Kindle 3 First Impressions

[jswinden]

Originally Posted by matt314159

However, navigating pages with lots of graphics, the screen does NOT clear itself as well as it should before displaying the next page. Almost every time I turn a page on the browser, there's a ghost image of the previous page still there, and strong enough to be distracting. I don't remember this from the k2's browser. Seemed like it properly wiped the previous image before displaying the new one.

I suspect the ghosting that naturally occurs with eInk screens is now more noticeable due to Pearl's greatly increased contrast.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I suspect the ghosting that naturally occurs with eInk screens is now more noticeable due to Pearl's greatly increased contrast.

Very good point. It's worth remembering that one can force a screen refresh, to eliminate ghosting, with the "Alt+G" key sequence.

[matt314159]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I suspect the ghosting that naturally occurs with eInk screens is now more noticeable due to Pearl's greatly increased contrast.

but, that's why the screens flash black to white, to clear the screen. It's like shaking an etch-a-sketch. The same flashing should clear the screen. I suspect their "20 percent faster" page turns is what's causing the screen not to clear properly. ALT+G refresh it again and things look fine. I'd say, flash it harder, or longer, or flash it twice, or something.

[JeremyR]

Finally got mine today. My first e-reader (not counting a laptop, anyway).

Things I like:

It's small and light. I figured it would be about the size of a trade paperback, but it's so much thinner (shallower?) and a bit shorter, too.

The ink is really black. Not the dark grey-ish I've seen on other ones.

Being able to play MP3s while reading is very nice and the speakers sound very good, not at all tinny (often a problem on small devices).

Things I don't like:

The 5-way controller. It's so small. I have borderline big hands and fingers - I can't quite palm a basketball, but almost. It's very difficult using this, I've been having to use my pinky:

The flash between pages. Maybe it's faster than other devices, but I have to wait, which feels awkward. I guess you get used to it like turning the pages of a normal book, but the latter seems to go a lot quicker.

The background. While the black ink might be blacker, the white seems to be greyer than other e-readers I've looked at. So you need more light to read in.

The Wi-Fi. It detects my home network and says it's connected, but it won't actually download books or visit the Amazon store. I guess I need to fiddle with the settings once I read the manual, but I was hoping it would be as simple as other devices (like my PSP and laptop)

edit:

Okay, after having it reboot (like the manual says) it was able to connect to my Wi-Fi.

Dunno why I bothered, all the freebies I got from Amazon are poorly formatted to the point of being unreadable.

Also, after reading 1/3 of a novel, it's heavier than I first thought. It seems like it's a bit top heavy. Or maybe it's my imagination. But have to constantly change how I hold it to avoid getting tired/sore.