Troubleshooting Kindle screen has gone weird

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Amazon's support is pretty amazing. They have a habit of doing things like this. Do let us know what arrives .

Kindle support is pretty amazing. I've had mixed results with Amazon and Audible to the point that both are on my "Do Not Buy From" list.

[TimW]

Originally Posted by abookreader

That's great news Mike.

Those glass screens are funny like that. I've knocked mine off the top of a refrigerator to a tile floor and had no damage at all ..... then one day I carefully set it on the table by the couch in it's cover and came back to see a broken screen. It's like the gremlins just decide when to attack or something.

Something very similar happened to mine. I dropped my Wi-Fi KK face down on a linoleum-covered floor. Although it was in a cover, it flipped OPEN on the way down. SMACK! I picked it up, expecting a mess. It looked fine. I used it with no problem at all. Three months later, I opened it and discovered the tell-tale sign of the cracked screen..a mangled screensaver that wouldn't go away. It hadn't had any hits since I had dropped it three months earlier. Go figure.

[HarryT]

Sometimes stress fractures can "lurk" within glass for days, weeks, or even months, and then the tiniest shock can "trigger" them. You often see the same with car windscreens - a tiny dint in the glass will stay "inert" for months and then one day you go over a little bump in the road and wham! - it spreads into a network of cracks.

[TimW]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Sometimes stress fractures can "lurk" within glass for days, weeks, or even months, and then the tiniest shock can "trigger" them. You often see the same with car windscreens - a tiny dint in the glass will stay "inert" for months and then one day you go over a little bump in the road and wham! - it spreads into a network of cracks.

I had a suspicion...que sera sera. It was 18 months old and out of warranty but Amazon offered me a $65 refurb. I decided to decline the offer and got a new 3G KK SO for $139. I'm very pleased with it.

[howyoudoin]

I suppose the official Amazon covers are part of the problem. While they are thick enough to prevent scratches and the like, they aren't padded enough to absorb shock.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

I suppose the official Amazon covers are part of the problem. While they are thick enough to prevent scratches and the like, they aren't padded enough to absorb shock.

I must beg to differ. A few months ago my K3 in its Amazon lighted leather case fell off a chest-high bridge parapet (where I'd stupidly put it while taking a photograph) about 5 feet onto cement paving. It bounced on its edge, and I picked it up, absolutely certain that the screen would be shattered into 1000 fragments. The only damage was a dent about 2mm wide and 1mm in depth on the outer edge of the plastic bezel. The screen was absolutely undamaged. The leather case did a wonderful job of absorbing a pretty extreme impact in that case!

[Bricorn]

Have to agree, dropped my DXG in it's Amazon folder-type case at the top of a flight of stairs and watched it tumble & bounce aaaallllllll the way down. No damage at all. (wipes brow)

[Mike L]

Another update ...

I got back from the shops this morning, and waiting on the doormat was a brand new Kindle.

As others have so often said, Amazon's customer service is exceptional. Despite the fact that my previous Kindle was three years old, they were happy to replace it. What's more, it was Amazon UK that replaced it, even though I bought the original one from Amazon in the US.

I must say it's very nice to have an up-to-date model, with many of the features that I hear folk in this forum discuss but which were unavailable to me (not the least of which is a wireless connection, which I had never had in the UK because it was a US-only device).

My only (very minor) regret is that my old cover doesn't fit the new model. But that's a small inconvenience, all things considered.

Mike

[RDaneel54]

What a happy ending!