Comments on: Amazon Kindle 2 hands-on review

By: Andrys

Andrys — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 01:47:45 +0000

I forgot to add some info on squaretrade.com
— which is $50 (rather than %65), it gives you an added 2 years warranty rather than 1 added one.

With both places, accidents aren’t covered unless you order within the first 30 days of owning the Kindle (and in some cases, from the date you actually ordered the Kindle, so watch the rules used). Coupons are available online for squaretrade.com (google ‘coupons squaretrade) and you can get some pretty good deals.

By: Andrys

Andrys — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 01:42:11 +0000

Roxidawg and Vi,
The warranty price IS steep, for just one added year. As Vi points out, your credit card may double warranties, so you’d be good for 2 years. Amazon’s basic 1-yr warranty doesn’t cover accidents. (They will sell a replacement in that case for $180 if the broken one is returned to them.)

http://squaretrade.com has good word-of-mouth for extended warranties on electronics. Normally, these don’t pay but in the case of the Kindle, one bad drop and our $360 is gone. WORSE, since people ask to try out our Kindles, there’s the added possibility someone else will drop it.

I decided on the 28th day to get the extended warranty ‘offered’ Amazon because my credit card is now carried by a new bank due to this economic fiasco we’re in and they changed the terms. Also, if my new credit card bank did decide to cover this (always some haggling involved), then they’d double the warranties I have.

If Amazon brings out a new model each year, though!, then we don’t need an extra year’s warranty (since we can sell our older model). Squaretrade.com’s a good idea but there will be a lot of paperwork and some time before your warranty is processed if you have an accident. Amazon’s been good with fast replacements, so I decided to spend that ridiculous amount of added money though it does cover the $59 battery in the 2nd year if needed. The battery SHOULD last 2+ yrs though.

By: Vi

Vi — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:44:10 +0000

Roxidawg,

It is a pricy warranty (about a third of the cost of the Kindle itself) but it does have that lovely one-time-drop clause, which (only once, though) covers any accidental damage of your creation ( a drop, ect)

From what I;ve read from reviews, some people have had from incredible to terrible luck; some have managed to drop it from heights of six to eight feet without a scratch or any other kind of damage, others have dropped theirs from a few inches and have experienced total and complete utter mayhem (to read more of these horror stories, go to the Kindle 2 page on Amazon.com and read the lowest ranked reviews).

Also, I’ve read that putting any harsh kind of pressure on the screen itself can result in terrible damage (again, not for all).

But that’s it. Better to have it and not need it and need it and not have it… also, if you purchase with a credit card, see if yours automatically doubles the manufacturer’s warranty; that also might be something to take into consideration before purchasing a warranty.

By: roxidawg

roxidawg — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:56:21 +0000

Thank you for the quick response. I’ll take a look at the links. Does anyone know if the extended warranty on the Kindle 2 is necessary and worth the $65.00 investment. I was trying to determine what is actually covered under the extended warranty. I think the concept is great and I’m and avid reader, just trying to justify the cost as it’s a little steep and understand just what I’d be getting for my investment. The biggest issue I see at this point seems to be a battery that’s not replaceable by the user – maybe it’s a non issue and I shouldn’t be concerned? I do wonder how long it takes to actually get it back if you send it in for repair or a battery replacement?

By: Andrys

Andrys — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:43:05 +0000

Bob, that’s very distressing. And at the worst time too.

I’ve heard of it happening to some on K1’s and K2’s both, but I would expect it’s rare. I have 4 friends with Kindles also, and so far we’ve been lucky.

Your problem is obviously a bad e-Ink screen defect. Good luck on the replacement! I would have been really disappointed had it happened to me.

Roxiedawg,
The lithium ion/polymer battery should last for a bit over 2 years (whether used or not, by the way), and this type of battery doesn’t like to be fully drained, and Amazon cautions against it. It’s said to be covered by the one-year warranty. In the Second year (if you don’t buy an added year warranty somewhere — squaretrade.com is one, Amazon’s another), if a battery replacement is needed, we’d have to send them to Amazon to do it and we’d pay $59.

You can read a collection of Amazon customer service advisories on power/battery issues, at
http://kindleworld.blogspot.com/2009/03/to-sleep-or-not-to-sleep-to-turn-off-or.html

By: Roxidawg

Roxidawg — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:00:53 +0000

Does anyone know what the battery life on the Kindle 2 is? In addition, is the only option to send it back to Amazon to have the battery replaced?

By: Bob Apples

Bob Apples — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:51:37 +0000

I received my Kindle 2 about 10 days ago, and I turned it on today and the screen had a big horizontal multi-lined stripe across it. Reset didn’t fix it, Kindle support couldn’t fix it, so they’re sending a new one. Of course this happened right at the start of a 3 day vacation so now I have to go to the bookstore and buy the book I was reading so I can finish it. Damn!

Aside from this complete system failure, I must say the Kindle 2 is a fine reader, but to have it breakdown after 10 days of use makes me wonder just how technologically sound it is.

