Kindle Touch - first thoughts

[6charlong]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Because I work for a big company as well, those things that look trivial to you actually require a lot of testing and development. That also means more money, initial investment, and more time for the whole Project, which can push delivery dates.

Talking about hardware, like buttons, etc, is like others also explain. It saves money. Just not including AC adapter can save thousand of dollars when you do the calculations.

They probably wanted to get the KT out in time for Christmas and rushed the development team. B&N made a firmware update to the Nook Touch about five months after its release that almost doubled the clarity of the screen. It's amazing what a firmware update can do with the Pearl screens. No doubt the difference in the Sony is in its firmware too.

My KT is still in the waiting queue. I'm on pins and needles waiting for it and thought I'd look for a cover while I wait. Best Buy has m-Edge covers in stock. I thought I'd go by and pick one up so I'll have it in hand when the KT arrives.

Oddly, the person on the phone was wrong, Best Buy didn't have any covers for the KT but they had Kindle Touches by the shelf-full. So I cancelled my order and am enjoying this. It's smaller than I expected and a little slow but I already like it.

[jacksonunit]

My KT was sitting in the Phoenix sorting facility ALL DAY yesterday... probably drinking.

[Pomtroll]

Got both my KT & cover today. It was heavier than I expected, but then it is bigger than my Sony 350. I have to wait to register it. I would have thought it would be since I did buy it at amazon with my account there. I don't have wifi access here at work. Since I'm familiar with touch screen there really isn't anything to re-learn.

Screen is nice & crisp, page turns are quick. I don't think it is too small since I do read at night with my Sony350. I'll see how this does tonight. Location is on the lower left & the % covered is on the lower right. I don't know if my special offers will show up once it is registered, but if they don't so what. I can't compare it to my K3 till I get home either. I do love the touch screen though. And the touch keyboard is a dream to use. Just the right size.

After I've read on it a day or two, I'll know more how much I like it. But so far I'm satisfied. I will admit there are a few things on the Sony T1 that I like that aren't on the KT, but the bugs on the T1 were not something I wanted to deal with. Plus I do buy a lot of books at amazon, especially indy authors & newbies.

[seajewel]

Can the tap zones be configured in a fairly detailed way (so that I can turn pages when I'm holding the reader in my left hand, on the left side?) I was firmly on the tapping vs. swiping bandwagon, but I'm sort of seeing a positive to the swiping after using my 950.. that is, I swipe right to left for next page and left to right for previous pages, so I can use either hand to easily change pages, no matter which side of the reader my thumb is on. It also very thoughtfully accounts for the fact that when you're swiping left to right on the left side, your thumb is angled below and swipes sort of upwards, so a straight up t on the left will do next page, and down will do next page on the right side (i know, that sounds confusing.. it definitely takes getting used to), likely due to thumb angles, it makes sense in practice.

TLDR: I mainly want to be able to turn next page from the left side as well as the right side in some manner.. is that possible without making it impossible to turn previous page?

[mewmartigan]

Originally Posted by seajewel

Can the tap zones be configured in a fairly detailed way (so that I can turn pages when I'm holding the reader in my left hand, on the left side?) I was firmly on the tapping vs. swiping bandwagon, but I'm sort of seeing a positive to the swiping after using my 950.. that is, I swipe right to left for next page and left to right for previous pages, so I can use either hand to easily change pages, no matter which side of the reader my thumb is on. It also very thoughtfully accounts for the fact that when you're swiping left to right on the left side, your thumb is angled below and swipes sort of upwards, so a straight up t on the left will do next page, and down will do next page on the right side (i know, that sounds confusing.. it definitely takes getting used to), likely due to thumb angles, it makes sense in practice.

TLDR: I mainly want to be able to turn next page from the left side as well as the right side in some manner.. is that possible without making it impossible to turn previous page?

The tap zones can't be reconfigured. However, the page forward zone is very large and the page back one is small.
I can easily page forward with my left hand while holding the Kindle in my left hand. The page back is also on the left and is within easy reach.
The only one-handed problem i can see would be either paging back with your right hand or bringing up the menu at the top unless you hold the Kindle way up high. Swiping left/right also works for page forward and back.

[seajewel]

Originally Posted by mewmartigan

The tap zones can't be reconfigured. However, the page forward zone is very large and the page back one is small.
I can easily page forward with my left hand while holding the Kindle in my left hand. The page back is also on the left and is within easy reach.
The only one-handed problem i can see would be either paging back with your right hand or bringing up the menu at the top unless you hold the Kindle way up high. Swiping left/right also works for page forward and back.

Hmm.. if swiping works that would be an easy solution.

