A critical review of Kindle 2's shortcomings

sirbruce · 02-25-2009, 02:11 PM

I won't extoll the many virtues of Kindle 2; you can read about those in other reviews. Suffice it to say I'm 100% pleased with my Kindle 2 and love reading books on it. That said, there are a *few* drawbacks that some purchasers might want to be aware of:

1. The screen could be bigger. Mind you, it's the same size as the Kindle 1, and that of most book pages, but I for one dream of something larger without a larger price tag.

2. The volume doesn't quite go up high enough. On its max setting, it can be hard to hear the book over the din of background noise like nearby traffic, a treadmill, or even the inside of a noisy vehicle. The speakers are on the back, so flipping it over helps, but the bottom line is earphones are almost essential, and yet they are not included in your purchase.

3. The text-to-speech isn't all that great. Windows 7 has a better text-to-speech voice. Also, text-to-speech does not work inside the dictionary, so you can't hear how to pronounce words. Hopefully this feature can be improved for free in the future via software upgrades.

4. It's a little slow, especially when searching lots of books, or when accessing the Internet. The five-way controller is great, but don't expect the cursor to respond "instantly" to your input; it lags noticeably. You'll get used to it, but don't expect the responsiveness of your home computer.

5. There can be occassional minor "ghosting" problems where the screen does not completely update on a page turn or when navigating. Usually refreshing the screen clears it right up. This is NOT a major problem unless you're an obsessive-compulsive who will be unable to read a book if there's anything but a uniform grey background.

6. The lack of folders or tagging capability makes it problematic to maintain a collection of hundreds of books. It's great if you're only reading a few books of a time, but trying to find a particular book in your library can be tedious either searching or page turning through your list of titles.

7. The lack of native support for formats like PDF, DOC, and LIT make the device less convenient than it could be. I think it's understandable that the conversion of such documents may not be "perfect", but I would still much rather that the Kindle did it invisibly on the fly, rather than requiring a manual conversion step on the part of the user. Amazon's email conversion is a half-measure at best, and not all that great. I recommend getting a third-party program for your computer like Calibre or Mobipocket Creator, and using it to convert any such files into MOBI format and then transferring them to your Kindle via the USB cable.

Ervserver · 02-25-2009, 02:43 PM

Would you feel differently if the Kindle were...lets say $100 cheaper?

sirbruce · 02-25-2009, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ervserver

Would you feel differently if the Kindle were...lets say $100 cheaper?

No, I love my Kindle 2, and even if it were cheaper I would still find these to be shortcomings in my ideal functionality. (I suppose my desire for a bigger screen might be reduced, but I'd just want to buy the more expensive model.)

emellaich · 02-26-2009, 10:03 AM

I've left this post two other places, so I'm sorry about the repeat post, but ...

In regards to the bigger screen, some of that could be fixed if there were an option to turn off the headers and margins so you could read using the entire screen. There is about 1/2 inch on the top and bottom before text starts, and about 1/4 inch on each side. If there were a full-screen option on the text you would get over 40% more usable real estate.

Michael

stevenmoy · 02-26-2009, 10:13 AM

Saw this on the net, if you can stand to pack more lines in the same area:

Kindle 2 Discoveries Thread!
« on: Today at 05:25:20 AM »
Okay. I thought it would be good to have one place to go to post and read about any of the
the cool new things people figure out about the K2s.

On another thread it was found by hitting Alt shift 1-9 you can change the spacing and number of lines per page!
Very handy!

Any other finds!?!

Alt-shift- n was also mentioned but not sure what that does?

pilotbob · 02-26-2009, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevenmoy

Alt-shift- n was also mentioned but not sure what that does?

I assume the "n" is really a place holder notation for pressing any digit 1-9.

BOb

stormcloude · 02-26-2009, 04:19 PM

I am curious how "solid" feeling the Kindle 2 is? With the pictures showing it to be so thin, it looks like accidentally setting something heavy in the wrong place on it might snap it in half. Or does it come with a hardshell case?

I'm looking for something I can toss in my bag and go, so a little durability is desirable.

stevenmoy · 02-26-2009, 04:34 PM

the physical feeling of Kindle 2 is great. The important thing is to get a cover to protect your screen since you don't want to scratch it and crack it.

sirbruce · 02-26-2009, 04:50 PM

It feels pretty solid to me. Abput 80% of the back is brushed aluminum, so it's not like you can "bend" or "flex" it to break the plastic. Tossing in your bag is fine but people recommend buying a cover to protect the screen.

branchero · 02-26-2009, 04:51 PM

My Kindle came with a bug where it would stop charging when it went into a sleep mode. Doing a factory reset fixed the problem at least temporarily.

stormcloude · 02-26-2009, 04:52 PM

Thanks, guys! That's exactly what I wanted to know.

