My frustrating Kindle experience. Sigh.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Roy Hinkley

And since it's used in an electronic book, you would think they would be engineered to be a bit more resistant to normal bumps, wear and tear.

The next versions will be. Except for those that aren't.

Seriously — some of the long anticipated improved eInk displays will have robust substrates. But some won't. And many of the up-and-coming display technologies are also built on glass.

Keep an eye out for any advertising robustness as a feature this Autumn.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by kjk

can't wait for readers like this:

I'd love to have a reader that thin and flexible-- but that isn't one, in the photo. Look at the far side of the "thingy" in the photo-- see those 4 tabs? The contacts for plugging into a cable. That is just a bare display panel with none of the necessary electronics, battery, and casing included.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

I'd love to have a reader that thin and flexible-- but that isn't one, in the photo. Look at the far side of the "thingy" in the photo-- see those 4 tabs? The contacts for plugging into a cable. That is just a bare display panel with none of the necessary electronics, battery, and casing included.

Oh - it's not a reader in itself. But try that with a display removed from a Kindle and you'll have a very broken display.

Flexible (or rather, non-brittle) displays will eventually result in much thinnner, smaller readers, as they won't need so much bezel to protect the display.

I certainly hope to see a mass-market paperback sized ebook reader that's only (say) 0.5cm thick, and with a display covering almost the entire front surface within four years. And for under $200. Under $100 in 8 years.

[AnemicOak]

The flexible display's sure look interesting. It would be nice if they could increase the contrast so it's closer to paper too.

[kindlekitten]

well this is certainly a one off for both the Kindle and Amazon. there is plenty of anecdotal evidence of people fully expecting to not get any help or support and winding up with brand new Kindles. there are always two versions of every story.

why isn't this in the Kindle section?

[DawnFalcon]

This is one of the things I've got against buying one of the current readers - I'm fairly rough on hardware, and things not reasonably robust tend to get broken quickly. I'll take robustness over extra-slim designs...

[luqmaninbmore]

Of course if Amazon would include a post to attach a wrist strap, which Sony provides, these issues would be less common. That being said, I beat the tar out of my Sony 500, dropping the thing on concrete and hard wood, and it still works fine (has small chips missing from the paint, though). Since then I've adopted the practice of always wearing wrist strap and I've only dropped an ebook device once since then (I dropped a nook at the grocery store while juggling my shopping bags). The nook survived the fall; it fell flat on its back on top of the folded back industriel cover. You might want to go for one of the Sony touch screen models. There have been some broken 600s, but it seems to be less common and requires a more powerful impact. I think the extra layer provided by the touch screen makes it more sturdy and less likely to twist. I've never heard of a Sony 700 with a broken screen nor have I heard of a broken Daily Edition (at least due to impact).

Luqman

Luqman

[Penforhire]

I was probably lucky. I dropped my 505 often and hard enough to chip the chrome plating on the ends without causing screen damage. Yet I know the screen is essentially fragile. I've handled my Sony 900 better but it still had a few sharp impacts without damage (knocks on wood!).

[dmaul1114]

My K1 hasn't taken any hard falls.

Of course it pretty much only gets used in bed and I'm pretty careful not to drop it.

When it does get used out of the house--say on a plane trip--it's in it's case and in my briefcase when not being used.

No doubt these things are fragile though. Glass and plastic isn't going to take a lot of abuse.

[Kali Yuga]

*shrug* I've had my K2 for over a year. I commute with it on public transport, so I've tossed it into my various bags 4-5 days per week, and no problems.

I'm reasonably satisfied with the robustness of the device. If you find it isn't solid enough for you, I won't debate that. But given a choice between the anecdotes of a guy who had one for 3 weeks, and my year-plus worth of experience, I think I'm gonna go with the latter.

[dmaul1114]

Well there's a difference between tossing it in a bag and dropping a TV remote on it, dropping it from bed, dropping it on hard floors etc.

If a person is very meticulous and careful with their gadgets, they'll probably never have any problem (though shit still happens sometimes!) If someone is careless with things and/or clumsy, then their mileage will vary. As any thing made out of plastic and glass isn't going to hold up when dropped on to hard surfaces multiple times etc.

[bbqncigars]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

As any thing made out of plastic and glass isn't going to hold up when dropped on to hard surfaces multiple times etc.

It depends on the device and how it's protected. My Palm IIIx has suffered many a drop onto concrete at various job sites, but has been kept from harm by it's RhinoSkin Titanium Slider case. Not too shabby for something that's made of plastic and glass, and used every day for over ten years. :-)

[SaraD]

And all of this is why I am still waiting though the Astak EZ Reader Pocket Pro 5" and just anounced updated 6" Plus and/or Pocket Pro have tempted me very very much.

When I pick a gadget I have to decide what my cry factor is. Translation - how much will I cry and be upset if something stupid happens and it breaks and I have to buy a new one. My 17 pound cat likes to flop onto my books (while I am actively reading them) and his big long body hides standard paperbacks completely whether he stretches out or curls up. And I now have a 10 month old son. Both things make me very nervous about a glass screen on a $200+ item I will be counting on every single day.

After 2 years my cell phones usually still have perfect screens and look hardly used though it is my only phone. Even my sun glasses are nearly perfect after 5+ years of lots of use. So I really try to take care of my stuff, but the glass screens still make me too nervous to buy yet. But I dropped my last cell phone and it messed up the innards. If I kept a microSD card in the slot it worked great, but otherwise it had problems. Maybe by the 2010 Christmas shopping season a plastic screen in a device with an e ink type of battery life will be available. I hope I hope I hope...

[Maggie Leung]

I had my Kindle for 15 months before getting an iPad. I carried the Kindle with me everywhere, like Linus carries his blanket. I read it bare for months, then got a silicone skin. I used a cheapo improvised sleeve on the go and carried it in my bag every day. Once, I left my Kindle on the couch, my netbook slid off the armrest and took the Kindle with it to the floor. The netbook land half on the Kindle. My Kindle is still working fine, 16 months and counting.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by bbqncigars

It depends on the device and how it's protected. My Palm IIIx has suffered many a drop onto concrete at various job sites, but has been kept from harm by it's RhinoSkin Titanium Slider case. Not too shabby for something that's made of plastic and glass, and used every day for over ten years. :-)

Case can make all the difference for sure. I was talking about drops without any case--which is what happened to the OP.

Anything plastic and glass dropped with no case on it isn't going to survive to many hard drops onto hard surfaces unless you're very lucky and it's just never landing on the glass etc.