[tanstaafl]

Kindle owners may be interested in the following which I have shamelessly pinched from a post in the Amazon Kindle forum.

Revenue related to 3G wireless access and delivery and software upgrades is amortized over the average life of the device, which is estimated to be three years.

[poppycat]

So I've got 2 years left on my lovely wifi keyboard version before I have to get one of those horrible new ones.

[stud u like]

I hope they last a lot longer than that.

People are not made of money and money does not grow on trees.

[JulesandSand]

Originally Posted by stud u like

I hope they last a lot longer than that.

People are not made of money and money does not grow on trees.

Is that you mum?

[Daveoc64]

There are people still using the original Kindle from 2007, so theirs have lasted almost six years.

I'd have thought that the battery might be one of the first things to die.

[spiney2]

its battery lifeetime. you can buy a new battery.

[spiney2]

,,,,,, lifetime of e-ink display unknown, but i've not seen any reports of this failing on original kindle .......

[David_Quinton]

I've seen people with the old white Kindle's and they're older than 3 years. If you look after them well, then they'll last longer than 3 years.

[dadioflex]

My uncle bought a watch with a lifetime guarantee. When it broke the mainspring snapped and slashed his wrist.

Thanks to Bob Monkhouse for that one.

[spiney2]

the li ion battery does not have "memory" but will slowly wear out ....

[alan1302]

Originally Posted by spiney2

the li ion battery does not have "memory" but will slowly wear out ....

All batteries wear out eventually

[Gooby]

Originally Posted by tanstaafl

Kindle owners may be interested in the following which I have shamelessly pinched from a post in the Amazon Kindle forum.

Revenue related to 3G wireless access and delivery and software upgrades is amortized over the average life of the device, which is estimated to be three years.

That is a financial term and nothing to do with the expected lifetime of the product.

They also do it with purchases. When we make a capital expenditure on a purchase e.g. a new photocopier we set a depreciation value for whatever years we feel is appropriate. A photocopier might be 5 years whilst a laptop might be 3 years.

This means that after that time period there is no asset value to your company for that product.

All financial gobbldygook and nothing to do with expected lifetime of the product.

[Voynich]

I'd say that more means how long they want you to be content with it before they start to tempt you with something newer and shinier.

[TheBigM]

They just make that kind of assumption for accounting purposes, don't read too much into it. One kindle might last 6 months, one might last two years and another 5 years, a lot of it depends on how you treat it.

[LostFool]

I've had 3G Keyboard since around October 2010 and have noticed that my battery life isn't what it used to be. I can still get a few days out of a charge so it isn't that much of a problem.

[poppycat]

My wifi keyboard was on charge overnight the other night, it was pretty low on battery when I put it on charge but not dead. After a full night being on charge the light was still orange and was another couple of hours before the light went green. That got me worried, I haven't noticed the battery running down quicker but it definitely took longer to charge fully.

[IvanIV]

Sometimes it helps to restart it. Mine was running very slow, although I have "only" around 200 books on it. Restart fixed this, now there are no big delays anymore.

[Eston Bleu]

Originally Posted by alan1302

All batteries wear out eventually

Yeah - and regardless of what people say - batteries still have memories - it's just a little less noticeable than it used to be. If you keep topping up a battery instead of letting it go flat every month or two, your battery will degrade a lot more quickly - it'll 'think' it has less capacity than it actually has. It's like the build-up of sediment - the bottom level keeps on nudging upwards.

What I do when I get a new device: fully charge before using it then completely flatten it. Repeat once. And then let the battery flatten completely as often as possible after that.

Modern smartphones kinda do this automatically, since they're so power-hungry they sometimes barely last a full day.

My Kindle gets topped up only when the warning message becomes ridiculously annoying (I wish I could do something about that, actually).

[LostFool]

I spoke too soon. My Kindle 3G keyboard died last week when on holiday. One minute it was fine, the next the screen went all corrupted. Something like this: http://blogging4myself.blogspot.co.u...y-problem.html

Having looked online it seems that this is not an unknown problem with older Kindles. Now I wouldn't expect e-ink screens to last forever but I would have hoped to get more than 18 months out of one.

It's off warranty but I have just emailed Amazon to see what they say.

[wildhollie]

Originally Posted by LostFool

I spoke too soon. My Kindle 3G keyboard died last week when on holiday. One minute it was fine, the next the screen went all corrupted. Something like this: http://blogging4myself.blogspot.co.u...y-problem.html

Having looked online it seems that this is not an unknown problem with older Kindles. Now I wouldn't expect e-ink screens to last forever but I would have hoped to get more than 18 months out of one.

It's off warranty but I have just emailed Amazon to see what they say.

I'm on my 3rd kindle due to this issue. Both of my first 2 had this same issue with the screen.

Now i look after my kindle, it is in a cover and does not get thrown around and i only ever take it on holiday when it leaves the house. I have no idea why both of them failed. But if this 3rd one goes the same way, i won't buy another one.

[Anika Hanson]

I've had my K3 since it came out. It's still working but in the last few days it's had a random reboot and it froze and I had to restart it. I think it might be on it's way out. I think I might just buy a replacement now so I'M not caught out when it does. I'm not keen on the touch but the k4 or whatever it's called seems lacking compared to what I currently have.

[LostFool]

Originally Posted by wildhollie

I'm on my 3rd kindle due to this issue. Both of my first 2 had this same issue with the screen.

Now i look after my kindle, it is in a cover and does not get thrown around and i only ever take it on holiday when it leaves the house. I have no idea why both of them failed. But if this 3rd one goes the same way, i won't buy another one.

Spoke to Amazon and they wouldn't give me a free replacement as it was 18 months old and out of warranty but they offered me for £50. Better than nothing I suppose.

I could understand it if the Kindle had been dropped or abused but mine failed while it was sitting on a table not being used.

[wildhollie]

[quote=LostFool;59605735]Spoke to Amazon and they wouldn't give me a free replacement as it was 18 months old and out of warranty but they offered me for £50. Better than nothing I suppose.

I could understand it if the Kindle had been dropped or abused but mine failed while it was sitting on a table not being used.[/QUOTE]

Exactly what happened to mine. There is obviously a defect somewhere in the ink display.

I had my first one replaced FOC as it was in warranty. The 2nd one was out of warranty so had to pay £50.00 like you for a new one.

[Eston Bleu]

Originally Posted by LostFool

Spoke to Amazon and they wouldn't give me a free replacement as it was 18 months old and out of warranty but they offered me for £50. Better than nothing I suppose.

I could understand it if the Kindle had been dropped or abused but mine failed while it was sitting on a table not being used.

Sale of Goods Act - goods sold should be of a durable quality. 18 months with good treatment should not result in an unusable device. I think you should expect a device like an e-book reader to last around 5 years, at least.

Breaking after 18 months means they are supplying shoddy goods, IMO. You could have sued them in Small Claims, I'm sure.

Also - warranties are IN ADDITION to your statutory rights, not in place of them. Something breaking out of warranty doesn't mean that the company that sold it gets off scott-free. Your statutory rights trump warranties.

[alan1302]

Originally Posted by Eston Bleu

Sale of Goods Act - goods sold should be of a durable quality. 18 months with good treatment should not result in an unusable device. I think you should expect a device like an e-book reader to last around 5 years, at least.

Breaking after 18 months means they are supplying shoddy goods, IMO. You could have sued them in Small Claims, I'm sure.

Also - warranties are IN ADDITION to your statutory rights, not in place of them. Something breaking out of warranty doesn't mean that the company that sold it gets off scott-free. Your statutory rights trump warranties.

Amazon are not trying to get off scott free though - they have offered £50