K1 Owners: Have you bought a 2nd (or 3rd...) ereader & if so, what?

[texasnightowl]

I have an original K1 that will be 2 yrs old next month. It has been mostly great so far, but I am starting to get an itch to add a new device. I attribute the itch to 1 - my library will start offering the overdrive service for ebooks (epub) next week; and 2 - in the last 2 months I have had to replace my K1 charger and battery, and my K1 has completely locked up/frozen on me 3 times about 2 weeks ago (but over the last week I've read 4 books with no problems, so ?).

I plan to keep my K1 on my amazon account forever, since the K1 has not had firmware updates so I can liberate my amazon books the same as I always have without having to bother with K4PC and it's associated scripts. But I'm starting to look around at what is currently out there.

So I was wondering what other K1 owners have purchased. (I thought about putting this in the "What Should I buy" area, but I'm specifically curious about other K1 owners.)

[DianaB]

I'm still using my original K1 also, and it's 2 years, 4 months old. I also read on my iPhone when I'm out and about, but still like the K1 for long flights. I'm holding out for the next generation kindle, hopefully with international wireless, for an upcoming trip to Europe.

[brecklundin]

moved to a K2i last December or so...had the K1 since it's first year but did not use it much because, well, I did not care for it much and it was co-opted by the better half...eventually it "became" mine when we got her a K2US at which point I tried it for longer than a few days and figured it was fine...then when I found the $100 discount for signing up for an Audible account (something I do anyway) I decided that $159 for a K2i was a reasonably OK price.

I have to say the difference in how the side buttons work is huge. The fact the K2 buttons press inward vs. outward on the K1 makes a really big improvement in the handling for me. No longer do I change pages by some random amount based on how long it is before I realized I was holding down the button when changing hand position. I don't like the K2 keyboard at all, it's cramped, awkward, lack of two shift keys and the funky access to the extended symbols is just horrid.

Had I not found the deal via Audible $100 credit I would have purchased a Pocketbook 360 as it better works for my idea of a portable recreational reader with it's size and integrated hard cover. Perfect size for paperback type books to my eye.

[poohbear_nc]

If you look under my avatar you'll see I have acquired the entire family of Kindles - and still use them all! Where I use them depends a lot on where I am - DXG at home, K1 or K2 when traveling. I now keep my K1 in my desk at work for lunch time reading.

[tapar]

I loved my K1. I have used it so much and ebooks have become such a large part of how I spend my free time that I pretty much decided even a small improvement was worth investing in.

I used that to justify snagging an iPad, that and my insatiable gadget lust. There are huge differences between a K1 and an iPad. The weight surprised me, I didn't expect it to make a difference, but it made me change how I held the device so try and prop it up on my body more while I read. I eventually got used to that and the touch screen interface.

I got to a point where I decided I liked the iPad better than the K1, mostly because of the interface. Tapping to turn pages seems natural, and finding a particular book in a scrollable list rather than page after page of books on the K1 also seemed much faster and more natural. The text on the K1 looked better to me though, the iPad's resolution is just not high enough and the text is surprisingly ugly to me and kinda blocky. I got over that though and the iPad became my preferred reading device.

I recently got the Kindle DX graphite. At first I disliked it because the buttons were uncomfortable and I kept pressing the home button by accident when holding the device in my left hand (upside down). I was determined to give it a fair shake though so I stuck with it. It is rapidly becoming my favorite device to read with now. The text is dark and sharp and crystal clear. I really like that quite a bit. The collections feature works kinda like folders and makes having lots of books on the device less of a hassle. That feature is on K2 as well but I never made that upgrade.

The thing that really nailed it down for me that the KDXg is the current winner for me was my physical reaction to it. I had been having allergy like symptoms with itchy dry eyes and mild headaches. I assumed it was too much pollen in the air. It also made me feel tired much earlier than normal which was really messing with my sleep schedule. I stopped reading on the the backlit iPad and started up on the KDXg...all those symptoms went away. My headaches disapeared, my dry scratchy eyes felt better...I slept better too.

