Inkpad 3: screen breaks too easly ?

[Gerleu]

Hi there,

I own one of those devices and, one morning, I've found the upper right angle of the screen still displaying previous pages parts !!!

No way to remove that, including with a full hard reset or by emptying the battery followed by a full recharge...

Then the problem extended to the full heigth of the right part of the screen and only the screen was affected, the other functionnalities were still OK.

Of course, no shock was experienced before this bug and I've already found another owner in France, were I'm livintg, with the same symptoms and without any physical shock occuring before that: do you think that those ebook readers are very fragile at the screen point of view ?

I've sent it back for a warranty repair to Poland (official repair shop) and they refused that, asking me 140 euros to fix it with a new screen... and a three-month only waranty !!!

So if you know other people suffering the same situation, please let me know and we will join our forces to get for all of us a warranty repair !

Thanks in advance for your appreciated help and have a good reading,
Germain

[mobama]

You are not mentioning a case or cover with the device. Did you buy a case or cover? You definitely cannot use an eink device without it. Yes, they are fragile, but it's by design and you have to be extra careful with them.

When you acquire an eink device, always buy a case or cover for it. If not, subscribe to extra warranty. For my own first eink device, I bought both a cover and extra warranty (so as to get the device replaced in case of breakage by own fault) and both became useful. This is particularly important for larger devices. And particularly important when a large device is your first one.

Later, when you know first-hand how fragile these devices are, and you are able to adjust yourself to be extra careful, you can drop the extra warranty. Still, always buy covers.

[pondscum]

Originally Posted by mobama

You are not mentioning a case or cover with the device. Did you buy a case or cover? You definitely cannot use an eink device without it.

You "definitely cannot" use an e-ink device without a cover? That's cow poop. I've definitely been using e-ink devices for years without a cover on any of them. If you'll be tossing your device loose in a bag full of other stuff, or have children who might abuse it, a cover would be a good idea, but if your e-reader rarely goes anywhere other than your nightstand, for instance, why bother?

It's possible that the Inkpad 3's screen might be more fragile than (say) my old 4th-generation Kindle that it replaced just because it's large and thin and more prone to flexing, but a cover or case won't provide enough stiffening to make a difference for that.

FWIW, I'd be more likely to use a case on my Inkpad if I could find one like the gel case I use on my cell phone, that only covers the back and edges of the device and doesn't have a flap on the screen that you have to fold out of the way to use it. I found one like that for my 8" Asus tablet but nothing for the Inkpad the last time I looked.

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by pondscum

You "definitely cannot" use an e-ink device without a cover?

I'm guessing that he meant you definitely should not use an e-ink device without a cover, and I would agree on the general principal that accidents happen, and always when you're least prepared for them. A cover is cheap insurance. I would also rather not have to deal with the front cover flap but I regularly stuff mine into my backpack where it'll get scratched without that so I consider it an acceptable annoyance. Fortunately the cover flap may also put the device to sleep when you close it so there is that as well.

[Gerleu]

Hello again, thank you for your gentle posts and sorry for my delay to respond...

Of course, and I forgot to mention that in my first post because it was so evident to me, but my Inkpad 3 was fully protected with its properly closed cover !

With my wife, we own also one Booken and one Kobo Touch and both of them have the right cover to protect them too.

It is the reason why I was so upset to discover at first my Inkpad 3 with a little garbage area displayed on the upper right part and then the garbage extending to all the screen after a few days WITHOUT ANY VISIBLE CRACK, YES NOTHING !!!

I really suspect an insufficiently protected screen (not a Gorilla glass for sure !) so beware with this device and don't hesitate please to report any display problem...

Thanks in advance and good reading,
Germain

[rkomar]

Such fragility is not particular to this device. The e-ink layer and electronics are usually attached to a glass layer _underneath_ them. This layer, called the substrate, is very thin and fragile. It is not usually broken by hitting the glass/plastic on top of the display. However, it can easily be broken by twisting or bending the device. Unless the external cover is stiff enough to prevent the device from twisting at all, then it won't entirely protect the device from being damaged this way.

This advice applies to all devices that use e-ink with the glass substrate: be careful not to allow the device to bend or twist.

[pondscum]

Yes, this is what I alluded to above. A padded case may protect from scratches and offer some impact protection, but it probably won't provide enough structural stiffening to prevent it from flexing. I think even so-called "rugged" tablet cases only provide extra shock protection around the edges of the device, not stiffening.

[lumpynose]

This Kindle cover is metal, at least the flip cover on the front is. It also puts it to sleep (the display) when you close it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B8HB8WL/

[nevynJPG]

Originally Posted by rkomar

Such fragility is not particular to this device.

But it is. I've owned several Kindles for about a decade now, and even after having been pretty rough with them, I've only received very minor screen damage. They're still fully usable, so many years later, hundreds of books later.

My InkPad 3 just broke in just the exact same manner as Gerleu's, after having been transported in a padded compartment in my backpack. My theory is that the device is built without enough internal support, making it twist from even minor forces (as received when travelling in a back, even in a case and/or in padded compartments), breaking the screen.

Again, several e-ink devices I've used before have held up without issue to much worse conditions, so this IS specific to the InkPad 3.

Even though I've been careful with the device and I think this is a design defect, I was refused warranty repair for this damage. I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone, based on this :/

[Marco77]

Counter-argument, mine accidentally dropped in its leather cover from around 1.4 m high
Still works as usual.

[tfister]

Hi,
I had exactly the same situation, upper right corner. They ask around 150E for it this time. What is the final solution you found?