The New Amazon Kindle Costs $290

Megalith

Megalith

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I can’t be the only one who thinks that is an absurd price for a standalone e-reader.

The Oasis, the first Kindle to include a protective cover -- a swanky leather one that integrates a backup battery no less -- costs a whopping $290, AU$449 or £270. It's available for pre-order now and ships April 27. For all that dough you are getting a completely redesigned Kindle that weighs a mere 4.6 ounces (131 grams) and measures 3.4 mm (0.13 inches) at its slimmest point. Amazon says the Oasis is 20 percent lighter and 30 percent thinner on average than the Kindle Voyage ($200, AU$299, £170), which remains in the line along with the Paperwhite ($120, AU$179, £110) and entry-level Kindle ($80, AU$109, £60).
 
I won't be buying one that's for sure.

I'd rather get a used iPad 3 or Air.
 
Galvin said:
Don't know how people can read on such small screens.
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The same way they read similarly-sized books, probably. Or on phones. Unless you read children's books or have very poor eyesight and need more space for jumbo text or pictures, what purpose would a larger screen serve?

Anyway, my ageing Paperwhite has been great except that the touch screen is giving up the ghost and I'm in the market for a new one, but $290 is mad when the only advantage is that part of it is a bit thinner than the old one (extra battery life is nice, but that requires the special cover, completely negating the size improvements). I'll probably just get another paperwhite for less than half the price.
 
A kindle paperwhite is so worth it if you read a lot, it is so much easier on your eyes than any tablet I own, have owned or tried. I love mine and the small screen is no issue at all. The only real downside to the kindle is they are black and white only which is great for normal books but it means if you own some comics you really wouldn't want to read those on the device. But the Oasis is just way overpriced, I definitely wouldn't buy one or recommend it. I was actually hoping the new kindle would be a color e-ink reader and maybe then I would have considered getting one at that price.
 
Paperwhite is a waste imo... I should've just gotten the regular. I always have the brightness turned all the way down. Though I have yet to read outside in bright sunlight.
 
Small is relative. How do people read pocket books? E-ink is to my eyes a superior reading tech. But it has in earlier models bee irritatingly slow. You get used to it. An updated fast E-ink reader would be worth something, but, maybe not this much...
 
I like the idea of e-ink, but this pricing is absurd. Honestly, the Paperwhite is the only one that is even reasonably priced for what you get. If they launched their newest ones for $130-150 each time and shifted others down the range, I'd probaably have bought a Voyage or hell, I'd buy an Oasis. However, for such excessive pricing on a black and white, small device that in many cases shows you ads unless you pay more and "directs" you to a single storefront? Hell with that.

I'd really like to see color e-ink instead Most of the reading material that I think could really benefit from a reader due to form factor - such as textbooks and study materials, professional journals, periodicals/magazines, video game guidebooks, comics/manga, "coffee table/graphic sized books" (such as "The World of Ice and Fire", by George R. R. Martin. Lots of text, beautiful illustrations, heavy and about the size of a large art book), and the like - often include at least some color. Likewise, I'd also want to both use my own reading materials (ie converted via Calibre -a fantastic example of Free and open source software) in memory or SD card, and have access to many digital vendors and libraries (a la android apps). For the flexibility, it almost seems better to simply pick up a a tablet of some sort and deal with the lack of e-ink/battery.
 
Nice hardware is one thing, but what about the software? While I don't have much evidence to back up this claim, I have the feeling that Amazon gets lazy when it comes to software and data security. Remember the recent controversy over the removal of encryption capabilities in at least one Kindle tablet model?

Even though the Kindle app on iOS is not as good when it comes to the actual reading experience, I would feel safer using that instead of an actual Kindle device.
 
Yeah I don't know how they think that the Oasis is going to sell at that price. My Paperwhite still works just fine and if it dies (now way out of warranty) I'll just get another. $300 is just too damn much. I can't honestly say that I even consider it an aspirational device because it just isn't close to being more than twice as good as a paperwhite.
 
I have an earlier Kindle. I can't stand using it as it is too small to read books on. Thinking of getting a 12" tablet just for my Kindle library. I hate having to sit at the PC to read a good book.
 
cageymaru said:
I have an earlier Kindle. I can't stand using it as it is too small to read books on. Thinking of getting a 12" tablet just for my Kindle library. I hate having to sit at the PC to read a good book.
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Reading glasses? Paperback books are smaller than a Kindle screen.
 