By: towner

towner — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:44:43 +0000

Reply..About reading the Kindle 2 in the dark..
Based upon everything I understand from the reading:
No, you will need to have a outboard light source to be able to view the text in the dark or even dimly lite room.

By: Andrys

Andrys — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:28:19 +0000

Robert, a bunch of us at Amazon’s forums and even more – at the http://kindleboards.com forums – have been discussing ways around this until such time as Amazon provides folders or official tags.

Bufo Calvin recommended a way for us to do this ourselves, and Amazon customer service feels it’s a great idea. Each time you get a new book (and you can do this on Kindle books you already have), open it and and choose to annotate it (we can highlight and annotate easily).

You would put into the entry something that would help you in searches for ‘history’ or ‘romance’ or ’science’ or whatever genre or category is of interest to you.

HOWEVER, these words appear everywhere, so preface each word or category, in a Search, with a prefix you decide on, such as an ‘x’ …

From the Home page, you would enter, for a search of books matching one of your categories, ‘xhistory’ or ‘xscience’ — and the Kindle would then list for you only books that have entries that match that word. These act as ‘tags’ that you create and use.

Each book could have more than one of these tags. Your search would find the books annotated with that word or ‘tag’ that you entered previously.

I think it’s a great idea and I hope it helps.

If you ever decide to delete an Amazon book from your Kindle, it’s stored in your personal Amazon server area so that you can re-download it at anytime. Since they back up your highlights and annotations associated with the book, you would receive that file also and would be able to use the category tag you had made originally.

By: Robert M.

Robert M. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:23:49 +0000

I liked your review, very detailed and had a lot of insight. On thing I’ve been looking for, as this is my only real problem with the Kindle, is the inability to organize my books. I’ve tried placing them in individual folders on the Kindle, but they still always just show up as a complete list with no indication on-screen of the folders. Which, while not a major thing, is just a bit excessive. If, for example, you have the 1,500 books it says you could easily hold on this, I’d rather a better way to organize my Classics from my Humor for example, as opposed to having to scour through page after page to find all my “humor” books for example. Do you happen to know of a way to organize in this way, or better? The “archive” feature is nice and all, but that just means delete em and let it re-download later, which while an option..is also excessive. Yes, I know you can do filters “All books”, Subscriptions, etc.. but again, if all I have is books, this doesn’t help. If i don’t memorize every author, sorting by Author doesn’t help. This is one feature I hope is there if hidden, or they add in future releases.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:22:58 +0000

Thank you for this comprehensive review. I only disagree with your “cons” list. I found the 5-way controller to be be very easy to use. I like that it is square (and NOT like a tiny trackball in the middle of man laptop keyboards) and small. It provides enough edge and leverage. This device is phenomenal. Totally intuitive. In a few minutes, I highlighted and annotated text; looked up words; downloaded a book for $1.00. (The appeal of cheap and space-saving access to off-copyright books cannot be overstated. I downloaded the Memoirs of Ulysses Grant. Everyone cites Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Obama’s writing, yet Grant was easily one of the greatest writer-presidents. But I digress.) I used it with ease on the subway–one hand holding the bar or the pole, the other–whether left or right–holding the Kindle 2 and pressing the controls. The one I used had the leather case. It is well worth the money to protect what is a substantial investment. I agree that it would be too slippery to use without it. The case is elegant, pebble-grained leather, which is nicely padded with a soft interior facing the Kindle 2. It easily folds back for one-handed reading. I like the keyboard–I agree much improved over the Kindle 2. I also agree that having to press the inside of the buttons was not my first instinct. I too am an “edge” person. But if that helps stability and avoiding inadvertent turns, then it was a smart move by the product developers. Bottom line in this spring-training season: a grand slam.

By: James Henderson

James Henderson — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:27:13 +0000

The “reset button” at the bottom of the Kindle 2 is not a reset button. It is the charge indicator light. I know because I jammed a pen into it trying to reset it and upon hearing the crunch I realized it is the charge light. To reset the device, you slide the power switch and hold for 15 seconds. It’s pretty darn stupid of me, but just as stupid on the industrial engineers’ part, to put a charge light in a shape and location that is almost universally regarded as a reset button.

By: Andrys

Andrys — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:21:38 +0000

markn,
I felt as you do, about the slippery (and cold) back of the Kindle 2. I did get an Amazon cover and it’s an unexpectedly fine product, very secure, maintaining the thin lines, left-cover foldable to back with no resistance, and the inside material that you feel with the cover folded back takes care of the slippery and cold sensations. I bought it as a temporary measure but find I like it enough to not care if I don’t get another cover.

By: Andrys

Andrys — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:17:34 +0000

Derek, in my own experience, it’s taken a few minutes. It’s an automated conversion.

I do have it sent to [me]@Kindle.com and for all I’ve sent I have had no 10c fees per file receipt (a zipfile counts as one, they say, but I haven’t tried it) and no one I know of, online or off, has been charged. At one point, a tech support rep said that they had decided not to charge (for the time being).

