MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

catsittingstill · 03-26-2009, 01:01 PM

Review of the Kindle 2 (K2) compared to the Kindle 1(K1)--Part 4 of 4

Other details:

Battery

User-replaceable battery (a profoundly reassuring option that I have not yet actually had to use) gone. Bad

New power cord

The K1 has a power cord that plugs into the wall and a data (USB) cord that plugs into the computer. Charging via the USB, is either not possible or is very very slow (reports seem to differ.) The K2 charges via USB hookup, but other (standard) end of the USB cord has a 2 prong plug-in that it plugs to, allowing you to charge from the wall just like a K1 (good). However you can either charge from the wall or transfer data; pick one, though some (powered?) USB ports allow the K2 to charge and transfer data at the same time. However, the inconvenience of sometimes having to choose between charging the K2 and transferring data is arguably outweighed by the convenience of carrying only one cord. In fact, the longer I use the K2 the more I like having one cord instead of two, and the more I like the small wall plug of the K2 as opposed to the bigger "wall-wart" of the K1. I originally thought this was a bad idea but I was wrong about that; they implemented it much better than I thought they would, and it has worked out well.

Text to speech

I have used this several times while working out, driving or doing chores. The TTS is not perfect. It's good for a computer, which means it's a lot better than computer voices used to be, but you don't ever forget you're listening to a computer; it's not in the least like an audio book. A fiction book I know well (His Majesty's Dragon) I can follow easily, even though some words are mispronounced and the intonation is unexciting and predictable. Even an simple technical manual (the Kindle User's Guide) is much harder to follow, which I think is a combination of 1) not being able to see the illustrations and tables, 2) the material having less narrative flow, and 3) the TTS handling the transition from title to body text as one run-on sentence instead of pausing after the title as a human reader would. A science book (On the Origin of Species) was middling; I could catch most of it, but species names were mangled and very occasionally it would seem that a word had dropped out completely. It was interesting to go back over (read) the same text that Kindle had spoken to me—I had the definite sense of having read it before, but it made more sense the second time

.

The K2 can "speak" fairly loudly, though I wouldn't mind having it a bit louder for in the car. My car is fairly noisy and I was using the external speakers rather than headphones, which I don't like to wear while driving. There is also no way I know of to disable the buttons on the K2, which meant that periodically during my workout the TTS would turn itself off when I bumped the bag the K2 was riding in. TTS also seems to run the battery down faster than normal reading.

The cover

K1 came with a cover. A lot of people didn't like it, because it doesn't always hold the K1 securely, but I got along with it okay and always used it, partly to ensure that the delicate e-ink screen had some reasonably rigid protection over it when I put my beloved Kindle in my backpack, and partly because it made it easier for me to pick up and hold the K1 without turning pages accidentally.

The K2 doesn't come with a cover. I promptly ordered a separate cover from Amazon and I am quite satisified with it. I'm comfortable that the screen is protected even without the elastic the old cover had to hold it shut, and the cover for the K2 seems to be a much more nicely finished, professional looking product than the K1 cover. The new "hinge" system for the K2 is quite a bit more secure than the "corners and tab" system for the K1.

Weird stuff the K2 does and doesn't

The K1 lets you use alt-T to look at the time (except when you're on the Web). The K2 displays the time in the top bar when you trigger the menu, along with a little "3G" by the Whispernet signal bars. For what it's worth, so far none of the K1 alt-shortcuts I've tried on the K2 have worked.
My particular K2 has a peculiarity with the menu button; sometimes the menu appears, flashes and disappears. I have since gotten in the habit of pushing the menu button more gently, and this almost never happens anymore.

K1 vs K2; the summary:

I love, love LOVE my new Kindle 2 and I'm very grateful to Mobileread for it. It would, in my opinion, be even better with an SD card slot and a user-replaceable battery, but the improvement in user interface and the TTS ability are so pleasing to me that I'm willing to overlook those shortcomings.

However when you get right down to it, 90% of the time I spend with either device is just reading. And while the K2's advances in user interface are very nice, when I read on the K1 I forget all about that; for just reading books, either Kindle is perfectly good. And I'm sure the other non-Kindle reading devices out there are perfectly good too.

