New model Kindle 4 just arrived at my home!

[Zeebra]

Originally Posted by Noughty

I wanted to know how it feels in the hand? Doesn't thumb get on the screen? the margins of the device is smaller and all. And do you think the page turning buttons are more comfortable to use on the side than in the front like on kindle 3 (keyboard)? I think I read somewhere that landscape mode might be uncomfortable for changing pages. And do you need to hack it for changing which button is next and which back?
I'm just trying to figure out how comfortable for reading it is

The size is the biggest challenge for me right now. I grew so accustomed to the K3 that this smaller form factor is a bit hard on my large hands. My thumb WILL spill over to the screen if I try to use the same grip I've always done. I find myself holding his one more on the edge so as not to have my thumb too far over. It's a tad uncomfortable so far, and I noticed it last night lying in bed. It's not something that's overly an issue though, I'm sure after a few days of playing around with my hold i'll come up with something that i'm used to.

[Zeebra]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

I like the full justification on the K4. It looks neater/cleaner. The screen does also look sharper but I'm wondering if that is because the frame is lighter. If the K4 was the same color as the K3, would the screen look as bright/sharp.

Don't take my picture as a change of justification on the K4..I used the calibre plugin to allow myself to set the justification to full or left.

[Zeebra]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

Just a heads up for K3 owners who have been pondering a purchase of the new kindles based on improved screen contrast.

Here are a couple of pictures from the amazon website (the customer images on the product page) that seem to suggest the opposite:

I don't know what to make of those pictures. My Kindle is not faded out like those pictures seem to show. It's as sharp or sharper then my K3. I guess it's a lighting trick in the photo.

Edit: give me a second i'll try to do a fair comparison of a book cover with each kindle on either side..

Originally Posted by Zeebra

The size is the biggest challenge for me right now. I grew so accustomed to the K3 that this smaller form factor is a bit hard on my large hands. My thumb WILL spill over to the screen if I try to use the same grip I've always done. I find myself holding his one more on the edge so as not to have my thumb too far over. It's a tad uncomfortable so far, and I noticed it last night lying in bed. It's not something that's overly an issue though, I'm sure after a few days of playing around with my hold i'll come up with something that i'm used to.

I think in my case, the major factor in holding small readers is probably how thin they are. My hands are arthritic so it makes squeezing down on a thin object to hold it a bit difficult. I had a really tough time with my Motorola Atrix phone until I found a "fat" case to enclose it in. The same was true for the Sony 350 I used to have. I hope they come out with covers soon because for me folding the front cover back behind the reader while reading usually gives me the extra depth I need to comfortably hold it for a long duration.

EDIT: Even the K3 is too thin for me to hold it comfortably without a cover to add depth.

[Zeebra]

OK, so trying to compensate for light source on one or the other I took TWO pictures. One with the new Kindle on the left and one with the new Kindle on the right.






The new Kindle seems to show the image well on both left and right sides whereas there's a tad more glare on the Kindle 3 when it's on the left.

Originally Posted by Zeebra

I don't know what to make of those pictures. My Kindle is not faded out like those pictures seem to show. It's as sharp or sharper then my K3. I guess it's a lighting trick in the photo.

Edit: give me a second i'll try to do a fair comparison of a book cover with each kindle on either side..

To be honest, about the only way to photograph two readers in a somewhat fair comparison is to NOT do a side by side. You have to setup the camera on a tripod to keep it in exactly the same position. You have to use manual camera settings otherwise the full/partial auto will probably change settings a bit with each photo. You have to keep the lighting from changing--so no outside light as that will constantly fluctuate. Then you have to place each reader where the screen is in exactly the same position, one at a time of course. Unless you have a professional studio, most of us don't, we can't take these kinds of photos. And even the pros would probably see a lot of variances between photos of even the same reader.

[max99]

Originally Posted by jswinden

And of course everyone's eyes are different. What works best for me might not work for others. All I can say is that under my set of reading conditions the over all screen contrast is better on the K4. If I tilt the readers a certain way, then the K3 is better, tilt it another way and the K4 comes out on top. But over all, I find the K4 screen better for my eyes and my lighting.

there's always been huge batch to batch variation with eink screens. i haven't seen any documented or pictorial evidence to suggest the k4 has a better screen, and if it did, i'm pretty sure amazon would be shouting from the rooftops about it.

