Kindle Voyage - First Impressions

[Waitingforatrain]

FYI, I noticed on the voyage order page that they are saying that it will be in stock on December 1st now. Mine is supposed to arrive on Monday or Tuesday. I am hoping for a good one but if not I may wait until December to order a replacement. Maybe by then they will have made some adjustments to fix the problems.

[s0ckpupp3t]

My replacement Kindle was definitely tinted yellow and the top half of the screen looked slightly hazy like my eyes were having trouble focusing. The screen also had more black flecks than the original.

At this point I have decided the Kindle Voyage is not worth the upgrade price from the Kindle Paperwhite 2 so everything is going back to Amazon.

I'll wait for the Kindle Voyage 2 to come out next year. Hopefully they will have fixed all the flaws in the first generation product.

[GordonGekko]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Wow, that sucks on so many levels! The CS run around, the bad replacement deja vu, and the WiFi required for setup.

My replacement crashed during the setup while taking me through that stupid tutorial! First Kindle crash/hang I've ever had too. So far it hasn't happened again though. Glad you figured out how to circumvent that stupid tutorial!

I sure hope they get you a good one this time around.

From what can I see this has not filtered out into the tech media yet, any idea why? When Apple has the hint of a problem, think "Bendgate", it hits the tech blogs quickly, this should be a top story.

[jbcohen]

Originally Posted by s0ckpupp3t

My replacement Kindle was definitely tinted yellow and the top half of the screen looked slightly hazy like my eyes were having trouble focusing. The screen also had more black flecks than the original.

At this point I have decided the Kindle Voyage is not worth the upgrade price from the Kindle Paperwhite 2 so everything is going back to Amazon.

I'll wait for the Kindle Voyage 2 to come out next year. Hopefully they will have fixed all the flaws in the first generation product.

That is typically the way amazon works, the 2012 paper white is a good example of this. When the paper white first came out the book light was not quite right and this was not fixed until the next year's model, the 2013 paper white was made available. My thinking is the 2015 voyage will have everything right.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

That is typically the way amazon works, the 2012 paper white is a good example of this. When the paper white first came out the book light was not quite right and this was not fixed until the next year's model, the 2013 paper white was made available. My thinking is the 2015 voyage will have everything right.

....and that's only two months away.

I have a feeling things will soon be ironed out, as I was thinking of getting one during Christmas. (I had one on order, but cancelled about 3 weeks ago, before some of the negative reports came in. I had this feeling.....)

Right now, I have perfectly wonderful PW2.

[JoHunt]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

That is typically the way amazon works, the 2012 paper white is a good example of this. When the paper white first came out the book light was not quite right and this was not fixed until the next year's model, the 2013 paper white was made available. My thinking is the 2015 voyage will have everything right.

Agreed. The reported screen problems of PW1 were only corrected on release of PW2, so it probably won't matter when Voyage 1 is purchased as any problems will only be fixed with Voyage 2.

And the dark, brownish screen issues with the Kindle Touch were never fixed because Amazon never released a Touch 2. Instead they released the PW1 with light. I know the forums always speculate about when to buy a new model that has reported issues, thinking that makes a difference. Or they try to link the issues to a specific factory or distribution warehouse or batch number. But I think the reality is that the issues, if hardware related, tend to stick around all year and if it gets fixed it is only fixed in the subsequent year model. It might be inconsistent manufacturing processes, unreliable parts suppliers, very poor QC, or who knows what, but whether you get a good one, a bad one, or something in between seems to be totally random and luck (good or bad). To be honest, I think some companies are just arrogant and don't give a crap about quality, expecting to sell a boat load of units on their name alone. Look at General Motors and the 20 million cars they have recalled in 2014. The joke in 1980s was that an American automobile would not last until the darn thing was paid off in 3 or 4 years. And that was fairly true for the Detroit Big Three back then as their cars were junk that fell apart. Unfortunately that seems to be a prevalent business model with more and more companies: If we build it and/or put our name on it they will buy it, even if the product is total crap.

[MickeyMark]

My Voyage has started acting wonky.

When I touch the touchscreen, it doesn't recognize my input quickly. Often I have to press the button 4, or 5, times before it finally takes effect.

It's as though it's indexing, or something. Last night, I tried rebooting but that didn't seem to help!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by jswinden

And the dark, brownish screen issues with the Kindle Touch were never fixed because Amazon never released a Touch 2. Instead they released the PW1 with light. I know the forums always speculate about when to buy a new model that has reported issues, thinking that makes a difference. Or they try to link the issues to a specific factory or distribution warehouse or batch number. But I think the reality is that the issues, if hardware related, tend to stick around all year and if it gets fixed it is only fixed in the subsequent year model. It might be inconsistent manufacturing processes, unreliable parts suppliers, very poor QC, or who knows what, but whether you get a good one, a bad one, or something in between seems to be totally random and luck (good or bad).

