Amazon announces Kindle Oasis

[LovesMacs]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I'm ure the anual has a olution for hat. Hey always put out ood manuals.

Ood manuals? As in the squid-faced aliens in Doctor Who? No thanks, I'll pass.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I think it will do alright. It won't have Paperwhite-like numbers but I don't think the Voyage ever will either. And remember, these Kindles almost always go down in price after the first big run is over.

I know I've mentioned this before but the Voyage has never been reduced in the UK in the 18 months it has been available. As far as I know it has only ever been reduced in the US.

[tomsem]

Not that I was strongly tempted to get a Voyage, but at this point, if I wanted a 'premium' device, I'd go with the Oasis for a few extra bucks.

But I've had very bad luck with pre-orders for Kindles: I think I've wound up returning 3 out of 4. I will have no problem waiting a few months without even thinking about getting one.

[Barbara1955]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Calling it a "charging" cover still suggests to me that I would be able to take full advantage of the longer battery life by reading without the cover and storing it in the cover. Thus being able to appreciate the newer ergonomic advantages (for me) of the naked Oasis as well.

However ... the price and the decision to continue using a breakable substrate will probably make me give it a pass for now. Perhaps I'll revisit after the first big discount event (and users have had a chance to chime in with actual usage data).

With Out the Cover you only get 15 hours reading time. With the cover 30 Hours. Not enough hours for me.

[Barbara1955]

Originally Posted by Avwriter

I am disappointed to see (users guide) that there is no way to charge the cover separately from the device. The port is on the device itself. One of the biggest initial attractions that I thought of would have been the ability to plug in the cover in to charge, and then detach the device and continue reading wirelessly. Every once in a while I find myself needing to charge my Voyage while in the middle of a book that I do not wish to stop reading, and the only option is to read with the device plugged in. This is a lost opportunity to get rid of that problem.

Buy a http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&key...l_3agzp93cxq_p

[Barbara1955]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Len says that battery life is 2 weeks for the Oasis, 7 weeks for the case and 9 weeks total.

That messes up my calculations. I figure 15 hour each. Sounds like with out the case the Reader is Worthless.

[meeera]

With the ease of attaching/unattaching the case, I could see a potential market here for a third-party solar charging case/battery, which could readily be left on the windowsill to recharge.

[Sweetpea]

Will you guys stop posting so fast! I cannot keep up with it!

Originally Posted by emellaich

Ignore price for a moment. Depending on your mindset high price might either mean too expensive or mean premium product. Pretend the Voyage and the Oasis were the same price. Ignore the 'missing' features (TTS, waterproof, screen size, etc.). Which would you rather own?

Voyage: Narrower, taller, heavier. Not easy to pop in and out of the case so you will probably be using it with case on. Origami case lets you prop it up. Battery is sufficient for most needs.

Oasis: Lighter, shorter, wider. Naked: more ergonomic but battery is limiting. Easy to add/remove case so probably will use it naked at home and put in the case for extended reading and on-the-go use (if you can find where you left the case last ). Increased led lights.

Which is better?

Problem is, I cannot remove price out of the mix. For me, a device is better if I get more for less. The only "advantage" of the Oasis for me would be the longer battery life. I only read readers with the cover on, so it wouldn't be a problem that the extra battery life come from the cover.

From your descriptions (I have never seen or held a Voyage):

Weight: no difference there, both are about the same weight, with the cover on the Oasis.
Battery life: Oasis wins there, but as long as I can read on holidays for 2 weeks, I'll be fine. So, in effect: no difference
Dimensions: wider, higher, thicker, all don't matter, as I hold my reader on the bottom right corner (generally) or preferably propped up somewhere. In fact, the Voyage could win out there, as you can buy a cover that includes a stand.
Light: I own a Kobo H2O. The light is generally at 7%. I doubt I'd ever make use of a brighter light. Very rarely, I'll jack it up to about 25%.

But then the price: at least €100 euro more expensive for something I don't even need!

So, in that case the Voyage would be the better device. You'll get about the same for a lot less.

[Barbara1955]

Sweetpea I don't know IF the Kobo has different lights But I cant take my PW3 Below 14... Below 14 its like the K3. Higher than 16 it so bright it hurts my eyes! So the 10 they talk about is useless to me. 14 really burns the battery life... I Try to keep it at that. The rare times I had it on 16 it went dead in 5 hours!!

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

They repackaged the Voyage and boosted the price.

Nope. Much lighter. Better LED lighting. Radically different ergonomics. And real mechanical page turn buttons. And if you add the Voyage Genuine Orgami Cover to the price of a Voyage ($45 to $60) you talking -- potentially -- a difference of $30 more for the Oasis. And this is a brand new product which (at least in the United States) will probably go in down in price at some point within a year. Out of my league, but really not much of a stretch for those who are in the market for the Voyage anyhow.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Light: I own a Kobo H2O. The light is generally at 7%. I doubt I'd ever make use of a brighter light. Very rarely, I'll jack it up to about 25%.

Originally Posted by Katie1

Sweetpea I don't know IF the Kobo has different lights But I cant take my PW3 Below 14... Below 14 its like the K3. Higher than 16 it so bright it hurts my eyes! So the 10 they talk about is useless to me. 14 really burns the battery life... I Try to keep it at that. The rare times I had it on 16 it went dead in 5 hours!!

The number of lights is not about intensity, but evenness. All (I think) of the current lit e-ink ereaders have five or six light across the bottom. Or one of the short sides if you prefer. Through some magic, this is directed across the screen. With this, it wouldn't be surprising to see a difference between the light level at the bottom and the top.

The Oasis has ten lights on one of the long sides. Again, the light is directed across the screen, bit as the distance they cover is much shorter, it is probably more even.

It will be interesting to see how well this works. And how noticeable its it. Of course, this might be a case of "it's not a bug, it's a feature". Once Amazon decided to make the wide bezel on the side, they had to put more LEDs there as well. And that means they needed more of them to along the side to make sure the light wasn't uneven between them. And once you do that, you have to make a good spin on it. So, this might be a case "10 LEDs give better light than the 6 LEDs we originally tried".

[Barbara1955]

My PW3 has 4 lights across the bottom. But yes I thing the more even. And you wouldn't need to have it very high.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I was thinking the same thing. Wait for the fire sale and get it on the cheap.

Obviously I have no inside knowledge, but it seems to me that Amazon is sending out some sort of trial balloon here. So far their margins on Kindles has been minimal, a cost they have willingly absorbed in order to sell e-books. First with the Voyage and now the Oasis they are trying to figure out where the price ceiling is. I wouldn't be surprised if they were willing to lower it depending on sales.

Balbutio ergo sum

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Katie1

My PW3 has 4 lights across the bottom. But yes I thing the more even. And you wouldn't need to have it very high.

Hopefully they are using 10 lower power LEDs so that in total they produce as much light as the four in the PW3 or however many in the Voyage. But, it won't surprise me if the Oasis does produce more light than the other ereaders.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I'd read in landscape just to maintain symmetry

Gonna have a problem pushing the top button to turn a page though.

Well, me and the monkey have done broke it

On a side note don't go near howyoudoin's avatar, it may be a trap.