Kindle Voyage - First Impressions

[Ocicat]

Originally Posted by pghaworth

Here's a new one

PW1 side by side with KV#1 - same book, same page, PW1 has many more books and less available space, combined with being 20% slower than the KV, supposedly.

1. Page turns are slower on the KV
2. Turns have more ghosting on the KV

This is supposed to be a faster device - per Amazon - with almost twice as much available space per specs, but the page turns are slower, show black when turning, and have more ghosting. Someone please explain that to me. I have very few books on my KV, nothing is indexing, and nothing is downloading.

Re item 2 - I turned off the page refresh at every page turn and it seems to help the black flash and ghosting.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by pghaworth

I thought the processor was supposed to be 20% faster, per Amazon????

But over 97% more pixels.

I'm just guessing here, but I suspect that Amazon Voyage sales are already into the tens of thousands. Just look at how much Amazon is having to write off for the failed release of the Fire phones. They are writing off $170 million and have $83 million worth of the phones still in stock, and this is after slashing the price from $200 down to $1 with contract. (According to http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/fir...ry?id=26425329.) I don't know what the Fire was valued at, but let us just say $600, so 83 million divided by 600 equals more than 138,000 Fire phones that didn't sell. I suspect the number is actually higher than that though. And I wouldn't really think Kindles are that much of a niche market now that ebook sales are surpassing paperback sales, and factor in that Amazon has about 75% of the ebook sales market in the USA. But who knows for sure...

Page turns do seem slower to me, but I'm going on memory as I don't have a PW to compare it to. But the increase in resolution means there are a lot more pixels (or whatever they call them on eInk screens) on the V to refresh than were on the PWs. So maybe that takes longer.

[Ocicat]

Finally spent time testing Voyage and I find it better than my PW2 and former PW1.

No pink and green blotches like PW1, no cloudiness, grey smudges and grey text like PW2.

Maybe it agrees with my older vision, myopic, but text is black, with a good contrast on a cool white background.

I am disappointed about the lack of software improvements, fonts, etc...

My Amazon orders always come from KY.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by judith009

Maybe it needs more processing power to refresh all those extra pixels on the newer device? It reminds me of how iOS became tons bigger and needed more processing power after they made devices with Retina displays.

Eink ereaders do NOT have pixels. Eink devices use microcapsules containing ink or some other substance. Apples and oranges.

[judith009]

Originally Posted by Skydog

Eink ereaders do NOT have pixels. Eink devices use microcapsules containing ink or some other substance. Apples and oranges.

Amazon calls their device "300ppi". They also claim it has "twice as many pixels".

Originally Posted by Skydog

Eink ereaders do NOT have pixels. Eink devices use microcapsules containing ink or some other substance. Apples and oranges.

An electric charge has to be sent to all those extra microcapsules to paint a new screen. So whether we call them pixels or microcapsules the larger number requires more electrical activity which translates into more time needed to update. A faster processor helps, but apparently not enough to keep the speed on par with PWs.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by Drew0020

I mean does Amazon have anyone look at these Kindles? Mine was so obviously two colors. I figure when they make the decision to finally ship the final design they must show that it is ready for consumers? I just don't get how this debacle happens?

You're obviously stuck in the Mobileread positive reinforcement feed back loop. Not everyone has the same stringent standards as people on this forum. As a member of an online forum for ereading I consider myself more Hardcore than your average consumer and most of the "problem voyages" posted on this forum seem perfectly acceptable to me.
As for a 1000 readers being sold, surely it's higher than that. Even 100th of 1 percent or the US population is 3000 and there's still all of the other countries to take into account.

[Drew0020]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

You're obviously stuck in the Mobileread positive reinforcement feed back loop. Not everyone has the same stringent standards as people on this forum. As a member of an online forum for ereading I consider myself more Hardcore than your average consumer and most of the "problem voyages" posted on this forum seem perfectly acceptable to me.
As for a 1000 readers being sold, surely it's higher than that. Even 100th of 1 percent or the US population is 3000 and there's still all of the other countries to take into account.

I didn't even think my standards were that high. I just remember the good old days when eink reminded me of paper and I was wowed every time I used my Kindle.

Now it's kind of a mess with the backlight. I love the sharper text but the screen doesn't remind me of paper because of these anomolies.

