Comments

13 responses to “Submitting a Kindle bug report”

1. 2010/12/10

   Brad

   Er, Alec, you could try not using beta software…

   Reply
   1. 2010/12/10

      alecm

      Page I found recommended it:

      How can I check and update my Kindle’s software?

      The latest software available for Kindle is Version 3.0.3. You can learn more about this software update on our Kindle Software Updates page.

      “Early Access” or no, that is on the Kindle Support home page.

      Reply
2. 2010/12/11

   Dave Walker

   Ouch; suitably descriptive bug report, but a truly horrendous bug (or, more likely, bug set). I wonder how this software rev made it past QA.

   I’ve gone down the iPad route myself, and while I have the Kindle app on it, I have yet to actually use it, as I find I typically source books by other means…

   Reply
3. 2010/12/11

   Gary Sereno

   Sounds like a duff one to me and worth giving their help desk a shout. My original one was a DOA (screen would not change) I received my replacement the very next day.

   Reply
4. 2010/12/11

   alecm

   Status Update

   Received a form-letter response last night, so I clicked “THIS DID NOT FIX MY ISSUE”

   Was presented with a form, to enter my phone number

   Amazon rang me, brief hold, spoke to Alec(ha!) from ZA in the call centre, forwarded me to the Kindle Department

   Brief hold, got onto Richard in the Kindle Department, suspect he’s in Eire, apparently he’s a qualified electrical engineer but not a software guy, however we got to speak geek-to-geek.

   Basically he says it’s potentially symptomatic of a battery fault, however it could also be a firmware fault, and would I be willing to wait a few days to see if they can progress it as a software update issue?

   They’ve raised an internal ticket, assigned to Richard, and he’ll be calling me back in the next few days to discuss progress. We’ve agreed that if it’s not sorted in software within a reasonable period that it’ll get swapped.

   Reply
5. 2010/12/12

   alecm

   It’s crashed twice in 5 minutes – once inexplicably while picking it up, maybe i pushed a button when it got an event in its sleep – and once while trying to read. Both full resets.

   Have mailed Amazon requesting a full replacement.

   Reply
6. 2010/12/13

   Caitlin

   I bought and received my Kindle just before Thanksgiving and it started doing this perhaps a week ago 🙁 I haven’t submitted a support request yet but I will be doing so soon…

   Reply
   1. 2010/12/14

      alecm

      Stability has improved hugely but I am not convinced of my Kindle’s ability to retain charge now. I think it’s been leaking too much.

      Reply
7. 2010/12/14

   ray

   Alec, what you need is a RAIK – Redundant Array of Inexpensive Kindles. An array of several hundred Kindles should be sufficient to ensure five-nines availability of a reasonably sized collection of e-books. Simply copy your entire collection onto each array element. For rack mounting a RAIK-200 array, a large empty wooden bookcase works quite well.

   Reply
8. 2010/12/14

   ray

   What kind of battery does it use?

   I’ve seen recommendations (for Macbooks iirc) to perform several full charge/full discharge cyles before first use to allow the battery to “settle in”. Also to fully discharge the battery each month. This is supposed to improve battery longevity. I’ve never bothered, as by the time the battery life has deteriorated significantly, it’s time to replace the laptop anyway (and I’m usually connected to the mains).

   But 60% loss overnight suggests either a dodgy battery, or lying firmware.

   Reply
9. 2011/03/06

   Glenis

   I’ve had exactyly the same things going wrong with my Kindle. I bought it in October 2010 and now I can’t even turn the damn thing on at all. The last power up I did was yesterday, having had to wait a day because the Kindle wouldn’t power up. I’ve had this problem for months but 30 days return policy isn’t enough for this product. It takes a good charge when you buy it, lasts for over a week (that’s 21 days!!), then when I had difficulty powering up the next time, I thought that it was my sockets, tried three different ones, plugged in the first again and then the orange light came on. The power up was too quick and didn’t last a week. Inbetween that time, I’ve been powering up often – even within a few days or a week and that was when I could get the thing to power up. Now I can’t even turn it on!!. There is clearly a fault with it and it isn’t right that we only have a 30day returns policy – this is mean of Amazon and not very professional. I read the comments above and that is exactly what has been happening to my Kindle – absolutely exactly. I’m going to apply to Watchdog to do an investigation into these Kindles and how many people feel they can’t return it within 30 days. I’ll turn people off buying them. Glenis

   Reply
   1. 2011/03/06

      alecm

      Glenis:

      Have you actually called Amazon yet? I think you’ll be surprised at their level of customer service. I’ve had nothing but good dealing with them.

      Also: we’re in the UK – or at least your e-mail address suggests that – so I suspect you’ve either been reading the wrong stuff, or have misapprehended the “returns” policy.

      I believe it’s something like “30 days” only if there’s nothing wrong with the device other than you don’t like it; statutory coverage for faults is 1 year, with more at the discretion of the manufacturer.

      Reply
10. 2011/03/06

    Glenis

    Would you mind if I forwarded your comments to Watchdog so that they can investigate and get us all new Kindles without the fault? Glenis

    Reply