Amazon is replacing Kindle Covers

[FF2]

Amazon apparently is still trying to determine what causes the problem. That means that the UNlighted cases might not be a NEW lot and would still cause the problems. Maybe they have pulled the cases from sale - I have not looked.

[mlewis78]

Mine has only rebooted when the charge has been low, and then only on two different days in the 3 months that I've had my K3. I have the cover w/o light. I don't think it is caused by the hinges. Once I charged it there were no further problems.

[OakIris]

Originally Posted by AbFabGab

Thank you OakIris for clarifying that.

Ive been reading so much Kindle stuff, I'm getting myself
confused!

I really, really do like the lighted cover...
don't care for the snap on thingys, though.
then again makes it easy to tell front/back..lol.

if they came in red...
I want red cover

As mentioned by FF@, the Kindle lighted cover comes in various colours - here is the red one:

Originally Posted by screwballl

I got a similar cover, but I also see 2 that look the same, with slightly different descriptions. One says "fits latest generation kindles", the other days "fits 2nd generation Kindles"...

Ummm, I don't know what cover you have that you say is similar, but as for the "2 that look the same," one is for the Kindle 3 and one is for the Kindle 2. The Kindles are different sizes....

Originally Posted by screwballl

Wwhat I am wondering as a long time computer tech is HOW a simple basic leather cover could cause anything remotely like what these people are attributing to it? It holds it in place... to me it sounds like there is some other sort of interference causing the problem, and since this is the most popular cover sold and used for Kindles, this is the first and easiest scapegoat for the uneducated. If it is sitting in the backpack and getting jostled around, and various things pushing on the cover which is pushing random buttons, then it is most likely the movement, NOT the case causing these problems.

Personally I see it as people wanting to find an excuse to complain about something, and others jump on the bandwagon.

edit: forgot to mention that I believe a lot of these people may be the types that think they can be a lot more rough with their Kindles thinking the cover will protect it, thus better chance of damaging it, when that is not what these covers are designed for.

I don't have an Amazon cover, but I must disagree with your contention that the reboot problem associated with the Amazon cover (sans light) is being caused by people's abusive treatment of their Kindles, nor do I think that people are just looking for an excuse to complain. I do hope you realize that the Amazon covers are attached to the Kindle via hinges with two metal hooks. The hooks are inserted into holes on left side of the Kindle. These openings are just holes with no protective cover between the opening and the "innards" of the Kindle - you can see the gleam of metal components on the motherboard/logic board of the Kindle through the holes. The possibility of the metal of the hook touching a metal component inside the Kindle and causing a short - and thus the reboots and freezes - is very real. Not everyone is having this problem with the cover, however, as can be seen by mLewis78's post.

(This is an assumption on my part as I have never seen the two different covers in person, but since the problem is only being reported for the cover without the light, the design of its hooks must be different from the hooks on the cover with the light.)

Holly

[AbFabGab]

I know the cover comes in red.. I was referring to the snap on thingys..lol

[wvcherrybomb]

Originally Posted by screwballl

Wwhat I am wondering as a long time computer tech is HOW a simple basic leather cover could cause anything remotely like what these people are attributing to it? It holds it in place... to me it sounds like there is some other sort of interference causing the problem, and since this is the most popular cover sold and used for Kindles, this is the first and easiest scapegoat for the uneducated.

Since you obviously don't know what you are talking about and didn't bother to research it before you posted, you are the one who is uneducated here.

It is not the leather that is causing the problems. It is the metal hooks that protrude into the side of the Kindle. These same metal hooks provide power for the lighted covers so clearly they are touching something.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by screwballl

If it is sitting in the backpack and getting jostled around, and various things pushing on the cover which is pushing random buttons, then it is most likely the movement, NOT the case causing these problems.

That's about what I hypothesized when I first read about it, but it was not yet happenning to me.

My K3 gets jostled in my backpack on transit every day, just as it has since I got it back at the end of August. After a few months, it gradually rebooted, by itself, more and more. I tried keeping it fully charged, and the frequency of reboots increased.

I am "from Missouri" and so was skeptical when I first read that the case was the problem. After case problems in the K2 era, surely, I thought, the K3 case would have been well-tested before shipment. But careful repeated experiments have shown that, for my unit, the pattern is overwhelmingly obvious. Keeping the Kindle unhooked, it is fine. Hook up the case, and it will reboot within the hour.

As for what explains this, I like the hypothesis that it has to do with static electricity buildup, with the lighted case not having the problem due to a different electrical resistance between the hooks. But this is unproven.

[OtterBooks]

Wwhat I am wondering as a long time computer tech is HOW a simple basic leather cover could cause anything remotely like what these people are attributing to it? It holds it in place... to me it sounds like there is some other sort of interference causing the problem, and since this is the most popular cover sold and used for Kindles, this is the first and easiest scapegoat for the uneducated. If it is sitting in the backpack and getting jostled around, and various things pushing on the cover which is pushing random buttons, then it is most likely the movement, NOT the case causing these problems.

Personally I see it as people wanting to find an excuse to complain about something, and others jump on the bandwagon.

The fact that Amazon has acknowledged the issue may not even be what is most wrong about this theory, which is actually some sort of deranged accomplishment.

[flandroid]

Originally Posted by OakIris

I do hope you realize that the Amazon covers are attached to the Kindle via hinges with two metal hooks.

