Kindle 3 gripes

[estrial]

I don't have much complains for the new kindle. Yes the Organization bit does need some work so we can organize the books more quickly, maybe a check and select system like google's email to put them into personal/receipe/blabla folder thing might work.

Another thing is that... I've had my first kindle freeze today, I must say this made me freak out. I left my kindle on with a screen saver after reading every time since I got the K3 since it seems that most people do so. However, today when I tried to get back to reading from last night's page my kindle just wouldn't work. It left me panicking with a blank screen. All I really had to do was hold for 15 seconds. Wait. turn it back on again.

But I think all this could be corrected if the software was coded better perhaps? I thought it might have been a memory leak on the kindle, since I do get BSOD on my puter if i left it on standby and try to use it after a week + never turning the system off.

[babyd]

apparently some people are already testing a software update for the Kindle 3, so Amazon are working on the issue and a new update should be coming very soon. I heard this over on the Kindle boards, people were call by CS and asked to test the new update

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by kingduct

I'm with the crowd that prefers to use a device as designed. After all, what's the point of getting something that is light and easy to operate with one hand if I'm going to block some of that advantage by sticking it in a case?

(I do have a small bag I carry it in to keep it safe when not being read.)

So take that shocked emoticon off your face!

Here is my take on the case issue...your reader NEEDS a case because the screens, more accurately the glass substrate are surprisingly easy to crack. I am like you and do not like the idea of adding $40+ for a case but I settled on an M-Edge steno style case w/o the hinge hook retention system. Mine uses corner pockets and a couple of elastic straps to secure the reader in the case.

One nice thing about a case of this style is it can function as an "A-frame" stand allowing you to prop up the reader while eating lunch and need both hands for shoveling your gruel into your pie-hole...

I also added a silicon-rubber covering to increase the thickness of the K2i I have and also add better grip with the bonus of some bump-protection. I always remove the reader from the M-Edge case for reading when not using the case as a stand. Also my other motivation for the silicon-rubber cover was to block the highly reflective white case when reading outside in the sunlight, a thing I genuinely enjoy.

Here is the gear I bought:

• http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...cover+platform (I got the kiwi-green (OK, M-Edge calls it Jade green, but I have never seen this color Jade in nature!! hehehehe) cover because, hey what is life w/o a bit of whimsy and color... )
• Amazon Kindle 2 Textured Silicone Case Skin (Black) -- this is a bit different than other designs as it has angled bottom corners around the keyboard which to me look better but also make a surprising difference in the amount of white showing. And I already know, if I am still around next year, and decide to grab a graphite Kindle of some sort, I will still get a cover like this as it's near to impossible for me to grip these readers, any brand, because they are too thin requiring me to squeeze them which is a bad thing for my hands.
  
  But no matter what I would say don't fight it and get a cover, it does not need to be the $60 Amazon cover, but you can find used M-Edge covers on eBay for $20-$25 all the time and these are like new. The need of a cover is a marketing game Amazon plays since they knew it was needed when the K1 was released and included a cover. It could be argued that given the lack of a warning message that EPD panels are still fragile and need rigid protection for the panel when tossed in a pouch or bag is a willful omission on their part. but that is another thread. It is also why, had I not got such a great deal on my K2i for a net $159 I would have easily chosen the Pocketbook 360 over the Kindle as I only want a reader for novels and it has a great integrated cover.

BTW, I swore I read the K3 had a "grippier" surface than the K2 generation. Is this not the case after all? One of the best features, for me, of the K1 was the rubber back...the thing fit perfectly in my hand and never felt like it was going to fall. I was hoping this was again the case on the K3...

[TheJohnNewton]

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?

Whatever the current version is they call it the "latest generation" so no problem there. Kind of like if you had two children and told somebody "Timmy is my youngest" and then later had another child. Suddenly Sally would be your youngest and Timmy would magically become the forgotten middle child.

[pchrist7]

One thing has started to bug me !
Go into a menu, cursor is placed at the top, I want to to last entry in menu, but I CAN'T choose "up" to get to the last entry in the menu. Instead I have press "down" numerous times to get where I want to be.

