Kindle Voyage - First Impressions

[robko]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Good point, but I also don't see how the screen itself would unevenly affect the shade.

Light guide or other screen parts (the anti-glare etching for example) could cause different shades by the time the light gets there.

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Someone posted earlier not being able to spot the light sources. Maybe the light comes from more than one edge.

That's an interesting idea. I automatically think they're at the bottom because that's the way everyone has done it since Nooks top light experience. But since they're not visible they could be anywhere.

[xendula]

^ I seem to be the only one who notices a halo effect- it's as if the light source is all around the screen - it jots out from under the bezel and frames the letters, and since it's brighter than the page itself, a tad uncomfortable to the eye.

[vxf]

I just got mine (3g).
The screen is very nice. Very sharp, very even.
Love the buttons.
Light sensor... I need to do some testing. Seems to work.

But... I swear, this thing is heaving than my PW2. I need a digital scale to see. I looked at the specs and, even though the Voyage is 3g (and my PW2 was wifi only), the Voyage should still be lighter. It is not. I thought it might just be balance, so I asked my office mates - three people all seem to agree. The Voyage is heavier.

The origami cover is also very heavy.
Overall, I like the rubbery feel of the PW2 better than the metal of the Voyage. So, from a weight and feel point of view, I am somewhat disappointed.

But the screen totally makes up for it.


EDIT: never mind. Too fast of a first reaction. I went to test the light sensor a bit, and, when i lover the light intensity, the yellowness on the top half is very noticeable. Darn it...

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by slantybard

Sparklemotion, I have used the PW1, Aura, PW2, and have now picked up the H2O because the Voyage can't even be ordered in Canada yet (totally freaking crazy!). The H2O is easily found in stores up here including Chapters/Indigo, FutureShop, and BestBuy and each usually has one on display to check out. If you are coming to Canada, Chapters, BestBuy, Canada and Future Shop websites will show store inventory for the H2O's online (Chapters will even tell you how many units are in-stock for each store).

Initially, I thought the H2O would be passed onto my family once I could get a Voyage, but since I have used the H2O, I have really, really liked it. Easy integration of collections with Calibre, simple patching so you can use custom fonts, line spacing, and margins (way, way easier than the patching I have to use on the Paperwhites!). Also, the increased size allows for more text and the 262 dpi is better than the PW's. I imagine that with a good screen, the Voyage's 300 dpi will be great too except if you want to show more text, the text has to be smaller to fit on the physical dimensions of the Voyage screen compared to the H2O.

The lighting on the H2O is better than the PW2 I have. If you look at my post here, you can see the lighting and screen of my H2O vs my PW2.

I know you like custom fonts from our previous discussions of custom embedded PW2 fonts and that is really great about the H2O - total font control. You can customize your own fonts to render without adjustment or you can use "typegenius" a modifiable font renderer in the Kobo device firmware to modify the font weight and spacing on the fly.

Thank you so much for your detailed reply about the Kobo and also the link to your other post. I will check it out! I really appreciate your thoughts. Glad you're enjoying the H20. I'm definitely going to pick one up since my voyage experience wasn't the best. I hope you have better luck than me if you decide to try a voyage.

I should say that I do still love my PW2, but basically I would really like a reader with customization and also crisper/darker fonts so here's hoping. There's been so many good posts about the Kobo on here, that I feel I should give it a go. And yes, I loove the idea of custom fonts!

[Hypernova]

Originally Posted by disconnected

I have now got a Kindle PW1, a Kobo Aura, a Kobo Aura H2O, and a Kindle Voyage.

Could you show a picture of H2O and Voyage side-by-side?

[WilliamG]

Hi, everyone. Long time, no post.

I picked up THREE Kindle Voyage units today, because I wanted to do a comparison between the screen types. Bear in mind, I have been using a Kindle Touch since launch, having sent back both Paperwhite 1 and Paperwhite 2 units for being anything but "paper white." Green/pink splotches = no thanks.