I figured eventually they'd move towards giving these away for free with a subscription or something. I'll pay an obscene amount of money for a cool gadget, but an ereader? I don't for a second believe a $250 reader is any better at displaying black and white images than a $100 one, which is already borderline too small/light to handle. $100 as it is is arguably over priced.

Straight bizarre. Makes you wonder what Amazon's long term plans are or if they already feel like they've gotten as much of the market as they want. I really believe a subscription for xyz books a month with a free Kindle included would truly disrupt the industry.
 
Note - I found this recently. If someone wanted to spend $300+ on an e-ink reader here is the one to support - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/13-3-inch-android-e-reader/x/2545446#/story - a 13.3" 1600x1200 open source e-reader developed by a major e-reader community. It also has a wacom tablet digitizer, runs full Android (if they raise 100,000, up from the 78,000 they have now, it will debut with Android 5.1.1 minimum, but in any case it is nexus-like and can be upgraded to Android 6.0 if people wish), and a bunch of other neat features. The only issue is the high price, but apparently that is because of the fancy screen, wacom digitizer, and huge display size.
 
For anyone that reads lots of books the kindles are worth every penny. A good eink screen is 10x better then even the best ipad screens. The kindles I have purchased have been my best tech purchases by far. When I consider how many books I have read on them over the years it has cost me pennies per book. 3-4 hundred for a well designed kindle is cheap really. At this point its I'm sure most people that would purchase a kindel have the market is pretty mature. Lots of people believe a tablet can do everything else + be a reader. For anyone that has used any of the older kindles (or a good eink device) though I doubt there are many that could give up the eink screen and switching to a newer kindle if you where using any of the older modles is just logical.
 
Snowdog said:
Reading glasses? Paperback books are smaller than a Kindle screen.
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Seeing every physical dot on the screen gives me a headache and the writing is too small. If I make the writing larger then it looks off. I have the first Kindle Fire if that makes a difference.
 
ChadD said:
For anyone that reads lots of books the kindles are worth every penny. A good eink screen is 10x better then even the best ipad screens. The kindles I have purchased have been my best tech purchases by far. When I consider how many books I have read on them over the years it has cost me pennies per book. 3-4 hundred for a well designed kindle is cheap really. At this point its I'm sure most people that would purchase a kindel have the market is pretty mature. Lots of people believe a tablet can do everything else + be a reader. For anyone that has used any of the older kindles (or a good eink device) though I doubt there are many that could give up the eink screen and switching to a newer kindle if you where using any of the older modles is just logical.
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No one's doubting this. But what on earth do you need that a $120 Paperwhite doesn't give you. This is a discussion on a $300 Kindle.
 
cageymaru said:
Seeing every physical dot on the screen gives me a headache and the writing is too small. If I make the writing larger then it looks off. I have the first Kindle Fire if that makes a difference.
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I don't know about the Kindle Fire, but the newer 300ppi Kindle Paperwhite is great. I am borderline wanting to upgrade to it, but my pre 300ppi Paperwhite is still good enough for me and till it breaks I won't be upgrading it. You might want to go to a store and take a look at one if you are interested in seeing it.

Taco said:
which is already borderline too small/light to handle. $100 as it is is arguably over priced.
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As far as the weight is concerned, I bought a kindle mainly because of the screen and weight. I read in bed mainly and I have more than a few times fell asleep and let the reader fall on my face. It hurts a lot more with my Galaxy 10.1 tablet than my Kindle paperwhite so weight is definitely something I want as low as possible. I'd be perfectly happy if the kindle weighed as much as single 8.5"x11" piece of paper. And if it did I might even have bought one for that price. ;)
 
All true. I suppose the "borderline" problem is less weight and more slimness. Not saying it's too slim, but any slimmer and it may be uncomfortable to hold. It's not something I'd pay a premium for.
 
cageymaru said:
Seeing every physical dot on the screen gives me a headache and the writing is too small. If I make the writing larger then it looks off. I have the first Kindle Fire if that makes a difference.
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Kindle Fire is a different beast, dedicated e-readers use monochrome e-ink which makes for much higher PPI than your typical color LCD display and are comparable to paper in terms of reading quality. That comes at the expense of being able to watch video and browse the web normally.
 
