Kindle Voyage - First Impressions

[xendula]

Originally Posted by David58117

Dude!

This is why I've been advocating calling them and telling them your kindle is defective, and request if they will send a replacement once it's corrected.

They then place a note on your account and you're covered.

My PW 2 was over a year old, and because I called and had the note on my account, I've been able to request the newer 2014 PW 2, for free.

I have a bazillion notes on my account, because I went through various exchanges when I got the PW2. I even mentioned it to the woman I talked to, who didn't care, really. Now that I hear you say that, maybe i should try again. Gah, the thought of calling them again gives me stomach aches.

[David58117]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Here's a picture of my Voyage. Would one of you who's been suffering from what you perceive as "bad" screens be kind enough to tell me what you think of my screen, which looks absolutely fine to me?

Slightly darker at the top, brighter at bottom.

The lights are at the bottom on the voyage, so it's kind of expected.

I think that's what a lot of the "problem," is.

I wonder if next they could put the lights at the top and bottom to prevent this..

[David58117]

Originally Posted by xendula

I have a bazillion notes on my account, because I went through various exchanges when I got the PW2. I even mentioned it to the woman I talked to, who didn't care, really. Now that I hear you say that, maybe i should try again. Gah, the thought of calling them again gives me stomach aches.

I had tons of exchanges on both the PW 1 and 2 as well.

When I had them place my note, I specifically said my kindle was still defective, that it appears all of them are at this time, and if they would acknowledge my kindle was defective and that I was allowed to receive a new unit once the problems are corrected.

I did the online chat route, and initially I was offered a new kindle at a discount. I said no, and to check the note.

He did.

Then he said one would be on the way for free!

BTW - the new PW 2 I received is worse than the 2013 one. It has heavy spotlighting and a yellow hue. I went through five PW 2s and got the cooler tempered one (light blueish). I think I'll be keeping the original..

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by David58117

I had tons of exchanges on both the PW 1 and 2 as well.

When I had them place my note, I specifically said my kindle was still defective, that it appears all of them are at this time, and if they would acknowledge my kindle was defective and that I was allowed to receive a new unit once the problems are corrected.

And they told you yes when you asked that? I asked something similar and was told no. I'm happy that you were able to get a new one, but unfortunately this wasn't my experience with the PW1. I was dealing with an Amazon rep named Andrew who was extremely helpful and patient. He sent me device after device trying to get me a good one. Even eventually telling me they were aware of the Pw1 problems and had now solved it and would send me a good one that I would be happy with.

This unfortunately was not the case. It was then that I asked if I kept this one could I be informed when the issues were fixed and get a good one then? He told me he couldn't do that for me. He could only offer to refund my money at this point. I guess it really just depends on what rep you get in these instances.

Originally Posted by David58117

BTW - the new PW 2 I received is worse than the 2013 one. It has heavy spotlighting and a yellow hue. I went through five PW 2s and got the cooler tempered one (light blueish). I think I'll be keeping the original..

Yikes. This is the 4GB 2014 version? How disappointing.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by David58117

I had tons of exchanges on both the PW 1 and 2 as well.

When I had them place my note, I specifically said my kindle was still defective, that it appears all of them are at this time, and if they would acknowledge my kindle was defective and that I was allowed to receive a new unit once the problems are corrected.

I did the online chat route, and initially I was offered a new kindle at a discount. I said no, and to check the note.

He did.

Then he said one would be on the way for free!

BTW - the new PW 2 I received is worse than the 2013 one. It has heavy spotlighting and a yellow hue. I went through five PW 2s and got the cooler tempered one (light blueish). I think I'll be keeping the original..

Well, THAT sucks! I was kind of hoping that the latest PWs had the screen hues fixed

Andrew from kindle support assured me that i could exchange it later, i just never thought of it again, and wouldn't need to, if the KV wasn't such a disappointment for me...

ETA: Hm. I just read Sparkelmotions's reply, and we suspect we were dealing with the same Andrew. Now I wonder if i remember things incorrectly. Whateve the case, if it has been done for David, it should be done for others, note or not. I stated repeatedly that I was keeping the least bad one, but that the screen was still no good. Hope this is among the notes they have on this case.

