K1 vs K2 anyone have both versions?

tapar · 12-10-2009, 02:54 PM

Howdy,

I just ordered a bunch of Kindle 2's as xmas presents and am already starting to have upgrade-itis thanks to all the researching and looking at all the new ereaders.

I have and really love my Kindle 1. I looked at the Kindle 2's quite a bit but have really gotten used to the button layout of the Kindle 1, particularly the big "next page" button on the right. I love the idea of a single button to wake up the K2 from the screensaver and a few other features are nice...but I never felt a big desire to switch to a K2.

I know it was a big topic when the K2 first came out but now that we have some time behind things, I wonder how people feel. Is there anyone else out there preferring the K1 to the K2? Anyone who might have upgraded and have strong feelings about it or was it a minor difference? I have not used a K2 so it could be way superior to the K1 and I just don't know it.

rcuadro · 12-10-2009, 03:17 PM

I bought a K1 for my sister a while ago and I got to play with it the last time she came to visit... if I had to choose I would pick the K2 over the K1. I think the K1 was easier to hold in the hand since it is shaped like a wedge, especially since I like to hold the kindle on my left hand. I do not like the scroll wheel for navigation but it is something that I could get used to if I needed to.
Now that the K2 can display PDF's I think it is a no brainer.

daffy4u · 12-10-2009, 03:26 PM

I own both K1 and K2. K2 is my daily reader and K1 is my back-up and really the holder of all my ebooks. K1 is my library. Like rcuardo, I find the ergonomics of K1 to be better because of the thickness and shape but navigation on K2 is faster and easier (though I do miss the little silver cursor

).

Should I buy a future Kindle, K2 will be the one to go up for sale on eBay. I'll never sell K1 because I'm so attached to it.

poohbear_nc · 12-10-2009, 03:51 PM

I also use my K1 as my back-up library with all my ebooks on it. I prefer the K2 as a reader - esp. for the dictionary look-up feature on the K2 (at the bottom of the page). I found the K1 dictionary look up slow, clunky, and irritating. I also prefer the slimmer K2 to hold and operate - easy to switch from left to right hand and still easily access the buttons.

fugazied · 12-10-2009, 05:35 PM

K2 is a better device unless you REALLY need that SD slot.
I'm hanging out for a Kindle 3 though, to fix all of the various K2 niggles!

tapar · 12-10-2009, 07:04 PM

Thanks for the info I appreciate it. When you guys refer to the navigation, do you mean to select books and whatnot or to flip through pages? I did hear the K2 had a faster page flip, also that the eink display was 16 color vs 4 color. I have not heard if that yields better contrast or anything though.

I am not a huge fan of the scroll wheel but I don't actually use it much, I don't use the dictionary features much either. I wasn't sure how I felt about the cursor vs the scroll wheel, but I figure the cursor would win since it is unambiguous about what is selected.

The K2 does have some cool features, I am happy enough with the K1 to hold off but the temptation is definitely there.

catsittingstill · 12-10-2009, 10:33 PM

For me, K2 is noticeably better at 1) navigating through web pages (because of the joystick) and 2) working menus (joystick again). The contrast of text-on-page is the same as far as I can tell, but the 16 step greyscale makes for better pictures (for blogs, etc) than the 4 step grayscale does. The scroll wheel has a faster response time, but the joystick provided (in my opinion) a better interface. The K2's page flip is slightly faster for some font sizes and spacings.

If you're interested I did a review of the K2 vs K1 here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...073#post408073

tapar · 12-11-2009, 12:43 AM

great review, that was very informative!

HaggisMacJedi · 12-11-2009, 10:17 AM

I owned a K1 from June 2008 to February 2009 (sold to make money to buy something else). I recently just got my K2.

First of all, I was COMPLETELY satisfied with the K1. I loved it, EXCEPT that the back on mine was loose and came off a lot. Not a huge deal, but it was a little irritating. The button layouts didn't bother me after I got used to them. I was just so busy with work that I didn't have time to read much, and when it got time to raise some money I went after the things I didn't use as much to sell.

HUGE MISTAKE. What a dummy. I regretted selling the K1 from the moment it left my hands at the post office. My only consolation is that I sold it JUST before the K2 came out, and sold it for $300, making most of my money back.

Fast forward to a month ago. All the noise about the Nook started to make me long for my beloved Kindle again, and as I was reading "A Christmas Carol" by Dickens on my Droid, I started thinking about how nice it would be to read it on a Kindle. So, I came on here and found out I could buy a refurbished K2 for $219!!! Whoa!

