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Amazon Kindle |OT| of eInk superiority

Does it fit really tight? Mine was a bit loose, if I pressed on the right edge of the Kindle it would definitely move a bit. I had to put padding behind that spot between the back of the Kindle and the case for it to really feel fitted.

I asked an Amazon rep who said it was normal and not entiiirely happy about it, not that it's a big deal, but was curious to see if it is indeed normal.

Mine fits really tight, no movement. tried to get the PW out and felt like I was going to snap the device.
 

B33

Banned
Third replacement unit. No dust/specks noted.

HMYHC.jpg

Full brightness in a dark space. THIS (the uneven lighting at the bottom) is what is considered normal, yes?
 

Vyer

Member
Official Paperwhite case is pretty great, though it does add a little more weight than I would have liked. Still well worth the money
despite the fact I only paid $1
 
So, I'm now on my 5th Paperwhite:

First - bright white spots in the middle of the screen. Returned it
Second - huge blueish hue in upper right, large orange hue in middle, red hue in the lower left. Amazon replaced it.
Third - top of the screen was yellow on full brightness, bottom half was white. Amazon replaced it
Fourth - Entire screen on full brightness was yellow, but along the entire bottom were fingernail-sized bright white spots.
Fifth- Arriving tomorrow. Fingers crossed

Somewhere along the line of doing all the replacements and refunds, the 5th Paperwhite is coming to me at no charge. So regardless of quality I'm keeping it so they don't discover their mistake and charge me. They clearly have a quality control problem, but I love the device. The feel of it, the weight, the look, real nice. Their claim that lighting is even is complete bullshit though. Not sure why reviewers don't hold them to it. They gave me an official cover/case for it after the third replacement. It's really nice. Sleeps the device when closed, wakes it when opened and also makes holding it more comfortable.
 
So, I'm now on my 5th Paperwhite:

First - bright white spots in the middle of the screen. Returned it
Second - huge blueish hue in upper right, large orange hue in middle, red hue in the lower left. Amazon replaced it.
Third - top of the screen was yellow on full brightness, bottom half was white. Amazon replaced it
Fourth - Entire screen on full brightness was yellow, but along the entire bottom were fingernail-sized bright white spots.
Fifth- Arriving tomorrow. Fingers crossed

Somewhere along the line of doing all the replacements and refunds, the 5th Paperwhite is coming to me at no charge. So regardless of quality I'm keeping it so they don't discover their mistake and charge me. They clearly have a quality control problem, but I love the device. The feel of it, the weight, the look, real nice. Their claim that lighting is even is complete bullshit though. Not sure why reviewers don't hold them to it. They gave me an official cover/case for it after the third replacement. It's really nice. Sleeps the device when closed, wakes it when opened and also makes holding it more comfortable.

Same shit happened to me. I'm on my 5th as well but just with the dust speck problems. They threatened to close my account too. Said i was abusing the return policy. Needless to say amazon is on my shit list.
 
Same shit happened to me. I'm on my 5th as well but just with the dust speck problems. They threatened to close my account too. Said i was abusing the return policy. Needless to say amazon is on my shit list.

They replaced it 5 times, I can understand Amazon's position. I also got really lucky and got a great PW from the start. I think I have a dust speck/pinhole light leak on mine, but I can't find iit anymore.

I can't imagine you'll be satisfied with your latest one, Baconsammy. Seems you have bad luck. I've also heard that the hue blobs got better on some people's PWs after a few days.

And Amazon has been pointing out that the lighting isn't even on the PW page for a while now.
 

Polari

Member
The leather case for the standard Kindle that Amazon does might be $30, but it's worth every penny. Don't know why they don't replicate the design for the Paperwhite instead of the ugly-ass thing they have going on at the moment.
 
They replaced it 5 times, I can understand Amazon's position. I also got really lucky and got a great PW from the start. I think I have a dust speck/pinhole light leak on mine, but I can't find iit anymore.

