Kindle Voyage - First Impressions

Originally Posted by xendula

There is something else. An iPad Retina mini starts at $299 this year, so for the Voyage to start at 199 with its imperfect screen is a bit tough to swallow this year, considering this. I have an iPad Air, but just saying.

Plus, the shoddy PP, the same tired 6 fonts and the same exact software just make me wonder if this purchase is justified. :S
I had pretty bad flashbacks talking to the CS rep. I also forgot how many PW1s and 2s I went through, but it wasn't pleasant.

I spent quite a while reading last night in my recliner. I can get the screen to look acceptable, not terrific but acceptable, if I set the light to level 11, use a table lamp next to my chair, and hold the Voyager at just the right angle. What a PITA. I personally think lighting an eInk is never going to work well. All the Kobo images I've seen look like poop too. I think a whole new technology needs to be invented.

While reading last night I uncovered an old bug we complained about in the PW2. Occasionally when a popup window is displayed like the Dictionary Definition popup, and then it closes, the text underneath that popup is NOT re-rendered and becomes very faded and difficult to read. Arrrghhh!!! I thought they would have at least fixed that bug by now.

I also noticed that the only font I care to use is Caecilia Condensed. I sure wish Amazon would add more USUABLE fonts and make them thicker. I'm so darn tired of having to embed my own.

People are calling the replacement ride the "lottery" but I think it is more like playing Russian roulette but using 5 bullets instead of one. At least judging by our past replacement experiences!

[Barty]

This seems like the PW1 all over again. I think the moral is to avoid the first iteration of a new model if possible. Or at least avoid the early batches. I appreciate that many of you are upgrading from several generation old models so this doesn't help you.

I consider this a new model because of new form factor and flush screen. Some people got excited over the flush screen but I thought right away it was a bad idea. Because the light has to be in front of the eink screen, making the outer screen flush with the bezel means increasing the separation between the outer layer and the eink screen. The obviously made change to the lighting assembly. They went from four to six leds, even though the screen is still same size. This was not done for kicks, but to compensate for something. But some problems remained.

If they'd stuck with the same lighting assembly in the pw2, I think we would not be seeing these problems. The pw2 lighting is much improved over the pw1. Voyage 2 will probably iron out these issues, or possibly go back to the old lighting design.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I spent quite a while reading last night in my recliner. I can get the screen to look acceptable, not terrific but acceptable, if I set the light to level 11, use a table lamp next to my chair, and hold the Voyager at just the right angle. What a PITA. I personally think lighting an eInk is never going to work well. All the Kobo images I've seen look like poop too. I think a whole new technology needs to be invented.

While reading last night I uncovered an old bug we complained about in the PW2. Occasionally when a popup window is displayed like the Dictionary Definition popup, and then it closes, the text underneath that popup is NOT re-rendered and becomes very faded and difficult to read. Arrrghhh!!! I thought they would have at least fixed that bug by now.

I also noticed that the only font I care to use is Caecilia Condensed. I sure wish Amazon would add more USUABLE fonts and make them thicker. I'm so darn tired of having to embed my own.

People are calling the replacement ride the "lottery" but I think it is more like playing Russian roulette but using 5 bullets instead of one. At least judging by our past replacement experiences!

Well, the Kobo images you've seen may "look like poop," but I can assure you the display of my H20 (and HD) does not. It's stunning, lighted uniformly and absent of any shadows thrown from positions of the LEDs. I have *never* experienced any blotching or color hues that were prevalent in the PW1s and, in some cases, the PW2 (although my PW2 was a good one). I, too, am a serious recreational photographer (25+years) and I am well aware of color temperatures. Additionally, when a pop-up appears, i.e., dictionary lookup, there is no fading of text when returning to the body. None. Imagine that!

Now, I am not a fan girl of any particular manufacturer and have always looked forward to Amazon's offerings until the PW fiasco. My question is a simple one: why is it that Kobo has succeeded in incorporating a high resolution, beautifully and evenly lighted display, absent any of the flaws of the PW, along with the option for custom fonts, margins, line spacing and a micro SD cart to boot, all wrapped in water proofing... and Amazon has not? There simply is no excuse for not producing a device of equal or better display quality.

