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Originally Posted by Mr. Goodbar
I was thinking the same thing, but I just watched a Chinese youtube video that showed every flick of the finger putting a significant mark on the brown cover. Seemed a little too prone to marks as opposed to just taking on that aged patina look. I just ordered a Merlot from BestBuy that is supposed to be here Monday so I'll likely cancel my brown order from Amazon.
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Speaking of the cover, I think at least with the Merlot, it is probably the least satisfying part of the Oasis. The Merlot cover amounts to a thin, very dry shoe leather bonded to cardboard. The cloth meant to protect the screen feels more "premium" than the leather does. It sounds like the Walnut is actually not much more premium, but handled differently so it at least feels better. In some ways, I'd rather have something like the polyurethane covers Apple offers for the iPad than call this type of leather "premium". It would also have given Vegan folks an option.
That said, after an evening with the Oasis, I actually like it quite a bit. Even though it is heavier than the Voyage and in the same ballpark as the Paperwhite with the cover, I actually find myself leaving the cover on more than I thought I would. It's still easier to use one-handed than the Voyage with the cover on, and it's excellent with the cover off. I can certainly see myself taking the cover on trips for the protection and battery life. And around the house, I can leave the cover off if I want.
The major complaints I have are with the leather which I've already talked about, and the accelerometer. I wish you could lock it in place using something like the Airport Mode switch. I've seen when it will switch, and I can see it being an annoyance once and awhile, but not often enough to really matter. It's more of a nitpick level annoyance.
Overall, this is really what I was wanting from the Voyage initially. Page turn buttons, more comfortable to hold one handed (despite being heavier), and a nice sharp screen. The fact that it winds up feeling smaller, even though by volume it really isn't, is nice. The volume is just distributed better. If it was the Voyage replacement at the Voyage price point, it'd be a very easy recommendation.