To Kindle Or Not To Kindle?

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

If you are expecting Amazon to replace your battery after two years because you have this warranty, you are mistaken.

They will... for $59.

Beyond that, no one is suggesting such a thing.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

They will... for $59.

Beyond that, no one is suggesting such a thing.

But, they will do that weather you have the extended warranty or not.

BOb

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

But, they will do that weather you have the extended warranty or not.

I don't understand why you keep saying things like this and before. No one is denying them. I think there's some miscommunication here.

To clarify:

1. Kindle 2 comes with a 1 year Amazon warranty. If you have a battery problem during that time, Amazon will, at their option:

A. Replace the battery and send your Kindle 2 back to you. or
B. Replace the Kindle 2 with a new or refurbished Kindle 2, or
C. Refund the purchase price of the device.

It's possible they might send you a replacement in advance of you sending your Kindle 2; I know they do that for other failures but I don't know if they'd do it if they specifically suspect a faulty battery.

2. You can buy an extended 2 year Service Net warranty. If you have a battery problem during that time, Service Net will, at their option:

A. Replace the Kindle 2 with a new or refurbished Kindle 2, or
B. Refund the purchase price of the device.

It's possible they might send you a replacement in advance of you sending your Kindle 2.

3. After the 1 year of Amazon warranty, or after 2 years of Service Net warranty, if you have a battery problem, Amazon will, at their option:

A. Replace the battery and send your Kindle 2 back to you (for $59), or
B. Replace the Kindle 2 with a new or refurbished Kindle 2 (for $59), or
C. If they change their policy, charge you more or less for either of the above, or
D. If they change their policy, tell you you're out of luck.

It's possible they might send you a replacement in advance of you sending your Kindle 2.

Also should add that Service Net reserves the right to send you a newer model of the Kindle 2 (3?) if they choose, and Amazon would probably do the same.

[dmaul1114]

The point is you keep making a big deal of the warranty. The battery is one area that you don't get a lot out of as in the 2nd year they'd probably just say it was normal reduction in charge and still make you pay the $59.

Of course we'll have to wait until late in the 2nd year of the Kindle 2 when people have issues with holding charge to truly find out for 100% sure whether they will replace batteries not holding a charge for people with extended warranties or say it's not covered and charge them $59.

Again the warranties aren't a bad idea for peace of mind--especially for the accidental damage coverage. But I wouldn't buy it from factoring in a free battery replacement as batteries tend to not be covered by warranties for things like cell phones, PDAs etc. Just like many extended rear projection TV warranties won't replace the bulb as it's something designed to fail after a certain amount of use.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

Now you're muddying the waters. Firstly, any particular failure is going to have downtime. *However* much time it is (depending on the mode of failure), it's going to be *less* when you get a replacement shipped to you, and then you ship the broken one, rather than *waiting* the whole time for your original to get shipped back.

Secondly, no one was suggesting a complete battery failure... just not holding it's charge for very long. In that case, there's NO downtime, just inconvenience. And furthermore, in the event of complete battery failure, one can still use the device plugged in. Not ideal, I grant, but we're not talking about a lot of downtime, and in any event, replacing the Kindle, which is what you were objecting to, results in *less* downtime in *any* event.



And now you're switching the argument in mid-stream. This is NOT about K1 vs K2 and the replaceable battery. This is about the extended warranty. The extended warranty covers the battery situation on the K2. Whether or not your K1 user-replaceable battery is superior is irrelevant to that fact.



Uhh, yeah, there would. I'd still want an extended warranty to cover any other failures for an additional year, as well as cover accidental breakage.

Geeze, grandma, you sure are crabby in your old age.

Ah .... so I can somehow use the K2 by plugging it in while at the same time it is winging its way to Amazon to have the battery replaced??

Neat trick.

I think I prefer just having my K1 plugged in while I wait for a replacement battery to be shipped.

Geeze, Sirbruce, you sure are dim in your youth.