[carld]

Originally Posted by pchrist7

One thing has started to bug me !
Go into a menu, cursor is placed at the top, I want to to last entry in menu, but I CAN'T choose "up" to get to the last entry in the menu. Instead I have press "down" numerous times to get where I want to be.

I've noticed that too. It's a small nit, but a rollover menu would be nice.

[Tiersten]

Originally Posted by pchrist7

One thing has started to bug me !
Go into a menu, cursor is placed at the top, I want to to last entry in menu, but I CAN'T choose "up" to get to the last entry in the menu. Instead I have press "down" numerous times to get where I want to be.

+1 Same here.

[djgreedo]

Originally Posted by pchrist7

One thing has started to bug me !
Go into a menu, cursor is placed at the top, I want to to last entry in menu, but I CAN'T choose "up" to get to the last entry in the menu. Instead I have press "down" numerous times to get where I want to be.

Yeah, that's a really weird oversight.

My complaints:
still limited font options
the buttons on the side are too small
I find it easy to accidentally press the buttons (side buttons and 5-way) when carrying the Kindle with or without the cover on

BUT...
Everything else is perfect. The screen is especially good. I'm surprised that I like the smaller size as I initially thought my K2 was too small.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by pchrist7

One thing has started to bug me !
Go into a menu, cursor is placed at the top, I want to to last entry in menu, but I CAN'T choose "up" to get to the last entry in the menu. Instead I have press "down" numerous times to get where I want to be.

If you want to operate a menu without looking at it, it is better not to have rollover, because you can navigate to the first and last items more robustly, and locate other items in relation to those positions. But there is Voice Guide now, so anyone who needs to navigate menus without visual feedback should just use that.

There are other contexts where I'd like to see 'rollover' as well, like Kindle Store and web browser.

[hermano]

Any thoughts on book cover pictures? I had a cool-er which with my epub books showed the book covers when browsing library and choosing a book. Can the kindle do this? I converted my epubs to mobi in calibre but no sign of the nice pictures?

Should i have done something else?
thanks

[Tiersten]

Originally Posted by hermano

Any thoughts on book cover pictures? I had a cool-er which with my epub books showed the book covers when browsing library and choosing a book. Can the kindle do this? I converted my epubs to mobi in calibre but no sign of the nice pictures?

The Kindle doesn't show them on your list of books. It can display the cover if its the first page of your book but thats about it.

[NormHart]

Originally Posted by Tiersten

The Kindle doesn't show them on your list of books. It can display the cover if its the first page of your book but thats about it.

If you go right with your five way from the Home page on the book title you will get a book detail page that includes the cover picture. Unfortunately it does not include much of the metadata.

[Viseguy]

Originally Posted by pchrist7

One thing has started to bug me !
Go into a menu, cursor is placed at the top, I want to to last entry in menu, but I CAN'T choose "up" to get to the last entry in the menu. Instead I have press "down" numerous times to get where I want to be.

Agree.

[NormHart]

Well, I’d say that it is pretty clear that the number one complaint about the Kindle 3 is the lack of organizational capability and that this has been an ongoing issue with the Kindles since their first release. It is my understanding that Jeff Bezos has an irrational aversion to the file/folder document organizational format. It appears as though the Collections format is his attempt to introduce a superior organizational method. It has been an almost complete failure to date but perhaps with enough rewrites/updates/development it will eventually start to address the user’s needs.

Now my understanding is that the operating system of the Kindle uses file/folder organization inherently or that it has coding to allow it to communicate with PCs in that format. Does this not mean that any attempt to use another organizational method is adding an additional layer of coding on top of the existing code merely to provide a user interface that is suppose to be easier? Given that the file/folder organization has developed over decades is it not likely to be the most efficient available and that it is relatively easy to learn? Whilst there are many in the organizational sciences that have waved their hands about numerous new and improved methods not one has been adopted so far as I can tell and I question using the Kindle as an experimental tool for such testing.

Come on Mr. Bezos, give us a break and give us a usable organizational tool. Files and folders would be nice.

[Tiersten]

Originally Posted by NormHart

Now my understanding is that the operating system of the Kindle uses file/folder organization inherently or that it has coding to allow it to communicate with PCs in that format.

The Kindle just dumps everything into one directory. You can have subdirectories in there but it doesn't care and will just show everything as one big list.