Generic e-Reader thread.

[Variety of Cells]

Plus, my fingers have more nerve ending information than just "solid surface" in them. They need to develop something more tactile than 'smooth glass'.

That exists (sorry, haven't visited this thread in a long time.)

http://theweek.com/article/index/222204/the-touchscreen-that-lets-you-feel-textures

[Compound]

Okay, ignoring the fact that this is a generic thread...

Amazon announced today a Kindle Matchbook program. Basic rundown: If you've bought a book from Amazon in the past, they'll be giving you a break on the cost of that book for Kindle. Prices range from $2.99, $1.99, $.99 or free. (Europeans please check your local branch of Amazon to see if the program exists and for pricing.) Only certain titles apply and yes, you need a Kindle or the Kindle program/App to read them.

In my particular case, Amazon offered me a bunch of Discworld books for about $1.99 a pop.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Plus, my fingers have more nerve ending information than just "solid surface" in them. They need to develop something more tactile than 'smooth glass'.

That exists (sorry, haven't visited this thread in a long time.)

http://theweek.com/article/index/222204/the-touchscreen-that-lets-you-feel-textures

This might eventually make those remote apps for stuff like a Roku box useful, so you can find the buttons without looking away from the TV screen.  But for an e-reader not sure it's necessary, swiping is just fine for page turning, I guess if you are taking notes a more tactile keyboard would be nice.

That Amazon program is interesting, but they say I don't have any...  I know I've bought a few books in the last 5 years that also had kindle editions, don't know why they are not showing up.  Guess the offer doesn't cover every book.

[Compound]

No, it only covers about 70,000 books at the moment, which is a lot but there are millions of books out there.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Had to come here to remember how old my Kindle was, thought it was more than 4 and a half years but I guess not.
Battery in mine is not taking a full charge any more, ordered a replacement kit from newpower99, supposed to have the tools needed to open the case, I've been burned by these types of kits before where the tool pretty much breaks as soon as you try to pry the case open, we'll see.  If I have to use something metal to open the back it's no big deal since I have my Kindle in a leather case and wouldn't feel any divots in the plastic that you always seem to get prying these things apart with screwdrivers...

Thought about ordering a new Kindle, the Voyage is almost enough of a step up to be worth upgrading, but I like my current one so will try the battery replacement kit first....

[MartyS (Gromit)]

The kit from newpower99 had pretty good tools, the plastic pry-bar worked very well getting the back of my Kindle off.  New battery in and it charged up to full in a few hours (old one was taking many hours to get to 90% and would drop to 50% overnight with no use).

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Got a big Amazon gift card at work so went and upgraded to a Kindle Voyage.

It's been almost 2 years since replacing the battery on my 2010 Kindle Keyboard and it's just starting to show signs of having less battery life.

Only read for about 20 minutes on the Voyage so far but like the higher resolution display.

The LEDs are automatic, don't come on in a bright room, and get dimer as the room gets darker. 

[Iron Curtain]

I suddenly got interested in ebooks again, but I'm one of those people who strongly prefer books without DRM, otherwise I'd be less inclined to read them. I have a first-generation Barnes & Noble Nook, and I encountered a problem with it in that it wouldn't show up in Finder on my Mac. I thought that it needed a software update (the Nook in question is no longer being supported by B&N vis-à-vis Software Updates), and I was so frustrated I even bought a another refurbished Nook from B&N for $90, but it turns out the problem was solved by a reboot.

Anyway, I'm interested in ebooks again because copyright is once again expiring and that means new works from Project Gutenberg! Also, there are books I have yet to read from Unbound which is like Kickstarter for books and there are some great DRM-free titles already published therein! Check it out!

[ihavemyreasons]

Damn beagle decided to use my Kobo Aura HD ereader as a chew toy. Had some Amazon bucks and Amazon gift cards from Xmas, so bought a Likebook Mars. Similar specs to the Kindle Voyage as far as screen goes, but it runs Android. Have to many books in epub format to buy a Kindle.  As a Android tablet it's rather mediocre (yeah you can use it to browse the internet and can download Android apps, but e ink isnt't really the best screen to do that). As an ereader, it's a big improvement over my old Kobo.

[ihavemyreasons]

I'll add that I do in fact buy a lot of ebooks off Amazon (and the Kindle app works on my Likebook), but I always rip the DRM off of them and convert them to epub. Amazon's DRM pisses me off.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Went to use my Kindle Voyage last week and it would no longer stay in the case (the case held on by magnets), then I noticed the screen felt weird, then I noticed the entire thing was puffed up:



So the battery had swelled inside, normally to get the back cover off these you remove a few screws and slide the back cover a little to unclip it, but the battery was putting so much pressure on the back it wouldn't move.  Had to make a little jig to hold the screen side while I hammered on the back cover.  Eventually I got it off and the battery looked like a Mylar balloon...  Forgot to take a picture of it in the thing, and when I went to remove it the outer plastic "bag" tore, so it deflated.  I would have torn it anyway but would have done it in a bucket of water, so I pulled it off the glue as fast as I could and then put it under water in a sink, let it soak until it stopped bubbling so no longer a risk of fire.

Ordered a Kindle Paperwhite, they seem to have replaced the voyage with an even more expensive one, I ended up rarely using the "buttons" on the sides of the screen that the voyage has, so the Paperwhite is a fine replacement and now that model has the high res screen and is waterproof.  Of course "waterproofing" these days is just an excuse for companies to make it nearly impossible to replace the battery.

Amazingly that bent screen on the Voyage still worked, so I ordered a replacement battery from iFixit.  It may no longer work after all the hammering I did to get the swelled battery out, so it may be a waste of $30.

[BathTub]

Yeah that was the end of my first cellular phone, the battery swole up and it seemed unsafe to use!

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Yeah that was the end of my first cellular phone, the battery swole up and it seemed unsafe to use!

My Samsung Galaxy S7 had it's battery puff up about a year and a half after getting it, made it easy to replace the battery since all the work of prying off the glued on back cover was already done...  That wasn't as severely puffed up as this Kindle one, so I did the pin hole and scotch tape trick to return it to normal size until the replacement arrived.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

 The battery from iFixit arrived and my Kindle Voyage seems to be back to normal other than marks on the edges where I had to hammer to get the back off.  Kind of amazed at how rugged the E-ink screen is, if this was a tablet or smartphone no way it would still be working after what it went through. 

Of course now I have an extra kindle that I have no need for...

[ihavemyreasons]

Came to this thread to see how old my android e-reader is. Got just over 4 years out of it. Now won't charge...well it will if you hold the charging cable just right but as soon as you let go it stops. Considered a few options - still can't go Kindle due to lack of epub support and color e-ink still limited and too expensive. Decided to go big. 9.7 inch Pocketbook Lite. More than I wanted to spend but supports epub, can expand storage with a microSD card, and is size I wanted. And will use it enough to justify price over cheaper options.