Someone give me a push

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I have heard that Kindle has offered people who broke there Kindle a new one at 50% price.

I think there was a thread here somewhere about someone "complaining" about it.

BOb

Bob, thats true, BUT it was still within the one year warranty.

On Amazon, they were complaining because they dropped it, and Amazon offered to replace it for $180.......and there is no 'repair' option, as of yet.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Speaking of warranty, if the Kindle breaks and it's past the warranty, you'll have to purchase a new Kindle. But if the Sony breaks past the warranty, you can get it fixed for a price.

Of course that price may be more than the cost of a new one, but, hey, it's a price .... and that's something, right??

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Bob, thats true, BUT it was still within the one year warranty.

Sure... but ALL Kindles are in warranty now aren't they. Just now some will be going out of warranty. Wasn't mid November 07 when they sold the first Kindles?

BOb

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Sure... but ALL Kindles are in warranty now aren't they. Just now some will be going out of warranty. Wasn't mid November 07 when they sold the first Kindles?

BOb

Tomorrow is the One Year Anniversary!

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Bob, thats true, BUT it was still within the one year warranty.

On Amazon, they were complaining because they dropped it, and Amazon offered to replace it for $180.......and there is no 'repair' option, as of yet.

Yeah ... but I don't think that sort of damage is generally covered under the warranty. So, from my point of view, that was pretty nice of Amazon to offer a new one at fifty percent off.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Yeah ... but I don't think that sort of damage is generally covered under the warranty. So, from my point of view, that was pretty nice of Amazon to offer a new one at fifty percent off.

That's effectively what Bookeen do with the CyBook Gen3, too. The "standard charge" for a screen replacement "repair" is €120, but they don't actually do a "repair"; they send you a new machine.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Yeah ... but I don't think that sort of damage is generally covered under the warranty. So, from my point of view, that was pretty nice of Amazon to offer a new one at fifty percent off.

Absolutely! I would have been thrilled with that offer had it been me. However, this particular person just couldn't understand why Amazon wouldn't just replace the Kindle.

Her claim, was that Amazon showed a video of a Kindle being dropped. Since she dropped hers, in the same way, she felt she should get a new one for free.

I'm sure it can be dropped 10 times in the same way and not suffer damage.....but the 11th time.........just depends on where it hits.

Since Amazon doesn't offer repair service, and I don't have $180 laying around, I treat mine like a newborn........

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Her claim, was that Amazon showed a video of a Kindle being dropped. Since she dropped hers, in the same way, she felt she should get a new one for free.

There is probably something to that. However, there is no proof that is what she did to her reader either. She could have stepped on it, drove over it with a car, threw it against the wall... etc.

Look at what happened during the interview with the new iRex iLiad reader. The guy was told to go ahead and drop it on the floor. The unit BROKE... the interviewer laughed his ass off. This is going to be hard image to make people forget.

BOb

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Absolutely! I would have been thrilled with that offer had it been me. However, this particular person just couldn't understand why Amazon wouldn't just replace the Kindle.

Her claim, was that Amazon showed a video of a Kindle being dropped. Since she dropped hers, in the same way, she felt she should get a new one for free.

I'm sure it can be dropped 10 times in the same way and not suffer damage.....but the 11th time.........just depends on where it hits.

Since Amazon doesn't offer repair service, and I don't have $180 laying around, I treat mine like a newborn........

Well, unless she had video of the incident where she dropped her's, I don't see that Amazon would have to cover it under warranty. And, even if it was the exact same drop, the video on Amazon is really only to show that the unit is fairly tough .... not that it will survive a fall under any and all circumstances.

Of course, people are essentially stupid. They see something in an ad, and assume that what they see makes for some type of contract between the viewer and the company. Not likely.

Reminds me of the kid in my neighborhood growing up who saw a TV ad for "Jets" cereal. The kid in the ad ate Jets and then flew. So, naturally, this twit climbed up on his roof with his bowl of Jets, and then fell to the ground and broke (as I recall) both of his legs.

That anyone would think a unit they dropped and broke was something that the company should cover (on a standard warranty) is a little off the wall from my perspective. No company is going to cover that .... how would they be able to tell from how high it was dropped?? Gee, it just fell out of my hand .... as I was reading a book while wing-walking on my bi-plane. (??) So, now Amazon should replace it for free??

