Amazon announces Kindle Oasis

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ApK

Ignoring price, I'd have to try them both to decide. I like the IDEA of the ergo design and improved lighting, but would need to see for myself.

I don't think the lighting is improved. I've seen the lighting on an H2O and a PW3 and I think they work well. There's no need for 10 LEDs especially since the H2O does very well with just 6 LEDs on a larger screen.

Both the H2O & PW3 can go brighter than I'd ever need.

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by NullNix

The bundles *are* better if you were always planning to buy a cover anyway.

Only if you were going to buy an Amazon cover - there's a myriad of 3rd party covers out there, some of which are so cheap it'd be rude not buy at least 3 different colours and they also do the job perfectly well.

I've never bought a Kindle without one

Same here, but I've never bought an Amazon cover - my K3, PW1, PW2 and PW3 have all had 3rd party covers - Oberon ones because they're so damned nice despite their weight and price; as well as some dirt cheap ones for the beach (so I don't mind if these end up with suncream on them - it's wipe-clean pleather plus worst case I can get a new one for £5 or less) Ok, so it helps that the Paperwhites are all the exact same size and so I haven't bought a new cover in over 2 years

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

From someone who's had a bit of a hands on with the Oasis...

New Kindle shockingly different -- so's the price
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/c...look/82872938/

The device disappears when you are engrossed in the book you are reading. You pay attention to the story and not the device you are using. The only time this doesn't happen is when the formatting is that bad that you get distracted by it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Twitter is to communications as haiku is to literature.

Twitter is an infinite number of monkeys typing on an infinite number of keyboard just randomly pressing keys.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Well, it would be a radical new design if you ignored the pocketbook 360 & jetbook mini etc.

Pocketbook 360


Jetbook Mini

[DiapDealer]

I see we've reached the traditional JSWolf phase of the New Kindle Announcement process.

[NullNix]

Originally Posted by Yolina

Only if you were going to buy an Amazon cover - there's a myriad of 3rd party covers out there, some of which are so cheap it'd be rude not buy at least 3 different colours and they also do the job perfectly well.

Yeah, but I was burned by multiple non-Amazon covers which claimed to fit specific devices but fitted so poorly that the device fell out or had to be jammed in by main force. I just don't trust third-party covers any more.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Yolina

2) page turn buttons on only one side will irritate me no end given that I swap 'Kindle holding hand' quite often.

You flip the Oasis over and contents of the screen flips as well. This way and you can the buttons on either side.

[gmercator]

I just came across a YouTube "Hands-On" video of the new Oasis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njKVcSGJ5Oc

The unit itself looks like it is in Portuguese??? language and the narrator may be speaking Portuguese or another language.... so you will have to just watch if you cannot understand it...

Some interesting tidbits from that video:

A new font... Amazon Ember.... at approx 2:32

The serial number of the demo unit starts with G0B0 GC09.... at approx 3:43

It was running Firmware OS 5.7.1.1 in the video... same device info screen as the serial number

The orientation of the Page-Turn buttons can be changed in the settings.... he toggles it back and forth.... at approx 1:37

At approx 3:30, the video shows separate battery meters for both the ereader and the case... interesting

At approx 4:47, he demonstrates the accelerometer by changing the ereader's orientation a few times

This was a demo unit, so it may not be identical to new units being shipped out

Watch it if you have a chance, and I am sure others here will spot some interesting new features or miscues

Hope this helps!

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by NullNix

Yeah, but I was burned by multiple non-Amazon covers which claimed to fit specific devices but fitted so poorly that the device fell out or had to be jammed in by main force. I just don't trust third-party covers any more.

I've never had a 3rd party cover not fit properly even the cheapest from fleabay I've got fit perfectly.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I'm close. $359.99 for my K2, + $29.99 for the world's ugliest official Amazon cover to keep it in.

Same here, and the K2 still works perfectly.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

Hubby wants that model as he wants a small iPhone. The 6S is too big for his pocket.