So I took some money I had been saving up for such an occasion and began researching the Nook and K2. After a LOT of reading, hands on videos, etc, I came to the conclusion that while the Nook MIGHT POSSIBLY turn out to be a good device, it could also turn out to be a giant plastic turd, and I KNOW the K2 is a solid device. Add to that the fact that I loved the K1, and it was a done deal.

I ordered the refurbished K2 for $219 (FREE shipping):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...on=refurbished

and the M-edge Touring Kindle Sleeve in my favorite color BIG ORANGE for $24.99:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ss_T15_product

With the free shipping, my K2 arrived in only 5 days. The cover arrived in 4 days.

The Kindle is manufacturer refurbished. Translation: It's brand new, not a scratch or fingerprint on it!

I opened it up and to my glee, Amazon had already connected this K2 to my account, and ALL of my previous ebooks were archived, ready to be downloaded again! Yay! 3 minutes later my collection of ebooks was now on my new Kindle.

Remembering that I was in the middle of "A Christmas Carol" on my Droid, I jumped to the Kindle store and found a free copy of it, and began reading it. I was late to get to work, so I put the K2 down and started down the road, sad that I couldn't keep reading. Then I remembered that this little beastie has a text to speech feature! I held down the bottom two outside buttons on the keyboard and the K2 picked up where I left off and read to me while I drove! BLISS!!

Bottom line: I am THRILLED to have upgraded to the K2. While I loved the K1 and had no problems with it, the K2 is most DEFINITELY a solid successor to the K1. No doubt even if I had kept the K1, I would have eventually purchased a K2. It is sleek, comfortable, and most of all, FUN! I don't care what other users think about Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, whatever. I LOVE my K2 and am totally satisfied!

I hope my little epistle has helped you somewhat.

Rasczak · 12-11-2009, 10:03 PM

I have both. I like the K2 a lot more. I like being able to bookmark, highlight and add notes between any two words I want. There are other details that make the K2 preferable for me, but that's the big one.

avaloncourt · 12-12-2009, 10:52 PM

We have both here. I prefer the K2 to the K1. The form factor and buttons on the K1 are my problems with it.

bwaldron · 12-13-2009, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avaloncourt

We have both here. I prefer the K2 to the K1. The form factor and buttons on the K1 are my problems with it.

We have both here, as well. I prefer the K1 and my wife the K2, so it works out well for us.

tapar · 12-26-2009, 08:47 AM

I spent a little bit of time K2 on Christmas and I have to say I was pretty impressed. I figure I will start with the negative. The K1 came in a WAY cooler box. The K1's packaging was unique and interesting, it looked like a giant book and while being excessive was definitely fun. I knew the K2 didn't come in nearly as interesting packaging, but I do kind of wish it had. The ones I checked out were gifts and that would have been a nice touch.

One thing I was surprised about was that they went from a mini-USB connector to the micro-USB connector for the end that plugs into the Kindle. Not a big deal, but I was wasn't expecting that and had not seen it mentioned in any reviews.

It feels much slicker with it's thin form factor and light weight. I thought the K2's navigation via the cursor was both better and worse than the scroll wheel. It was nice to have a more accurate idea of exactly what you are selecting thanks to the cursor's ability to actively select stuff vs "line up the sliver dot with the line you think you are on" of the scroll wheel. I did have some problems getting used to clicking the cursor. If you press to the left on a book it wants to delete it. I had a tendency to push "left/down" when I try to click the cursor. I found myself being asked to delete the book rather than reading it a few times in my brief exposure to the K2. That is annoying but I suspect I would get over that tendency pretty quick and learn to press straight down with more accuracy. Text to speech was surprisingly cool, though I don't really have a need/use for it myself...I still think that is a neat feature.

I definitely have a re-vitalized case of upgradeitis, the only thing really saving me from it right now is that I would feel obligated to check out other ereaders too and really think about the DX and how close we might be to a K3 being released. Thank goodness for laziness, occasionally it actually comes in handy.