As long as her PDF files are mainly text and not image-based as in scans, it should be quick.

By: Derek

Derek — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:37:29 +0000

Does anyone who has this know how long it takes for an emailed PDF to be converted and emailed back to you? I’m talking about the free conversion, and primarily with books in PDF format, so not much of a worry about images just text. Is it a matter of seconds, minutes, hours, etc? My wife reads an awful lot of online books in PDF format on our desktop PC. She’d likely try to read those on the Kindle instead, but if it takes too long to get them there it would be a definite drawback.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:52:13 +0000

I bought one and received it last week along with most people. Overall, I think I am going to find myself reading more. You are paying a premium, but I think it’s worth it.

By: Travis

Travis — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:09:08 +0000

I agree with most of your review and am mostly enjoying my new Kindle 2. One exceedingly annoying obstacle that could have easily been avoided is the LACK of WiFi support. Like many people, I live in an area that is right on the edge of Sprint network connectivity. Sometimes I get it, sometimes not and performance is never good. I have a fast Internet connection and WiFi all over the house, though. Why wouldn’t Amazon support BOTH Sprint & WiFi (like the iPhone!)? Not only would this (less than $10 addition) satisfy people like me, it would also enable untethered connectivity to the Amazon store when traveling outside the U.S. What’s up Amazon?

By: Johnnie

Johnnie — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:39:21 +0000

“As for the flip side of the coin, light source is a necessity for the Kindle 2 as it lacks backlighting. This is a limitation of e-ink technology and affects all e-ink based readers.”

Sorry, but this technology is intended to mimic paper (i.e. e-paper). The fact that e-ink can’t or doesn’t use backlighting (a flashlight shining into your eyes) is a positive, not a limitation. Try reading novel for 5 hours from an lcd vs 5 hours from e-ink and tell me which experience causes less eye fatigue and is more enjoyable. I haven’t tried sony’s solution, but a backlight would imo, ruin this product.

Otherwise this was a great review. Much better than that crap review they had on engadget. The entire review was about how the kindle matched up to the iphone.

By: markn

markn — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:35:49 +0000

I find the kindle 2 slippery and hard to hold – there’s nothing to grip onto. I have to be careful not to drop it.

By: Andrys

Andrys — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 10:21:46 +0000

Pete, when you have 24/7 almost anytime anywhere a Sprint-connected cell phone would work, then, yes it’s worth the money for people who enjoy webbrowsing without having to find a free hotspot.

Kelly, I was able to read your report in detail tonight, and it’s the most thorough review I’ve ever read of the Kindle. And very accurate; that’s not common.

As for web-browsing, I use this feature at stores to check google for the model numbers of something I might want to buy but am not sure it’s a good deal. I add the word ‘review’ to the search, and it has saved me from some firesale purchases that wouldn’t have been wise, quality- or price-wise.

But this 24-hr cellphone-type wireless access is another reason it’s priced at $360.

The Sony PRS700 is priced higher but has no wireless and no Search across the books in your unit. The Search is no small thing. The inline dictionary active while reading is another unique item. I don’t believe Sony backs up your purchases so they can be re-sent to your machine again after you’ve deleted them from your Kindle for space reasons.

The constant Net access capability costs cell phone users $40 to $60/mo. but there’s no monthly or hourly cost charged for the Kindle’s 24/7 access so far. But Bezos has to pay Sprint based on some average estimate of time used.

By: JL

JL — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:02:31 +0000

Given the lack of a backlight, it will probably be as easy to read in the dark as a paper book. That is to say, you will probably need a full moon or night vision goggles.

By: pete

pete — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 05:52:23 +0000

When I think that a Nokia E71 is $289, a Wii is $249, an Asus Eee is $299, and a decent GPS is under $200, does the Kindle seem a bit expensive to anyone else?

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 03:42:56 +0000

Everyone keeps calling it a mini-USB port, it is a micro-USB port!

By: Antonio

Antonio — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:52:59 +0000

Is it possible to read in the dark without a backlight? Sorry if this seems like an obvious question, but I am curious.

By: Andrys

Andrys — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 20:36:34 +0000

Kelly, nice work. Re your remark about no visual comparison of same material for K1 and K2, I’ve posted a photo-comparison using several sources for the comparisons, including online pages as well as the same book on both.

See http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,4564.msg97308.html#msg97308

Let me know what you think of the differences, if you have time.

By: Witty!

Witty! — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:14:27 +0000

Cool, great review Kelly. I’m thinking I may pick one of these bad boys up. It seems like a solid device, thanks.

By: Scott

Scott — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:07:06 +0000

This would be great, but keep in mind that Amazon has just decided to raise the prices on Kindle books from 9.99. Many have increased over 50% from their original prices. New releases are now often in excess of $15.00 There is currently a grass-roots movement among Kindle users to boycott Kindle books that are priced above 9.99 in order to force Amazon to change its bait-and-switch policy, seeing as they originally sold the K1 based on this $9.99 price point for books. If you want to buy a Kindle, please keep this in mind. If you already have one, please join the boycott.