I can't imagine you'll be satisfied with your latest one, Baconsammy. Seems you have bad luck. I've also heard that the hue blobs got better on some people's PWs after a few days.

And Amazon has been pointing out that the lighting isn't even on the PW page for a while now.

I believe Amazon points out the darker shadows at the bottom where the lights come from. I'm fine with that. I'm not fine with the entire screen being different shades of blue/red/orange though. They advertise the device as having a light that illuminates the entire screen equally, but from my experience so far they seem incapable of actually achieving that. My view of Amazon customer support hasn't wavered, they're great, but my opinion of Amazon as a hardware maker has surely taken a huge hit.

The leather case for the standard Kindle that Amazon does might be $30, but it's worth every penny. Don't know why they don't replicate the design for the Paperwhite instead of the ugly-ass thing they have going on at the moment.

I thought the case for the standard Kindle felt flimsy and was subject to scratches far too easily. The case for the Paperwhite I find to be really excellent. It also stays shut when closed, unlike the leather case for the non-Paperwhite.
 
I believe Amazon points out the darker shadows at the bottom where the lights come from. I'm fine with that. I'm not fine with the entire screen being different shades of blue/red/orange though. They advertise the device as having a light that illuminates the entire screen equally, but from my experience so far they seem incapable of actually achieving that. My view of Amazon customer support hasn't wavered, they're great, but my opinion of Amazon as a hardware maker has surely taken a huge hit.

I get that Amazon is advertising it as "evenly illuminated", and that can be frustrating, but here's the thing, nothing illuminates a page evenly. This is by far the best solution yet. And no one is going to put in their advertising that it is "almost evenly illuminated". Amazon actually made a concession over it.

The absolute worst PW hue blobs I've seen are still better than a book light (and no one should be in a dark room with the light at full blast, which is part of the problem. I can't take it past 5 when it's that dark in my room). And your mind will actually adapt to even out the lighting the more you read. I swear mine has only gotten better the more I used it.

I'm sure someday this will be pretty damn perfect tech, so some patience will surely pay off for those that can wait.
 
We got a Paperwhite for my pops for Christmas. He's using it quite a bit so far (which is nice, if a bit surprising). I think mostly because I set up Instapaper on it, which is an awesome feature. I finally get why people use things like Instapaper.

Are there any other neat little features or add-ons you can enable on the Kindle around? I tried Googling but I'm apparently using the wrong phrasing, since all I get are results for cases or Fire-specific results. bleh.

edit: or maybe I should read the OP. haha. Nevermind. Question answered :D
 

dc89

Member
I bought a Paperwhite with my Christmas money, I'm loving it. Downloaded A Clash of Kings and Life of Pi.

Life of Pi was 20p! Bargain.
 
5th Paperwhite arrived this morning and it's as awful as all the others I returned. But since it's free, I'm keeping it. The screen is only acceptable with the light set to 0, which is fine with me outside, in a normally lit room etc. At night I'll just deal with the shitty illumination and shading. It's still infinitely better than reading on a backlit screen.
 

Daft_Cat

Member
Should I get the Paperwhite or the Fire?

I get that the Fire lacks e-ink, and that it isn't as "bang-for-your-buck" as other tablets, but all I'd really use it for is as an e-reader, as well as Facebook, Twitter, etc. I wouldn't need 3G. I've got a smartphone for that.

The reason I'd consider the Fire over the Paperwhite as an e-reader is because I like the idea of being able to read magazines, graphic novels, art books..etc. That kind of functionality is worth the lack of e-ink technology for me...I like the 7 inch screen size of the Fire HD over something like an Ipad. Plus, the price seems pretty good..

Thoughts? Warnings?
 
Couldnt deal with the shitty shading on the bottom and the crappy bluish, greenish and reddish hues throughout the screen on my 5th Paperwhite. Since it was free, I merely sold it via Amazon. I'm done with them this go around. Hopefully they get their shit together with Paperwhite 2.
 