Turns out, the Kindle Voyage suffers from similar issues. While the stage-lighting effect at the bottom of the screen is reduced (you can sometimes see it if you're picky), the screen now tends to be cool white at the bottom, changing to orangey/green at the top, and pink in the top left and right corners.

Again, this is with THREE units tested, all with the same issue with very, very small variances.

I truly believe those of you out there who say theirs doesn't suffer these issues is either:

1.) Not as picky (I wish I were you)
2.) Not as visually astute (I mean no insult by this - I wish I were you!)

Either way, if you're the person who sent back the Paperwhite for this issue, the Voyage is not really any better. Just... different.

Here's a picture (I posted over on a different site, too). I see pretty much every single color - pink, green, orange... Ugh.

If you're astute, you'll be able to make out the hint of the stage-light shadows at the bottom of the screen. This also varies between the three units I have, but it's visible if you're very, very picky.

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by WilliamG

If you're astute, you'll be able to make out the hint of the stage-light shadows at the bottom of the screen. This also varies between the three units I have, but it's visible if you're very, very picky.

Picky or not, astute or not, the issue is very clear to me.

[sparklemotion]

I sympathize, William! As I mentioned on the other board, mine is exactly the same. (I also had tons of color hue issues on the PW's too.) It's so disappointing that Amazon cannot get their act together. No excuse for this really and this is supposed to be a premium device. Very sorry you ordered 3 of them only to end up disappointed in each one of them. Have you considered a Kobo H20? Might be worth a try.

[WilliamG]

Originally Posted by pghaworth

Picky or not, astute or not, the issue is very clear to me.

I figured many of you here would notice.

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

I sympathize, William! As I mentioned on the other board, mine is exactly the same. (I also had tons of color hue issues on the PW's too.) It's so disappointing that Amazon cannot get their act together. No excuse for this really and this is supposed to be a premium device. Very sorry you ordered 3 of them only to end up disappointed in each one of them. Have you considered a Kobo H20? Might be worth a try.

I haven't really considered a Kobo. I have a lot of books on the Kindle that I read, so it's.. a little tricky to buy into a new device. That said, if the Kobo H20 has better backlighting, I'd be very tempted to jump ship. I'm extremely frustrated with Amazon right now, and feel like they don't respect some of us users as much as they should.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by disconnected

I have now got a Kindle PW1, a Kobo Aura, a Kobo Aura H2O, and a Kindle Voyage. I'm passing the PW1 on to my husband, leaving me with three that are all nearly perfect examples of their breed. I'm keeping them all, and yet I'm still not totally satisfied

I have loved my Kobo Aura since the day I got it. I found super-slim, lightweight, slightly rubbery feeling cases for it at AliExpress so it's comfortable to hold, practically weightless, and takes up almost no space in my purse.

Now if I could have one exactly like it but with the higher resolution of the H2O and Voyage, then THAT would be my perfect ereader

I second asking for a pic comparison between the H20 and the voyage, please. I would love to see one, if you're willing. How does the contrast on the H20 compare to the Voyage? Do you find one has sharper, darker fonts? Or are they pretty much on par?

Originally Posted by WilliamG

I haven't really considered a Kobo. I have a lot of books on the Kindle that I read, so it's.. a little tricky to buy into a new device. That said, if the Kobo H20 has better backlighting, I'd be very tempted to jump ship. I'm extremely frustrated with Amazon right now, and feel like they don't respect some of us users as much as they should.

I think it might be worth a try for you. I'm going to give one a shot and see what I think. If you check out the Kobo section here you can see various pics and so forth of the screen.

[WilliamG]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

I think it might be worth a try for you. I'm going to give one a shot and see what I think. If you check out the Kobo section here you can see various pics and so forth of the screen.

I had looked at a Kobo Aura HD (I think it was called) maybe a year-or-so ago. I opened it in the store, and it had a myriad of those pinholes, and reasonably uneven lighting. The store agreed it was poor, and I left, Kobo-less.

