[quote=“housecat”]I just dropped my kindle down a flight of stairs! Dang it. Its screen is streaky now and it won’t turn on.
Anyone know of any place to get it repaired here in Taiwan? Amazon whats it sent back in the original packaging, which I don’t think I still have, and warrenty won’t cover dropping it down stairs. Of course.
This sucks.[/quote]
Housecat,too bad about dropping the Kindle. That is exactly t something I would do and the the worry that is keeping me from buying one. Did you get it repaired? If you have to buy a new one, consider purchasing the Square Trade all risk warranty available when you purchase stuff at Amazon. I got a three year warranty attached to the Asus Skype phone I bought my mother. It’ an all risk policy. Cost me only 49 dollars more. The price of the warranty is dependent upon the value of the thing insured. Your price may be cheaper.
Not too sure how it works out of the USA though? Perhaps you can use a US address. The cost of sending it back to someone in the states, who will send it out for repair should not be that much. I believe the warranty covers shipping too. They will also act as an advocate for you and take care of shipping and things not covered in the manufacturer’s warranty such as dropping
Good luck… let us know what happens.
PS: Be sure to choose the ALL RISK OPTION. Again I have not used it yet, but the promise is good so I bought it. To the best of my knowledge, it covers everything.
Actually, they’re being quite good about it. Dropping it isn’t covered by warranty, but when I tried to plug it in again, thinking maybe it’s just frozen and out of juice, it got really, really HOT, really, really quickly. I called them when that happened. and this is how this works:
They send a new one and charge you for it, but also do a refund on the same day. This will tie up funds in the bank for a few days, but you don’t actually get charged. Then, I have to send back the broken Kindle within 30 days, with insuance and tracking, or I WILL be charged for the new one. But I can send an email with information about whatever it costs me to return the old one, and Amazon will credit my account with that amount.
My new reader should be here before the weekend, and I can use the box of the new one to send the old one back in, so there’s no more confusion about not being able to ship it in the same packaging.
WARNING! For all who have ordered Kindles and had them delivered to Taiwan without a problem, you guys are incredibly lucky.
Now for those who are thinking about ordering a Kindle, DO NOT ORDER MORE THAN TWO AT ONCE! There is a regulation about importing any Wi-Fi capable device, which is why so many people have had to send through extra documents. But the real problem I had was that no one person may order more than 2 Wi-Fi capable devices unless they have a shipping permit. Without knowing this, I asked among my friends and two other people wanted one, so together with them and my wife, I ordered four.
So what happened to me:
After it arrived at Taoyuan airport it was scanned and then there were no updates for an entire day.
Then I get the worst possible tracking activity: Non-customs Government agency hold :aiyo:
I had to call UPS and find out what was going on, they said they needed extra documentation which I sent off within an hour of them telling me it was required. :ohreally:
I immediately call to confirm they had received the fax and that all the documents were in order, they tell me I had faxed it to the wrong place (which was the only fax number in the e-mail with the attached documents), so they told me they would forward it to the correct place and confirm that they had done so and that all the documents were in order. I never received any call to confirm this.
There is no activity for almost an entire day and then towards the end of the day they inform me about this regulation that no more than 4 Wi-Fi items may be shipped together. They ask me if I want to cancel the order. :loco:
I contact Amazon and they point me towards Kindle support, which for international buyers only has a phone number (no chat like regular Amazon). The Kindle support hears me out and gives me a ray of hope that they will try and get two Kindles released to me and refund the rest, seeing as how 2 Wi-Fi items are allowed per person. They assure me that they will pursue this avenue and get back to me.
They get back to me in the negative saying that only complete orders can be processed. :no-no:
UPS for the first time calls me after two days and tells me that the only way I will get all 4 Kindles released is if I acquire the services of an import agent, at a cost of NT$1,800 (whom I must contact myself and pay for myself and he doesn’t speak English), who will acquire the necessary permit and then release the Kindles to UPS who will then deliver them to me. :fume:
I contact Kindle support with this solution who say they will refund the amount ($60 to cover the agent), no questions asked and the person is very sympathetic and apologetic. :bravo:
Now in point 8 I spelled out my e-mail address and asked them to send the contact information of the agent, and as yet I have not received it. The worst part is that when I tried to call them, I got disconnected three times and suspect that they were trying to avoid me as when I dialed a 4th time it was after 5 PM and all there offices, island-wide, immediately give a not-in-office answering message when you call. So now it is Saturday night and I cannot organize anything until Monday morning. :fume: :raspberry: :fume:
So yes, moral of the story order two or only one at a time and hope you don’t have to jump through the documentation hoops.