03-26-2009, 01:01 PM	#4
catsittingstill Guru Posts: 643 Karma: 551634 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle 1.0.8, iPod Touch, Kindle Keyboard	Review of the Kindle 2 (K2) compared to the Kindle 1(K1)--Part 4 of 4 Other details: Battery User-replaceable battery (a profoundly reassuring option that I have not yet actually had to use) gone. Bad New power cord The K1 has a power cord that plugs into the wall and a data (USB) cord that plugs into the computer. Charging via the USB, is either not possible or is very very slow (reports seem to differ.) The K2 charges via USB hookup, but other (standard) end of the USB cord has a 2 prong plug-in that it plugs to, allowing you to charge from the wall just like a K1 (good). However you can either charge from the wall or transfer data; pick one, though some (powered?) USB ports allow the K2 to charge and transfer data at the same time. However, the inconvenience of sometimes having to choose between charging the K2 and transferring data is arguably outweighed by the convenience of carrying only one cord. In fact, the longer I use the K2 the more I like having one cord instead of two, and the more I like the small wall plug of the K2 as opposed to the bigger "wall-wart" of the K1. I originally thought this was a bad idea but I was wrong about that; they implemented it much better than I thought they would, and it has worked out well. Text to speech I have used this several times while working out, driving or doing chores. The TTS is not perfect. It's good for a computer, which means it's a lot better than computer voices used to be, but you don't ever forget you're listening to a computer; it's not in the least like an audio book. A fiction book I know well (His Majesty's Dragon) I can follow easily, even though some words are mispronounced and the intonation is unexciting and predictable. Even an simple technical manual (the Kindle User's Guide) is much harder to follow, which I think is a combination of 1) not being able to see the illustrations and tables, 2) the material having less narrative flow, and 3) the TTS handling the transition from title to body text as one run-on sentence instead of pausing after the title as a human reader would. A science book (On the Origin of Species) was middling; I could catch most of it, but species names were mangled and very occasionally it would seem that a word had dropped out completely. It was interesting to go back over (read) the same text that Kindle had spoken to me—I had the definite sense of having read it before, but it made more sense the second time . The K2 can "speak" fairly loudly, though I wouldn't mind having it a bit louder for in the car. My car is fairly noisy and I was using the external speakers rather than headphones, which I don't like to wear while driving. There is also no way I know of to disable the buttons on the K2, which meant that periodically during my workout the TTS would turn itself off when I bumped the bag the K2 was riding in. TTS also seems to run the battery down faster than normal reading. The cover K1 came with a cover. A lot of people didn't like it, because it doesn't always hold the K1 securely, but I got along with it okay and always used it, partly to ensure that the delicate e-ink screen had some reasonably rigid protection over it when I put my beloved Kindle in my backpack, and partly because it made it easier for me to pick up and hold the K1 without turning pages accidentally. The K2 doesn't come with a cover. I promptly ordered a separate cover from Amazon and I am quite satisified with it. I'm comfortable that the screen is protected even without the elastic the old cover had to hold it shut, and the cover for the K2 seems to be a much more nicely finished, professional looking product than the K1 cover. The new "hinge" system for the K2 is quite a bit more secure than the "corners and tab" system for the K1. Weird stuff the K2 does and doesn't The K1 lets you use alt-T to look at the time (except when you're on the Web). The K2 displays the time in the top bar when you trigger the menu, along with a little "3G" by the Whispernet signal bars. For what it's worth, so far none of the K1 alt-shortcuts I've tried on the K2 have worked. My particular K2 has a peculiarity with the menu button; sometimes the menu appears, flashes and disappears. I have since gotten in the habit of pushing the menu button more gently, and this almost never happens anymore. K1 vs K2; the summary: I love, love LOVE my new Kindle 2 and I'm very grateful to Mobileread for it. It would, in my opinion, be even better with an SD card slot and a user-replaceable battery, but the improvement in user interface and the TTS ability are so pleasing to me that I'm willing to overlook those shortcomings. However when you get right down to it, 90% of the time I spend with either device is just reading. And while the K2's advances in user interface are very nice, when I read on the K1 I forget all about that; for just reading books, either Kindle is perfectly good. And I'm sure the other non-Kindle reading devices out there are perfectly good too.