Originally Posted by Skydog

Well, the Kobo images you've seen may "look like poop," but I can assure you the display of my H20 (and HD) does not. It's stunning, lighted uniformly and absent of any shadows thrown from positions of the LEDs. I have *never* experienced any blotching or color hues that were prevalent in the PW1s and, in some cases, the PW2 (although my PW2 was a good one). I, too, am a serious recreational photographer (25+years) and I am well aware of color temperatures. Additionally, when a pop-up appears, i.e., dictionary lookup, there is no fading of text when returning to the body. None. Imagine that!

Now, I am not a fan girl of any particular manufacturer and have always looked forward to Amazon's offerings until the PW fiasco. My question is a simple one: why is it that Kobo has succeeded in incorporating a high resolution, beautifully and evenly lighted display, absent any of the flaws of the PW, along with the option for custom fonts, margins, line spacing and a micro SD cart to boot, all wrapped in water proofing... and Amazon has not? There simply is no excuse for not producing a device of equal or better display quality.

Well certainly no offense is intended here, but I also had people telling me the PW1 was fine and they couldn't understand I would dare say it was otherwise. Lots of hate mail from that. And there is a thread I blocked here where folks are basically saying the Voyage is perfect in every way. And the mods have even blocked opposing views being posted, hence why I turned on the Ignore Thread option. For my eyes, every lighted Kobo screen I've seen has looked bad in its own ways. I think it is impossible to front light these darn eInks to the standards we see in good tablets (not the cheapies of course). Besides Kobo has a long history of shanking the FW and having horrible CS. No way I will ever buy another Kobo.

[Josieb1]

My Kobo H20 is lovely. I sent back the PW2 that arrived today, I'm going to wait for the Voyage and if it's crap I'm going to buy a Kobo Glo for travelling. Then read on my H20 at home.

[Barty]

I think the moral here is to avoid the first iteration of a new model. I appreciate that many waited several generations to upgrade, so that does not help, while others are happy with theirs, so feel free to ignore this.

The reason I consider this a new model is the change to a flush screen. When I saw the announcement I thought the flush design would only worsen image quality and I think I've been proven correct. The lights have to be on top of the e-ink, so moving the top layer up to be flushed with the bezel can only increase the gap between the e-ink and the top gorilla glass / touch layer.

With LCD tablets, in order to improve image quality, they are trying to eliminate the gap between the touch layer and the screen. I heard with the new iPad they fused the touch layer with the screen. With e-ink we started out with the perfect screen with no additional layer on top, then added a touch layer and a light layer, then added gorilla glass and moved the top layer up to be flushed with the bezel. Oy!

(Wonder why they are using 6 instead of 4 LEDs even though it's the same screen size? It's not for giggles, as it increases complexity and cost. They had to do that to compensate for something. The pw2 got the improved light assembly, but they took a step back with a new design.)

Maybe they'll work out the kinks with later batches. Maybe the voyage 2 will perfect the design. Or maybe they'll forget it and go back to the pw2 design.

PS: any lighted (as opposed to emissive) display will have these issues. LCD phones and tablets look good because of their relatively small sizes and the decades of R&D behind them. With TVs, the problems are more obvious. Most people don't care but videophiles are well aware of therm.

[jlinear]

I just returned my new Kindle Voyage. There were many features I liked about the Voyage including the sharper fonts. Discoloration was not an issue. My primary concern was how the text looked while reading. The contrast (blackness) of the fonts were very disappointing when compared to my KK and Kindle Basic. And upping the brightness just caused the fonts to look even more washed out. Perhaps I just got an inferior screen. I don't know. I do know that for the price I paid for the Voyage I should prefer reading on it more than my other Kindles. I didn't. Perhaps I will try again later if I hear Amazon has made any improvements.