I honestly think, Jack - and this is absolutely not meant as a criticism of anyone - that a major factor is simply that some people are more critical of these things than others. I've been perfectly happy with the screens of all my Kindles, and when people were posting pictures of their "terrible" PW1 screens, most of those looked just fine to me, too. Obviously things like pinpricks are a genuine manufacturing defect, but factors like the hue of the screen are very much a matter of personal preference. As I've said before, my PW2 has a distinctly yellow tint to its frontlight, something which I know others regard as a "defect", but I like the warmer tint to the screen.

[RDaneel54]

Originally Posted by jswinden

And the dark, brownish screen issues with the Kindle Touch were never fixed because Amazon never released a Touch 2. Instead they released the PW1 with light. I know the forums always speculate about when to buy a new model that has reported issues, thinking that makes a difference. Or they try to link the issues to a specific factory or distribution warehouse or batch number. But I think the reality is that the issues, if hardware related, tend to stick around all year and if it gets fixed it is only fixed in the subsequent year model. It might be inconsistent manufacturing processes, unreliable parts suppliers, very poor QC, or who knows what, but whether you get a good one, a bad one, or something in between seems to be totally random and luck (good or bad). To be honest, I think some companies are just arrogant and don't give a crap about quality, expecting to sell a boat load of units on their name alone. Look at General Motors and the 20 million cars they have recalled in 2014. The joke in 1980s was that an American automobile would not last until the darn thing was paid off in 3 or 4 years. And that was fairly true for the Detroit Big Three back then as their cars were junk that fell apart. Unfortunately that seems to be a prevalent business model with more and more companies: If we build it and/or put our name on it they will buy it, even if the product is total crap.

I pretty much agree. I do wonder if manufacturing being on the other side of the planet from design and management leads to more QC problems.

As far as cars go, I'm glad that QC is better now, but with the recent recall of Takata airbags for Hondas, etc. it is still not perfect obviously. My wife's Honda has had 3 recalls now, all safety related (it's twelve years old and has no other problems, though).

Originally Posted by HarryT

I honestly think, Jack - and this is absolutely not meant as a criticism of anyone - that a major factor is simply that some people are more critical of these things than others. I've been perfectly happy with the screens of all my Kindles, and when people were posting pictures of their "terrible" PW1 screens, most of those looked just fine to me, too. Obviously things like pinpricks are a genuine manufacturing defect, but factors like the hue of the screen are very much a matter of personal preference. As I've said before, my PW2 has a distinctly yellow tint to its frontlight, something which I know others regard as a "defect", but I like the warmer tint to the screen.

Or it could be some people are willing to overlook flaws and accept almost anything. I've seen this over and over with various products. Human nature is strange, and it can go either way as far as what some will accept and not accept in terms of quality. But the fact that this appears to be an optics issue with the light layer, and that human eyes are of such a poor design that our brains have to interpret most of what we see due to that design, it is no wonder that some see issues and others don't.

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by frogette

I had one, which color reminded me very much of tobacco stained white walls (I'm an expert in the subject, I've been a chain smoker for quite a few years before I kicked the habit). I don't know if it was that much more yellow than average, because I had no way to compare it with another model. Never used it much, partly because I disliked the pronounced yellow hue, partly because the thinner fonts looked so unpleasantly ill-defined.

Even after using them for a couple of days, the "pee color" still bothers me. Nice otherwise. After using the white of the KV, and my PW1's almost white, it's a very striking difference. It just isn't as bright to me, even side-by-side with my PW1, same lighting, same light setting.

[JoHunt]

I've finally gotten hold of my Voyage and am delighted with it The screen is perfect for me - very even lighting, very white color. It was sent from IN, so this distribution center must have had various batches.

jswinden previously I've been very critical of your anti-Kindle stance and just knew (and posted much earlier) that you would not like the Voyage, no matter what. I must say though that you have surprised me this time around by being a voice of reason, which has been a pleasant change

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by joehunt

I've finally gotten hold of my Voyage and am delighted with it The screen is perfect for me - very even lighting, very white color. It was sent from IN, so this distribution center must have had various batches.

So happy for you! Enjoy it!

Originally Posted by joehunt

I've finally gotten hold of my Voyage and am delighted with it The screen is perfect for me - very even lighting, very white color. It was sent from IN, so this distribution center must have had various batches.

jswinden previously I've been very critical of your anti-Kindle stance and just knew (and posted much earlier) that you would not like the Voyage, no matter what. I must say though that you have surprised me this time around by being a voice of reason, which has been a pleasant change

Jo I'm glad you got a good one!

I've always been a huge fan of Amazon and their Kindles. I've owned most of their Kindles over the years, and I like their ecosystem. I liked them all until the PW1. Really the only ones I've had issues with have been the lighted ones, PW1 and Voyage. My PW2 was okay--I lucked out there. I guess people think I'm anti-Amazon or anti-Kindle, but I'm not. I'm just honest and voice my frustrations over lighting issues. I keep buying the lighted Kindles hoping to get a good one. I wouldn't do that if I was anti-Kindle. My second Voyage is pretty good, but I hope they nail it next year with the Voyage 2.