Anyone get a Kindle yet?

Dejin · 2010-08-31T20:45:25.000Z

malkav11:

Have you seen the Kindle 3? The contrast ratio is much better and so is the page refresh rate. I mean, I suspect the latter is still not going to be quite as fast as the iPad, but where I found the Kindle 2’s refresh to be noticeable but not particularly distracting or unpleasant, the Kindle 3’s is over in an eyeblink.

The new Kindle contrast ratio is why I was considering switching back. I haven’t seen it in person, but I did see a comparison with the Kindle 2 and Kindle 3 in a NYTimes video and it really looked like a huge difference.

The iPad can turn pages almost as fast as I can tap the screen, so it makes scanning backward looking for a section of a book fairly doable. I’d say it’s at least 3x faster than the Kindle 2 and probably 5x or more faster. Yeah, that might be faster than you can completely scan a page, but usually when I’m looking for a passage in a book, I flip through a bunch of pages, stop try to figure out if headed in the right direction, and then flip some more. It just feels much more natural scanning through with the iPad.

Case · 2010-08-31T20:46:45.000Z

Returned from vacation to find the Kindle 3 has arrived.

I was impressed and surprised at how light and small it is. The keyboard is smaller, while the screen size remains the same. And it’s really light. Looking forward to using it.

Ezdaar · 2010-08-31T23:22:36.000Z

Dejin:

Four days after I posted this, I discovered Black Library is planning to start publishing eBooks. So if there are any Warhammer or Warhammer 40K Fiction fans, eBooks should arrive this October and they’ve said both Mobi (Kindle) and ePub formats are likely.

Hooray! I just bought a dead tree book of theirs the other day and am trying to finish it before moving out of the country. Having them available on the Kindle will be great. They’re certainly not literature, but sometimes you just want to read about 8 foot tall guys with 19 organs hacking through some demons.

Dejin · 2010-08-31T23:40:52.000Z

Ezdaar:

They’re certainly not literature, but sometimes you just want to read about 8 foot tall guys with 19 organs hacking through some demons.

Exactly sometimes you just do. Or those short guys with red crescent mohawks. Now I have to figure out if I’m better of getting mobi or epub.

OrfBC · 2010-09-01T08:26:40.000Z

Got my Kindle 3 and I love it! For anyone like me who found the previous versions unusable due to the slow and flickery page turns, the K3 doesn’t bother me at all. It’s only 25% faster, but that’s apparently past whatever threshold was giving me headaches.

Charles · 2010-09-01T08:32:32.000Z

One little thing that annoys me – it doesn’t automatically shut off. I’ve actually had to recharge the thing already, despite not heavily using it.

I think it’s because I put it to sleep – not turn it off. The Kobo turns itself off after a period of time asleep, I wish the Kindle did this too.

forgeforsaken · 2010-09-01T08:37:46.000Z

Charles:

One little thing that annoys me – it doesn’t automatically shut off. I’ve actually had to recharge the thing already, despite not heavily using it.

I think it’s because I put it to sleep – not turn it off. The Kobo turns itself off after a period of time asleep, I wish the Kindle did this too.

I only have a 2, but try disabling wireless if you are not doing so already. If you do that even just putting it to sleep it should last forever especially with the better battery life. I never actually shut mine off and it lasts for about 2 weeks or so.

Tracy_Baker · 2010-09-01T08:38:57.000Z

Charles:

One little thing that annoys me – it doesn’t automatically shut off. I’ve actually had to recharge the thing already, despite not heavily using it.

I think it’s because I put it to sleep – not turn it off. The Kobo turns itself off after a period of time asleep, I wish the Kindle did this too.

That shouldn’t matter with e-ink, since it only uses power when it’s rendering a new page. Is there a way to just disable the wireless on a K3, because that’s the only think that could drain power when the thing is just sitting there.

stusser · 2010-09-01T08:45:35.000Z

Right, you never need to turn it off.

It indexes new books when they’re added, which can suck battery power for an hour or two. Also, yes, turn off the wireless.

Athryn · 2010-09-01T08:54:28.000Z

Yeah I keep the 3G off on mine pretty much all the time, and I only have to charge it about once, maybe twice a month.

Editer · 2010-09-01T12:38:55.000Z

The only thing I miss from my K1: Dedicated wireless switch.

Tracy_Baker · 2010-09-01T12:48:50.000Z

Something else to point out is that 3G hardware sucks mega power relative to Wi-Fi, so if you can independently switch off 3G unless you absolutely need it you’ll conserve a lot of battery life.

Charles · 2010-09-01T19:32:33.000Z

yeah this browser is kind of shit

Quaro · 2010-09-01T19:38:04.000Z

They SAY you don’t need to turn it off, but my experience from the Kindle 1 was that the battery lasts longer if you really turn it off.

malkav11 · 2010-09-01T20:45:18.000Z

Quaro:

They SAY you don’t need to turn it off, but my experience from the Kindle 1 was that the battery lasts longer if you really turn it off.

And my experience with the Kindle 2 was that as long as you had wireless off, the battery savings from turning it off could not possibly matter enough to be worth the significant extra startup time from a complete off state. Thing went for, if not necessarily the claimed 2 weeks, then certainly well over a week. The Kindle 3 supposedly will do a full month. That’s not the kind of battery life where you really need to be parsimonious, imho.

Spoit · 2010-09-02T00:58:49.000Z

malkav11:

And my experience with the Kindle 2 was that as long as you had wireless off, the battery savings from turning it off could not possibly matter enough to be worth the significant extra startup time from a complete off state. Thing went for, if not necessarily the claimed 2 weeks, then certainly well over a week. The Kindle 3 supposedly will do a full month. That’s not the kind of battery life where you really need to be parsimonious, imho.

Hmm…my refurb kindle 2 lasted not quite a whole week before it needed to be charged, with the wireless only on for like 10 minutes max during that week. Should I contact CS about the battery?

Hans_Lauring · 2010-09-02T02:32:21.000Z

With wireless off I think my Kindle2 lasted about 10-14 days… but I didn’t read for more than 30 minutes a day tops on it.

Just pulled the trigger on a 3 event though with no travels to the US planned, I’ll have to pay taxes, so the Kindle and lighted cover ends up at $360… (I’ll take it from the kids allowance till she’s 18)

Charles · 2010-09-02T06:31:17.000Z

I don’t think the Kindle 3 has a complete off state. Even if I hold the power button long enough to blank the screen and turn it ‘off’ based on what the manual says, it powers up nearly instantly. Maybe 3 seconds to the last page you had open.

Alex_Hopkinson · 2010-09-02T08:08:03.000Z

My Wifi Kindle3 just arrived at work. Holy shit, this e-ink stuff is crazy magics!

It came out of the box with the “getting started” instructions on screen and I spent the first couple of minutes wondering where the edge of the bit of plastic it must be printed on was…

Crazy magics.

BaconTastesGood · 2010-09-02T10:23:15.000Z

I’m hoping the DX gets a revision soon, this K3 excitement is making me jealous.