[judith009]

What do you guys think about how it's been getting mostly positive reviews from the big bloggers, whereas the reviews are mostly mixed on the Amazon site?
http://qz.com/283929/amazons-new-kin...llent-reviews/

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by Barty

(Wonder why they are using 6 instead of 4 LEDs even though it's the same screen size? It's not for giggles, as it increases complexity and cost. They had to do that to compensate for something. The pw2 got the improved light assembly, but they took a step back with a new design.)

As a KV owner - for the moment - I am in agreement. I was hopeful for the PP/PT buttons, but for me they are useless unless I am reading upright. That limits me to only using it in the living room or other "sitting" places. I always rotate older Kindles to my bedroom, where they get the least use, but this will prevent me from doing that and definitely lessens the desirability for me.

I tried the buttons in the bedroom last night and they were unusable for me. I had to use only the screen for PTs and the text, for whatever reason, was harder to read than my current PW1. The PW1 screen is darker overall, but is more desirable for bedroom reading. Can't explain why, not sure I even understand it, but it is what it is. I have a PW2 on the way, along with a replacement KV and I feel sure that I will be hard-pressed to keep the Voyage even with a stellar screen.

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by judith009

What do you guys think about how it's been getting mostly positive reviews from the big bloggers, whereas the reviews are mostly mixed on the Amazon site?
http://qz.com/283929/amazons-new-kin...llent-reviews/

JMO, but if they have an Amazon link or a partnership of any kind with Amazon, then they aren't going to dog the new baby. One hand still washes the other. I realized long ago that most blogs are self-serving in some form or another and I tend to avoid them and their reviews, with few exceptions.

This post is in no way meant to offend any with a blog, and it is merely an opinion. I am sure there are great, non-commercial blogs out there I just always seem to get the "it's wonderful, click my link and buy the product" blogs.

[judith009]

Can someone try this experiment with me? I turned the backlight down all the way, and then looked at the KV in bright light. It still seemed like the top half was yellowish and the bottom half was blueish. Then I rotated the device 180 degrees so that the bottom was at the top and vice-versa, and this time the "top" half still looked yellow and the bottom half blue.

Could it be that maybe it's not a problem with the lighting, but rather in the way the plastic is diffusing light? I think I noticed that if I hold the device flat under the same conditions, it looks more evenly yellowish.

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by judith009

Can someone try this experiment with me? I turned the backlight down all the way, and then looked at the KV in bright light. It still seemed like the top half was yellowish and the bottom half was blueish. Then I rotated the device 180 degrees so that the bottom was at the top and vice-versa, and this time the "top" half still looked yellow and the bottom half blue.

Could it be that maybe it's not a problem with the lighting, but rather in the way the plastic is diffusing light? I think I noticed that if I hold the device flat under the same conditions, it looks more evenly yellowish.

I posted the same either here or on another forum. Later, after going back and looking again, I could see the difference even with it flat or when changing the orientation while still on a horizontal, even plane. The color graduation exists even then. I have pondered this over and over with little valid information about why it's happening. No amount of fiddling or changing settings fixed it. I have to send one or both back and at that point I'm going to do a factory reset and a lengthy test - before changing any settings - to see if I can determine anything more to report to Amazon.

The tests I did with lighting showed it occurring at all light levels that were any in which I could read well and still use the light.

[Drew0020]

I received my replacement Voyage today. Same problem with the two hues on the screen plus this one had 2 noticeable pinholes. I returned both. I don't have the time to deal with this poor quality from Amazon

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by Drew0020

I received my replacement Voyage today. Same problem with the two hues on the screen plus this one had 2 noticeable pinholes. I returned both. I don't have the time to deal with this poor quality from Amazon

I haven't turned mine on yet, but I fear the same. Life is too short for this particular merry-go-round.

[BrentB]

Originally Posted by WilliamG

Thanks for the picture. Yep, that looks about what they all look like. I just couldn't read on it, personally.

Nope, they all do not. At least one I know of. Mine. No issues. Love it.