Should I get the Paperwhite or the Fire?

I get that the Fire lacks e-ink, and that it isn't as "bang-for-your-buck" as other tablets, but all I'd really use it for is as an e-reader, as well as Facebook, Twitter, etc. I wouldn't need 3G. I've got a smartphone for that.

The reason I'd consider the Fire over the Paperwhite as an e-reader is because I like the idea of being able to read magazines, graphic novels, art books..etc. That kind of functionality is worth the lack of e-ink technology for me...I like the 7 inch screen size of the Fire HD over something like an Ipad. Plus, the price seems pretty good..

Thoughts? Warnings?

i know the fire HD 8.9" is a bit heavy to hold up and read. but it's fine as far as reading goes if there isn't a lot of light reflecting off it. but why not get the nexus 7? you can get all the amazon nookd via amazon kindle app.
 

fuenf

Member
Couldnt deal with the shitty shading on the bottom and the crappy bluish, greenish and reddish hues throughout the screen on my 5th Paperwhite. Since it was free, I merely sold it via Amazon. I'm done with them this go around. Hopefully they get their shit together with Paperwhite 2.

wait a moment, you are now selling the PW that Amazon mistakingly sent you for free? wow... just wow.
 
wait a moment, you are now selling the PW that Amazon mistakingly sent you for free? wow... just wow.

Yeah, and they don't care. Just like when I called them and told them they shipped me six 16 gig Vita memory cards when I had ordered 1. They told me to keep them. It's almost as if they have no way of correcting their own mistakes.

and 5th paperwhite? Were the previous 3 free? lol

Nope, the previous ones were all defective and free, except the first one which I paid for, which got refunded. I'd love to have a good Paperwhite, but Amazon seems incapable of supplying one. I wouldn't doubt that they're taking people's returns and re-boxing them and shipping them out to new customers. Given their description of what the product is, what I received from them on 5 different occasions shows an appalling lack of quality control. Reading their own forums informs me that I'm not alone.

The best part about dealing with their customer support was how they acted like each flaw I pointed out was brand new to them. Apparently I was the first to have glowing pixels, multi-colored screens, poor light diffusion etc etc. Great support, though, just a terrible product.
 
Both of mine had blue-green blobs on the screen, but I eventually realized that they weren't really visible when keeping the light low (level ~5-15) in darkly lit areas as they recommended. I still might get my second one replaced though, but I think i'm okay with it for now
 
Both of mine had blue-green blobs on the screen, but I eventually realized that they weren't really visible when keeping the light low (level ~5-15) in darkly lit areas as they recommended. I still might get my second one replaced though, but I think i'm okay with it for now

If you can live with what you got, I suggest keeping it because chances are you'll get much worse.
 
D

Deleted member 12837

Unconfirmed Member
Got a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas, and I have a few questions:

1. Is there a definitive method for editing tags/metadata on ebooks and getting them onto my Kindle with all of the correct information displaying?

I have the Paperwhite and I also use the Kindle app on my iPhone. I use Calibre for updating the metadata, adding a cover photo, etc. I've tried using both the email address and the Mac app for delivery of the documents. The cover goes through to the iPhone app, but the not to the Paperwhite (the cover is just the title and author instead of the image). I haven't tried using Calibre to do the actual delivery of the documents yet, nor have I tried directly copying them via USB. Is either of those a more reliable method?

2. Are whispersync and and x-ray available for ebooks not purchased via Amazon (so, ebooks uploaded as personal documents)? I imagine the latter is probably not and is tied to the purchase from Amazon's servers, or something, but I also can't get the "sync to furthest page read" to work between my iPhone and Paperwhite.

3. Is there any way to make uploaded ebooks show up under "Books" or will they always be considered "Docs"? I'd prefer the PDFs I upload be under "Docs" while the ebooks I upload be under "Books".

4. Is it possible to get a personal document > 50 MB into the Amazon cloud "personal document" store (whatever they call it)? If not, can I at least get it onto my Kindle somehow?
 

