Kindle 3 gripes

[RiddleMeThis]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

If you make collections per author (I don't, but many people do) then create a small text file to drop into each collection. It would contain the list of books, in the correct read order. I know, it's a pain. But it's a little bit of help.

Or, one bigger file into which you add titles and read-orders as you get new authors. Title that file 00read-order and it will be at the top of the index (when organized by title).

Or change the meta data with calibre. Specifically the published date, and the sort by author (outside or inside collections) and they will show in the correct order.

[Skydog]

[QUOTE=sirmaru;1087340]For the Kindle LG WiFi 3 I have zero gripes. Its GREAT.
QUOTE]

What is an LG Wifi 3??

[SpeckledJim]

Latest Generation. Amazon's rather convoluted way of avoiding calling it the Kindle 3.

[TomF]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

If you make collections per author (I don't, but many people do) then create a small text file to drop into each collection. It would contain the list of books, in the correct read order. I know, it's a pain. But it's a little bit of help.

I do this. Wikipedia is a great source to determine published date.

[RonF]

Originally Posted by SpeckledJim

Latest Generation. Amazon's rather convoluted way of avoiding calling it the Kindle 3.

So they are kinda stuck when they come out with K4 huh? What will that one be, the LATEST latest generation?

[Viseguy]

Originally Posted by RonF

So they are kinda stuck when they come out with K4 huh? What will that one be, the LATEST latest generation?

"Latest Generation" is a mouthful of baloney. But people get paid big bucks to think up this stuff.

Originally Posted by SpeckledJim

Latest Generation. Amazon's rather convoluted way of avoiding calling it the Kindle 3.

I'm mystified. Why do they want to avoid that?

[JeremyR]

Well, speaking as someone who hasn't owned an e-reader before:

Surprisingly heavy after you read for a while. Seems like I must need to build up my wrist muscles or something, but after a few minutes I have to prop it up. Actually, seems to be top-heavy.

Similarly, the page turn buttons. Need to be wider, I think. In either case, between the two, I've gotten a sore left wrist from reading 1 1/2 novels on it.

The 5-way thing is much too small. There should also be a button that takes you to the table of contents of a book. I tried reading a thing of short stories last night and it was kind of a pain having to Hit Menu, then GOTO, then Table of Contents, then scrolling very slowly through it to get to the story.

I think I'm going to have to figure out how to break these collections up into smaller ToCs in order to be manageable.

I love the text. It really looks like well, text. But the white isn't even close to being white, it's barely even light grey.

How it goes to sleep seemingly moments after I set it down. If there is no burn in with e-ink, why not just keep it there?

And while it's something of a paradox, having the instructions on how to use the e-reader actually on the e-reader is kind of problematic. When you want to look something up and you're not familiar with using the e-reader, it's kind of frustrating having to use it to look it up.

Also, this isn't a Kindle problem, but more Amazon. I had "bought" a bunch of free ebooks from Amazon, classics. Only when they were delivered, they were formatted horribly, in some cases basically unreadable.

What's worse, many free versions of books have several versions. And there is no separate review page for them (or even from the print version). So there is no way of indicating that this book is horribly formatted.

[matt314159]

heavy? it's like half the weight of a typical book, I'm not sure how that is too heavy. I love how light it is compared to the paper books I was reading previously.

Anyway my gripe is all the freezing and restarts. Seems primarily related to 1) web browsing and 2) navigating around books (annotations, highlighting, searching, that kind of stuff). I hope it's just a firmware fix that they can push in short order.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

Also, this isn't a Kindle problem, but more Amazon. I had "bought" a bunch of free ebooks from Amazon, classics. Only when they were delivered, they were formatted horribly, in some cases basically unreadable.

Why didn't you download them here at MR? Our classics are hand-formatted and MUCH better than the rubbish you'll typically find "free" at Amazon.

[RonF]

You picked a very good unit as your first reader, a number of your "gripes" have been stated before by others here in this thread, and some are easily fixed

Originally Posted by JeremyR

Well, speaking as someone who hasn't owned an e-reader before:

Surprisingly heavy after you read for a while. Seems like I must need to build up my wrist muscles or something, but after a few minutes I have to prop it up. Actually, seems to be top-heavy.

Similarly, the page turn buttons. Need to be wider, I think. In either case, between the two, I've gotten a sore left wrist from reading 1 1/2 novels on it.

As stated above, the K3 is lighter than many paperbacks. It is also one of the lighter ebook readers out there. There are some that are lighter, but not by much. The Nook is around 40% heavier than the K3, and many (many, many ) people are very happily using that. Maybe it will take a little getting used to. Heck, it's time to build up those muscles

Originally Posted by JeremyR

I love the text. It really looks like well, text. But the white isn't even close to being white, it's barely even light grey.

There is a reason for that. From my understanding, it makes for better reading. I have read here that a pure white background is not really wanted.

Originally Posted by JeremyR

How it goes to sleep seemingly moments after I set it down. If there is no burn in with e-ink, why not just keep it there?

Then how can they show off their pictures of authors It's to let you know that it is in sleep mode.

Originally Posted by JeremyR

And while it's something of a paradox, having the instructions on how to use the e-reader actually on the e-reader is kind of problematic. When you want to look something up and you're not familiar with using the e-reader, it's kind of frustrating having to use it to look it up.

Here you go:
Kindle Documentation

Originally Posted by JeremyR

Also, this isn't a Kindle problem, but more Amazon. I had "bought" a bunch of free ebooks from Amazon, classics. Only when they were delivered, they were formatted horribly, in some cases basically unreadable.

What's worse, many free versions of books have several versions. And there is no separate review page for them (or even from the print version). So there is no way of indicating that this book is horribly formatted.

The books here have been hand formatted and all of the ones I have grabbed have been fantastic. You can also use Calibre and do some of your own formatting and conversions. I have reformatted some free books, and have deleted others after finding a better formatted version.

Enjoy your K3

[SpeckledJim]

The software seems a little buggy so far. I've had one incident requiring a reboot. Calibre crashed transferring a book, and after ejecting, the K3 appeared to be empty. The collection names were present, but nothing else was listed, including some samples downloaded from Amazon. The files were all actually still present and correct, but it took the reboot to right things.

Oh and that USB cable. I swear the damn thing is toxic.

[kwnewton]

Just to update the status on my Kindle 3.. it was still really flaky-- would not show latest book at the top of the home screen, no matter how many times I opened it-- so Amazon is sending me a replacement with free overnight delivery.

[andavane]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Why didn't you download them here at MR? Our classics are hand-formatted and MUCH better than the rubbish you'll typically find "free" at Amazon.

Can you post the link to the hand-formatted classics?
I can't find it.
Thanks.

[TheKindleWorm]

Minor gripes really.

My left page turn buttons are really clicky - about as loud as the K2i but the right ones are almost silent - go figure! Obviously I use the right side when I need to be quiet!

The black page flash you get when you turn a page seems a lot more distracting on the new model - maybe as the ink is darker?

Firmware more buggy with restarts.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by andavane

Can you post the link to the hand-formatted classics?
I can't find it.
Thanks.

The "E-Books" link on the blue bar near the top of the screen.