How to decide

[KimE1023]

My sister has the Kindle 1 and I was so impressed with it that i started my quest. Try and try again, I am not understanding what the biggest differences are between the 1 and 2. In this process, I have also been checking on the Sony PRS 700. The biggest reason being price,(I'm big on using Ebay). Since most of you are Kindle users, could you explain the differences in layman terms. Although, I have no business spending the money, I want one of these. If you could help me I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by KimE1023

My sister has the Kindle 1 and I was so impressed with it that i started my quest. Try and try again, I am not understanding what the biggest differences are between the 1 and 2. In this process, I have also been checking on the Sony PRS 700. The biggest reason being price,(I'm big on using Ebay). Since most of you are Kindle users, could you explain the differences in layman terms. Although, I have no business spending the money, I want one of these. If you could help me I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

1)They changed the shape of the K2 to appease the loud "its ugly" crybabies. It is thinner, and looks like a lot of others out there now.

2) They changed the greyscale from 4 to 16 shades....the usefulness of this is still to be decided. Some say it is, some say it isn't an improvement

3) They increased the modem power, and whispernet coverage.........on the K2 only
Some say the pages refresh faster, I have heard that the refresh time isn't worth the $359 to buy a new K2.

4) They took away the ability to use an SD card, and decided for you how much room you needed.

5) They made a $19.99 user replaceable battery NON user replaceable, and now you need to send it to Amazon for a $59.00 replacement charge. After the one year warranty expires, of course.

6) They no longer store mags and newspapers over 7 issues. They will automatically be deleted UNLESS you save them.

7) A joystick instead of a curser wheel. Again, depending on your point of view, this may or may not be an 'improvement"

8) You no longer get a case included. True, the old case wasn't the best, but it was protection.

So, now you get to spend the same amount of money, get less, and still have to buy the case.

You asked for opinions, and this is mine. and why I bought another K1 as a back up rather than going for the K2.

I'm sure you'll get lots of differing ones.

Good luck with your choice!

[radiationman]

desertgrandma brings up a lot of good reasons why migrating from a K1 to a K2 doesn't make a lot of sense. I agree there doesn't seem to be a compelling reason to get a K2 if you already have a K1.

Personally I find the complaints about the battery and the storage to be overblown. Mainly because of the majority of folks that I've heard complaining about the loss of those features also say that they've never used those features.

What you need to decide is which is more important to you - price or ergonomics? From the reviews I've seen the K1's angles can be uncomfortable to hold while form of the K2 may be more comfortable for you to hold. Of course the cost of a K1 on eBay is pretty compelling.

As for the Sony PRS-700... Avoid it. If you're going to consider a Sony look at the PRS-505. The screen on the 700 is awful but the 505 isn't a bad device.

[catsittingstill]

One of the differences between K1 and K2 I thought was interesting was the text-to-speech option where the K2 would read to you if you needed to keep your hands free or vision clear (like if you are driving or fixing dinner) so you didn't have to stop in the middle of the story.

However if this interests you I would hold off a month or so to see how many of the Kindle books retain this ability, since Amazon has caved to the Author's Guild which was saying that was like giving away their audio book rights. Apparently now they will set things up so that publishers can opt to lock the text-to-speech option so it can't be used, and I would wait to see how many publishers decide to do that, and whether you can tell before you buy a book if it has been locked.

[Boston]

If your sister and you were willing to share an Amazon account and like the same type of books, I think the Kindle would be the best device for you hands down. My mom and I both own Kindles and its been great sharing books.

I own a Kindle 1 and see no compelling reason to invest in upgrading; however, I would have no problem buying a Kindle 2 for my first reader either.

- Kindle 1 has a removal battery and SD card. Kindle 2 is slimmer (and has more built in memory and better power management).
- People either loved or hated the Kindle 1 page turn keys. They are redesigned on the Kindle 2 to address the complaints.
- Kindle 2 has a faster processor and more scales of grey. I think the scales of grey is a big improvement for pictures/charts but some report the nuances make some fonts appear lighter.
- Kindle 1 has a scroll wheel and Kindle 2 has a joystick. I think the latter makes things like navigating periodicals quicker. The scroll wheel is more basic but simple isn't necessarily bad (My mother wrote "The new Kindle has a joystick..I would hate that!").

If I was looking at a Sony, I would personally go with the PRS-505, not the 700. The 700 has a touch screen and built in light but with a trade-off in screen clarity. Either way, you will give up the ability to buy ebooks form the Amazon store and need to connect to a computer to load books.