I really think they were bending over backwards when they offered the fifty percent discount on a new one. They certainly weren't obligated to do that.

[Boston]

I've always thought the Kindle drop test video was misleading and should be removed (or at least have a disclaimer).

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Boston

I've always thought the Kindle drop test video was misleading and should be removed (or at least have a disclaimer).

Most advertising is misleading in some form or another. It's called "puffing" and it is allowed under the law.

Now, if they flat out stated that all Kindles could be dropped from "x" height without damage, then you'd have something. But, showing video from a drop test that had a certain result is perfectly legal.

What people have to understand .... is that it is advertising. Nothing more, and nothing less.

[Daithi]

I'm late to this party, but I have decided to chime in anyway.

I own a Kindle and I really like it. Personally, I think the Sony looks better, but if I had to replace my reader I would get another Kindle. Even though the Sony looks better, the Kindle isn't big and klunky. Plus, the big buttons that allow you to change pages no matter how you are holding the book is actually kind of nice (form should follow function).

As far as "running pearl scrips and much screwing around to get content purchased elsewhere onto the Kindle", I'd say you are right and wrong on that one. The vast majority of items I have on my Kindle were not bought at Amazon. Most of my content was downloaded for free and none of this required any pearl scripts or difficulty what-so-ever. However, some of these free files were missing author information or contained misspellings, so I did use a pearl script to go in and fix these errors. I also wanted to be able strip out the DRM in case I ever upgraded to some cool future device that wasn't a Kindle, so I have used a pearl script to strip the DRM. I also had a couple html files that I wanted to convert into a Kindle formatted book, and I used mobicreator to create my book. I have only bought 1 book (the Longman Dictionary) that wasn't available from Amazon, and I used these tools so that I could load it onto my PC (I never planned on reading the dictionary on my Kindle and wanted it for other purposes). The point is that I don't view these tools as negative for the Kindle, but see the fact that they exist as a positive for the Kindle.

Lastly, CONTENT IS KING!!! Then again, maybe PRICE IS KING!!! Either way, the Kindle has about 200,000 available titles and individual titles are cheaper (or at least the same price) than the same title bought anywhere else.

[Tattncat]

Originally Posted by charadeur

I have been reading for two days and I have it narrowed down to the two most popular models. Kindle or Sony 505. What I think I have learned so far:

Sony
Pro:

1. Open format allows for most file types to be used.
2. Ergonomics are better.
3. Design is more aesthetically pleasing

Con:

1. Available content is not as good as Amazon
2. You must own a Kindle and do some questionably legal things to get Amazon content on your Kindle.

Kindle
Pro: Easy download of Amazon content.
Con:

1. Poor ergonomics
2. Bigger and heavier
3. Requires running pearl scrips and much screwing around to get content purchased elsewhere onto the Kindle.

Is this a fair summery? Features seem to no be debated much between the two. I really like the Sony better but the content thing is holding me back. Can anyone convince me that anything I can get for the Kindle is available somewhere for the Sony? Or perhaps convince me that the Kindle is not all that ergonomically bad or such an ugly duckling?

I got the 505 --More content available from many more sources, a lot of them free.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Daithi

As far as "running pearl scrips and much screwing around to get content purchased elsewhere onto the Kindle", I'd say you are right and wrong on that one. The vast majority of items I have on my Kindle were not bought at Amazon. Most of my content was downloaded for free and none of this required any pearl scripts or difficulty what-so-ever. However, some of these free files were missing author information or contained misspellings, so I did use a pearl script to go in and fix these errors. I also wanted to be able strip out the DRM in case I ever upgraded to some cool future device that wasn't a Kindle, so I have used a pearl script to strip the DRM. I also had a couple html files that I wanted to convert into a Kindle formatted book, and I used mobicreator to create my book. I have only bought 1 book (the Longman Dictionary) that wasn't available from Amazon, and I used these tools so that I could load it onto my PC (I never planned on reading the dictionary on my Kindle and wanted it for other purposes). The point is that I don't view these tools as negative for the Kindle, but see the fact that they exist as a positive for the Kindle.

If you fix errors in public domain books, please upload them to our "Book Uploads" forum, so that others can benefit from your work.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by Tattncat

I got the 505 --More content available from many more sources, a lot of them free.

Aside from the Sony store, where are you able to get content that that the Kindle cannot (or doesn't already have)?