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[Screaming_Gremlin]

Yeah, I really like the new Touch models as well. I think it is time to upgrade my Kindle 2.

 

[Manics]

How are you supposed to make notes without it on the regular Kindle? I really prefer my Kindle 3 (or "Kindle Keyboard" now) to this new one. It doesn't even seem to have any tech. improvements...

I have to look into the Kindle Fire though.

If notes are important to you then you would go for the Kindle Touch or stick with Kindle keyboard. If you would hardly ever use the keyboard, the new non-keyboard one makes sense, the form factor is truly like a paperback book at that size.

 

[Kusagari]

I don't really see the point of the $79 one when the touch is 20 bucks more.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

How are you supposed to make notes without it on the regular Kindle? I really prefer my Kindle 3 (or "Kindle Keyboard" now) to this new one. It doesn't even seem to have any tech. improvements...

I have to look into the Kindle Fire though.

It has an onscreen keyboard that pops up like ps3 or xbox has and you navigate with the buttons to choose letters and enter text.

The new $79 Kindle has 1 month of battery life and 2GB of storage, vs 2 months of battery life and 4GB of storage on the keyboard model.

see Compare Kindles section here:
http://www.amazon.com/kindle

Wow, it is less? That's odd, I just assumed it would be same as the kindle 3 only sans keyboard.

 

[PjotrStroganov]

I don't really see the point of the $79 one when the touch is 20 bucks more.

Still would like buttons on the side to turn pages.

 

[jayb]

So exactly how intrusive are the ads on these "special offers" kindles? Are the ads just on the screen saver and at the bottom of the home page? do they show up anywhere else?

 

[Manics]

I found this on apple insider:

"Amazon is expected to build 12 million new e-ink Kindles this year -- 8 million of the low-end $79 model, with another 4 million Kindle Touches. The high-end touch model, code-named "Whitney," features a Freescale i.MX515 processor and 256MB of RAM with its 6-inch display. The touchsreen model is arriving later because of a "more complicated design and assembly," analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed.

The new $79 model is said to feature the same processor as the touch model, but has an integrated controller that will provide "better system design and lower cost" when compared to previous Kindle hardware, Kuo said."

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...99_kindle_touch_stick_with_e_ink_display.html

I don't remember what the keyboard one had though.

Edit: Wiki says Kindle 3 used: "The Kindle 3 utilizes a Freescale i. MX353 applications processor". So it's new but no clue how much of a difference it makes.

Thanks for that. The new processor will make it seem snappier.

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

Interesting thing I noticed just now. I was checking out a book via overdrive and got to the send to Kindle option. Now today I originally ordered a Wifi, than switched to 3G, and went back to Wifi. For the send to options there was My Name Kindle, Kindle 3, Kindle 4. I'm pretty impressed how despite being nearly two months away I can already setup to send material to my new Kindle. I wonder if it also means anything about my place on the pre-order list (though I doubt I'll get any delays with getting the new touch).

 

[Manics]

I don't really see the point of the $79 one when the touch is 20 bucks more.

If they included the page turn buttons on the touch model I would agree with you. The fact that they didn't put any page turn buttons on the touch one bothers me. I would hate touching the screen to turn pages, it wouldn't seem natural to me.

 

[Fjordson]

So exactly how intrusive are the ads on these "special offers" kindles? Are the ads just on the screen saver and at the bottom of the home page? do they show up anywhere else?

I don't have an ad supported one, but I'm 99 percent positive that they only show up in two places: as the screensaver when it's in sleep mode or whatever and at the bottom of the main menu. They're static, and never show up when you're actually reading a book.

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

I don't have an ad supported one, but I'm 99 percent positive that they only show up in two places: as the screensaver when it's in sleep mode or whatever and at the bottom of the main menu. They're static, and never show up when you're actually reading a book.

