Quote:
Originally Posted by jimplasticguy
Design quality - the jury is out on this, but I have some concerns. There is a fine ballance between cost and quality, while you are fighting to keep a few pennies margin and crush the competition, creating a new standard. Apple Ipod is the perfect analogy for me. Here are my early thoughts.
The K3 is very light, and some of this may come at the expense of structural integrity. The plastic wall-thickness appears to have been thinned down and cored out significantly. It just "feels" cheaper. In consumer goods discussions, plastic frequently gets a bad rap. Plastic can cost 40 cents per pound for reprocessed polypropylene, or more than 50 dollars a pound for high end compounds using PEEK, etc. Additionally, if you take out half of the mass, you just cut your material cost in half. One must be very careful...
I just saw a thread with someone mentioning creaking, etc. I have also noticed creaks and pops when it is squeezed a bit too hard. I will not clip my Mighty Bright directly to it.
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I don't know what is up with the keys on the K3, but it feels like some kind of surface painted on an elastomer. I think it will rub off and others are saying that it may be already.
On design quality and construction - my perception is that the edge will go to K2. Time will tell. The K3 feels disposable to me. Protect it
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Jim
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These comments by Jim, and the threads I, too, have read about the lettering, creaking, loose plastic and rattling of the Kindle 3 do concern me about the lack of QC and product oversight by Amazon. Still, not everyone is having these problems with their Kindle 3...but then the device hasn't even been in use for a month as yet.
Amazon's CS seems to be very good so devices with major problems are replaced quickly, but if the device itself is shoddily made in order to keep the price down, seems that more problems with design quality are bound to crop up.
Drew - my partner has a Kindle 2. She has no intention of upgrading to the Kindle 3, partly because she just got the eReader in the spring of this year, but mostly because she is very happy with the Kindle 2 and sees no need to upgrade. Of course, when I get my Kindle 3.....
Holly