Be sure to read the earlier blog article on for details on a problem affecting some non-lighted Amazon Leather Kindle3 Covers and the U.S. Amazon Kindle team statement concerning a resolution for those affected by problem batches of the non-lighted Amazon Kindle-3 cover. If anyone has one of the covers that cause reboots, Amazon has been giving refunds on that and have also often added credit toward buying the lighted version of that cover if the customer has reported problems earlier. The Amazon post giving instructions and phone numbers to use, for U.S. Kindle owners, are in the earlier post.
I just saw an article on what Amazon UK is doing. The title of the article is "Amazon blames Kindle cover problem on plastic clips." ExpertReviews' David Ludlow writes:
' Posted on 11 Jan 2011 at 11:48
Amazon customer services in the UK have told us that the Kindle leather cover problems, which cause the eReader to reboot and do other strange things, is caused by the plastic clips on the standard case.
The lighted leather case, which uses metal clips in order to conduct power from the Kindle to the light is immune to these problems...
As such, Amazon.co.uk will credit affected users with the £50.99 required to buy the Lighted Leather Cover (UK US) instead.
From our experience, the process is a painless one. Just make sure that you phone the UK phone number, as the US site will attempt to refund in dollars instead of pounds. '
Since this problem is still being reported in the U.S. forums, this is a posting that includes U.S. Kindle owners as well.
U.S. residents can find the U.S. Kindle phone numbers for this issue at the earlier blog article that goes into more detail.
The basic non-lighted Amazon cover is $35 U.S. and £30.99 UK, and an added external light that uses separate batteries would cost about $12 to $30 average.
The lighted cover costs $25 additional, does not need separate batteries, and shuts off automatically when the Kindle goes into "sleep mode."
It is a tad heavier because it has the light built in. Bear in mind that the light does not go 'On' until you actually start up the device. It's not an ultra-bright light but some find this better for spouses closeby at night or for airplane use.
Customer Kindle forum message threads discussing the lighted cover:
K3's Lighted Cover Saves the Evening! and Lighted cover too bulky for me
NOTE: If your web browser (especially Firefox) drops you onto the Amazon forum list of topics instead of bringing you to the forum thread, click on Refresh or Reload to get the message thread itself -- or click on the link again. I don't know why a 'retry' is often needed, but it is.
Here's the CNet Review - Amazon's secret weapon: Kindle Lighted Leather Case.
UPDATE - 1/13/11, 8:13 PM (Original posting 1/13, 8:28 AM)
I'm adding below, a section taken from the first Kindleworld blog entry made about the non-lighted case problems, as it gives alternative links to more types of Kindle covers.
' Side note: A couple of Kindle owners have solved the problem for themselves by putting electrical tape (or even a bit of scotch tape) around the upper hinge's contact point.
The non-problem lighted-cover costs $25 more, and while many are happy with it, as seen in various forum threads and a good added light will cost an average $15 or so, this will be too much for some even if they have liked the case quite a bit -- and there are less expensive non-lighted cases. One example is the Acase, a platform type that costs about $11. While the quality won't be as high (as pointed out in the few customer reviews from confirmed buyers), people still give it 4 stars out of 5 and, at the least, it will keep the Kindle safe while making a decision on a better one. Others are planning to accept the refund and apply it to the lighted case.
But there are a plethora of Kindle-3 covers from which to choose.
I should add that I use a Cole-Haan with hinges but it has caused no reboots and the Kindle is always in the cover; however, it's expensive and I got it when there was a large discount on it briefly. So any hinge problems would be with certain batches of the official Amazon Kindle non-lighted cover. '
UPDATE2 - 1/13/11, 8:28 PM
Here are less-expensive Kindle 3 covers for those living in the UK, who use the Amazon UK Kindlestore (not available to non-UK customers).
Kindle 3's (UK: Kindle 3's), DX Graphite
Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or highest-rated ones
Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your blog, which I only recently discovered. My wife just got a Kindle 3 a few weeks ago, and hasn't been using it much yet (although plans to).
This morning, she wasn't able to get it to come out of 'screensaver'/sleep mode. I held the power the switch for about 20 seconds and it rebooted and seems to be working now.
I did a little googling and browsing of your site and found people with similar problems. Some people mentioned low battery as a problem and suggested checking if the Kindle was constantly indexing the books. I did a search for nonsense characters (the test as I understand it) and this doesn't appear to be the case.
When I got the Kindle restarted the battery indicator shows about 60-70%, which is where it was last time I saw it. We're careful to keep wireless turned off when not using it (which again, hasn't been much yet). At this point, we're on the initial charge.
We did purchase the non-lighted leather cover from Amazon, and the Kindle is always in this case. I saw several people reporting problems with this. I didn't notice a reboot nor any other problems besides today's inability to exit sleep mode. It's too early to tell if this problem will recur, but based on your experience (and those of others you've read) does it seem at all likely that the failure to turn on problem could be related to the non-lighted leather case?
Thanks, and keep up the good work.
Notre, it's almost certain that if you're having that kind of problem and it happens again, that it's the case. Amazon tends to credit your purchase and do a bit more.
ReplyDeleteSee http://bit.ly/kwkcvr.
If it happens again, just remove the cover to see if you have the problem(s) anymore. If not, then let Amazon know at 866-321-8851
or use the Call me feature (very fast also) at http://amzn.to/kcall_me.
Good luck on this.
I've use the Kindle without the case for several days now, and the problem resuming from sleep mode has not recurred. I contacted Kindle support this morning, and they refunded my original leather cover cost and credited my account $25 towards the lighted Kindle cover. I also mentioned that I'm an international customer, so they said they would cover the shipping cost as well.
ReplyDeleteI have my fingers cross the lighted cover will solve all my problems :)
Notre,
ReplyDeleteThey went two extra steps in your case. Pretty impressive.
I've no doubt your problems are solved. The lighted case has not been presenting problems.
Congratulations! Please feel free to follow up once you get it and have tried it out. Would like to get your take on it.
Received the leather case with light a few weeks ago, and have not had any problems with the Kindle freezing, rebooting, etc. So that does seem to have been the problem.
ReplyDeleteAs for the lighted case itself, I tried it out to see if it works and it does indeed. I have to admit that it is my wife's Kindle (a Christmas gift) and she's very jealous about sharing it, so I haven't use it much although I do like it quite a bit :) After testing that the light works, she's never used the light, but I guess it'll be a nice feature to have when needed.
Notre,
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to give us a follow up on the case replacement.
Maybe someday you'll get a Kindle for yourself :-) It's nice for bedtime because if you fall asleep, the light goes off once the screensleeper comes on.
Thanks again.