I've also read that Amazon has been keeping pretty high standards (classy/tasteful) for what gets to go on as an ad for special offers.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

I don't have an ad supported one, but I'm 99 percent positive that they only show up in two places: as the screensaver when it's in sleep mode or whatever and at the bottom of the main menu. They're static, and never show up when you're actually reading a book.

Correct and some of the deals have been pretty awesome over it's existence too.

 

[icespide]

dat kindle touch. take my money please

 

[kr2t0s]

I don't really see the point of the $79 one when the touch is 20 bucks more.

I don't really see the point of touch when it's $20 more.

Not being sarcastic - I really see the $79 kindle as the perfect e-reader now

 

[bangai-o]

still await Kindle 4 news.

 

[Marty Chinn]

I don't really see the point of touch when it's $20 more.

Not being sarcastic - I really see the $79 kindle as the perfect e-reader now

Streamlined interface would be my reason to spend the extra $20. Why go through all those extra clicks?

 

[antispin]

Does anyone have experience importing a US Kindle? Will I be able to read kindle books I have already purchased using a non-US credit card? I assume movies and music will be out of question?

 

[Loki]

Despite my love for Amazon, let's face it, as of the last two years, B&N has been pushing the tech ahead of Amazon and no matter how great of a job they do, they rarely get any credit for it which saddens me.

Yep. Don't forget Amazon's blatantly reactionary price drops and their incorporation of a few key B&N features shortly after B&N introduced them (e.g., lending; I believe B&N was also first with a 3G offering by several months, but I could be wrong on that one).

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Does anyone have experience importing a US Kindle? Will I be able to read kindle books I have already purchased using a non-US credit card? I assume movies and music will be out of question?

Wait, are you talking about kindle or the new tablet? Kindle definitely can't do music or movies...

 

[Manics]

Streamlined interface would be my reason to spend the extra $20. Why go through all those extra clicks?

Depends on how you use it. 95% of the time I'm just reading a book and turning pages. Sure when I look up a word I use the 5-way controller and it would be faster to just touch the screen but it's not a huge effort at all. Since I don't use that functionality all that much it isn't really important for me.

 

[Carlisle]

Wow at those prices. Amazing Amazon strikes again. Nice move to catch up with B&N hardware and blow their prices away. Price seems to be Amazon's main focus with these new models going by the note they have up on their homepage. Still, would have been nice to see them do something new like the color e-ink rumors we've been hearing about for a half decade. I guess we should expect some price cuts from the other corner before long though.

I love the silver, but I can't say I'm crazy about the designs. They look kinda, I dunno, dated? Like they would have come out in the late 90's or something. But as with most gadgets I'm sure they look better in person.

 

[tokkun]

I don't really see the point of touch when it's $20 more.

Not being sarcastic - I really see the $79 kindle as the perfect e-reader now

Double the internal storage?
Double the battery life?
Support for audio books?

There are more cost-cutting measures in the $79 Kindle than just the touch screen.

 

[Manics]

Double the internal storage?
Double the battery life?
Support for audio books?

There are more cost-cutting measures in the $79 Kindle than just the touch screen.

I don't get the battery one. They're roughly the same size, so did they somehow cram a larger battery in the Touch version?

Non-touch
6.5" x 4.5" x 0.34"

Touch
6.8" x 4.7" x 0.40"

 

[tokkun]

Touch is more than 15% thicker than non-touch, so that may be part of the battery reason.

It may also be that a battery with half the capacity was notably cheaper.

I think the strategy around that model was to push cost-cutting to the limit while retaining the core functionality.

 

[Manics]

Touch is more than 15% thicker than non-touch, so that may be part of the battery reason.

It may also be that a battery with half the capacity was notably cheaper.

I think the strategy around that model was to push cost-cutting to the limit while retaining the core functionality.

You're probably right. Still a month of battery is plenty...tempting me...I don't need a keyboard..must..resist...https://www.amazon.com/?tag=neogaf0e-20 ....must resist...

 

[Marty Chinn]

You're probably right. Still a month of battery is plenty...tempting me...I don't need a keyboard..must..resist...https://www.amazon.com/?tag=neogaf0e-20 ....must resist...