[Josieb1]

I remember that feeling when I first got my Sony PRS505 back in 2009. Problem is we are 5 years on and things are supposed to have improved. Amazon and Kobo promise whiter screens, blacker blacks and clear screens but the devices are so varied that I never buy an ereader expecting it to just be okay. It's like the devices they show the management and the reviewers end up being nothing like the ones they ship to the consumers. I've spent three weeks buying two Kobo ereaders and ended up working through 10 devices to get two without faults, for me that's an 80% faulty rate.

I don't actually consider myself fussy, I just wanted two ereaders worth the price I paid, i didn't want light leaks from the frames, faulty hard drive problems or two tones screens. I got all of those.

The hype and advertising has to match the device we hold in our hands.

[Barty]

Originally Posted by judith009

Maybe it needs more processing power to refresh all those extra pixels on the newer device? It reminds me of how iOS became tons bigger and needed more processing power after they made devices with Retina displays.

Yep more pixels. Not quite the same thing as retina iPad because LCD requires more battery plus tablets have to handle 3D Games and so forth not just putting text on screen.

The page turning speed may be a limitation of current e ink high res screen and Amazon can't do much about it.

[David58117]

You know, last night I got out my old kobo glo and did a side by side comparison - the kobo had spotlighting (where one led shines outward into the screen), uneven blotches, and a heavy gradient discoloration.

The voyage looked absolutely flawless in comparison. I have a light gradient issue - but not one of the other issues. The contrast looked amazing in comparison.

How I read on the kobo (and PW one and two, and nook glowlight) With their issues, I don't know.

I was with this forum on the PW one and two issues - but not on this.

I'm very glad spotlighting and blotchiness are gone.

It's like the voyage got rid of the two biggest annoyances all eink readers suffered from and still get flak..

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by David58117

You know, last night I got out my old kobo glo and did a side by side comparison - the kobo had spotlighting (where one led shines outward into the screen), uneven blotches, and a heavy gradient discoloration.

The voyage looked absolutely flawless in comparison. I have a light gradient issue - but not one of the other issues. The contrast looked amazing in comparison.

How I read on the kobo (and PW one and two, and nook glowlight) With their issues, I don't know.

I was with this forum on the PW one and two issues - but not on this.

I'm very glad spotlighting and blotchiness are gone.

It's like the voyage got rid of the two biggest annoyances all eink readers suffered from and still get flak..

I actually bought a Glo yesterday, I paid £70 for it. Yes it's two year old tech, and yes the screen isn't as sharp as the Voyage is supossed to be but I paid £70 for it (and it is new), vs the £169 Amazon want for a Voyage. For what I need it for its perfect. I would have been very happy to have a Voyage, I pre ordered it back in September but after all the issues on here and having been through the PW1 debacle I decided not to bother. I'll wait a year and see if they bring out a 'new and improved' Voyage next year.

For a premium price I don't feel it's too much to be sure of what I'm getting and to not have to play the will I won't I get a decent one game.

[cybmole]

[QUOTE=Josieb1;2959375

The hype and advertising has to match the device we hold in our hands.[/QUOTE]

time to switch to reading on tablets?

the only negatives are battery life & screen reflectivity, but all the other e-ink issues just go away . I now read nearly always on kindle Fire via epub reading apps, in preference to my "super" e-ink aura HD device.

I recharge tablet at night anyway so battery is not an issue for me. I get v fast page turns , retina display quality, 300+dpi text, controllable background shading, full colour book covers,epub3 support, immediate page turns, tap to access wikipedia / dictionaries of my choice, no ghosting, no gradients, no blotches, wireless access to my calibre library via calibre companion.... what's not to like and why pay nearly £200 for some inferior, slow, gray scale only device

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by cybmole

time to switch to reading on tablets?

the only negatives are battery life & screen reflectivity, but all the other e-ink issues just go away . I now read nearly always on kindle Fire via epub reading apps, in preference to my "super" e-ink aura HD device.

I recharge tablet at night anyway so battery is not an issue for me. I get v fast page turns , retina display quality, 300+dpi text, controllable background shading, full colour book covers,epub3 support, immediate page turns, tap to access wikipedia / dictionaries of my choice, no ghosting, no gradients, no blotches, wireless access to my calibre library via calibre companion.... what's not to like and why pay nearly £200 for some inferior, slow, gray scale only device

I have an iPad retina mini that I did read on for commuting for a while but I don't want to carry an iPad mini and an iPhone out with me. The iPad mini is worth 4 times the cost of my new Kobo Glo. Also I don't want to read on a tablet. I like e-ink ereaders. Just ask a fair price for the product your selling and I think the Voyage is overpriced considering all the issues it seems to have.