A Step Down In Quality, November 22, 2011

By 

Joseph Esposito “Co-Host Of The Ozone Nightmare” (California) –

  

I owned a Kindle Keyboard for about a year, and I purchased the leather lighted case for that unit. While the corner light left a little to be desired as far as even lighting, overall I was very pleased with the case. Based on that experience, I went ahead and purchased the lighted cover for my new Kindle. I can’t say this experience has as been as positive.

Let’s start off with what’s good about the case. The Kindle battery powered light is a big improvement. The light is now centered on the screen, so illumination is more even now. I don’t use the light often, but in the cases where I do it will be nice to have more balanced coverage. One positive on the case itself is that I appreciate how much lighter this one feels than the previous generation. The hinge area is smaller, which means less of the “spine folding” effect the other one took on after heavy use. I never took my Kindle Keyboard out of the case after it was put in, so the snug fit I have seen complaints about is not an issue for me. It IS tight, though, so if you don’t plan to keep the case on full time be aware it may take some effort to get it back out. In my situation, that tight fit is exactly what I want, but your mileage may vary.

Now on to the negatives. The case does feel very cheap, especially with no change in price point. The previous cover felt like a solidly made piece of work, whereas the new cover only feels half as sturdy. The thinness of the case was no doubt done to minimize its weight, so I realize this is a personal issue. Outside the thickness, though, it just doesn’t look or feel as well made. The textured surface of the previous model you that leather feel, very much like a real book. Finally, the most stunning oversight is the lack of a closure device. I understand some people didn’t like the elastic band, but SOMETHING should have been added to allow the case to stay securely closed.

Overall, this is an average if overpriced case. It’s not bad, but in comparison to what came before I have to admit I feel like the quality took a step backward me while maintaining a high price point.

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]]> https://lap-tops.net/amazon-kindle-lighted-leather-cover-wine-purple-does-not-fit-kindle-paperwhite-touch-or-keyboard/ebook-readers/#comment-942 AZ Dee Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:26:09 +0000 http://lap-tops.net/amazon-kindle-lighted-leather-cover-wine-purple-does-not-fit-kindle-paperwhite-touch-or-keyboard/ebook-readers/#comment-942

Lightweight, good viewing area., November 18, 2011

Finally received the Kindle Lighted Leather Cover for the newest version Kindle. It is VERY lightweight and I had to double and triple check the description considering it states this is a leather cover. The front cover is very thin with a medium-weight cardboard feel to it. The “leather” on the front cover is extremely thin and you can immediately tell the surface will be easily scratched and marred with normal everyday use. The inside of the front cover has a thin microfiber material to protect the screen. The back cover is hollowed out plastic to form-fit your Kindle and snaps in with relative ease.

Using the enclosed graphic instruction card, I removed the Kindle as shown, having to use just enough pressure to make me a bit concerned for someone who would place and remove their Kindle in this cover frequently. However, I plan on using this cover as a full-time solution for both protection and as a light source.

I went ahead and pulled up a book and switched the light on, heading to a closet to see how this looked in complete darkness. The light pulls out of the back cover and is nice and stiff and has a locked full-out position. The spread of the light is greater on top obviously but it does reach the entire screen on the Kindle. There was no glare or reflection and I was able to easily read the page without any noticeable straining.

If I were to choose between this design and the Kindle Keyboard lighted cover, which I have used since its release, I would choose this newer cover. Although it feels flimsy and “cheap” compared to the Kindle Keyboard lighted cover, it makes up for it with its ease of use, no hooks/connectors to worry about and the light “stick” itself seems sturdier than the pull-out plastic flimsy light of the original Kindle Keyboard cover (which, after a year of use needs to be wiggled at times for the light to come on).

I tried a few attempts at taking a picture of the cover in use, but my photography skills are definitely lacking because each picture I took created a glare from the camera which would not be helpful to anyone.

Pros:

NO batteries to continuously buy or recharge
Sturdy light stick
Lights the entire page
Easy connection
Form fitted

Cons:

Feels very flimsy and cheap
The cover scratches easily

I plan on editing this review in a week or two after I go through a couple full Kindle charges to see how well this holds up with regard to battery drain.

Edit 12/1:

So I’ve run through two full charges of the Kindle and am working on my third but wanted to give a head’s up on power consumption I’ve seen so far. The first charge was approx. 7* hours of reading before I got the “pop-up” message about low battery. The second charge was just under 8* hours. If I notice a dramatic change in the next several charges, I’ll edit this again.

*I use my Kindle with the light on 100% of the time, with Wi-Fi turned off.

Even though the lighted cover pretty much halves the battery life per charge of the Kindle, I am still super happy with the fact that I am not spending money on any extra batteries. The amount of reading time it allows is more than enough between charges considering I usually don’t read more than an hour or so a day, which allows me to go around a week between charges.

Edit 8/7/2012:

Just wanted to follow up that this cover is still going strong after over eight months’ of almost daily use. The light stick joint is still stiff so that it extends correctly to light the entire page. There hasn’t been any degradation to the battery life of the kindle and I’m still getting a good 7-8 hours of reading with wifi off and light used 100% of the time.

What I mentioned as a con in my original review still applies regarding the flimsy front cover and paper thin leather-over-cardboard texture. I feel that I handle my Kindle (and other electronics) very gently but there are several small scratches all over my cover. There is a high shine and obvious wear on the cover where you can see where I normally hold it while reading. While this doesn’t distract from the utility of this cover I still believe higher quality material should have been used to further justify the price of this product.

All in all, I still do not regret this purchase as I have saved several times over the amount I would have spent on batteries over this time period.

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