW definitely looks better than the 603. The text also looks darker and sharper too. So much for the 603's being perfect. I was hoping because my new one was a 602 it would be better, but I can see now it really is just luck.

Originally Posted by xtine

What I'm also wondering about is how sure are they that the next one they send you will be a good one? Do they check the Kindle before packing it up? Do they send it to you with the box opened? How do they know?

I really don't know their process, but I can say the box is always sealed with the little tear off strip and the last some replacements I have received seem to all be new. The box states G as compared to R. I was once told they were going to have an engineer go over it before sending it to me, but who can really know if they did. The boxes have always been sealed. Maybe they check it over and then send it to be packaged? All I know is if they do check them over they are obviously not as color sensitive as I am. :\

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by JLeighs

Yes, I do take your point, but the fact remains that the two shades of grey illustrated above are *visibly* different. I'm not saying that Amazon put a screen on my Kindle that is part white, part green, and part pink; I'm saying that I can *see* white, green, and pink color hues (some clever Amazon reviewer referred to the PW as the "Paperbruise"). If what I am physically seeing is disturbing my reading, then that's a problem. The whole point of the PW is a comfortable and enjoyable reading experience, after all.

Yes, exactly.

[JLeighs]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

It's a famous image.

Still, I find it strange that some people need to swap the device 3, 4, 5 times in a row. There can't be so many bad Kindles that such a string of bad ones can be considered normal, or it would have damning reviews everywhere. It doesn't.

There are plenty of reviews out there about this issue. I was reading about this before I even checked this forum to see what the members here were saying, and that was months ago.

I had to go through 5 Paperwhites before I got a good one. They all looked different. Not one of them had a screen that looked exactly like another one. The one I kept still does have hues, but I don't notice them unless I'm really looking for them.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

As for the fonts, the font on the PW on the left is Georgia fat (which I got from Katsunami) and the font on the PW on the right is Gentium Book Basic, the font you gave me. (I really like those two fonts a lot.) I'll attach the pic again so people don't get confused which pic I'm referring to.

I asked about my own font! I do love it too. I use the larger version of Gentium Book.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by JLeighs

There are plenty of reviews out there about this issue. I was reading about this before I even checked this forum to see what the members here were saying, and that was months ago.

I had to go through 5 Paperwhites before I got a good one. They all looked different. Not one of them had a screen that looked exactly like another one. The one I kept still does have hues, but I don't notice them unless I'm really looking for them.

ditto

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I asked about my own font! I do love it too. I use the larger version of Gentium Book.

Yes, hee hee! I think we've all gone font crazy and we're using so many and changing them up, we're getting confused!

[xtine]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

I agree, your 501 PW definitely looks better than the 603. The text also looks darker and sharper too. So much for the 603's being perfect. I was hoping because my new one was a 602 it would be better, but I can see now it really is just luck.

I was really hopeful when I saw they'd sent a 603 too, but who would've thought my pink 501 would actually turn out to be better. Anyway, using the 603 exclusively for a while, hoping to break it in/warm it up, etc in hopes it starts looking better. If not, I'll use this as a spare and go back to using the deregistered 501 as my main device. Wish me luck!

I really don't know their process, but I can say the box is always sealed with the little tear off strip and the last some replacements I have received seem to all be new. The box states G as compared to R. I was once told they were going to have an engineer go over it before sending it to me, but who can really know if they did. The boxes have always been sealed. Maybe they check it over and then send it to be packaged? All I know is if they do check them over they are obviously not as color sensitive as I am. :\

If only there were a way to go to Amazon's Kindle factory and pick out a unit there

Btw, I live in Southeast Asia and my replacement came from Shenzhen, China, which maybe explains why I got the newer 603 and some others (you included) have still been receiving 500 units. A lot of good that's done me though I just thought they would ship out all units directly from the US.

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by xtine

If only there were a way to go to Amazon's Kindle factory and pick out a unit there

That would be so great!

Sparkle: sorry to hear that you received yet another disappointing one.

I still don't know what to do with mine - I've realised that I only really like reading on it with the light right down to the minimum, when I turn the light up, even slightly, then for some reason it just becomes annoying. If I didn't already have the K3, I would probably be happy with the PW but it just seems a bit silly to not use the light when it is after all the point of it.

[sergiomobile]

Hi sparklemotion

I know you are having problems with your kindle PW. I have just received one but I`m not sure if it is OK. I can see that the light at the bottom is not uniform and also the light comes from the side. I think that are not the typical shadows because of the leds. Can you advice me about it?



You have to copy the link in order to see the picture I think

Thank you in advance

Sergio

[l_macd]

Pity, it looks as if they still can't get the screens to be consistently good. For anyone who has swapped a few already, I'd now be either giving up on the PW for now, getting a refund and looking elsewhere (Kobo Glo, Cybook Odyssey HD FrontLight), or just settling for one of your replacements that you can live with.