02-25-2009, 02:11 PM	#1
sirbruce Provocateur Posts: 1,859 Karma: 505847 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Columbus, OH Device: Kindle Touch, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, iPhone 3GS	A critical review of Kindle 2's shortcomings I won't extoll the many virtues of Kindle 2; you can read about those in other reviews. Suffice it to say I'm 100% pleased with my Kindle 2 and love reading books on it. That said, there are a few drawbacks that some purchasers might want to be aware of: 1. The screen could be bigger. Mind you, it's the same size as the Kindle 1, and that of most book pages, but I for one dream of something larger without a larger price tag. 2. The volume doesn't quite go up high enough. On its max setting, it can be hard to hear the book over the din of background noise like nearby traffic, a treadmill, or even the inside of a noisy vehicle. The speakers are on the back, so flipping it over helps, but the bottom line is earphones are almost essential, and yet they are not included in your purchase. 3. The text-to-speech isn't all that great. Windows 7 has a better text-to-speech voice. Also, text-to-speech does not work inside the dictionary, so you can't hear how to pronounce words. Hopefully this feature can be improved for free in the future via software upgrades. 4. It's a little slow, especially when searching lots of books, or when accessing the Internet. The five-way controller is great, but don't expect the cursor to respond "instantly" to your input; it lags noticeably. You'll get used to it, but don't expect the responsiveness of your home computer. 5. There can be occassional minor "ghosting" problems where the screen does not completely update on a page turn or when navigating. Usually refreshing the screen clears it right up. This is NOT a major problem unless you're an obsessive-compulsive who will be unable to read a book if there's anything but a uniform grey background. 6. The lack of folders or tagging capability makes it problematic to maintain a collection of hundreds of books. It's great if you're only reading a few books of a time, but trying to find a particular book in your library can be tedious either searching or page turning through your list of titles. 7. The lack of native support for formats like PDF, DOC, and LIT make the device less convenient than it could be. I think it's understandable that the conversion of such documents may not be "perfect", but I would still much rather that the Kindle did it invisibly on the fly, rather than requiring a manual conversion step on the part of the user. Amazon's email conversion is a half-measure at best, and not all that great. I recommend getting a third-party program for your computer like Calibre or Mobipocket Creator, and using it to convert any such files into MOBI format and then transferring them to your Kindle via the USB cable.

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02-25-2009, 02:43 PM	#2
Ervserver Wizard Posts: 2,624 Karma: 1008294 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Iowa, USA Device: Nook Simple Touch	Would you feel differently if the Kindle were...lets say $100 cheaper?

02-26-2009, 10:03 AM	#4
emellaich Wizard Posts: 1,101 Karma: 4388403 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: Palm>Ebookman>IPaq>Axim>Cybook>Kndl2>IPAD>Kndl3SO>Voyager>Oasis	I've left this post two other places, so I'm sorry about the repeat post, but ... In regards to the bigger screen, some of that could be fixed if there were an option to turn off the headers and margins so you could read using the entire screen. There is about 1/2 inch on the top and bottom before text starts, and about 1/4 inch on each side. If there were a full-screen option on the text you would get over 40% more usable real estate. Michael

02-26-2009, 10:13 AM	#5
stevenmoy Zealot Posts: 133 Karma: 348 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Kindle 2	Saw this on the net, if you can stand to pack more lines in the same area: Kindle 2 Discoveries Thread! « on: Today at 05:25:20 AM » Okay. I thought it would be good to have one place to go to post and read about any of the the cool new things people figure out about the K2s. On another thread it was found by hitting Alt shift 1-9 you can change the spacing and number of lines per page! Very handy! Any other finds!?! Alt-shift- n was also mentioned but not sure what that does?

02-26-2009, 04:19 PM	#7
stormcloude Groupie Posts: 157 Karma: 259661 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Socal Device: eBookwise 1150, Sony PRS-505, Sony PRS-T1	I am curious how "solid" feeling the Kindle 2 is? With the pictures showing it to be so thin, it looks like accidentally setting something heavy in the wrong place on it might snap it in half. Or does it come with a hardshell case? I'm looking for something I can toss in my bag and go, so a little durability is desirable.

02-26-2009, 04:34 PM	#8
stevenmoy Zealot Posts: 133 Karma: 348 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Kindle 2	the physical feeling of Kindle 2 is great. The important thing is to get a cover to protect your screen since you don't want to scratch it and crack it.

02-26-2009, 04:50 PM	#9
sirbruce Provocateur Posts: 1,859 Karma: 505847 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Columbus, OH Device: Kindle Touch, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, iPhone 3GS	It feels pretty solid to me. Abput 80% of the back is brushed aluminum, so it's not like you can "bend" or "flex" it to break the plastic. Tossing in your bag is fine but people recommend buying a cover to protect the screen.

02-26-2009, 04:51 PM	#10
branchero Love reading, hate books Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: California Device: Kindle 2	My Kindle came with a bug where it would stop charging when it went into a sleep mode. Doing a factory reset fixed the problem at least temporarily.

02-26-2009, 04:52 PM	#11
stormcloude Groupie Posts: 157 Karma: 259661 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Socal Device: eBookwise 1150, Sony PRS-505, Sony PRS-T1	Thanks, guys! That's exactly what I wanted to know.

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