Paperwhite Second Gen: First Impressions

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by Blossom

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AWH595M/

Thanks for that link. For some reason I could not find it earlier.

I read everyone of the 17 one star reviews there shown here:

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Paperwh...DateDescending

They mentioned some horrible problems but only ONE mentioned the pin holes.

Frankly, those other problems would have turned me off as well. One person had his battery die very fast and another had all the pages flip by when he tried to turn one. That would affect me far more than pin holes. Another couldn't get his PW 2012 bible to work and yet another had the unit shut down altogether when he tried to read.

So far I haven't seen those types of problems reported here.

[FacebookVirus]

For what it's worth, I've just bought my first Kindle today. I haven't seen any of the photos posted here but I've been watching this thread for a while.

At my local BestBuy, I examined the new PW and saw what sounded like the descriptions here. White, small, and like a tiny pin hole. One clearly visible near the bottom of the unit on display. It wasn't on the outside of the screen, though, so not dismissable as a damaged display unit. I wiped the pin hole, but it couldn't be moved or altered. It was simply brighter than the surrounding area, and it clearly wasn't going anywhere.

A tiny defect, but over the next year or two it would drive me to drinking again. $69 Kindle for me.


FWIW

[Chi Cygni]

Originally Posted by FacebookVirus

A tiny defect, but over the next year or two it would drive me to drinking again.

my feelings exactly...

Originally Posted by sirmaru

Thanks for that link. For some reason I could not find it earlier.

I read everyone of the 17 one star reviews there shown here:

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Paperwh...DateDescending

They mentioned some horrible problems but only ONE mentioned the pin holes.

Frankly, those other problems would have turned me off as well. One person had his battery die very fast and another had all the pages flip by when he tried to turn one. That would affect me far more than pin holes. Another couldn't get his PW 2012 bible to work and yet another had the unit shut down altogether when he tried to read.

So far I haven't seen those types of problems reported here.

I've seen pinholes mentioned in 1 star and 2 star and 3 star reviews of the PW2. And I only read a FEW reviews. I wouldn't be surprised to see them mentioned in 4 star and 5 star reviews too.

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I've seen pinholes mentioned in 1 star and 2 star and 3 star reviews of the PW2. And I only read a FEW reviews. I wouldn't be surprised to see them mentioned in 4 star and 5 star reviews too.

Its possible that many of those, who have seen pin holes, give them a low priority and keep their units anyway. A pin hole would only be serious if it obscured an actual font. If it was in an out of the way place like a corner, it would be irrelevant.

I had mentioned earlier I had a bad pixel in a corner of a monitor and chose to keep it. I had one freeze on my PW 2013 and I am still keeping it.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by jgsmith

I

2. A new Kobo Aura, running Kindle software

I get that #2 is not possible, but humor me. Imagine that you could have the identical Kindle experience...Kindle software, access to Amazon, etc. but just swap the PW2 hardware for the Aura hardware.

Jim

I would order one instantly! I would love to have the Aura, but if you think people are complaining about the Kindle, it is nothing compared to the problems with the new Aura.

[FacebookVirus]

Originally Posted by booklover6

I would order one instantly! I would love to have the Aura, but if you think people are complaining about the Kindle, it is nothing compared to the problems with the new Aura.

I'd order two! But it's probably as likely as the holy grail of smart phones, Android software on Nokia hardware.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by FacebookVirus

I'd order two! But it's probably as likely as the holy grail of smart phones, Android software on Nokia hardware.

Well maybe Nook will surprise us with a little lighted ereader....

[slantybard]

Originally Posted by jgsmith

I'd like to preface my odd question by saying that my current reader is a Kobo Touch and I just ordered a PW2. Now my question...

For those that are unhappy with their PW2s, given the following 2 choices...and ONLY these choices, what would you choose?

1. The PW2 you are unhappy with

or

2. A new Kobo Aura, running Kindle software

I get that #2 is not possible, but humor me. Imagine that you could have the identical Kindle experience...Kindle software, access to Amazon, etc. but just swap the PW2 hardware for the Aura hardware.

Jim

#1 for the following reasons:
-The contrast on the PW is better than the Aura. I can't take pics since I am not at home, but side-by-side comparison of the Aura and PW1/2 I have show the contrast superior on the PW. Darker, "crispier" blacks and a whiter background.
-The Kindle software is not without it's faults so I wouldn't want it on the Aura. The Aura software allows very fine custom/stock font fine-tunning along with better margin and justification control without jailbreaking.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Well maybe Nook will surprise us with a little lighted ereader....

I don't think Nooks will be around very much longer. I don't think there will be any new readers from them.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Wow, that was lot of pin holes! I would have definitely sent that one back in a hurry.

Same here - not something I'd find acceptable on a brandnew $139 device (assuming you'd remove the SO again).

[xendula]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

I looked at your two images and didn't see any pin holes. Now I know its my vision and probably the vision of most others just not able to see pin holes.

Most people have less than perfect vision.

Edit: I looked again and spotted one very faint pin hole in the lower left of the second image. I believe that the Chinese kids doing the QC simply have vision like me and all these units are getting through. We Asians do have worse vision then Westerners for the most part.

I guess this explains why you can't see some of the issues we are posting about. I can see them, they would drive me crazy, and I did not have to go looking for them.

[HYPE]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I don't think Nooks will be around very much longer. I don't think there will be any new readers from them.

Didn't they hire new people to work on the technological engineering?

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by xendula

I guess this explains why you can't see some of the issues we are posting about. I can see them, they would drive me crazy, and I did not have to go looking for them.

By the way, do you use glasses for normal reading? If so, can you see the pin holes without your glasses?

I have a hunch that Amazon is NOT requiring those Chinese workers on the assembly line to get eye tests.

If I can read perfectly, I doubt if I would buy glasses just to find pin holes.

I assume Quality Control just reads a few pages on the devices and then approves them. I doubt if they are looking that closely for faint defects.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I don't think Nooks will be around very much longer. I don't think there will be any new readers from them.

I think they said they would announce new readers later this year. We'll see what happens, though their customer service is so bad, I would stay away from their devices anyway, unless Target still sells them (I haven't been in a large department store in a while, but remember Target building out Nook shelves after they discontinued the sale of kindle devices).