12-10-2009, 02:54 PM	#1
tapar Connoisseur Posts: 62 Karma: 1420 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: Kindle Keyboard 3g, Kindle Paperwhite v1	K1 vs K2 anyone have both versions? Howdy, I just ordered a bunch of Kindle 2's as xmas presents and am already starting to have upgrade-itis thanks to all the researching and looking at all the new ereaders. I have and really love my Kindle 1. I looked at the Kindle 2's quite a bit but have really gotten used to the button layout of the Kindle 1, particularly the big "next page" button on the right. I love the idea of a single button to wake up the K2 from the screensaver and a few other features are nice...but I never felt a big desire to switch to a K2. I know it was a big topic when the K2 first came out but now that we have some time behind things, I wonder how people feel. Is there anyone else out there preferring the K1 to the K2? Anyone who might have upgraded and have strong feelings about it or was it a minor difference? I have not used a K2 so it could be way superior to the K1 and I just don't know it.

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12-10-2009, 03:17 PM	#2
rcuadro Wizard Posts: 1,686 Karma: 874275 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Device: Kindle DX	I bought a K1 for my sister a while ago and I got to play with it the last time she came to visit... if I had to choose I would pick the K2 over the K1. I think the K1 was easier to hold in the hand since it is shaped like a wedge, especially since I like to hold the kindle on my left hand. I do not like the scroll wheel for navigation but it is something that I could get used to if I needed to. Now that the K2 can display PDF's I think it is a no brainer.

12-10-2009, 03:26 PM	#3
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,734 Karma: 2434103 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis	I own both K1 and K2. K2 is my daily reader and K1 is my back-up and really the holder of all my ebooks. K1 is my library. Like rcuardo, I find the ergonomics of K1 to be better because of the thickness and shape but navigation on K2 is faster and easier (though I do miss the little silver cursor ). Should I buy a future Kindle, K2 will be the one to go up for sale on eBay. I'll never sell K1 because I'm so attached to it.

12-10-2009, 03:51 PM	#4
poohbear_nc Now what? Posts: 60,966 Karma: 135181808 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Durham, NC Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!	I also use my K1 as my back-up library with all my ebooks on it. I prefer the K2 as a reader - esp. for the dictionary look-up feature on the K2 (at the bottom of the page). I found the K1 dictionary look up slow, clunky, and irritating. I also prefer the slimmer K2 to hold and operate - easy to switch from left to right hand and still easily access the buttons.

12-10-2009, 05:35 PM	#5
fugazied Wizard Posts: 1,305 Karma: 1958 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: iPod Touch	K2 is a better device unless you REALLY need that SD slot. I'm hanging out for a Kindle 3 though, to fix all of the various K2 niggles!

12-10-2009, 07:04 PM	#6
tapar Connoisseur Posts: 62 Karma: 1420 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: Kindle Keyboard 3g, Kindle Paperwhite v1	Thanks for the info I appreciate it. When you guys refer to the navigation, do you mean to select books and whatnot or to flip through pages? I did hear the K2 had a faster page flip, also that the eink display was 16 color vs 4 color. I have not heard if that yields better contrast or anything though. I am not a huge fan of the scroll wheel but I don't actually use it much, I don't use the dictionary features much either. I wasn't sure how I felt about the cursor vs the scroll wheel, but I figure the cursor would win since it is unambiguous about what is selected. The K2 does have some cool features, I am happy enough with the K1 to hold off but the temptation is definitely there.

12-10-2009, 10:33 PM	#7
catsittingstill Guru Posts: 643 Karma: 551634 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle 1.0.8, iPod Touch, Kindle Keyboard	For me, K2 is noticeably better at 1) navigating through web pages (because of the joystick) and 2) working menus (joystick again). The contrast of text-on-page is the same as far as I can tell, but the 16 step greyscale makes for better pictures (for blogs, etc) than the 4 step grayscale does. The scroll wheel has a faster response time, but the joystick provided (in my opinion) a better interface. The K2's page flip is slightly faster for some font sizes and spacings. If you're interested I did a review of the K2 vs K1 here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...073#post408073

12-11-2009, 12:43 AM	#8
tapar Connoisseur Posts: 62 Karma: 1420 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: Kindle Keyboard 3g, Kindle Paperwhite v1	great review, that was very informative!

