International Kindle - it shipped!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by mack 120

Waingateman,

Many thanks for your reply i'm encouraged and now hopeful. Have been sat here thinking sod it its going back. Just so frustrating, trying to use it as it was. Fingers crossed my issues will be resolved.Been on charge for 2 hrs via the mains still showing amber light.

Will post back my findings, so hope it works

mack120

Here's hoping!!

[Ea]

Originally Posted by waingateman

Hi Ea / mack120

Yes I know most battery-powered devices comes with a warning to fully power the battery before first use - or else you're asking for trouble.

but after 4 hours on a USB port - I thought it should be charged especially as Amazon say 3 hours in the lit.

Also mack120 I've found out how to do a restart or restore factory defaults

home, menu, settings, menu then restart or reset to factory defaults

Sorry if I sounded a bit 'snippy' - didn't mean to. I got the impression you'd rushed it

[waingateman]

Hi Ea

I didn't take it as snippy - just a valid observation from my original post <g>

[Ea]

Originally Posted by waingateman

Hi Ea

I didn't take it as snippy - just a valid observation from my original post <g>

Doesn't mean I shouldn't try to be courteous and kind

[TheRat]

Originally Posted by mack 120

Waingateman,

Many thanks for your reply i'm encouraged and now hopeful. Have been sat here thinking sod it its going back. Just so frustrating, trying to use it as it was. Fingers crossed my issues will be resolved.Been on charge for 2 hrs via the mains still showing amber light.

Will post back my findings, so hope it works

mack120

Hi mack 120,

Seems like similar issues like yours also happen on my side (lightning burst stays even when not charging, have to press buttons several times to get a response, device runs out of battery even after been plugged in the mains for hours, amber charging LED never seems to turn green). I tried several USB cords and power adaptors and no combination seems to work.

This night I left it plugged in for 7.5 hours. When I awoke I did not even see an amber light anymore - it was just dark, not green as I had expected. The screen was showing a 'Critical Battery' warning. Resets yielded only a two second restart followed by another critical battery warning.

Long story short, just called Amazon and after 30 minutes of nice but unsuccessful chatting they sent out an replacement Kindle. Lets see how this works... Hope I do not have to pay duty and VAT again…

BTW, when the device was still working I found that after shortly plugging it into my computer the lightning burst and unresponsiveness issues where gone until I next connected it to the mains directly. Maybe that helps those whose device is still working...

Greetings from Munich,

Andreas

[kelvincai]

Kindle 2 International price dropped to $259 & Kindle 2 US disappear.

Too rush to buy it when it was announced on 13th, but get 3 days earlier than ordering it now. $20 for 3 days early with my Kindle. Worth it!

[RobbieClarken]

Originally Posted by kelvincai

Kindle 2 International price dropped to $259 & Kindle 2 US disappear.

Too rush to buy it when it was announced on 13th, but get 3 days earlier than ordering it now. $20 for 3 days early with my Kindle. Worth it!

Not too fast. I just got this email from Amazon:

Good news! Due to strong customer demand for our newest Kindle with U.S. and international wireless, we are consolidating our family of 6" Kindles. As part of this consolidation, we are lowering the price of the Kindle you just purchased from $279 down to $259. You don't need to do anything to get the lower price--we are automatically issuing you a $20 refund. This refund should be processed in the next few days and will appear as a credit on your next billing statement.

A welcome surprise!

[pdurrant]

Me too. As you say, a welcome surprise.

While please to get back $20, I'd be very much more pleased if they'd realise that some people outside the US would like the option to buy books without paying $2+VAT for the wireless download

I'd be happy to pay a separate $2+VAT for wireless download if I decided the convenience was worth it. But I object to $2+VAT being added to the cost of every book in the UK store.

Originally Posted by RobbieClarken

I just got this email from Amazon

[RobbieClarken]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Me too. As you say, a welcome surprise.

While please to get back $20, I'd be very much more pleased if they'd realise that some people outside the US would like the option to buy books without paying $2+VAT for the wireless download

I'd be happy to pay a separate $2+VAT for wireless download if I decided the convenience was worth it. But I object to $2+VAT being added to the cost of every book in the UK store.

Can you change your country on the "Manage Your Kindle" page (with a false address). I assume the Kindle will detect your location over Whispernet but if you make purchases on your computer and transfer via USB you might be able to avoid the extra fees. I haven't got my Kindle yet so can't test it.

