Buying used

[sirbruce]

While there are minor advantages in features to the K1 over the K2, the K2 has advantages as well:

1. Better picutres and illustrations (greyscale)
2. No crazy next/prev page buttons that turn the page at the slightest bump
3. Much slimmer form factor; less bulky to carry
4. Quick dictionary lookup via the 5-way controller
5. Faster page turns
6. Faster display updates when navigating with the cursor or menus
7. Longer battery life
8. Better keyboard
9. TTS
10. Easy reset with the power switch.

I can see why K1 owners who are attached to their quirky K1 might want to keep it, but again, unless you need an SD card or are strapped for cash, there's almost no reason for a new buyer to get a K1 over a K2.

[kamm]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

I got a used K1 for $200 off of Craigslist a couple weeks after the K2 came out.

Not much you need to know. Ask how old it is and how the battery life is doing. If it's less than a year since they bought it then you still have some warranty left. Battery is good to ask as some K1's have problems with the battery not holding a charge after a few months of heavy use. But not a deal breaker as you can get a new battery for $20 (or a bit less from other battery sites besides Amazon.

Registered or deregistered isn't a big deal, you can deregister it and re-register it right through the device via the whisper net.

Another thing to know is that books (including ones purchased from Amazon) left on the device by the previous owner when they sell it to you will remain there for you to read even after you register it in your name. Just don't delete them off the device as they cannot be redownloaded like books you buy under your own account.

What about backing up them onto my PC/Mac? Will I be able to read them again if I restore them from a backup location?

I haven't regretted my decision at all. $200 was the upper limit I was willing to spend on an e-reader--being a fairly casual reader compared to most here. And the K2 didn't add any features I need. No interest in text to speech, the 16 shades of gray vs 4 doesn't matter for pure text (and I just use it for novels and non-fiction books) and the button placement etc. on the K1 doesn't bother me.

Amen.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

While there are minor advantages in features to the K1 over the K2, the K2 has advantages as well:

1. Better picutres and illustrations (greyscale)
2. No crazy next/prev page buttons that turn the page at the slightest bump
3. Much slimmer form factor; less bulky to carry
4. Quick dictionary lookup via the 5-way controller
5. Faster page turns
6. Faster display updates when navigating with the cursor or menus
7. Longer battery life
8. Better keyboard
9. TTS
10. Easy reset with the power switch.

I can see why K1 owners who are attached to their quirky K1 might want to keep it, but again, unless you need an SD card or are strapped for cash, there's almost no reason for a new buyer to get a K1 over a K2.

The cash wasthe main factor for me, but it wasn't because I wasstrapped for cash. I do pretty well for myself, and could easily afford a K2. But any e-reader just wasn't worth more than $200 to me, being that I only read probably 5-10 hours a week max and only read novels on it. Buying an e-reader at all was a tough sell for me given that I could buy paperbacks for the same or less or go to the library free of charge. But I like the convenience of an e-reader, so I wanted one--but not for a cent over $200.

After playing around with a K1, I was fine with it. The page turns are more than fast enough for me, I almost never use the keyboard (easier to shop and order on the Amazon website), battery life is still great, don't need the more shades of gray for text, I like having the SD card, I like having a user replaceable battery etc. etc.

Only thing I liked better on the K2 is that it's smaller and nicer looking and the page turn buttons are better designed and less easy to bump accidentally. But that wasn't worth the extra $159 to me.

Anyway, the pros you list are fair, I just don't like the "strapped for cash" comment as people don't have to be on a tight budget to not want to shell out more money for a bunch of features that just aren't worth the extra cash given their e-reader needs.

Originally Posted by kamm

What about backing up them onto my PC/Mac? Will I be able to read them again if I restore them from a backup location?

Not sure, I didn't get a chance to test that out. I had an issue with sticking in a SD card that somehow corrupted the books on the main Kindle memory, so I lost the previous owners books. It was no great loss as there were only 2 I remotely wanted to read.

[kamm]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

I'm pretty sure the warranty is one year from the date of purchase/first registration.

No way that I'm aware of for you to check that, you just have to take the seller's word for it on when they bought it.

After you get it I'm sure you could call/e-mail Amazon and ask if there's any time left on the warranty, and if so how much. I don't see any place that lists such info in the Manage My Kindle page on Amazon.