Ditto. I don't WANT a big phone. I still have an Apple iphone 5, and I'll wait for it to break. But then I will buy the new SE and be very grateful there IS a new small model available. I actually wrote to Apple to tell them why I wasn't buying the 6 or larger phones. So the SE is in response to consumer demand.

Originally Posted by tlrowley

I pre-ordered

I'm still using the 1st gen PW, and for the past few months I've been suffering from some yet-to-be-diagnosed inflammatory arthritis in my hands & wrists which make holding my PW just about unbearable. I've been wanting to upgrade, so for me it's all about the weight. The difference in price between a Voyage + case and the Oasis (with case) isn't very much.

That being said, I'm not surprised that few people are talking about upgrading from the 3rd gen PW or Voyage - those are both great readers and there's not a whole lot of "new" in the Oasis.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

To be honest, you might be better of with a Voyage because you can adjust the amount of pressure needed to press the buttons.

I'm not so sure of that.


I have a Voyage, plus some nice new hand arthritis (thanks, post cancer meds which are accelerating my aging .... grrrr ). The Voyage haptic buttons are nice, but not a complete solution. The K4 buttons were a softer press, and could be pressed with the side of my thumb, way down at the base of the thumb. The haptic buttons require the tip of the thumb. I've also got some finger-tip sensitivity, bad enough that on some days I can't touch things with any right fingertips at all, not even to turn the pages on the Voyage, hapticly or just with the touch. So I use the left hand ... but maybe the Oasis will be a help. It'll have real buttons again (lets hope they are soft, and not hard) and I think the ergonomic weighting will be a big help too. The several reviews quoted all seem to say that the accelerometer will flip the text on the fly, when you switch the kindle between hands.

Originally Posted by NullNix

I have more or less the same reasons -- 1st-gen PW user, and I have RSI kept under control by an ergonomic keyboard that costs easily three times what the Oasis does. I spend about as much time reading as I do using said keyboard, and much of that is on the Kindle, so it seems penny-wise and pound-foolish not to go for something that is clearly ergonomically better. It's a shame the squeezy page-turn things and especially the light sensor didn't come across, but the ergonomics alone, and the reduced weight, decided it for me. (Also, the battery case brings back one of the PW1's nicest features, which I've definitely got used to: the huge long battery life.)

However... most people do not bother with ergonomically optimal devices (there's a reason proper ergonomic keyboards are so expensive: they're halfway towards the insane 'medical device' markup). So the Oasis is unusual in that respect alone: it's a device built for its ergonomics aimed at the relatively-price-insensitive part of the mass market. It'll be interesting to see how it does. (And I'll post here saying how I think it compares to the PW1 once I've had a try with it.)

Yes. The Oasis may sell best to the market that NEEDS it. However, the squeezy page-turn things weren't all that ergonomically sensitive (I've got them already); maybe these real buttons will prove more helpful.

I *had* had myself convinced that I wouldn't need a new Voyage 2. I would save my money. However, now that it is not a Voyage 2, but an ergonomic Oasis which might help my weaknesses -- I think I'll go pre-order. (I can rationalize that I did just trade in two K4's and a K3, even though that money is actually already spent.)

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You flip the Oasis over and contents of the screen flips as well. This way and you can the buttons on either side.

I'm aware of that, thank you but having to flip the reader a lot is what will irritate me - currently swapping hand is seamless, reading is not interrupted. So to achieve the same, I'd need to keep the Oasis in the same orientation and use the touchscreen to turn pages when holding it in the other hand, which kind of defeats having page turn buttons.

[AnemicOak]

Another hands on, this one from C-Net. Lots of videos showing up on Youtube now...

[Strether]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I see we've reached the traditional JSWolf phase of the New Kindle Announcement process.

You have to give him marks for consistency. He's disliked them all, including the first one when it was just a rumor.

Jim