[pdurrant]

I presume this would require changing the country for the Amazon account as well. I haven't tried this - although since people in the past have managed to use US Kindles outside the US, I suppose it must be possible.

A few too many hoops for me to try it yet. Hopefully they'll see reason on the download charges.

Originally Posted by RobbieClarken

Can you change your country on the "Manage Your Kindle" page (with a false address). I assume the Kindle will detect your location over Whispernet but if you make purchases on your computer and transfer via USB you might be able to avoid the extra fees. I haven't got my Kindle yet so can't test it.

[DutchFrank]

Originally Posted by waingateman

Hi Ea / mack120

Yes I know most battery-powered devices comes with a warning to fully power the battery before first use - or else you're asking for trouble.

but after 4 hours on a USB port - I thought it should be charged especially as Amazon say 3 hours in the lit.

Also mack120 I've found out how to do a restart or restore factory defaults

home, menu, settings, menu then restart or reset to factory defaults

Interestingly I had the same problem:

- Lightning bolt on the battery when charging
- Unresponsive buttons
- Very slow refreshes

I was disappointed and already nervous I had a lemon, because the was not usable in that state

I put the Kindle in the mains, using my IPod USB for recharging in the evening, but in the morning it was completely flat, with the critical battery warning message. At work I plugged it in the USB port of my laptop and now it is working perfectly:

- The battery indicator now shows as half full and it is (slowly) charging
- all the buttons are responsive
- fast refreshes

Conclusion: recharging via the mains is not working very well, need to check how to get that to work, probably a simple US-EU plug adapter instead of a USB plug is necessary. Charging via the USB port of laptop/computer works. When the Kindle runs out of power it not only shows in slow refreshes but unresponsive buttons as well(!) which can lead to the conclusion that the device is broken.

I am very happy with the Kindle, but a warning on this issue would be nice (if only for Amazon not to get a lot of returns from customers who think their Kindle is broken), and an appropriate plug would be nice.

Frank

[parsi]

The Nokia N85 charges merrily from laptop/desktop usb ports but will only charge on the mains using its own power adapter. If you stick an N85 cable into a mains usb charger such as a Blackberry charger (which charges everthing else under the sun) it just won't charge unless you hack the cable and short the data lines.

Is it possible that the Kindle is acting in a similar fashion ? The shorting of the data lines is to do with the latest standard for usb charging which seems to pump a bit more power.

[DutchFrank]

Originally Posted by parsi

The Nokia N85 charges merrily from laptop/desktop usb ports but will only charge on the mains using its own power adapter. If you stick an N85 cable into a mains usb charger such as a Blackberry charger (which charges everthing else under the sun) it just won't charge unless you hack the cable and short the data lines.

Is it possible that the Kindle is acting in a similar fashion ? The shorting of the data lines is to do with the latest standard for usb charging which seems to pump a bit more power.

Well, I am not sure that is the specific issue, but I had the same thing with my IPod USB mains charger and TomTom. I will go and get a US-EU plug converter and see what happens.

The annoying thing however is that you do not get a clear indication that the mains charging is not working: there is an amber light and a bolt on the battery, but still the battery is not charging. The only way to figure out that there is no charging is the unresponsiveness of the buttons/screen, and after a few hours (with the wireless on) you get the critical battery warning. If the kindle is charging, the buttons are responsive and the screen changes quickly.

Frank

[Sheepless]

I'm about ready to give up on Whispernet. It's been trying to download a particularly large book since yesterday, and repeatedly failing and restarting. The 'documents' directory is gradually filling up with temporary files from the partial download: seems the code is not smart enough to resume a download from where it failed. It's also not smart enough to notice that I've already installed that book, via USB!

Some sort of download progress indicator would be nice.

I've cancelled my trial subscription to The Independent (UK newspaper) after one day, because this morning, instead of the paper, I had an apology letter saying that today's issue would be late due to technical problems. It's a shame they didn't iron out the bugs before launch. If the morning paper isn't waiting for me on my bedside table when I wake up, I might as well read it later on the web, for free.

The clock is an hour slow, and I don't see any way to reset it. Perhaps Amazon's DST tables are faulty? We're still on daylight saving, for a few more days.

[parsi]

Clock is correct here for me.

When I powered on all my sample chapters and newspaper subs were there for me - I wonder was whispernet working aways whilst the unit was flying..