Aura HD Stuck Pixel: How prevalent is the problem?

[JSWolf]

You don't see pin holes on the light layer with the light off.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by LeJon

I have circled them out so it's clearer but you have to zoom in. http://i.imgur.com/StMTUZp.jpg

That makes it obvious where the are. And the one on the H2O isn't where you described it above.

The Youtube video is very unclear so it's best viewed in full screen and 1080p but the location of the pinholes are all on the same place as the first image above.

Is a 17.3" laptop at 1920*1080 good enough?

If you stop the video at 4:42, the pinhole on the H2O is on the right side just above the word "of" or 8:33 and 8:55 where it's more noticeable with a blank/black background. On 2:32 to 2:37 of the video, the device moved and they are still on the same spot.

I can see the one at 4:42 and 8:33, but not really at 2:32. There is something about the one on the H2O that looks wrong for it to be a bright spot. Maybe it's just that the light level is low enough for it not to glow as brightly as the ones I have seen.

And as I said, have the reviewers commented on this anywhere? They seem to like picking Kobo apart, so I would think they would mention this and crucify Kobo for this.
[/QUOTE]
The Glo HD is a new product so i doubt there will be many reports on it yet if any. I was deciding between the Glo HD or H2O and not trying to look for problems but just happen to came across pinholes on both device in a single review. I think eReaders no matter which brand all have the same issues and I don't think the quality control has improve at all.[/QUOTE]

I strongly disagree. When the Glo was released, the reports of bright spots started happening IMMEDIATELY. And kept happening for months. The same with the Aura HD. Both of these have improved and the reports dropped off until they virtually disappeared. And, as I said, there have been very few reports with the Aura H2O and Glo HD. Both devices have been out long enough that if this was a big problem, we would have heard about it.

[LeJon]

DELETE - IT'S JUST DUST, NOT PINHOLE.

[mathil]

LeJon, you can't see the bright spots if the frontlight is off.

[murg]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You don't see pin holes on the light layer with the light off.

Well, duh! The pin holes are in the light layer, not on it...

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by LeJon

At first, I thought it might be dust but if you look at their full screen picture they took with a camera and zoom in, it does not look like it and the spots in the video are on the same location as the picture all the time.

The point I was trying to make is that this image is highly compressed. If they didn't resize it down and the original size was truly 3888 x 2592 pixels, then the original size of the photo should be well over 3 MB. This image is only 564 KB, as I said, highly compressed to reduce the size that much. And if you look around the bezels, you'll find identical spots on the bezels that stay throughout the video as well. They sometimes fade in and out of focus like the spots on the screens do, they're not always visible on all screens throughout the video. If they were pinpricks of light, I would think that would always come through on the video no matter what menu was over the spots.

So it's still possible those spots are nothing more than a speck of dust sitting on the screen like on the bezel. And as davidfor said, that particular reviewer loves to criticize Kobo readers, any other reader is always better. I'm also certain he would have made note of the bad screens if there really were 2 pinpoints of light on 2 readers in his hands.

[Danbo]

It turns out applying a matte screen protector doesn't hide the pinhole on my H2O. So I just found a person who doesn't give a damn about that small defect (I certainly do) and sold him the ereader. Phew

I dunno if I ever come back to Kobo after this.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Danbo

It turns out applying a matte screen protector doesn't hide the pinhole on my H2O. So I just found a person who doesn't give a damn about that small defect (I certainly do) and sold him the ereader. Phew

I dunno if I ever come back to Kobo after this.

Any brand of device can have them. Your best bet is to buy from somewhere where you can either inspect the device before purchase, or return under warranty. Kobo can and does honour warranty returns for pinholes that interfere with reading; you've just chosen not to take advantage of that.

[Danbo]

Originally Posted by meeera

Any brand of device can have them. Your best bet is to buy from somewhere where you can either inspect the device before purchase, or return under warranty. Kobo can and does honour warranty returns for pinholes that interfere with reading; you've just chosen not to take advantage of that.

Mine has already been used, I bought it on Ebay in Canada for the price that allowed me to avoid any communication with our customs service (I live in Ukraine).

I'm pretty sure Kobo would accept the device for return, but the seller on Ebay never responded to my claim for a partial refund (and anybody else according to his negative feedbacks) and I closed the dispute right before the time was out, because the only refund option Ebay has is a full refund with shipping the item back to the seller (I didn't know that partial refunds can be made only through PayPal). The problem is the postal expenses for shipping the device to Canada would kill any sense to do it.

And the only place here where I can inspect a Kobo device before purchase offers H2Os for about 275 bucks

[frostschutz]

If someone sold H2O on Ebay for cheap, I'd be suspicious about the device...

You could probably get one from Germany for 200€ incl. shipping, not sure about customs.

[Danbo]

It was an auction and I have never been ripped-off on Ebay before

The custom barrier here is 150€. But with 20% discount from Indigo if payed by VISA I will fit into this barrier. Nevertheless, I'll probably wait for something new from either Kobo or Amazon.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Danbo

Mine has already been used, I bought it on Ebay in Canada for the price that allowed me to avoid any communication with our customs service (I live in Ukraine).

If it was me, and it was a problem, I would have contacted the seller about the pinhole. If that didn't work out, I would have contacted PayPal. Last time I had a problem on eBay and the seller didn't want to help, I contacted eBay, got my money back and was able to keep the item. The item was advertised as like new and it clearly wasn't like new.

[frostschutz]

Originally Posted by Danbo

Nevertheless, I'll probably wait for something new from either Kobo or Amazon.

I don't think the H2O will be replaced anytime soon and Glo HD just came out, so at most you might expect a low-end no-frills device.

[hannah]

I checked my H2O with 100% back-light and I don't have any light dots after dusting the screen. Before dusting there where a lot dots so I guess it's difficult to see in a youtube video if it's dust or not.

[JSWolf]

I know what would sell pretty well. A 5" Reader with a 1024x758 front lit Carta screen.