Yeah, I guess it will depend on the price - if it's cheap enough I don't care too much.

[kamm]

Originally Posted by slayda

I agree that with Craig's list (if you live in or near a larger city) can be better since there is usually no bidding and you can probably see the unit prior to buying. OTOH for those of us who live away from such cities, we take our chances on ebay. I got my K1 for $216 and still se them sometimes going in that price range.

That's OK but yes, CL will probably serve me better.

I most definitely would not buy a new K2 and I know some "died in the wool" Kindle owners who feel the same although there are others who swear by their K2s. BTW the K1 is not nearly as ugly "up close and personal" as it looks in pictures.

I noticed that too - the other day a guy was reading a K1 in the elevator next to me and I noticed the same thing, it's not nearly as ugly as one would think based on pics posted online.

[dmaul1114]

Yes, the K1 is much nicer looking in person than in the pictures. I was set on a K2 mainly for design reasons until I got to try out someone's K1 in person. It's not bad looking at all, and is much sleeker than it appears.

Only downside is the page buttons are easy to bump, but after a week or so I got used to holding it without bumping it, and always putting it in sleep mode when I set it down to answer the phone or whatever so I don't bump them when picking it back up.

[kamm]

Yeah, I read about it but like you I don't think it's worth +$150 and the loss of the SD slot... and I would be ready to replace my uber-tablet with a DX if it would offer more so it's clearly not 'cash-strapped' but simple economics (both 2 and DX are way overpriced.)

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by kamm

(both 2 and DX are way overpriced.)

As compared to what? How are you determining what is overpriced when it comes to new technology?

[kamm]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

As compared to what? How are you determining what is overpriced when it comes to new technology?

Compared to the price of a used K1, compared to features K1 offers.

Also if you look at $200-$250 priced other readers K2 is clearly overpriced (same or worse features sans wireless connection.)

DX is a different animal, it's so priced out of its proportion (pun intended) that I can't interpret it any other way than simply a sign of Bezos wants to start cashing in big money.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by kamm

Compared to the price of a used K1, compared to features K1 offers.

Also if you look at $200-$250 priced other readers K2 is clearly overpriced (same or worse features sans wireless connection.)

DX is a different animal, it's so priced out of its proportion (pun intended) that I can't interpret it any other way than simply a sign of Bezos wants to start cashing in big money.

To each his own but I don't think I agree that the K2 is "clearly overpriced". It may be a higher price than you are willing to pay but that's not necessarily the same as being overpriced.

Your reasoning makes it sound like you would have thought a new K1 would have been overpriced as well. The used K1 and K2 market may be the fit for you if you feel the features of the Kindle are something you want.

The DX is half the price of an iLiad it's closest competitor at this time. So I'm not sure of your reasoning with that one.

Fortunately, there are so many new readers coming on the market that you're sure to find something that will work for you. It's a very exciting time in the industry (to me anyway ).Good luck!

[dmaul1114]

Yeah, it's really just a matter of what somone is willing to pay. When someone says something is overpriced, they're really just saying that it costs more than they'd pay for the item.

I think all e-Readers are overpriced new. As I said above, $200 is the most I'd pay since I'm not really an avid reader. It's just a nice convenience over hassling with buying books I'll only read once or dealing with the library.

But I can see it being worth the current new prices for the true book worms who are reading hours every day. But not for someone like me who's more into things like movies, TV etc. than reading and just reads for 30-60 minutes before sleeping a few nights a week and when traveling etc.

[kamm]

I agree for the most part except if the features are there - eInk with colors, nice browser, Whispernet etc - then I am willing to pay my tablet's price (~$600-700) for it.

By this measure DX is ridiculously overpriced, K2 is just simply overpriced.
OTOH I agree that most basic readers - no wireless, no fancy features, around $250 - are also overpriced, they will drop a lot by the end of the year, I bet we'll see them around $100-$150 as soon as new, advanced models arrive.


BTW I got my K1. At first glance it looks excellent, I just need an SD card for it - does anyone know if it supports 16GB cards? Around $30 it really is a steal...

We de-registered and re-registered but I still have all his book (cool!) and magazines (unfortunately I read most of them in print already), have some space left but not much.

However I cannot seem to find the advanced browser mode... time to make a search here, I guess.