First e-reader choice from a picky engineer

[ElektroDragon]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The problem is that Amazon's warranty on your replacement Kindle was only good for as long as the remainder of the original warranty.

Yeah, I figured that. But with two broken devices and all the restrictions of the Amazon ecosystem I had had enough. And offering me a replacement "discount" to bring the price down to $200 when the Kobo was almost half cheaper was just salt in the wound.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by ElektroDragon

Yeah, I figured that. But with two broken devices and all the restrictions of the Amazon ecosystem I had had enough.

Just a note on "the second's screen broke for no reason" - Kobos are no more or less fragile than Kindles. All e-ink screens with a glass substrate are fragile, and can break with bending, twisting, impact forces or with extreme temperatures (eg leaving in a car, leaving in freezing temperatures) or extreme temperature changes. They need to be treated with much more care than you treat a smartphone or tablet. They do not, however, break for no reason.

[John F]

Originally Posted by meeera

Just a note on "the second's screen broke for no reason" - Kobos are no more or less fragile than Kindles. All e-ink screens with a glass substrate are fragile, and can break with bending, twisting, impact forces or with extreme temperatures (eg leaving in a car, leaving in freezing temperatures) or extreme temperature changes. They need to be treated with much more care than you treat a smartphone or tablet. They do not, however, break for no reason.

Isn't there probably some difference (one probably is less/more fragile than another)? They use the same eink screen, but that eink screen is in an enclosure, so isn't it likely that the enclosure makes a difference?

From Amazon's website:

... With a magnesium back and a specially-reinforced glass front, Kindle Voyage is both durable and sleek. ...

[meeera]

Originally Posted by John F

Isn't there probably some difference (one probably is less/more fragile than another)? They use the same eink screen, but that eink screen is in an enclosure, so isn't it likely that the enclosure makes a difference?

There may or may not be minor differences, but as far as I've been able to discern over the years, we have no evidence either way. There's nothing particularly protective about metal cases over plastic, and we don't know how the front layer has been reinforced (there was one blog claim of "gorilla glass" on top, unsupported by any facts).

If the Voyage actually is less prone to breakage, that makes the poster's move from Voyage to Kobo over a broken screen even less sensible.

[HarryT]

I think this is the first report we've ever had of a broken screen on a Voyage. It's much tougher than most devices on the market because of its metal, rather than plastic, shell.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I think this is the first report we've ever had of a broken screen on a Voyage. It's much tougher than most devices on the market because of its metal, rather than plastic, shell.

Do you have evidence for that?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by meeera

Do you have evidence for that?

The lack of reports of broken screens. You see if you can find any. If you've ever used both a Voyage and a PW it's immediately self-evident that it is tougher. It's completely rigid; the PW bends. Most broken screens are caused by flexing.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The lack of reports of broken screens. You see if you can find any. If you've ever used both a Voyage and a PW it's immediately self-evident that it is tougher. It's completely rigid; the PW bends. Most broken screens are caused by flexing.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bergie/16020915739

and the report in this thread, that I'm responding to. I didn't look further, because you said "you see if you can find any". We also, of course, have no idea how many Voyages are out there. It's a very expensive device.

however, I'm perfectly willing to believe that Voyages are more durable (though the relative lack of reports may or may not be good evidence of that).

What I question is your assertion for it being more durable because it's metal not plastic. The metal vs plastic device case debate has been around for years and has not been resolved in any meaningful way. Metal feels more durable, subjectively, which means nothing. But it does make for good marketing.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by meeera

What I question is your assertion for it being more durable because it's metal not plastic. The metal vs plastic device case debate has been around for years and has not been resolved in any meaningful way. Metal feels more durable, subjectively, which means nothing. But it does make for good marketing.

As I said, it's the rigidity of the Voyage which makes it more durable. That probably partially due to the metal shell, and partially to the toughened glass outer screen. That reduces the likelihood of breaking the eInk screen substrate by bending it, which is by far the most common cause of screen fractures.

