Discussions with Amazon CS about PW Defects

[xtine]

I'll have to recheck that and get back to you

[drewh]

Ok do that hoping it doesnt have an R actually just to be different!

[xtine]

I just checked, definitely not seeing an R anywhere For what it's worth, my replacement is a 603.

[drewh]

Thats great xtine! 603 would more than likely be a new or near new device then. My two replacements were 502 and 503 (both rubbish sorry to say, and I'm def not a fussy/'never happy' kind of guy). Not sure how they decide who gets what but thats def good news

[Chi Cygni]

Ok. Been following this thread for a while and just wanted to sum up what we have:

color bruising (unacceptable for some)
dead pixels
unaligned screen
hairline in the screen
pixelated line of text (as per another thread)
blurred fonts on some devices

Did I forget something? What is the probability of getting one/more of those faults at the same time (rhetorical question)

Really. I long for a new shiny ereader toy to play with but PW, well not now... and why do I rant (again)? Because I wanted to buy it and everytime I consider again there comes another bomb.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by Chi Cygni

Ok. Been following this thread for a while and just wanted to sum up what we have:

color bruising (unacceptable for some)
dead pixels
unaligned screen
hairline in the screen
pixelated line of text (as per another thread)
blurred fonts on some devices

Did I forget something? What is the probability of getting one/more of those faults at the same time (rhetorical question)

Really. I long for a new shiny ereader toy to play with but PW, well not now... and why do I rant (again)? Because I wanted to buy it and everytime I consider again there comes another bomb.

I added two more, and, yes, the 8 that turned on when I received them (one was dead on arrival) had a combination of problems.

• color bruising (unacceptable for some)
• dead pixels
• unaligned screen
• hairline in the screen
• pixelated line of text (as per another thread)
• blurred fonts on some devices
• Smudges between the screens
• Artifacts stuck underneath the screen

Thing is, the most likely defect they will have is crazy color blobs, so you could give it a shot, since you may not even detect them unless you have good color vision.

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by drewh

Interesting question for those who have received replacements - did they have little pieces stuck in the bezel that can only be described as 'hair' looking? like little white hair (obv some sort of plastic). Both replacements had this, not on the original ones at all.

No 'hair' looking plastic piece on my replacement (604), box also looked brand new and no R to be seen anywhere. I do get plenty of hairs (of the cat variety) stuck between the screen and the bezel though it was the same with the K3 so I am used to that, it's just more annoying on the PW because I end up turning the page when removing them...

[xendula]

Originally Posted by drewh

Interesting question for those who have received replacements - did they have little pieces stuck in the bezel that can only be described as 'hair' looking? like little white hair (obv some sort of plastic). Both replacements had this, not on the original ones at all.

One of mine had a hair sticking out at the same spot as xtine's, but it was sticking up a bit more, and it was also a loop. I had completely forgotten about it.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Chi Cygni

Really. I long for a new shiny ereader toy to play with but PW, well not now... and why do I rant (again)? Because I wanted to buy it and everytime I consider again there comes another bomb.

You have nothing to lose by buying one. The overwhelming majority of them are absolutely fine, and in the unlikely event that yours isn't, just return it.

[Chi Cygni]

Originally Posted by xendula

I added two more, and, yes, the 8 that turned on when I received them (one was dead on arrival) had a combination of problems.

• color bruising (unacceptable for some)
• dead pixels
• unaligned screen
• hairline in the screen
• pixelated line of text (as per another thread)
• blurred fonts on some devices
• Smudges between the screens
• Artifacts stuck underneath the screen

Thing is, the most likely defect they will have is crazy color blobs, so you could give it a shot, since you may not even detect them unless you have good color vision.

I think I could live with some blobs but not a shiny dead pixel. That would drive me nuts. I will wait (maybe) until USD to EURO is better, 3 weeks ago it was 148€ now 154€.

Edit to answer Harry:
euro price drop
and returning from Belgium would be a bit of a hassle I suppose

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by Chi Cygni

Ok. Been following this thread for a while and just wanted to sum up what we have:

color bruising (unacceptable for some)
dead pixels
unaligned screen
hairline in the screen
pixelated line of text (as per another thread)
blurred fonts on some devices

Did I forget something? What is the probability of getting one/more of those faults at the same time (rhetorical question)

Really. I long for a new shiny ereader toy to play with but PW, well not now... and why do I rant (again)? Because I wanted to buy it and everytime I consider again there comes another bomb.

I would probably wait, but like xendula said it might be worth trying just to see what you get. Maybe the color hues wouldn't bother you in person? I only hesitate because I know a return might be a pain for you.

The biggest issues going by the forums I have read, and my own personal experiences with so many of them, are the color hues and the glowing specks. All of the ones I've seen have had color hues to varying degrees and most of them had glowing specks. I believe only 2 of my PW's did not have glowing specks. Sometimes you don't see them right away, but after living with the device for awhile you may notice them. On my current PW, I know they are there, but I never see them due to their position.

Another problem that xendula mentioned is the smudges (they appear as white swirls) under the screen. I had this on one of my earlier PW's. I took a pic:



There's no denying the PW has suffered from a lot of quality control problems. I'm really pleased with my current PW though, I have to say. Most of the time I don't see the color hues. I notice them sometimes when I have the light up bright in a dark room, but that's about it. With some of my previous PW's, it was much more noticeable. Good luck if you decide to give one a try.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Chi Cygni

Edit to answer Harry:
euro price drop
and returning from Belgium would be a bit of a hassle I suppose

Can you not buy from amazon.fr? I would under the impression that it was available to people in Belgium, too. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

[Joy736]

Paperwhite's are availabe in Belgium/Netherlands from Amazon.com. We don't have to worry about returns though, because Amazon seems to let us keep the "defective" units. They're just blacklisting them.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You have nothing to lose by buying one. The overwhelming majority of them are absolutely fine, and in the unlikely event that yours isn't, just return it.

If the 9 units I received are any indication, the overwhelming majority of them have some defect. Some customers are just willing to live with them or don't see them.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by xendula

If the 9 units I received are any indication, the overwhelming majority of them have some defect. Some customers are just willing to live with them or don't see them.

The vast majority of customers, looking at the number of complaints compared to the number of happy PW owners.