12-11-2009, 10:17 AM	#9
HaggisMacJedi Zealot Posts: 130 Karma: 1145527 Join Date: Jun 2008 Device: Kindle Fire HD, Kindle 4, iPhone 4	I owned a K1 from June 2008 to February 2009 (sold to make money to buy something else). I recently just got my K2. First of all, I was COMPLETELY satisfied with the K1. I loved it, EXCEPT that the back on mine was loose and came off a lot. Not a huge deal, but it was a little irritating. The button layouts didn't bother me after I got used to them. I was just so busy with work that I didn't have time to read much, and when it got time to raise some money I went after the things I didn't use as much to sell. HUGE MISTAKE. What a dummy. I regretted selling the K1 from the moment it left my hands at the post office. My only consolation is that I sold it JUST before the K2 came out, and sold it for $300, making most of my money back. Fast forward to a month ago. All the noise about the Nook started to make me long for my beloved Kindle again, and as I was reading "A Christmas Carol" by Dickens on my Droid, I started thinking about how nice it would be to read it on a Kindle. So, I came on here and found out I could buy a refurbished K2 for $219!!! Whoa! So I took some money I had been saving up for such an occasion and began researching the Nook and K2. After a LOT of reading, hands on videos, etc, I came to the conclusion that while the Nook MIGHT POSSIBLY turn out to be a good device, it could also turn out to be a giant plastic turd, and I KNOW the K2 is a solid device. Add to that the fact that I loved the K1, and it was a done deal. I ordered the refurbished K2 for $219 (FREE shipping): http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...on=refurbished and the M-edge Touring Kindle Sleeve in my favorite color BIG ORANGE for $24.99: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ss_T15_product With the free shipping, my K2 arrived in only 5 days. The cover arrived in 4 days. The Kindle is manufacturer refurbished. Translation: It's brand new, not a scratch or fingerprint on it! I opened it up and to my glee, Amazon had already connected this K2 to my account, and ALL of my previous ebooks were archived, ready to be downloaded again! Yay! 3 minutes later my collection of ebooks was now on my new Kindle. Remembering that I was in the middle of "A Christmas Carol" on my Droid, I jumped to the Kindle store and found a free copy of it, and began reading it. I was late to get to work, so I put the K2 down and started down the road, sad that I couldn't keep reading. Then I remembered that this little beastie has a text to speech feature! I held down the bottom two outside buttons on the keyboard and the K2 picked up where I left off and read to me while I drove! BLISS!! Bottom line: I am THRILLED to have upgraded to the K2. While I loved the K1 and had no problems with it, the K2 is most DEFINITELY a solid successor to the K1. No doubt even if I had kept the K1, I would have eventually purchased a K2. It is sleek, comfortable, and most of all, FUN! I don't care what other users think about Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, whatever. I LOVE my K2 and am totally satisfied! I hope my little epistle has helped you somewhat.

12-11-2009, 10:03 PM	#10
Rasczak Member Posts: 24 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Oahu Device: Kindle	I have both. I like the K2 a lot more. I like being able to bookmark, highlight and add notes between any two words I want. There are other details that make the K2 preferable for me, but that's the big one.

12-12-2009, 10:52 PM	#11
avaloncourt Enthusiast Posts: 41 Karma: 951 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Kindle 1 & 2	We have both here. I prefer the K2 to the K1. The form factor and buttons on the K1 are my problems with it.

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12-26-2009, 08:47 AM	#13
tapar Connoisseur Posts: 62 Karma: 1420 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: Kindle Keyboard 3g, Kindle Paperwhite v1	I spent a little bit of time K2 on Christmas and I have to say I was pretty impressed. I figure I will start with the negative. The K1 came in a WAY cooler box. The K1's packaging was unique and interesting, it looked like a giant book and while being excessive was definitely fun. I knew the K2 didn't come in nearly as interesting packaging, but I do kind of wish it had. The ones I checked out were gifts and that would have been a nice touch. One thing I was surprised about was that they went from a mini-USB connector to the micro-USB connector for the end that plugs into the Kindle. Not a big deal, but I was wasn't expecting that and had not seen it mentioned in any reviews. It feels much slicker with it's thin form factor and light weight. I thought the K2's navigation via the cursor was both better and worse than the scroll wheel. It was nice to have a more accurate idea of exactly what you are selecting thanks to the cursor's ability to actively select stuff vs "line up the sliver dot with the line you think you are on" of the scroll wheel. I did have some problems getting used to clicking the cursor. If you press to the left on a book it wants to delete it. I had a tendency to push "left/down" when I try to click the cursor. I found myself being asked to delete the book rather than reading it a few times in my brief exposure to the K2. That is annoying but I suspect I would get over that tendency pretty quick and learn to press straight down with more accuracy. Text to speech was surprisingly cool, though I don't really have a need/use for it myself...I still think that is a neat feature. I definitely have a re-vitalized case of upgradeitis, the only thing really saving me from it right now is that I would feel obligated to check out other ereaders too and really think about the DX and how close we might be to a K3 being released. Thank goodness for laziness, occasionally it actually comes in handy.