Hardware Serial port questions

[WaseemAlkurdi]

Dear friends,

I have a couple of questions regarding the connection of the Kindles to the serial port pad.

1. How in hell does the 7th generation Kindle open up? The first step in each and every guide, especially this forum's own KT2 Exposed thread, is to start at an upper corner and slide something made of plastic, like a credit card, in there. There is simply no gap for that. I even (foolishly) tried inserting a small surgical blade, an approach which worked with the Kindle Touch, but didn't work here, and only left me with awesome holes and scratches in the bezel.


2. Can you confirm, once and finally, whether the (a) Kindle 7th generation and (b) Kindle Touch are 3.3v-tolerant? My FTDI FT232 serial port connector board only supplies 3.3v or 5v, without a 1.8v position, nor I can find 1.8v anywhere. I can't use a level-shifter circuit, because that would need resistors and more electrical knowledge, and I have none of both.
I have read this forum extensively, but (for the 7th gen Kindle) some people use resistors (of which I have none and none are in close proximity) and some people use the 3.3v source directly, and yet others recommend using a 1.8v point on the motherboard.
So TL;DR? Can I just wire the serial board's 3.3v to the Kindle?

Thanks a lot!