It's funny because everyone is talking about the new Kindle Voyage and how the text seems to be closer to the surface blah blah. What a load of tosh! My old Kindle Touch (which I'm doomed to use until it dies) features text that sits right on the surface, much more like print (sharpness aside) than the Kindle Voyage.

Seriously, how has NO review mentioned the awful uniformity of the Kindle Voyage? I'm borderline furious thinking about how excitedly I read the reviews, sighing to myself that Amazon finally got it right!

Oh how I tricked myself...

[disconnected]

Originally Posted by Hypernova

Could you show a picture of H2O and Voyage side-by-side?

I'll try to take one tomorrow (and figure out how to post it ).

[disconnected]

Originally Posted by WilliamG

Hi, everyone. Long time, no post.

I picked up THREE Kindle Voyage units today, because I wanted to do a comparison between the screen types. Bear in mind, I have been using a Kindle Touch since launch, having sent back both Paperwhite 1 and Paperwhite 2 units for being anything but "paper white." Green/pink splotches = no thanks.

Turns out, the Kindle Voyage suffers from similar issues. While the stage-lighting effect at the bottom of the screen is reduced (you can sometimes see it if you're picky), the screen now tends to be cool white at the bottom, changing to orangey/green at the top, and pink in the top left and right corners.

Again, this is with THREE units tested, all with the same issue with very, very small variances.

I truly believe those of you out there who say theirs doesn't suffer these issues is either:

1.) Not as picky (I wish I were you)
2.) Not as visually astute (I mean no insult by this - I wish I were you!)

Either way, if you're the person who sent back the Paperwhite for this issue, the Voyage is not really any better. Just... different.

Here's a picture (I posted over on a different site, too). I see pretty much every single color - pink, green, orange... Ugh.

If you're astute, you'll be able to make out the hint of the stage-light shadows at the bottom of the screen. This also varies between the three units I have, but it's visible if you're very, very picky.

My eyes are not the greatest but in your picture I can definitely see pink and green. I haven't seen it in other Voyage pictures though, and I don't see it on mine.

[Hypernova]

Originally Posted by disconnected

I'll try to take one tomorrow (and figure out how to post it ).

Originally Posted by WilliamG

It's funny because everyone is talking about the new Kindle Voyage and how the text seems to be closer to the surface blah blah. What a load of tosh! My old Kindle Touch (which I'm doomed to use until it dies) features text that sits right on the surface, much more like print (sharpness aside) than the Kindle Voyage.

I maybe glorifying my old fond memory but I remember much more impressed when I first laid my eyes on the Sony PRS-505. I was like yes this is electronic paper! Make no mistake I was pretty happy with my PW1 after 4-5 exchange in search for the best unit but I felt like the old Sony reader was much more like a paper.

Can anyone comment if the H2O is better in that regard (text closer to the surface)?

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by WilliamG

I had looked at a Kobo Aura HD (I think it was called) maybe a year-or-so ago. I opened it in the store, and it had a myriad of those pinholes, and reasonably uneven lighting. The store agreed it was poor, and I left, Kobo-less.

It's funny because everyone is talking about the new Kindle Voyage and how the text seems to be closer to the surface blah blah. What a load of tosh! My old Kindle Touch (which I'm doomed to use until it dies) features text that sits right on the surface, much more like print (sharpness aside) than the Kindle Voyage.

Seriously, how has NO review mentioned the awful uniformity of the Kindle Voyage? I'm borderline furious thinking about how excitedly I read the reviews, sighing to myself that Amazon finally got it right!

Oh how I tricked myself...

The h20 is supposed to have a better screen than the aura. I can't vouch for any of it myself though, never having seen either. If I compare the font on my pw2 to the voyage, I do think there's less haze and that the font appears closer to the top layer of the screen. That said, there's no comparison in that aspect to my old kindle touch where it's very upfront. But compared to the pw's, I do think there's improvement in this area. To my eyes at least.

It's shocking to me too that no reviews mentioned the uneven screen, surely some of them received one. Then again, reviewers never saw the color hues on the paperwhites either.