If anything happens to my Kindle Keyboard, my first action will certainly be to order a PW to replace it, but if it's anything like the bad screens posted on here, I'll just return it and tell them I'm going to try the Kobo Glo instead, as there seems to be less variation on them. Really I hope my KK will keep working for a while and perhaps a 2nd generation of lighted readers will show some improvement.

Originally Posted by wyvern

My interest is that I'm seriously considering buying a PW. I thought about getting a Touch 2nd hand on ebay which wouldn't have these screen issues, but the prices being paid are ridiculous - higher than a basic Kindle new on Amazon.

If you are considering the Kindle Touch instead, I see you are in the UK so a better option than ebay would be to buy a refurbished one direct from Amazon (we have two refurbished Kindle Keyboards that are now both well over a year old and have been trouble free). Does £65 sound a reasonable price, if so, head over to Amazon.

[Yolina]

I've decided that mine will be going back to Amazon, however being either too optimistic or too stupid, I'm giving them one more chance and have asked for a replacement which should be here by Wednesday.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by xtine

I was really hopeful when I saw they'd sent a 603 too, but who would've thought my pink 501 would actually turn out to be better. Anyway, using the 603 exclusively for a while, hoping to break it in/warm it up, etc in hopes it starts looking better. If not, I'll use this as a spare and go back to using the deregistered 501 as my main device. Wish me luck! If only there were a way to go to Amazon's Kindle factory and pick out a unit there

Good luck, xtine! Ha, yes, I wish we could go to Amazon and pick out our own. Although I'd probably end up with a huge stash of opened kindles!

Originally Posted by Yolina

That would be so great!
Sparkle: sorry to hear that you received yet another disappointing one.
I still don't know what to do with mine - I've realised that I only really like reading on it with the light right down to the minimum, when I turn the light up, even slightly, then for some reason it just becomes annoying. If I didn't already have the K3, I would probably be happy with the PW but it just seems a bit silly to not use the light when it is after all the point of it.

Thanks Yolina. I'm really ok keeping the earlier one. I read on it last night for awhile and it's really quite good, the best PW I have had, for certain. Hopefully it stays as it is and doesn't get worse. I'm just so glad those specks don't fall in the line of the text, I'd have to return it then.

I agree it might not be worth keeping the PW if you will never use the light. That said, if you like the design more, I suppose it might be worth it then. I'd probably use it exclusively for a bit and see what you decide. What I love about the PW is I can read in bed in a totally dark room with the light on about 3 and it works perfectly for me. I personally really don't like using book lights.

Originally Posted by sergiomobile

Hi sparklemotion
I know you are having problems with your kindle PW. I have just received one but I`m not sure if it is OK. I can see that the light at the bottom is not uniform and also the light comes from the side. I think that are not the typical shadows because of the leds. Can you advice me about it?
You have to copy the link in order to see the picture I think Thank you in advance

Sergio

It's a bit hard to tell from that pic, but I think yours looks pretty good. Nothing too distracting to my eyes. The light at the bottom not being uniform is normal, due to the LEDs, so don't worry about that. The main thing really is how does it look to your eyes? Are you comfortable reading on it? I wouldn't let anything said on here, or any of the pics concern you if you're happy with yours and enjoy reading on it.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by Yolina

I've decided that mine will be going back to Amazon, however being either too optimistic or too stupid, I'm giving them one more chance and have asked for a replacement which should be here by Wednesday.

Uh oh! You know, I think it's worth trying for a replacement really. Quite clearly I do! But seriously, you never know, you might get a good one and be really happy. Here's hoping you do, good luck!

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

Thanks Yolina. I'm really ok keeping the earlier one. I read on it last night for awhile and it's really quite good, the best PW I have had, for certain. Hopefully it stays as it is and doesn't get worse. I'm just so glad those specks don't fall in the line of the text, I'd have to return it then.

Fingers crossed that your pesky specks don't decide to move then

I agree it might not be worth keeping the PW if you will never use the light. That said, if you like the design more, I suppose it might be worth it then. I'd probably use it exclusively for a bit and see what you decide. What I love about the PW is I can read in bed in a totally dark room with the light on about 3 and it works perfectly for me. I personally really don't like using book lights.

I don't like it quite enough to justify keeping it purely to use as a non-lit device. Between the pink at the top, the green in the middle and that most irritating light leak on the left, the one I've got is not really usable with the light on which kind of defeats the point! [/QUOTE]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

Uh oh! You know, I think it's worth trying for a replacement really. Quite clearly I do! But seriously, you never know, you might get a good one and be really happy. Here's hoping you do, good luck!

Uh oh indeed. I did try my best not to laugh when the CS agent asked if I had tried rebooting the PW to see if that would fix the problems with the screen