Another option is buying a used Kindle 1. You get the remainder of the warranty from Amazon (and if the seller bought a square trade warranty, its transferrable).

[lilac_jive]

Is there any reason you aren't considering the Sony 505? Only reason I mention it is because it's much cheaper than the 700.

[Alisa]

I have no desire to upgrade from my K1 to a K2 but I would be perfectly happy with a K2. I like the new form and the new case style. I'd be fine with 1.5G of memory and am not really perturbed about the battery, either. If my K1 broke, I'd happily replace it with a K2. However, if you're looking to save money, the K1 is still a great reader and can be had for a lot less right now. My favorite things about the Kindle are there with either device. I love that I can get a free sample of a book, read it, and have the whole book in less than a minute. I buy books as I want to read them with a pretty good certainly that I'm going to like and finish the book. I don't buy books ahead of time thinking they're what I want and often being wrong. I love the dictionary lookup, the ability to search and the ability to annotate my books.

The 700 has some compelling features but it would not be suitable for me. I like that you can now search your content and annotate but they still don't support dictionary look up. The old 505 didn't do any of this which is why I didn't buy one even though I loved the looks and saw it long before the K1 was released. I like that they also natively support DRMed PDF and ePUB since a lot of the library books available are in those formats. However, there aren't really enough books that I want available to make it worth it to me versus the far greater selection available at Amazon with free samples, wireless delivery and lower prices. The screen is also a little fuzzier. I'm not sure if it's the touchscreen or the built in front light that does it, but it's not quite as crisp as other e-ink devices. I'd rather use a booklight and a joystick with a crisp screen.

[scotty1024]

Originally Posted by KimE1023

My sister has the Kindle 1 and I was so impressed with it that i started my quest. Try and try again, I am not understanding what the biggest differences are between the 1 and 2. In this process, I have also been checking on the Sony PRS 700. The biggest reason being price,(I'm big on using Ebay). Since most of you are Kindle users, could you explain the differences in layman terms. Although, I have no business spending the money, I want one of these. If you could help me I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

Do you love your computer? Are you buying an ebook reader to spend more time with your computer or more time reading?

If you plan on reading for pleasure or research using books you purchase from the reader company then the Kindle 2 is your low-drama say-goodbye-to-your-computer reading nirvana.

Or put another way: it's the iPhone easy-to-use-experience complete with easy-to-use App Store of ebook readers.

I use both a PRS-700 and a Kindle 2. The PRS-700 is my work machine upon which all my heavy tomes in PDF format reside. If you need to read all the countless volumes of Windows Office Communications Server 2007 R2 then the PRS-700 is your buddy as the Kindle sucks at reading free PDF files from vendors such as Microsoft. And keeping the Sony sync'd up with the PC taxes even my skillz and I can tell you: I have crazy mad computer skillz.

Kindle 1 vs Kindle 2? Easy: Money.

The Kindle 2 has a better screen but hey, no one went blind reading ebooks on the Kindle 1, or at least I haven't heard anyone did. But if in these hard economic times you need to stretch your dollar and thus be able to buy more content: by all means help save the planet and your wallet and re-cycle a Kindle 1.

How's that for breakin' it down into lay man's terms?

[KimE1023]

Thank you all for you much needed advice. I believe the Kindle 1 is the way to go. It is maddening when a company brings out a new model but changes some of the specs so as to make more money. Again, Thank you for all your help.

[KimE1023]

That was alittle lame, sorry. I meant as far as the battery and memory. Adding new features is always good, but taking away old ones is simply a way to charge more.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by radiationman

Personally I find the complaints about the battery and the storage to be overblown. Mainly because of the majority of folks that I've heard complaining about the loss of those features also say that they've never used those features.

What you need to decide is which is more important to you - price or ergonomics? From the reviews I've seen the K1's angles can be uncomfortable to hold while form of the K2 may be more comfortable for you to hold. Of course the cost of a K1 on eBay is pretty compelling.

As for the Sony PRS-700... Avoid it. If you're going to consider a Sony look at the PRS-505. The screen on the 700 is awful but the 505 isn't a bad device.

1) you are correct.....I've not had to change my battery....yet. But there will come a time that I will need to , and it will cost me $19.99......not $59 plus shipping, and 'downtime'.

2) The SD card is used..........I keep all my books on it, rather than the K....now, if my reader should crap out on me, and I have to replace it, the books are on the card, and easily transferred.