The hooks on the non-lighted covers are plastic. At least mine were. And there's no hinge involved; the hooks are mounted parallel to the cover's back, rigidly.

[violent23]

What if I purchased the cover at Bestbuy? It was over 2 months ago, so they won't return it. Will Amazon let me exchange my cover?

[RexGalore]

Originally Posted by flandroid

The hooks on the non-lighted covers are plastic. At least mine were. And there's no hinge involved; the hooks are mounted parallel to the cover's back, rigidly.

Then maybe you have a new one. Mine were most definitely metal. One of the hooks, the top one, even had some of the black paint scratched of at the tip, which would indicate that it most definitely came in contact with something in there.

And the word "hinge" I think is not meant to be taken like like those you find on a door. Amazon themselves refer to those hooks as hinges: "Our patent-pending hinge system secures Kindle in place."

[RexGalore]

Originally Posted by screwballl

I got a similar cover, but I also see 2 that look the same, with slightly different descriptions. One says "fits latest generation kindles", the other days "fits 2nd generation Kindles"...
Wwhat I am wondering as a long time computer tech is HOW a simple basic leather cover could cause anything remotely like what these people are attributing to it? It holds it in place... to me it sounds like there is some other sort of interference causing the problem, and since this is the most popular cover sold and used for Kindles, this is the first and easiest scapegoat for the uneducated. If it is sitting in the backpack and getting jostled around, and various things pushing on the cover which is pushing random buttons, then it is most likely the movement, NOT the case causing these problems.

Personally I see it as people wanting to find an excuse to complain about something, and others jump on the bandwagon.

edit: forgot to mention that I believe a lot of these people may be the types that think they can be a lot more rough with their Kindles thinking the cover will protect it, thus better chance of damaging it, when that is not what these covers are designed for.

Troll?...
As others have pointed out, if anything it seems that you are the one that is "uneducated". The metal hooks (hinges) pokes into the device (as you should know since you have a Kindle 2) and in those holes there is both a serial port (for diagnostics?) and the connection so that the lighted cover can get power. Look at the teardown being done by EEV-blog for example and you can see these ports.

Can tell you that I have had two Kindle 3s from Amazon and had problems with both. And those problems arose while having the Kindle lying still on my table during the night (with the cover attached). And when I stopped using the cover I haven't seen any issues at all. So no, I don't treat my electronics "roughly". I take better care of them than most.

So please do your homework and know what you are saying before you post inflammatory statements where you call others uneducated and abusive towards their Kindles (rough as you said).

[violent23]

Originally Posted by violent23

What if I purchased the cover at Bestbuy? It was over 2 months ago, so they won't return it. Will Amazon let me exchange my cover?

Answered my own question. I just called the number in post 1. The CS rep said she had not heard of any kind of recall, then she put me on hold. When she came back on the line she said she is going to give my Amazon account an 59.99 dollar credit for a lighted case. I thanked her and got off the phone. Then I logged into my Amazon account picked the orange lighted case and checked out with no problem. It will be hear in five to eight days. Best customer service ever!

[wvcherrybomb]

Originally Posted by flandroid

The hooks on the non-lighted covers are plastic. At least mine were. And there's no hinge involved; the hooks are mounted parallel to the cover's back, rigidly.

My daughter has the non-lighted cover and I have the lighted one. They are both metal and identical in size, shape, and method of attachment.

[OakIris]

Originally Posted by AbFabGab

I know the cover comes in red.. I was referring to the snap on thingys..lol

Oh!! Sorry, as you can tell, I thought you were talking about the cover! It is obvious to me now that since you researched the cover you would be aware that it came in various colours. Sorry about that! As you have no doubt surmised, the Smak-Dab only comes in black, though there may be different colors sometime in the future - here is a quote from the FAQ's on the Smak-Dab website:

Q: Are other clip colors available beside briquette (black)?
A: Not yet, but we hope to provide the Smak-Dab Cover Secure in
a rainbow of colors in the future! Let us know what your color
choice would be!

Originally Posted by flandroid

The hooks on the non-lighted covers are plastic. At least mine were. And there's no hinge involved; the hooks are mounted parallel to the cover's back, rigidly.

Well, here is a direct quote from the Amazon Kindle cover technical description (with my emphasis added):

Patent-pending hinge and external strap keep Kindle securely in place

No, it is not a hinge in the sense of a door hinge, but "hinge system" is how Amazon refers to it. Edit: whoops, looks as if RexGalore already pointed this out!

My only experience with the Amazon covers is with a Kindle 2 cover that my partner has. The hooks look like black metal to me. Are you sure the hooks on your Kindle 3 cover are plastic? If they are indeed plastic, that seems like a mighty weak way to attach the Kindle. People have talked about the hinges bending and having to gently bend them back into the correct orientation; if they were plastic, I would think they would break, not bend. Again, are you sure they are plastic??

Holly

[flandroid]

I haven't had the cover in a few months, as I exchanged for the lighted cover, but I'm pretty sure the hooks were plastic; at the very least, the top one (with the spring) was. It wasn't an older one, either, I ordered it before launch.

To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that they need to pass on current in the lighted cover, I'd prefer if they were plastic. ABS is strong, can be formulated to not have much flex, and if it does flex, it returns to its original shape instantly. Unlike whatever pot metal they're using on my lighted cover, which won't break, but is fairly bendable.