For anyone who doesn't think there's a market, consider this: The exact same thing was said about The Kindle Voyage. It's not like Amazon doesn't know exactly how well that device has sold, so I don't doubt that there's a high-end market that will buy the Oasis. It also serves to make the Voyage look more reasonable in the process, much like a Wendy's triple cheeseburger makes a double look more reasonable.

ETA: I should note that I'm currently not using a e-ink reader, but having used them for years before finally getting a proper smartphone I know that they have huge advantages over LCD for reading. Note the timing, too: This device is arriving just in time for sunny days when e-ink absolutely kills backlit LCDs in terms of readability.
 
Babbster said:
For anyone who doesn't think there's a market, consider this: The exact same thing was said about The Kindle Voyage. It's not like Amazon doesn't know exactly how well that device has sold, so I don't doubt that there's a high-end market that will buy the Oasis. It also serves to make the Voyage look more reasonable in the process, much like a Wendy's triple cheeseburger makes a double look more reasonable.

ETA: I should note that I'm currently not using a e-ink reader, but having used them for years before finally getting a proper smartphone I know that they have huge advantages over LCD for reading. Note the timing, too: This device is arriving just in time for sunny days when e-ink absolutely kills backlit LCDs in terms of readability.
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I agree there is room in the market for a high end kindle, even if it offers very little over the already great paper white. I'm glad Amazon is trying to fill the market space, even if it is just the size people can decide if that is worth the premium. From what I see it has more backlight over the voyage which has more over the white, it adds page turn buttons which some people miss (and might pay extra for that alone). So end of the day its 80 bucks more then the voyage but includes a cover. It does seem when compared to the voyage they might be making a bit of extra profit on it, I don't think its unreasonable though.

Your right on the timing though... Spring does seem like a good time to launch an eink device. lol
 
cageymaru said:
Seeing every physical dot on the screen gives me a headache and the writing is too small
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I can not see how you could possibly see every dot and on my paperwhite if i go to the max font size it displays like 3 inch tall characters. Personally my biggest problem with the kindles i have owned are that they get REALLY slow and unresponsive randomly and restarts itself randomly every few weeks.
 
Xaeos said:
small device that in many cases shows you ads unless you pay more
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The ads are not very intrusive, it's just what they put on the screen when it's on standby, instead of pencils or movable type. I would save $20. Also, I find it amusing to get an ad for chargers when I charge it after I let the battery run out.
 
I bought my wife a Paperwhite a few years ago and she loves it. I have an older Kindle - the paperwhite blows it out of the water. I much prefer to read on these screens than a tablet. Still, the Oasis is way over priced.
 
cia1413 said:
I can not see how you could possibly see every dot and on my paperwhite if i go to the max font size it displays like 3 inch tall characters. Personally my biggest problem with the kindles i have owned are that they get REALLY slow and unresponsive randomly and restarts itself randomly every few weeks.
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Looks like a bunch of squares under the screen. If that makes sense?
 
cageymaru said:
Looks like a bunch of squares under the screen. If that makes sense?
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You said you had an original Kindle Fire which had a low res LCD. So you what you are seeing is SDE (Screen Door Effect) from big LCD pixels. This is not a good reader.

Kindle Readers have a high res Black and White, E-Ink Screen, that does not have any SDE. It is the closest thing you get reading on paper.
 
Snowdog said:
You said you had an original Kindle Fire which had a low res LCD. So you what you are seeing is SDE (Screen Door Effect) from big LCD pixels. This is not a good reader.

Kindle Readers have a high res Black and White, E-Ink Screen, that does not have any SDE. It is the closest thing you get reading on paper.
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Thx. :) I might check out on of the newer B&W ones then.
 
My wife seems to be infatuated with her 60$ little Amazon these days.

I was pretty surprised myself how good it looked, and operated, but have 3 desktops in the house to begin with.

The small Fires are even pretty impressive these days, but I usually log onto my old tank main rig myself.

I have a old Dell 29" widescreen I still use, besides the old Olevia 747'i hooked up as an extended screen these days.

Just having a Dot around instead of an Echo to link it on the AVR Bluetooth sounds interesting these days, not really one of those things I've messed with much.

Amazon really does have some interesting things going on these days.
 
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