[Zeebra]

Originally Posted by jswinden

To be honest, about the only way to photograph two readers in a somewhat fair comparison is to NOT do a side by side. You have to setup the camera on a tripod to keep it in exactly the same position. You have to use manual camera settings otherwise the full/partial auto will probably change settings a bit with each photo. You have to keep the lighting from changing--so no outside light as that will constantly fluctuate. Then you have to place each reader where the screen is in exactly the same position, one at a time of course. Unless you have a professional studio, most of us don't, we can't take these kinds of photos. And even the pros would probably see a lot of variances between photos of even the same reader.

Yes you're right. The above pictures I took shows how much it can fluctuate. In the top picture the Kindle 3 on the right looks great, but as soon as I moved it to the left and there's glare from another angle the image doesn't look as good..same image just different conditions.

Long story short, the screens are very good.

I think to sum it up on the screens, both the K3 and K4 have great screens. I probably wouldn't use the screen quality of these two readers to judge which one is the better buy. There are much more important factors to use in your decision. I make that last point based on the fact that both readers have comparable screens. Although I might think one has the better screen and someone else might think it is the other, we would agree that the difference is not that significant to be the sole deciding factor in which one to buy.

[Poodlemom1]

Originally Posted by hmgreen

Anyone want to weigh in on whether to spend the extra $30 to avoid "Special Offers"? I have a 3g/WiFi K3 with no special offers and love it, but don't want to pop for $189 for a K4 touch unless the ads are truly more intrusive than Amazon says they are. I might even forego 3G since I have WiFi N at home and there is always Starbucks and Barnes and Noble (as long as they don't mug me or carry me out on a rail for having a Kindle!).

If I took special offers and if I forego 3g I can get this to $100. That's an $89 saving and a great price!

Thanks!

I also have the K3 3g/WIFI without the offers. I have ordered the 3G touch SO. I have 30 days, so I thought I would try it. I should know immediately if I will be able to tolerate it. If I can't, I will return it and get the touch without SO.

[roebeet]

Originally Posted by jswinden

To be honest, about the only way to photograph two readers in a somewhat fair comparison is to NOT do a side by side. You have to setup the camera on a tripod to keep it in exactly the same position. You have to use manual camera settings otherwise the full/partial auto will probably change settings a bit with each photo. You have to keep the lighting from changing--so no outside light as that will constantly fluctuate. Then you have to place each reader where the screen is in exactly the same position, one at a time of course. Unless you have a professional studio, most of us don't, we can't take these kinds of photos. And even the pros would probably see a lot of variances between photos of even the same reader.

Agreed - side by side is actually the worst way to do a compare, because the light sources will never be the same. From what I can gather so far, they sound very similar.

[rheostaticsfan]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Over the years I've owned several Sony readers as well as a NookColor and a Kobo Touch, and of course a few Kindles and one Alurtek Libre. To my knowledge none of these readers used the folder concept you are describing. I agree it seems strange that they don't, but finding a reader that does among the major players is going to be tough, if not impossible.

My Cybook Gen 3 has this. But...it's ancient and very slow. I find navigating the folder structure very cumbersome.

Originally Posted by meme

Do you use the collections part of the plugin from calibre? It would be interesting to know if that still works the same as well.

No, sorry I have never used the collections part of the plugin so I cannot compare.

I do notice the margins/font portion works but you have to be careful what you change on the Kindle as I somehow lost the settings yesterday and had to rerun the plugin modification. I might have inadvertently changed Typeface, Line Spacing, or Words per Line and thus caused the issue. It happened on both my K3 and K4, and it had never happened before.

[Barty]

Originally Posted by max99

there's always been huge batch to batch variation with eink screens. i haven't seen any documented or pictorial evidence to suggest the k4 has a better screen, and if it did, i'm pretty sure amazon would be shouting from the rooftops about it.

This!

My first k3 had a screen that was coming unglued from the bezel. The replacement amazon sent me had an un-uniform background. One side was darker than the other.

My brother's k3 had text that faded toward the right side, that is, the letters toward the right margin weren't as dark as ones in the center and left edge.

So there's a bit of variance with these displays, and we shouldn't jump to conclusion based on a few samples. You may get lucky and get a particularly good unit, or not.

Of course this does not preclude amazon tweaking the display or software to make it look better somehow.

[Zeebra]

Originally Posted by jswinden

No, sorry I have never used the collections part of the plugin so I cannot compare.

I had never used the Calibre plugin period (before I heard about it in this thread)
so I just started using it on my new Kindle. The collections thing is a Godsend with this new Kindle since typing isn't that great without a keyboard. You can create Collections from Calibre, then move books in and out by just clicking a checkbox. I like it, it works on Kindle 4.