[vermontcathy]

Yay! I finally got my Amazon Visa coupons in the mail and ordered my kindle yesterday afternoon. I got the free trial of Prime and splurged for next day delivery (though I was bummed it is $3.99 per item - kindle and cover). I'm so excited!

I have a question. After ordering the Kindle, I bought some online books. Most were free, but also King's UR. On my manage my kindle page, it says delivery is pending for these books. I was just wondering, if the kindle ships with whispernet on, and the kindle should be in a whispernet area on the truck, shouldn't some of these be downloaded to the kindle by now? I know, I'm being silly... maybe deep inside the truck, it isn't getting a signal. Maybe it wasn't shipped turned on, or with whispernet turned on, or various other issues, considering I ordered it just 18 hours ago! I just want it to be ALIVE!

Cathy

 

[Leslie]

I think whether the Whispernet is on or off varies from Kindle to Kindle. If the delivery status on the books changes from "pending" to "successfully delivered" then you'll know it's on.

Congrats on your purchase! Keep us posted on its arrival.

L

 

[luvmy4brats]

Well, the Kindle is turned off, but as soon as you get it and turn it on, all those books that are waiting will download.

 

[intinst]

Congratulations on the pending arrival of your new"precious."

 

[drenee]

Congratulations.  How exciting for you.  Be sure to tell us your first impressions.

 

[Kind]

Congratulations. How exciting for you. Be sure to tell us your first impressions.

Ditto ^^ or go in the review section and give us some some of your thoughts on it.

 

[vermontcathy]

Yay! I got it. It wasn't on... well, there was a picture on it saying how to plug it in, and slide the power switch, but when I did, it seemed to boot up so it wasn't on during shipping. But as soon as I turned it on and told it to check for new stuff, it got my books almost instantly. I was at my husband's work - I had it shipped there, and wanted to try whispernet before going home, because the map shows that I am close to coverage, but don't have coverage at home. But I do!!!! Yay!!

A few thoughts. The screen background is a little greyer than I thought it might be, but I also wonder if I would have even thought twice about it if I hadn't been reading posts by people saying it was worse than K1. I have nothing to compare it to since I've never seen another kindle, 1 or 2. I am curious, since there seems to be some variability, whether there are any K2s out there with a lighter background. But I think my current attitude is that it's fine as-is. If I hadn't read all those comments by people with concerns, it's not like I would have looked at it and said, "Oh, this is terrible". Since I've never seen one before, it's more like, "OK, so this is what eInk looks like"

I do see what people mean by the letters not being 100% black. It is just like on a computer where the letters have anti-aliasing - shades of grey around the edge to "smooth" the fonts. On a computer, without anti-aliasing, letters look pixelated and blocky. So I'm guessing that the kindle designers were thinking along these lines. Again, I think it's fine, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was an update at some point that let us have just solid black.

I do see quite a bit of ghosting, but mostly it is just when I turn on the screensaver. In the darkest parts of the image, I can see shadows of the words I was reading. But I guess it's not a big deal since I'm not really using it while the screensaver is on.

The important thing, of course, is reading! I read a bit of UR and am enjoying it. I like that I can keep one hand under the blanket and don't have to take it out to turn pages (and then I can switch hands when one hand gets cold). I kind of have to let the excitement wear off a bit because in the middle of reading I would find my self thinking about the kindle, and not the story.

I gotta get back to playing with it, but overall, it's way cool, sure the background could be lighter, but having whispernet unexpectedly at home is more than making up for it, and I really do think I'll get used to how everything looks.

Oh, and connecting it to my PC went smoothly - another thing I was worried about since I read about people having trouble.

Cathy

 

[Leslie]

Wow, you got your coupons yesterday and have your Kindle today? That is lightning fast! Congratulations!!

L

 

[vermontcathy]

Wow, you got your coupons yesterday and have your Kindle today? That is lightning fast! Congratulations!!

L

Yeah, I got the coupons at 4pm, east coast time, jumped on the computer and ordered it with Prime's free trial and next day shipping for $3.99 x 2 (for each item). I was so good, waiting weeks for the coupons, I didn't want to wait anymore!

 

[akpak]

Now go shopping for some things to dress it up! Even if you're not worried about scratches, etc, a DecalGirl skin will make it less "slippery." Before I skinned mine, I always felt like I was going to drop it.

Congrats!

 

[kguthrie]

It would be sweet if there was a way to order the books and have them already downloaded when the Kindle arrives.

You can buy them and have them sent to your Kindle. They will start downloading as soon as you turn the Kindle on if you're in a whispernet area. It's kinda neat to watch them all show up.

 

[L.Canton]

The moment you activate whispernet, you'll have the books waiting for you. Then you can use your gift cards and continue your shopping spree.