So what's the verdict on K3?

[SteveEisenberg]

Not being one to gush, I rated it good.

This is my first dedicated eReader, but I have read many books on Palm PDA's, and tried to read books on my current BlackBerry.

Pluses:

--Excellent for long texts read in bright light.

--Better than expected 3G web performance considering there is no monthly fee. Seems to load the mobile.nytimes.com, over AT&T 3G, faster than my BlackBerry which is on the same network. Reading and sending of simple Gmail emails performs acceptably.

--Good background music feature. (I've never been much for music while reading before, but, then, I never tried it before with Françoise Hardy singing in languages I don't know. A perfect voice to read by!)

Not so great:

--My middle age eyes like backlighting. Good thing I waited for eInk Pearl to buy one of these, but I still would like a white, not grey, background. In some indoor lighting conditions, I find it easier to read a conventional book than the Kindle 3 with a much larger font. (US$60 for a lighted case seemed too self-indulgent. Suggestions as to the best third party light for a Kindle 3 that's always in the standard Amazon case are welcome.)

--Too few settings options. I want larger than average fonts in every application, and must keep on going to menus to get it. My guess is that there will be a Kindle Store app before long to deal with such issues, and if it's $5 or less I'll withdraw this criticism

-- They must be out there, but I have yet to find a pdf that is pleasant to read on this device.

-- I'm having trouble with some web sites like washingtonpost.com (sometimes displays the HTML code!), but maybe I'll find a way around this.

-- Crashes. I've had two in two days. This may be good for life on the technological bleeding edge, but an awesome device, or even my average late-model PC, has zero.

[shanghaichica]

Super awsome. Easy to use, great features, very resposive and fast. I feel sorry for my PRS-300 now. Gave it to the OH, but I doubt he will use it much and I wont use it much now.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by scgf

I have big fingers too but don't have the slightest problem with the 5-way control. Hadn't even thought of it as an issue. In fact immediately I unpacked the Kindle 3 I could see how much better the control was than the previous version!

I guess it depends on what you're doing. My first action was downloading 300 Amazon books. Scrolling back and forth in my library while searching for the respective titles hasn't been fun at all...

[KayakerNC]

Not ready for prime time.
Yes, the screen is very readable, much better than my K1.
But there is a serious problem with freezing and rebooting on the K3,s.
Using the browser, typing a URL...reader froze, then after 20 seconds or so, it rebooted itself. It takes a few minutes to return to life.
WiFi and 3G turned off, creating a collection..froze and rebooted.
Reading a book, froze and rebooted, then it wouldn't remember where I left off reading.
Changing the View from Title to Author...froze and rebooted.
There is no rhyme or reason for this behavior, and judging from the Customer Reviews at Amazon, it is NOT an isolated problem.
Maybe they should have called it the Beta generation instead of the "Latest" generation.

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by HarryT

My considered opinion: it's good, but not great. For me, at least, the 5-way nav control is too small and fiddly for my fat fingers - I keep accidentally pressing the central button instead of one of the directional buttons. There are many things that have to be done with this nav control that a touch screen would have made much, much easier. Collections are no substitute for real folders, and the process of assigning books to collections is tortuous for large numbers of books. The web browser is extremely "flaky" and causes the Kindle to reboot frequently.

On the plus side, the screen is excellent - the best eInk screen I've seen so far, and of course the process of buying books really could not be easier. The actual "reading experience" is second to none.

Is the K3 the best eInk device on the market? I have to say "no" - I think the BeBook Neo is much better, but it's from a little-known manufacturer and costs twice as much as the Kindle. I'm sure that the Kindle is going to be an enormous success; it's probably the best value for money device on the market.

Harry,

Can you do me a favor? Answer the question that has been ambiguous since it was noticed...is the only way to access numbers via the SYM button's pick-list? I read the K3 manual and that was the only method described. But one poster laid claim that the numbers, though not printed on the upper row of letters were there suing the ALT-key-combo's.

I just don't see this as a viable device if they ALT-combo is not really there, I use numbers all the time...you know like the GOTO PAGE option, website passwords, URL's or whatever...numbers are simply part of or lexicon and moving them OFF the main keyboard is just wrong while at least allowing the ALT-combo reduces that to the level of pretty silly and needlessly cumbersome.

Anyway, yours is about the only voice I feel can be trusted so if ya can answer thanks a bunch!

[tlrowley]

The Alt-key combos do work. You can press-and-hold-alt-key or you can press alt then the letter/number (not both at once) The second mode is much easier for me, but it didn't appear to work when typing letter for my passwords (could easily have been user error, though) Pressing alt-combo at the same time did work for the passwords, though.

I know I'm not HarryT, but I hope you can trust others, too

[brecklundin]

thanks for that confirmation. It is so odd that the original manual I downloaded from Amazon had only the access via the SYM key menu...someone else mentioned they could be access the same as the KDX/DXG...I still sense it was intended to not add the combo only when testing with their early beta users they found out numbers are as important as letters. Other than size, and I don't buy that because you can silk screen any size or directly over the keys involved...it just seems to me like this was an original whiff by Amazon, kinda like when the moved all the important sybmol keys off under the SYM key...I know that while I did not like the feel of the K1 keyboard I sure found it more useful.

BTW, of course I trust ya...you're in Tracy...spent college years in Stockton & Fresno so I know there is not much else to do in Tracy but read and, well, sweat this time of year!! hehehehe....

[tlrowley]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

BTW, of course I trust ya...you're in Tracy...spent college years in Stockton & Fresno so I know there is not much else to do in Tracy but read and, well, sweat this time of year!! hehehehe....

Truer words were never spoken! And, with the performance of e-ink screens in the sunlight, we can read and sweat at the same time!! And burn, too!!

[Williamlk]

WOW, I can't believe super awesome won by SO much!

[Jack Tingle]

I voted 'just good'. The Pearl screen is the best there is, bar none. But...

I've been spoiled by my jetBook. The K3 is a little too big, and won't read a lot of formats without ... fumbling. The little jetBook fits in my hand without thinking about it, and I can load almost any kind of document in existence on it and it will display it. The jetBook TFT reflective LCD is almost as good as the Pearl EPD, and is certainly good enough for almost any condition.

I'm keeping both. The jetBook is just to handy and too flexible to give up. The K3 is probably the future, but it's not 'awesome' by any measure.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

[Williamlk]

It's official!

Super awesome wins by a landslide!

Thanks to all who voted!
This wound up being a fun and informative thread.