After my last conversation, they sent me the regular feedback survey email, and I answered that they had given me no help. I promptly got one of those "sorry you're not happy, give us another chance" emails that I ignored. Maybe i'll try one more time via email, to give them time to look through my case. Hmmm. But then if the screen ends up worse...

[Waitingforatrain]

I posted photos of my kv a few pages back. To. *my* eyes they are similar to what Harry posted. I *think* that I can see a slight yellow tinge on the upper part of the screen depending on the ambient light available as well as the brightness settings on the kv. I am going to be on the road for a good part of the rest of the month so I will give it a good workout in various conditions. I got it to replace my k3 keyboard. Outdoors the hue is fine (No Backlight). Indoors.... Well I am still experimenting with light levels, font sizes and such. Will see what I think when I am home again late Nov. Would not even try to order a replacement until then.

I tend to agree with the statement that if I didn't know there was an issue with the hue that I wouldn't have even noticed it. Ignorance is bliss.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by David58117

Slightly darker at the top, brighter at bottom.

The lights are at the bottom on the voyage, so it's kind of expected.

I think that's what a lot of the "problem," is.

I wonder if next they could put the lights at the top and bottom to prevent this..

This is what I see, too, and it is exactly what I would expect to see. Maybe this is why the Kindle CS people are saying it's normal...they are not really talking about different "colors" of the screen per se (and I'm not disputing that there ARE different colors--while I haven't seen any Voyage screens in person other than mine, I did see other paperwhite screens, and there were a couple that I saw the "bruising" and "rainbow" effects on.)

Shari

ps--before anyone jumps on me, I am NOT saying that anyone is imagining seeing colors. I am, in fact explicitly saying the opposite. I am giving a possible reason for Kindle CS saying that the variations are "normal".

[RDaneel54]

Good golly has this thread gotten long! I've read every post and really empathize with those who have gotten the two-toned ones - it is distracting! And if you got a good one, yay!

I have the two tones, but not nearly as bad as some I've seen. For most lighting levels it is barely noticeable on mine. I'm going to keep the one I got from Amazon. Here's why.

I went to Best Buy to see if I could get a two-tone free one. The first one I got was really noticeable at all light levels. So I exchanged it for another one. The second one was really brown, there was no blue at the bottom except at the highest light levels, 20+. But the brown was kind of muddy and really distracting. I guess I prefer a bluer or whiter tone. It went back and I got my money refunded. I cannot imagine going through more exchanges. It was frustrating. But, the Best Buy people were super nice and gave me no hassle. Highly recommend trying them out if you have one where you live.

That's the update from the robot.

[javadoo]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

You are the one that tries to say that Harry's picture does not have different colors in it based purely on the fact that your eyes combined with your viewing device (monitor) does not show it TO YOUR vision. And if you say it is the irrefutable truth, then you are the one that needs to lighten up.

It doesn't matter-I am not going to appease you guys. There is obviously some unwritten rule that I have violated.

All that matters to me is that my Voyage is gorgeous-with a clear, uniform screen. I'm happy with it, with every aspect of it.

Sorry you guys are unable to enjoy it. It really is beautiful when it is working properly.

[cct1]

Originally Posted by David58117

Slightly darker at the top, brighter at bottom.

The lights are at the bottom on the voyage, so it's kind of expected.

I think that's what a lot of the "problem," is.

I wonder if next they could put the lights at the top and bottom to prevent this..

I agree that this is the issue. The light doesn't permeate all the way to the top, and that's the rub.

I love the reader otherwise, and I've found that by turning the light as low as possible for the conditions, it's tolerable. I don't read in the dark, in that case it would be too distracting, but I'm thinking of holding on to mine because otherwise it's pretty darned good.

I wonder how much more expensive it would be to place on the top and bottom to even out the lighting, and what it would do to battery life, I'm skeptical that only light coming from the bottom will result in consistently evenly lit screens.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by cct1

I love the reader otherwise, and I've found that by turning the light as low as possible for the conditions, it's tolerable. I don't read in the dark, in that case it would be too distracting, but I'm thinking of holding on to mine because otherwise it's pretty darned good.