3)Whatever reports you've heard about the K1 being 'uncomfortable to hold/, are, in my opinion, overblown.
It takes all of 5 minutes to figure out how best to hold it comfortably (and there is more than one way)with either hand, or both, and without pushing the 'next page button on either side. With or without a case.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by Boston

(My mother wrote "The new Kindle has a joystick..I would hate that!").

I spent a good 15-20 mins on the phone trying to explain to my 83 year old mother how to use the joystick. She's never seen one or used one before. I was trying to get her to use the joystick to move down the menu to settings but she kept ending up in the Kindle store. It turns out she hadn't removed the plastic covering from the front of the Kindle which restricted the joystick's movement so that every touch caused it to be pressed down and thus sent her to the Kindle store.

Today's lesson will be teaching her how to buy books from the Kindle.

[radiationman]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

1) you are correct.....I've not had to change my battery....yet. But there will come a time that I will need to , and it will cost me $19.99......not $59 plus shipping, and 'downtime'.

And that's fine - but after two or more years of using their Kindle when the battery starts to go I wouldn't be surprised if most folks just elect to replace their Kindle instead of even bothering with replacing the battery. Heck just look at the number of people who elected to replace their perfectly fine K1 with a K2...

2) The SD card is used..........I keep all my books on it, rather than the K....now, if my reader should crap out on me, and I have to replace it, the books are on the card, and easily transferred.

You use it - but I'm shocked at the number of people who complain about the loss of the card and then follow it up with "I've never used the card but it's nice to have it." The thing is, there's no difference between backing your books up on your computer than there is backing it up on the card. It could even be argued that it's safer to back your books up to the computer because if your Kindle should die while writing to the card it can corrupt ALL the files on the card - something that's not a risk when backing them up to the computer. I've actually had a device corrupt an entire card...

3)Whatever reports you've heard about the K1 being 'uncomfortable to hold/, are, in my opinion, overblown.
It takes all of 5 minutes to figure out how best to hold it comfortably (and there is more than one way)with either hand, or both, and without pushing the 'next page button on either side. With or without a case.

Having never held a K1 I don't know if that's even true - but when I considered getting a reader ergonomics was a concern about all of them. I used enough poorly designed devices that this was a concern for me. Considering that an e-reader is a device that I'd probably hold 99% of the time having an uncomfortable device was a definite concern. Comfort however is in the hand of the holder. What's comfortable for you may not be to me.

I've got a K2 and find it comfortable and enjoy using- but I'm not thrilled by the overall ergonomics. I'm not happy with where the buttons sit in relation to how I like to hold the device, but that's how it sits in my hand. How it sits in your hand may be totally different.

I'm also not trying to say that the K1 is a bad device - I don't think it is and I don't think that those who bought one made a mistake. But for somebody trying to decide whether or not to buy a new K2 or a used K1 they need to decide the value of the differences between the devices are to them. Along the same line the fud that some users are spreading aren't necessarily putting the differences in the proper perspective.

[suzannah346]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

1)They changed the shape of the K2 to appease the loud "its ugly" crybabies. It is thinner, and looks like a lot of others out there now.

2) They changed the greyscale from 4 to 16 shades....the usefulness of this is still to be decided. Some say it is, some say it isn't an improvement

3) They increased the modem power, and whispernet coverage.........on the K2 only
Some say the pages refresh faster, I have heard that the refresh time isn't worth the $359 to buy a new K2.

4) They took away the ability to use an SD card, and decided for you how much room you needed.

5) They made a $19.99 user replaceable battery NON user replaceable, and now you need to send it to Amazon for a $59.00 replacement charge. After the one year warranty expires, of course.

6) They no longer store mags and newspapers over 7 issues. They will automatically be deleted UNLESS you save them.

7) A joystick instead of a curser wheel. Again, depending on your point of view, this may or may not be an 'improvement"

8) You no longer get a case included. True, the old case wasn't the best, but it was protection.

So, now you get to spend the same amount of money, get less, and still have to buy the case.

You asked for opinions, and this is mine. and why I bought another K1 as a back up rather than going for the K2.

I'm sure you'll get lots of differing ones.

Good luck with your choice!

Your comments were very helpful. I thank you very much. I do not think one can get the Kindle 2 anymore. Do you know if this is true?

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by suzannah346

Your comments were very helpful. I thank you very much. I do not think one can get the Kindle 2 anymore. Do you know if this is true?

I assume you mean can't get the Kindle 1 any more?

If so, yes, you can't buy the K1 from Amazon. You would have to buy one from a third party. I think alot of sellers on eBay still have new ones since they were all trying to make a killing with the shortage. You can also find alot of used ones on the market now from people that have replaced them with K2s.

BOb