[darryl]

I have to agree with Harry. We will probably need to agree to differ as there simply seems to be no statistical or scientific basis to support any opinion. I own a number of Kindles and a Kobo H2O. I have never had a problem with any Kindle. They have not been badly mistreated but have been dropped occasionally, including a Paperwhite on a tiled floor once, and have survived. My H2O had a screen failure for no apparent reason and without any mishaps whatsoever. The replacement has been good so far, but I have my doubts over its durability and really do treat it with kid gloves. I may be totally wrong, but personally I believe the H2O is far more vulnerable to flexing than are the Kindles. The only thing that I can think of that could even remotely have contributed to the screen failure on my original H2O was removing it from its case which did inevitably involve some minor flexing. Which should be well within the normal parameters of use. The new one has been placed in a rigid case which is where it will stay. I would not let this stop me from buying another Kobo, but would treat it with kid gloves.

I should add that the Kobo offers much better control over fonts. I prefer reading on it, mainly because my eyesight is not getting any better with age and I have set up a nice Georgia font which I have been able to make sufficiently dark so as to be very comfortable. I note the current Teleread campaign to have Amazon introduce comparable font controls to the Kindle, and support this strongly.

[HarryT]

I didn't consider my H2O to be more "bendy" than my various PWs, but I do think that all of them are more bendy than the Voyage.

A plastic shell arguably provides better protection than a rigid metal one in terms of impact protection, because it will deform and absorb energy (which is why virtually all modern cars have plastic bumpers), but the rigid shell is definitely better when it comes to flex protection, which is how most screen substrate fractures occur.

[meeera]

I strongly suspect that it is the glass, not the metal case, that offers the rigidity, but without tearing one down and testing the components it's hard to know. Ever tried to bend a thin sheet of magnesium?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by meeera

I strongly suspect that it is the glass, not the metal case, that offers the rigidity

You may very well be right. Whatever it is, though, the Voyage is the most rigid eInk reader I've owned, and I've owned quite a few over the years.

[darryl]

I think we do need to recognise that they are fragile devices, and I think a nice rigid case is a must. I have found the Paperwhite to be an amazingly durable device, but of course everyones experience is different. I have just acquired a Voyage which I couldn't resist when on sale with a reasonable saving. I find I am reading a lot of KU Books and have been using my Paperwhite 2. Whilst I would prefer the H2O for this, the PW2 is still an excellent reader and no hardship, and it is simply the easiest way to ensure that the authors concerned are paid. I'm seeing my reading future as increasingly Amazon at the moment, and the Voyage is a superb reader. If only Amazon give a little more control and choice over fonts it will be at least as good a reader as the H2O. Perhaps even better.

[ElektroDragon]

Look, here is what happened:

1) First Voyage was a launch unit. It kept rebooting on its own on an almost nightly basis, for absolutely no reason...for months. FW updates didn't help. Really aggravating when reading at night then it rebooted to full brightness on you. After 2 months of this, Amazon replaced it free of charge.

2) Second Voyage was free of the rebooting. But lo and behold, right at the 1 year mark, I go to wake it from sleep, and the darn thing is completely frozen, stuck, dead. The e-ink screen was NOT broken on marred in any way, it had not been dropped or stepped on, etc. It was a perfect picture of the "screensaver". But the unit kept rebooting itself trying to resume. None of the reset procedures worked. The backlight would just flash on and off every minute or so as it tried to start. I tried charging it overnight, it was still stuck in the reboot loop in the morning. In desperation, I MAY have tried to flex the unit. At the time I did not understand anything about e-ink screen fragility, I just wanted the damn screen unstuck. A short while after doing that, I noticed the screen had finally unstuck itself..... into a pattern of corrupt lines along with a partial diagonal line that kind of looked like broken glass. So perhaps I may have been responsible for the screen "breaking" but the Voyage was dead and gone well before this!!

So forget screen fragility, the underlying quality of the electronics and/or software is TRASH on the Kindle Voyage, they are MADE TO BREAK right after warranty.

I'm so happy with the Kobo Glo HD that I bought two to replace both Kindles in the house. And it's NOT just because of perceived hardware quality, the Kobo is much more open and versatile than the tightly controlled locked down Amazon environment. (I ended up returning the Fire HD and Fire TV as well for similar reasons and am proud to be Amazon-free now.)