That was the reason I originally got a K1 in the first place...I had those symptoms from reading off an LCD screen. It had just been so long I didn't associate them with reading anymore. To be fair though, when a free weekend shows up I can easily read 14hrs straight when burning through a series. The iPad problems tended to show up after 10hrs of straight reading so it might not be a consideration for most people. I figure it was all eye strain related.

I also tried the iPhone 4's iBook app. I was very surprised by how sharp the text was, I am not convinced it would cause the same eye strain issues given how good the text looked. I didn't really test it much though because the screen was too small (though it would do in an airport). I did wonder how awesome it would be to have that quality a display on an iPad though.

That is it for now. I am curious to see when the K3 comes out, a 6" screen using the enhanced KDXg screen technology would be awesome and I suspect the 'ultimate' device for my use. It would be even better if they supported epubs and normal folders rather than collections.

[carld]

I have my K1, it works, and works well. I take it with me everywhere and don't think the K2 would be that much of an improvement. My next purchase probably won't be another e-ink device, I've already got my Kindle, but rather some sort of tablet.

[Clawdia]

I loved my K1 for about 2 1/2 years, but when the DX graphite came out I was tempted to upgrade. I'm so glad I did - it's such an improvement over the K1, and I'm completely happy with it. I don't want to go to any other form of e-reader on the market other than one that uses e-ink. An iPad would be too much for me in terms of cost and just over-kill in general - I have a MacBook Pro that performs all the computer functions I need, and don't want to read on a computer type screen. I don't want a touch screen, and I don't feel the need for color.

I wasn't tempted by the K2, but the size of the DX and the clarity of the graphite DX made it just perfect for me.

[kindlekitten]

I read on the K1 for almost 2 years before getting the K2. the BIGGEST difference for me is the battery life. PHENOMENAL!!!!! (and I had 2 K1s so I don't think it was a particular bug). I wish it were just a little thicker for hand comfort, but not having the hard corner in my palm makes a big difference.

until there is some sort of an implant in my skull I just don't know what else I could lust after. little things, sure... but WAY happy with what I have

[carld]

Now, if I were to *shudder* break my Kindle, then I'd hold out for a new Kindle 2/3 with the pearl screen and graphite case.

[PG4003]

I've been a Kindle 2 owner for about 8 months and I love it, but I recently bought a Nook so I could read library books. They are both great devices and I love being able to read free books.

[ProfCrash]

I have had my K1 since October of 2008 and loved every minute I read on it. I bought my Mom a DX for her birthday/Mothers Day last year. I feel in love the first time I saw it and had time to use it. I was surprised at how light it was and really liked the bigger screen. I promised myself I would not buy myself a DX until the price dropped.

I now own a DXG and love it. It is a good weight, I can use it lefty or righty, and the additional text on the screen is great.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by PhillipA82

I loved my K1.

you speak in hte past tense as though it were deceased?

[Clawdia]

LOL - I 'loved' my K1, too. It's not deceased, but I haven't read a single line on it since my DXG came. I think I'm going to sell it to someone who will love it, because I'm just not feeling the love these days, when I look at that screen on my DXG.

[KlondikeGeoff]

I go way back with ebooks. I got the old Rocket eBook years ago, read hundreds of books on it, but then they discontinued it, but I still got lots of classics from Gutenberg and kept reading it.

Finally, Sony came out with the Reader and I glommed on to that. It did not have a dictionary or lots of features the old Rocket had, oddly enough.

Once the Kindle came out, I waited a few months to see what people thought of it, and the reviews were so great, I got the K1. I still have it, read several hours every day and it is still running on the original battery (I have a spare just in case). I have read more than 200 Amazon books on it, and all together, counting the other two ebooks, have read well over 700 ebooks.

And still counting. Oh yeah, my wife inherited the Sony Reader and is reading a lot of the books on that.

I see no reason to move up until my K dies, or I die first.

[texasnightowl]

Well, I am now very tempted to buy the newly announced 6" WiFi K3...$139! I've been tempted to buy an epub compatible device, but I may just go with the original plan for library books....download them to my PC and kindlefix them for reading.