What worries me is their specs show that the battery life is the same as the Kindle 3. I'd be shocked if that was true because then that means there is no increase in battery life and then the Nook Touch still has longer battery life. Something doesn't match up right here because I refuse to believe Amazon didn't bump the battery life up.

 

[Sanic]

How do magazines work on the kindles? I noticed that the touchpad app apparently doesn't have support for them so I would be using them on an eink device.

 

[AndyD]

What worries me is their specs show that the battery life is the same as the Kindle 3. I'd be shocked if that was true because then that means there is no increase in battery life and then the Nook Touch still has longer battery life. Something doesn't match up right here because I refuse to believe Amazon didn't bump the battery life up.

I thought there was still controversy over that. The whole 1 hour or 30 minutes of reading per day. Between Nook and Kindle I mean.

How do magazines work on the kindles? I noticed that the touchpad app apparently doesn't have support for them so I would be using them on an eink device.

Some are good, the articles are basic text. Some are poor, particularly magazines that rely on a lot of images and graphics. I think its easier to ask about individual magazines and get feedback, as the quality varies. Even some with graphics are well done, while others are not.

 

[tokkun]

What worries me is their specs show that the battery life is the same as the Kindle 3. I'd be shocked if that was true because then that means there is no increase in battery life and then the Nook Touch still has longer battery life. Something doesn't match up right here because I refuse to believe Amazon didn't bump the battery life up.

That's incorrect.

Amazon quotes the Kindle Touch and Kindle 3 with the same battery life (2 months) and the Kindle with 1 month.

So no, they didn't boost the battery life, they halved it.

 

[Marty Chinn]

That's incorrect.

Amazon quotes the Kindle Touch and Kindle 3 with the same battery life (2 months) and the Kindle with 1 month.

So no, they didn't boost the battery life, they halved it.

I wasn't even factoring in the basic Kindle. I was comparing going from Kindle 3 to Kindle Touch. It's gotta be a mistake to not get a bettery boost. It would make more sense if basic Kindle was the same as Kindle 3 and then Kindle Touch got double the battery life.

 

[jayb]

I wasn't even factoring in the basic Kindle. I was comparing going from Kindle 3 to Kindle Touch. It's gotta be a mistake to not get a bettery boost. It would make more sense if basic Kindle was the same as Kindle 3 and then Kindle Touch got double the battery life.

Would the touch technology require more battery? if so, maybe they did boost the battery size, but the net result is the same battery life as the kindle 3.

 

[smokeandmirrors]

Wifi Touch with or without ads? I'm torn.

 

[Manics]

Honestly battery life on the Kindles would be the LAST thing I'd care about. They last so long as it is.

 

[Zzoram]

Wifi Touch with or without ads? I'm torn.

With. Save $30 to have an advertisement as your screensaver instead of the Kindle logo.

 

[smokeandmirrors]

I was thinking that, and I could get a nice case for it for the same price as without ads.

I do like how it looks without (brother has one). I suppose there's probably ways to get around the ads, or will be.

 

[mrklaw]

If they included the page turn buttons on the touch model I would agree with you. The fact that they didn't put any page turn buttons on the touch one bothers me. I would hate touching the screen to turn pages, it wouldn't seem natural to me.

no page turn buttons at all? Thats crazy. Touch is good as I don't need a keyboard so smaller size and cover browser is nice. But touch is handy for secondary tasks like search and looking up words. Page turning is the most used feature and really needs buttons - and there is space on the frame.

Have a kindle 3 and would have liked it smaller/more screen, but no buttons kills it for me I think

 

[Flizzzipper]

Yea, in theory I'm going to miss the page turn buttons, getting smudges on my screen kinda bugs me too I'm not sure I'm gonna bite on the touch. Of course I will fold and buy it just because it is new any minute now.