Schlep

Member
May be a stupid question...if I have an Amazon GC added to my account, will 1-click use that for funds or is it going to default to my CC?
 
Doesn't give the option in settings on the website. If you add a new payment method, it wants a credit or debit card.

Using a Gift Card to Buy Digital Downloads
Amazon.com gift cards can be used to buy Kindle content, Amazon MP3 and Amazon Instant Video downloads. You must redeem your gift card in Your Account first, then we'll automatically use the balance to pay for your downloads. If you haven't redeemed your gift card yet, just click the "Redeem a gift card or promotion code" link before clicking the Buy now button for the download.
.
 
May be a stupid question...if I have an Amazon GC added to my account, will 1-click use that for funds or is it going to default to my CC?

Default is GC. I have a ton of credit at Amazon from trade-ins and it always goes to the GC first. The only time it asks me if I want to use another form of payment is if I choose to buy something as a gift. The only downside of this is that if you pre-order something, it immediately deducts that credit from your total, whereas if you were paying cash it would only charge you when it ships.
 

PGamer

fucking juniors
Has Amazon announced any details on if/when the Kindle Paperwhite is coming to Canada? I'd like to buy a Kindle but I don't really want an outdated version.
 
is it worth the extra 20 bucks to get the ad-less version of paperwhite?
what are the ads like anyhow?

For me, no. Some of the ads give you free credit at Amazon. The difference between an ad-free Paperwhite and a cheaper Paperwhite is that when you sleep it there's a full screen ad on the screen instead of a picture of a famous author. The other difference is that when you wake the ad-supported Paperwhite it forces you to swipe to unlock. I'm assuming to force you to see the ad, which you wouldnt see otherwise if you had a case that auto-sleeps and auto-wakes the device. Both versions come defaulted to show "suggestions" in your library view. It sucks. This can be turned off in options on both models.
 

Mairu

Member
is it worth the extra 20 bucks to get the ad-less version of paperwhite?
what are the ads like anyhow?

Nope. Just buy the one with ads and if you get really bothered by them you can just pay to get rid of them anyways (Costs no different than buying the ad-free kindle)
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
Need some help jailbreaking my PW. I don't remember how I did this on my K3 but, where it the "root directory"? I'm using OSX. D:
 
Guess my family got really lucky. My sister, my mom, and I all got Paperwhites for Christmas and all seem great, so complaints at all with mine and definitely no weird colored blotches on the screen.

I have had it lock up like 5 times already though, which I don't remember ever happening with my Keyboard. For some reason it seems especially prone to freeze with a magazine open.
 
Need some help jailbreaking my PW. I don't remember how I did this on my K3 but, where it the "root directory"? I'm using OSX. D:

when you plug your pw into your mac. it would be "X:\" where X is the drive pw is on. that's pretty much the root directory.

Guess my family got really lucky. My sister, my mom, and I all got Paperwhites for Christmas and all seem great, so complaints at all with mine and definitely no weird colored blotches on the screen.

I have had it lock up like 5 times already though, which I don't remember ever happening with my Keyboard. For some reason it seems especially prone to freeze with a magazine open.

i may try out a magazine to see it lockup.
 

flippedb

Banned
Is it possible to buy eBooks from Amazon with an International Credit Card? It is the one I've used to buy products from Amazon, but I don't know if Copyright could present an issue.

I'm thinking of getting the Paperwhite, by the way.

Edit: ah, also, when was the Paperwhite released? Could there be other Kindles coming up soon?
 

MasLegio

Banned
Is it possible to buy eBooks from Amazon with an International Credit Card? It is the one I've used to buy products from Amazon, but I don't know if Copyright could present an issue.

I'm thinking of getting the Paperwhite, by the way.

Edit: ah, also, when was the Paperwhite released? Could there be other Kindles coming up soon?

yes, it is possible to buy ebooks with international credit card.
Good luck with buying a paperwhite though...
 
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