Quote:
Originally Posted by Hrafn
From experience to date, I tend to wear out the page-turn buttons on my eReaders every two to three years. When I look for a replacement I'm hoping for a small, but at least noticeable, improvement in the new model.
If the new model is something that resembles the Kindle Voyage (improved resolution, flush bezel, and non-mechanical-pageturn buttons that possibly-won't-wear-out-so-fast), then I will be very pleased. If it is something like the D67 or i67 (lighter with slightly improved screen) then I'll be mildly pleased. If it is something like the C67 (same screen in a lighter package), I'll be mildly disappointed.
I would question your assumption here. Amazon (and Kobo) don't develop and manufacture screens, E-Ink does. Do you have any evidence to back up your assertion that "their screens are the whitest, their backlight is the most uniform etc" (beyond the fact that they tend to use the latest generation of E-Ink's technology). I have not seen any evidence that Amazon's eReader screens are ubiquitously better than those from other manufacturers' of the same generation.
I would further note that neither Amazon nor Kobo manufacture their own eReaders, they farm that work out to Chinese manufacturers, making the difference between their products and that of other Chinese manufacturers (such as Onyx) even less easy to distinguish.
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You are right in that I don't have exact numbers to back my opinion. However, feel free to scrape all the images online of a Kindle/Kobo and their competitors and read all the reviews. The first generation of Kindle Paperwhite was criticized a lot for its blotchy frontlight. When the next Paperwhite came out (and then the Voyage) - this part of the criticism near disappeared. Now read the reviews of the
newest Onyx, Boyue and Tolinos: "blotchy", "non-uniform frontlight", "the contrast is not good" (I personally had two T68 devices. One has a great backlight. The other... not so great. Both have about the same contrast as my old Sony PRS-650, maybe even slightly less. Even the 2nd generation Kindle Paperwhite has better contrast).
While you are right that Amazon and Kobo do not manufacture their own screens, they appear to do better quality control and they have the first pick of the best batches. They also sell enough devices to have custom orders manufactured by e-ink solely for them (for example the screen of the Voyage, which at this point is manufactured for Amazon only). Also - the screen is only one component of the device and other components still have a huge effect on the end result, starting from a non-screen related features (as you mentioned yourself - page turn buttons, bezel...) and ending with components directly affecting the reading experience (faster CPU for quicker page turns, a different touchscreen that does or does reduce contrast, a different waveform that does not leave as many artifacts...).