If it doesn't work the way I think you are saying, then I'm not sure how I feel about the tap zones if not configurable. I'm not as worried about page back from the right side, as I very rarely have to do previous page.. although it's nice to be able to do it easily, one-handed, when swiping. If the entire left side (even a slim part of it) is only page back, then I feel like it would be a little inconvenient to do page forward from the left side when holding the reader in my left hand (since thumb is on the left).

If the swiping works.. So I can choose to swipe left/right to do forward/back from either side? That is I'd probably tap to turn pages most of the time, but swipe to go backward occasionally.

[blue_skies]

Originally Posted by Pomtroll

Got both my KT & cover today... I have to wait to register it. I would have thought it would be since I did buy it at amazon with my account there.

I'm surprised it wasn't already registered. I wonder if it's because you already have a K3 registered to your account? Perhaps the Kindles are flagged if there's already a Kindle registered, in case it is going to be a gift for someone else. That would be weird if you order one to give as a gift and the recipient is able to one-click order on your account.

[Pomtroll]

Originally Posted by blue_skies

I'm surprised it wasn't already registered. I wonder if it's because you already have a K3 registered to your account? Perhaps the Kindles are flagged if there's already a Kindle registered, in case it is going to be a gift for someone else. That would be weird if you order one to give as a gift and the recipient is able to one-click order on your account.

It automatically registered & downloaded all my books into an archives account as soon as I turned it on with wifi access. I had to get the books I'm currently reading out of the archives. If I want to put them into the collections I have(which are now on the KT) I have to add them. BUMMER.It would have been nice if it had downloaded the books I had in those collections into the collections. Oh well I wanted to delete most of them anyway.

The KT is pretty easy to figure out. Now I'm going to start reading a book.

[blue_skies]

Originally Posted by Pomtroll

It automatically registered & downloaded all my books into an archives account as soon as I turned it on with wifi access.

Huh. So if I bought one and ended up giving it to someone as a gift, it would get registered to my account and download an archive list of all my books as soon as that person turned it on?

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by blue_skies

Huh. So if I bought one and ended up giving it to someone as a gift, it would get registered to my account and download an archive list of all my books as soon as that person turned it on?

You get an email from Amazon showing you if it's gift what you need to do so it won't do that.

[kevinpars]

The touch zones are a little funky. Trying to bookmark a page (touch in the upper right corner) often opens the dictionary for the last word in the first line. I practiced bookmarking a few times to get used to it.

I also discovered that the touch screen is not really hand sensitive like the iPad / iPhone products. I discovered that a stylus works as does a pencil (eraser side) or any object. In fact, when you wipe it off with a dry cloth you have to lock it first or it will start changing pages if you are not careful.

One thing I discovered that makes things easier for me is to use my fingernails more for the keyboard. I make less mistakes that way. Since I am a guy with short fingernails, I imagine that this would be an even better option for a female with longer nails. I find that a fingernail tap is more accurate and responsive.

Overall I like the Touch, but i feel that it could benefit from a software update to fix some of the chunkiness of the operation and things that were left out - such as the inability to sort Collections.

[vigna04]

I know touch is nice and all but would you guys recommend it over the Kindle Keyboard???

[mewmartigan]

Originally Posted by kevinpars

I also discovered that the touch screen is not really hand sensitive like the iPad / iPhone products. I discovered that a stylus works as does a pencil (eraser side) or any object. In fact, when you wipe it off with a dry cloth you have to lock it first or it will start changing pages if you are not careful.

Yeah, the Kindle (and others) us an IR field above the e-ink screen. This prevents any loss of resolution or clarity on the e-ink. I actually found it a little weird at first that the screen sits so far below the bezel (to make room for that IR field).
I accidentally fast forwarded a few pages the other day when the end of my sweater came down on the screen, haha.

[mewmartigan]

Originally Posted by vigna04

I know touch is nice and all but would you guys recommend it over the Kindle Keyboard???

I think the biggest deciding factor would be how much you use the keyboard. I never used the keyboard and welcomed touch. I also like having no physical buttons. I find it easier to tap the screen one handed. Moving my thumb to the very edge for the page turn buttons threw my one handed holding balance off.

I haven't tried x-ray yet but it seems like a neat feature that is only available on the Touch.

If you take notes....KK might be better.
If you highlight passages......KT might be better as highlighting is pretty easy with touch.

They are all for sale in Best Buy so you could go try the Touch and see what you think.

[Stingo]

Originally Posted by vigna04

I know touch is nice and all but would you guys recommend it over the Kindle Keyboard???

Good question. Three days ago I would have said no. Now, after using the device for a couple of days I'm not so sure. I seem to get around a lot faster on the Touch. The Touch interface is more intuitive. The Touch keyboard is very responsive and I can actually type faster on it than on the K3 keyboard. I am still in the air about keeping the Touch due to bugs involving the dictionary and the lack of a landscape mode but I can certainly see the promise of the device.