Page turn button on K4 as user friendly as K3?

[evwool]

My Mum (age 88) has had a go on my Kindle 3 and would like one for Christmas. In some ways the new K4 would suit her even better since she doesn't want to search, highlight or annotate, just read; the Kindle Touch would be no use since she would accidentally turn the pages without intending to.

But I've heard some speculation about the Page Turn button on the K4, that it is fiddly to use. If this is the case, it would be no good for slightly arthritic hands with decreased sensation in their fingertips . If any of you used both the K3 and K4 could you tell me if this is true in your experience?

[patrickt]

I find the K4 easier to use with my Kindle Basic in a Marware cover. But, I'm only 70. Personally, I wish the page advance/page back buttons were contrasting colors so I could see them better.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by evwool

My Mum (age 88) has had a go on my Kindle 3 and would like one for Christmas. In some ways the new K4 would suit her even better since she doesn't want to search, highlight or annotate, just read; the Kindle Touch would be no use since she would accidentally turn the pages without intending to.

But I've heard some speculation about the Page Turn button on the K4, that it is fiddly to use. If this is the case, it would be no good for slightly arthritic hands with decreased sensation in their fingertips . If any of you used both the K3 and K4 could you tell me if this is true in your experience?

I find the K3 easier to turn but it's heavier and I can't hold it as long. The K4 buttons are easier to turn if the K4 is in a case but this adds some weight.

It's easy to turn the page with two hands but one handing the K4 takes some skill. In my hand it will try to slip out when I try and takes some effort to push the Next button. I finally bought the Marware Eco-Flip case to fix this. I can prop it up on a pillow and read with no hands if I want or hold it one handed using the hand slot and turn the page with little effort

It's just the page next button is too far down for me. If it was higher up I could turn without a problem. Amazon made the K4 for man hands I guess.

I have arthritic hands but my hands are small. If she uses her other hand to turn the page it wont be a problem but one handed she may have issues if she has smaller hands like me.

[J. Strnad]

There seems to be a little less travel with the K4 buttons, but they seem basically the same.

[hardgainer]

The best i seen Kindle 4 lighter and smaller with same screen size. Page turn buttons are slightly better.

[Soldim]

Originally Posted by evwool

But I've heard some speculation about the Page Turn button on the K4, that it is fiddly to use. If this is the case, it would be no good for slightly arthritic hands with decreased sensation in their fingertips . If any of you used both the K3 and K4 could you tell me if this is true in your experience?

I can't compare it to a K3, but do agree they are somewhat fiddly to use. The (forward and backward) buttons occupy a rather large part of both edges and changing position of my hands on the Kindle often results in unintended page changes. The page turn buttons are the single most negative aspect of the K4 compared to the Sony PRS505 that I use as well (the pearl ink technology is the big advantage).

[paulak39]

I'm 72 and find the K4 easier to hold and more comfortable for page turning than the K3. It's helpful that I can turn pages on either left or right sides, as I'm left handed; it would be useful to have the page turning buttons color-coded.

[JoeD]

The only thing I found with the buttons, is you initially want to push them in from the side or directly down like you do with the bottom nav buttons, neither of which works that well. They're more like a slide down and away from the device, which is the natural direction your thumb would move when you hold the kindle at the edge.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by patrickt

I find the K4 easier to use with my Kindle Basic in a Marware cover. But, I'm only 70. Personally, I wish the page advance/page back buttons were contrasting colors so I could see them better.

Mom has that problem. This is how I fixed it.

Go to Walmart into the fabric/crafts department and find where they have the "white" marker pencils. The one I got says "Painters" Opaque Paint Marker and is made by Elmers.
Two things about using it. Shake it up good, and then if not flowing right push the pointer in some. It is made to do that to break up any little drying. Also of course put the cap on good when you finish.

I have put a white "V" by the two vol buttons and a "C" by the two channel buttons on her TV remote.
I also marked her phones for "cut on, cut off" and "volume."

On the Kindle K3 at least you can enlarge the arrow signs on the buttons or you can put a bigger arrow on the bezel. The white marker shows up great.

I liked the marker so good that I got one to mark a few things for myself that were hard to distinguish in very bad light. No matter how good your eyes are when it is dark, it is dark. Also you might not know that even if you have 20/20 eyes in daylight, that as you get older your eyes don't see as well at night. At least not as well as when you are young.

Hope this helps.

[evwool]

Thank you so much for your feedback, everyone. This makes my choice so much easier. The K4, with its smaller size will be perfect for my Mum. Thanks for the tip with the white paint marker though I will have to look for a UK equivalent.