Mine doesn't fade in the sunlight, but the text on my K2 is noticeably lighter than on my K1 all the time. It is causing more eyestrain for me. I contacted Amazon by email and got an email back that I should call and they would go through some 'troubleshooting' steps with me. Does anyone know what they do? I haven't had the time to make that call yet but I wonder if I should leave well enough alone since everyone seems to think the text is a little lighter and I may get a replacement that has other problems.Trekker said:Ok...I'm curious to see the percentage of K2's that may have an issue with the text fading in the sunlight. Here is a quick and simple test which should only take a few seconds.
1) Make sure it's sunny out - no clouds hiding the sun.
2) Take your K2 outside, open a page in any book, angle it so that the sun's rays are directly on the K2's display and start turning pages.
3) The first page turn should show some fading if your k2 has the problem. Go forward about 5 pages and view each page to see if fading gets worse. You can then go backwards to return to your original place.
You must turn pages in order to get the problem to show up. Just holding it in the sun on a single page won't do it.
Please vote in the poll. Any comments/pictures are appreciated. Note: Using the Alt-Shift-G method of taking a screenshot does not work. You must use a camera to "see what the eye sees."
The purpose of this poll is to get a rough idea of the percentage of K2's that have the "fading text" issue.
Note: If you had a K2 with this problem but got a replacement that works, you can still vote "Yes."
Thanks for participating!
Well, Amazon is replacing mine, so I got what I wanted from the call. But when I mentioned their ad showing the woman sitting on the beach reading the Kindle. He actually said to me, "Well, it shows a Kindle screen, but we don't really know if she's reading." Can you believe that? I didn't want to confront him about it because I was getting the resolution I wanted but I thought what in the world are you supposed to do with an ebook reader - read or just sit in the sun and look at the Kindle?!! Yeah, she's probably not reading because she can't see the text!Trekker said:That's why I was hoping people would perform the test in the way I described in the first post. It has to be a very sunny day, the sun has to be hitting the kindle directly (so you can see the sun reflected in the display) and you have to turn the pages in order for the fading to show up. That's the best and quickest way to tell if you have a defective K2.
I have my 3rd K2 but haven't been able to test it yet because it's been cloudy out.
I also got a reply to the email that I sent Jeff Bezos. It was someone replying on his behalf but one of the things they said was:
"I'm truly sorry to hear your Kindle 2 showed signs of fading text after taking it out in the sunlight. We designed these to perform in direct sunlight, and the issue you noted appears to be specific to the units you received. "
So, for those of you with fading problems, DO NOT let a customer service rep try to tell you that the fading is normal or that the K2 wasn't really designed to be read in direct sunlight (one rep told me that.)
I'm hoping for some sun so that I can see if I finally got a good one.![]()
Good news, Annalog. I hope I get as lucky and only have to go through one replacement.Annalog said:My first Kindle 2 had the sun fading issue. The text in about 1/3 of the screen was significantly faded with 1/6 of the screen completely faded on the first page turn or page refresh in the sunlight. I re-tested over the course of one day at temperatures from 45 to 80 degrees F and had consistent fading. I did not have consistent fading on an overcast day. CS sent me a replacement and that Kindle does not have the sun fading issue.
I also am hoping to get lucky and only have to do the replacement thing once!sbell1 said:Only had my K2 for two days and it has to go back. I checked it yesterday (clouds and sun) and the text faded somewhat but I decided I could live with that. Today it is very sunny and the text becomes unreadable! Amazon is shipping a new one out today. I hope it doesn't turn into the 3 or 4 replacements that some have gone through!
Thanks to the info on this board that was one of the first things I checked.
I wish you hadn't asked that!vg said:I had definite fade issues with my Kindle - almost a total washout within a few pages. Amazon sent a replacement, but I need some advice. It doesn't do a total fade, but if I cover half of the screen I can tell a difference. The side in the sun is a little lighter and some of the letters seem thinner. When I call up the menu the letters are not always the good solid black, it's almost like someone had randomly lightly run an eraser across some of them. People are saying that a "perfect" no fade is possible. Mine is really close, so am I expecting too much? Is there anyone who can cover half of their screen, turn the page and see absolutely no difference?