Kindle Voyage - First Impressions

[DSpider]

sparklemotion, you've seen it in a Best Buy store, where thousands of people have placed their grubby fingers on the 2013 model for about a year (2013-2014), so of course that the "new" PW looks darker, since the screen doesn't have the thick oil coating left by thousands of fingerprints.

To clarify, there is no such thing as a PW3. It's a PW2 with 4 GB. Period. The Japanese had 4 GB since the initial PW1. It's not a new model, it's the exact same model built by the exact same assembly line specifications, with the exact same screen and CPU as the PW2. It just has 4 GB instead of 2 GB (well more like ~3 GB instead of 1.25 GB since apparently the OS takes up quite a bit of space). It may seem faster only if the 2013 model wasn't rebooted in months or if it has a bit more content on it that the "2014" model.

Anyway, I thought that this was a Kindle Voyage discussion?

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Move to Europe

It would probably be the only way I could stop playing early adopter game.

Originally Posted by DSpider

sparklemotion, you've seen it in a Best Buy store, where thousands of people have placed their grubby fingers on the 2013 model for about a year (2013-2014), so of course that the "new" PW looks darker, since the screen doesn't have the thick oil coating left by thousands of fingerprints.

They didn't have the PW 2013 version in Best Buy. They only had the Voyage and the 2014 PW. I compared the 2014 version to my own PW2 which I had in my purse. I didn't really need to compare it though, to be honest. The moment I saw it, I noticed the difference. I've since seen my friends 2014 PW version as well and the font is noticeably darker and sharper than mine. Take that however you like.

Interesting how some people seem to be so convinced almost to the point of religious fervor that Amazon did not update the PW 2014 other than adding more storage. Not too many people have seen as many PW screens as sparklemotion, so I trust that the 2014 model she saw must have had something done to it to improve the screen. For all we know there might be newer, improved versions of the screen used in the 2013 model available, or even just better quality control in the manufacturing process.

[pghaworth]

http://the-digital-reader.com/2014/0...le-paperwhite/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle

"Kindle Paperwhite (2nd generation)

...The Kindle Paperwhite 2 was released in most major international markets by the middle of 2014 and this released model includes 4GB of storage. As of September 2014, the US version of the Paperwhite 2 includes 4GB of storage..."

http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00JG8GOW..._k_reader_k_kp

The Amazon Paperwhite product page above, the only model not showing "New" in the line-up at the top is the Paperwhite.

Originally Posted by pghaworth

http://the-digital-reader.com/2014/0...le-paperwhite/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle

"Kindle Paperwhite (2nd generation)

...The Kindle Paperwhite 2 was released in most major international markets by the middle of 2014 and this released model includes 4GB of storage. As of September 2014, the US version of the Paperwhite 2 includes 4GB of storage..."

http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00JG8GOW..._k_reader_k_kp

The Amazon Paperwhite product page above, the only model not showing "New" in the line-up at the top is the Paperwhite.

None of that precludes the possibility that Amazon quietly improved certain parts or that the manufacturers of parts didn't improve them. My guess is that the light layer got a subtle tweak.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Interesting how some people seem to be so convinced almost to the point of religious fervor that Amazon did not update the PW 2014 other than adding more storage. Not too many people have seen as many PW screens as sparklemotion, so I trust that the 2014 model she saw must have had something done to it to improve the screen. For all we know there might be newer, improved versions of the screen used in the 2013 model available, or even just better quality control in the manufacturing process.

Thank you, Jack! I'm only stating what I see. I don't know why simply being honest seems to upset people. It was the same with the color hues, people became downright hostile hearing about it and I really never understood why. I also did not state it as fact that it's been improved, I simply said to my eyes it seems like it has been.

The screens on the ones I saw were no doubt better. I was confused by it, but I cannot deny what my eyes saw. Maybe they have tightened the manufacturing process on it, I'm really not sure. Maybe the new ones I saw just happened to be noticeably better than mine and others I saw in the past when I went through exchanges. I think most of us know by now that e-reader screens vary wildly from one device to the next. It could be a case of that, I suppose, but truly the font was slightly sharper and slightly darker to my eyes. That's really all I can say.

Anyway, I apologize, I don't mean to derail the thread. Back to talking about the Voyage.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

There's nothing wrong with saying that your screen is better than the last version that you had. But to extrapolate that Amazon had gone and put a new and improved screen in their upgraded version seems to be taking it a bit far. I think along the same lines as a previous poster that stated that their manufacturing process has improved. Kind of the same way that in eight months time their be less complaints of poor screens on the Kindle Voyage.

[sparklemotion]

deleted

[jj2me]

I don't see any hostility. More like "Whoa, no blog or any other source of any kind says they are two different models, so we shouldn't let this idea be declared as fact, for fear of possibly starting a trail of misinformation that will be hard to roll back." Just a case of accuracy. You may be right, but it would prudently take some substantiation of your hypothesis.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by jj2me

I don't see any hostility.

I was referring to the threads last year regarding the PW2 and the color hues, not this thread. I also never stated what I said to be fact. I simply said that the device appeared to be a slightly improved to my eyes.

[jj2me]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

I also never stated what I said to be fact.

Apologies. I read and remembered only the labeling of the models, like "2014 model," when you had clearly introduced them as "from 2014," as in the below:

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

I compared my PW from 2013 to the recent PW from 2014 ...

The screen is also very even and clean on the new 2014 models. While my PW from 2013 ...

[Ocicat]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

They didn't have the PW 2013 version in Best Buy. They only had the Voyage and the 2014 PW. I compared the 2014 version to my own PW2 which I had in my purse. I didn't really need to compare it though, to be honest. The moment I saw it, I noticed the difference. I've since seen my friends 2014 PW version as well and the font is noticeably darker and sharper than mine. Take that however you like.

I totally agree with you, I noticed the same "improvement" or whatever tweak at 3 BB when I was searching for cases for new Voyage and Tab S. Yet, I always thought I had one of the better PW2s.

Too bad posters feel the need to correct others and not respect personal opinions and thoughts, this invites lurking and less forum participation.

[Barty]

I would not be surprised if they've made some improvement to the manufacturing process. Of course they're not going to trumpet it because they want people to buy the new voyage and don't want a bunch of unhappy pw2 calling them.

[speedlever]

So as not to derail this thread, I started a new thread with pics of my K3, PW2012, and PW2014 screens in both incandescent light and in the dark.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=249404

Images are resized to 600x450 to stay within forum guidelines.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Interesting how some people seem to be so convinced almost to the point of religious fervor that Amazon did not update the PW 2014 other than adding more storage. Not too many people have seen as many PW screens as sparklemotion, so I trust that the 2014 model she saw must have had something done to it to improve the screen. For all we know there might be newer, improved versions of the screen used in the 2013 model available, or even just better quality control in the manufacturing process.

If Amazon had done something to improve the screen, and upgrade the storage, intending the upgrades to be a new paperwhite, I'm sure they would have announced it. Manufacturers claim to have something new as soon as they so much fart at a somewhat different angle.

I think the 2 GB upgrade and any screen differences are coincidences; replacing phased out 2 GB chips, and a screen hitting the peak of production quality.