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

The point is you keep making a big deal of the warranty. The battery is one area that you don't get a lot out of as in the 2nd year they'd probably just say it was normal reduction in charge and still make you pay the $59.

I really don't believe that. Service Net has *no* way of knowing if a charging problem is a "normal reduction in charge", a defective battery, or faulty controller chip or other electronics. Furthermore, Service Net isn't equipped to repair these devices... they just send them back to Amazon and send replacements out to customers. So as I said before, the only way they'd ever "know" that it was the battery is if Amazon said anything, and why would Amazon say anything? Either they keep the device for their own refurbished replacements, or they send it back to Service Net for their stock of refurbished replacements.

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

I think I prefer just having my K1 plugged in while I wait for a replacement battery to be shipped.

Again, this is not about K1 vs. K2. This is about K2 Amazon warranty vs. K2 Service Net warranty vs. K2 no warranty.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

Again, this is not about K1 vs. K2. This is about K2 Amazon warranty vs. K2 Service Net warranty vs. K2 no warranty.

Hmmm..... the original post certainly was about both types of Kindle and the discussion of the benefits or problems regarding having a non-replaceable battery are definitely about K1 v K2.

So .... try again .... you are starting to make less sense with every post.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

I really don't believe that. Service Net has *no* way of knowing if a charging problem is a "normal reduction in charge", a defective battery, or faulty controller chip or other electronics.

They also have no way of knowing how many times people charged it. Some people are crazy heavy users and will be charging it a ton more than usual.

Hopefully they'll honor it, but based in my experience with warranties of other things with rechargeable batteries, bulbs and other things that degrade over time they're typically not covered by the warranty unless it's clear it was defective.

But Amazon's service is better than most companies, so maybe they'll cover it. Not sure about Service Net and other third party warranties.

[InlawBiker]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

That said, I'm glad so many upgraded since it allowed me to get a K1 in great shape for $200!

Me too! Somebody paid close to $400 for my Kindle-1 5 months ago and sold it to me for $200. Everybody's happy! Personally I expect to use this thing for about 3 years.

Greg

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by InlawBiker

Me too! Somebody paid close to $400 for my Kindle-1 5 months ago and sold it to me for $200. Everybody's happy! Personally I expect to use this thing for about 3 years.

Greg

Same here, assuming it lasts. I just want to read novels that I can acquire easily, so it does all I need in a reader.

I'll use it until there's a good multi-function device out for a reasonable price. i.e. something with e-ink, color, good web browsing, good support for A4 sized PDFs etc. etc.

Until then I'll read on the Kindle 1 and use a laptop for the other stuff.

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Hmmm..... the original post certainly was about both types of Kindle and the discussion of the benefits or problems regarding having a non-replaceable battery are definitely about K1 v K2.

So .... try again .... you are starting to make less sense with every post.

We're not talking about the original post. We're talking about my particular thread of posts, which you've jumped in on.

But, hey, I can see you're one of those people who needs to keep at it to feel superior, so go ahead.

[krisk]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

Geeze, grandma, you sure are crabby in your old age.

That was uncalled for.

[sirbruce]

Ron Burgundy: Boy, that escalated quickly... I mean, that really got out of hand fast.

Champ Kind: It jumped up a notch.

Ron Burgundy: It did, didn't it?

Brick Tamland: Yeah, I stabbed a man in the heart.

Ron Burgundy: I saw that. Brick killed a guy. Did you throw a trident?

Brick Tamland: Yeah, there were horses, and a man on fire, and I killed a guy with a trident.

Ron Burgundy: Brick, I've been meaning to talk to you about that. You should find yourself a safehouse or a relative close by. Lay low for a while, because you're probably wanted for murder.

[tmmurphy]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

My thought on extended warranties for electronics has always been as follows.

If I buy one for all the electronic junk I buy, I'll spend WAY more than the cost of replacing the few things that do break down early over the years.

Thus I never get them.

I agree. Extended warranties are only available for the purpose of extending the profits.