 

[GuessWho]

looking into getting the 79$ kindle or kindle touch, and I know this may be stupid but just wondering if it supports email and browsing.

 

[Mutagenic]

Bought the $79 classic to replace my 2nd gen. It's arriving tomorrow.

 

[mrklaw]

oh, new cheap version doesn't support audiobooks or mp3 at all

so bit smaller, £20 cheaper but half the storage, half the battery, no audio support. Or the touch with no physical page turn buttons and probably £120 when its out in the UK (due to no special offers here)

 

[Marty Chinn]

Yea, in theory I'm going to miss the page turn buttons, getting smudges on my screen kinda bugs me too I'm not sure I'm gonna bite on the touch. Of course I will fold and buy it just because it is new any minute now.

The screen is matte and not glossy so it doesn't smudge as bad as you'd think. You can touch our existing Kindle to see since it's pretty much the same. If it bothers you then ya, might not want it. The page turn buttons are a deal breaker for me at this point in time.

 

[jayb]

I can understand wanting buttons if you're worried about getting fingerprints on the screen, but other than that, it's just as easy to touch the screen as it is the buttons to turn a page... especially with such a large tapping zone for the next page.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

looking into getting the 79$ kindle or kindle touch, and I know this may be stupid but just wondering if it supports email and browsing.

Well it has the experimental browser which is fine to check email but don't expect much in the way of web browsing with it. Between the eink and such it's not the fastest especially for image heavy websites. As long as you don't expect to be as fast as a tablet it's ok for little tasks like checking email or I use it to check sports scores but not more than that IMO. And obviously if you get the cheaper version you can only do it over wifi.

The screen is matte and not glossy so it doesn't smudge as bad as you'd think. You can touch our existing Kindle to see since it's pretty much the same. If it bothers you then ya, might not want it. The page turn buttons are a deal breaker for me at this point in time.

The old screens were matte too weren't they? I always noticed finger prints on those, I still don't think they're as invisible as people are claiming.

 

[tokkun]

Yea, in theory I'm going to miss the page turn buttons, getting smudges on my screen kinda bugs me too I'm not sure I'm gonna bite on the touch. Of course I will fold and buy it just because it is new any minute now.

IR touch screens work with any sort of contact, so if you are really OCD about fingerprints you can always touch with your fingernail instead.

Personally I'm not worried about it. The oleophobic coatings on modern smart phones seem to be extremely effective.

 

[commish]

I can understand wanting buttons if you're worried about getting fingerprints on the screen, but other than that, it's just as easy to touch the screen as it is the buttons to turn a page... especially with such a large tapping zone for the next page.

Absolutely not true. I use the physical buttons on my nook touch 99.9% of the time to change the page. It's just easier when using it with one hand.

 

[mrklaw]

I can understand wanting buttons if you're worried about getting fingerprints on the screen, but other than that, it's just as easy to touch the screen as it is the buttons to turn a page... especially with such a large tapping zone for the next page.

one gripe, one question...

gripe: Turning a page back looks difficult if you're holding it in one hand. Quite a stretch with your thumb and a narrow landing zone.


question: how do you scroll the list of books? you don't have page turn buttons, and tapping for turn won't work as you'll use that to select an item from the list

 

[Zzoram]

Hold it with your left hand, problem solved

 

[Marty Chinn]

Hold it with your left hand, problem solved

You're holding it wrong?

 

[tokkun]

one gripe, one question...

gripe: Turning a page back looks difficult if you're holding it in one hand. Quite a stretch with your thumb and a narrow landing zone.

Do you turn back pages often? In engineering this is what we call optimizing for the common case.

question: how do you scroll the list of books? you don't have page turn buttons, and tapping for turn won't work as you'll use that to select an item from the list

You can do gestures like swiping. Same as you would on any touch screen phone.

 

[kaskade]

I'm deciding between the Kindle and the touch. It seems like buying the kindle would just be like upgrading to upgrade from my 3, I do like how small it is though. Wish I didn't have to buy another lighted case.