That was one of my biggest problems with the voyage, reading in the dark was intolerable for me because the two toned screen becomes even more obvious. (Mine also had color hues as well.) Speaking only for myself, my feeling was what use is a lit reader if one can't comfortably use it in dark or dims rooms? This may not matter for those that read mainly in well lit rooms, or for those that have no issues with theirs, but it was a great problem for me.

Interestingly, the Kobo H20 is lit the same with the lights on the bottom, yet they don't appear to suffer from the two toned screen or the color hues. I'm curious how they have managed it whereas Amazon has trouble on the voyage. My Kobo H20 and also my PW2 are evenly lit... so that may dispel the reason being the lighting on the bottom? I imagine it could still be part of the issue, but I assume some other variables are also at play.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

...
Interestingly, the Kobo H20 is lit the same with the lights on the bottom, yet they don't appear to suffer from the two toned screen or the color hues. I'm curious how they have managed it whereas Amazon has trouble on the voyage. My Kobo H20 and also my PW2 are evenly lit... so that may dispel the reason being the lighting on the bottom? I imagine it could still be part of the issue, but I assume some other variables are also at play.

I'm puzzled myself.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by cct1

I agree that this is the issue. The light doesn't permeate all the way to the top, and that's the rub.

I love the reader otherwise, and I've found that by turning the light as low as possible for the conditions, it's tolerable. I don't read in the dark, in that case it would be too distracting, but I'm thinking of holding on to mine because otherwise it's pretty darned good.

I wonder how much more expensive it would be to place on the top and bottom to even out the lighting, and what it would do to battery life, I'm skeptical that only light coming from the bottom will result in consistently evenly lit screens.

I could not disagree more. Why is it that Kobo has managed to successfully produce at least two generations of evenly-lighted, blotch-free, color hue-free, beautiful displays with the LEDs in the exact same location as the Kindles? They too are positioned at the bottom yet are *not* plagued with the chronic problems found with many of the front-lighted Kindles. For the record, I've owned and used an assortment of PW1s, PW2s, Kobo Aura HDs and now an H20.

Having to tolerate lighting shortcomings is inexcusable and unnecessary, IMHO. How on earth Amazon's executives in charge of product development have allowed yet another release with the same problem/flaw and lack of quality consistency simply befuddles me. :banghead:

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by Skydog

Having to tolerate lighting shortcomings is inexcusable and unnecessary, IMHO. How on earth Amazon's executives in charge of product development have allowed yet another release with the same problem/flaw and lack of quality consistency simply befuddles me. :banghead:

It IS inexcusable, and what's more inexcusable is to tell those who have received an unacceptable device that it's normal () in certain lighting conditions (like all the time everywhere). Gimme an enormous break!

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by Skydog

I could not disagree more. Why is it that Kobo has managed to successfully produce at least two generations of evenly-lighted, blotch-free, color hue-free, beautiful displays with the LEDs in the exact same location as the Kindles? They too are positioned at the bottom yet are *not* plagued with the chronic problems found with many of the front-lighted Kindles. For the record, I've owned and used an assortment of PW1s, PW2s, Kobo Aura HDs and now an H20.

Having to tolerate lighting shortcomings is inexcusable and unnecessary, IMHO. How on earth Amazon's executives in charge of product development have allowed yet another release with the same problem/flaw and lack of quality consistency simply befuddles me. :banghead:

Yes, yes, and yes! I was just wondering the exact same thing in my above post.

I will say I was able to eventually get an evenly lit Kindle PW2 (without color hues, it was not an easy feat) last year, which in some ways is almost more disturbing because it shows Amazon can manage it, just not with any regularity. The whole thing baffles me. Why is this such a problem for them? It is truly inexcusable to keep releasing device after device with these issues, year after year. I don't wish to make anyone who loves their kindle upset, but I have to be honest and say that I feel they are really taking advantage of a lot of people. This is not a cheap device. It's frustrating and disappointing to me.