But on a side note, I would advise obtaining the Nook Simple Touch. It is only $99, has a touch screen, no advertising, expandable memory slot, double the battery life (Kindle is 2 months based on 30 minutes per day reading time, Nook is 2 months based on 1-hour a day reading time), it has received many positive reviews and it is .epub compatible, which is becoming the standardized format for e-readers. Kindle is the only major e-reader that no longer supports .epub and many public libraries are offering e-books in .epub format. So yes, if I was American or didn’t feel too bad about putting an American friend out I would get a Nook.
Sorry for my long-windedness, just want to tell people and help people avoid making the same mistake I did. I doubt Amazon will stop people from Taiwan ordering more than 2 any time soon.
I forgot to update, but returning my kindle and getting the new one went off without a hitch. The only problem at all was trying to convince the workers at the post office that I wanted to pay for certified service to ship it back, as the kept insisting that the package was so light that I didn’t need to do that! Once I finally convinced them I wanted certified mail, they shipped everything that way (I was sending some other packages to some friends), but that was no big deal.
Amazon credited my account for the postage at my word, before geting the package to confirm, as soon as I emailed them the amount.
Housecat this is helpful and very hopeful for me, I have just had the same situation and cracked my screen an hour ago on the MRT Hopefully this should work nicely.
Wow… This thread is too long… This tread should be boiled down to an FAQ right now. Maybe we should have a MS Word/Open Office document library that we can download, use it, then edit it or add passages and re-submit it back to our librarian (moderator) for re-posting.
This and the android phone thread would be prime candidates… Now my question…
With the news that library books can now be used on the kindle, my whole apprehension about buying books that are not transferable is mitigated…
I’m interested in the low end ±79 dollar model. It has a black and white e-ink screen. My question is how the books and magazines are rendered into black and white. Are the illustrations pleasing?
What about bar graphs and other research data… Would the device render the graphs into shades of gray or patterns.
I’m concerned about publications such as psychology today (if it is available) and other academic stuff that uses charts and graphs.
[quote=“Taiwan_Student”]My question is how the books and magazines are rendered into black and white. Are the illustrations pleasing?
What about bar graphs and other research data… Would the device render the graphs into shades of gray or patterns.
I’m concerned about publications such as psychology today (if it is available) and other academic stuff that uses charts and graphs.[/quote]
My eight year old son has read several book on my Kindle that include illustrations. They’ve all been very good. In fact, he said of the illustrations in The Magician’s Elephant, “Wow, mom, this book has drawings and I LOVE THEM! These pictures are SO COOL!” So, there ya go.
Graphs and charts aren’t great on the kindle screen, IMO. I’ve read one or two financial books on my Kindle and the graphs have been nearly un-readable, because they turn out too small, or too large to fit a single screen (though you can change font size, which would help with that), and because many graphs employ color, but the Kindle does not.
True, but you can also look at your Kindle books on your computer, and in that format they’ll probably have full colour. This isn’t an ideal solution, but I’ve got a few books where I do most of the reading on the Kindle, and occasionally open the book on my computer (or iPhone) to get the “proper” illustration.
I think generally no. I love the device for reading, and the ability to share books via email, but viewing any kind of complex illustration on the kindles slow to refresh gray scale screen is disappointing. Children’s books are painful. Sometimes it works ok, the Steve Jobs biography looks fine, but it’s not really a good replacement for a glossy magazine.
It’s a trade off. Here is my problem. I have a lot of down time or waiting time where I’m stuck in strong sunlight. I can’t even view the picture on my cell phone well. This black and white e-ink thing seems like the perfect solution.
How about the Kindle with the color screen. Incedently I can’t find any information on the website The black and white version talks about being able to read in bright sunlight. There is no mention at all about sun, daylight or outdoors on the color Kindle.
I’m curious about e-pub. It seems that my library has almost an equal amount of e-pub to kindle books, But I think Kindle is pulling ahead.
Any other options that let me read the screen in bright light. Thanks.
epub: convert by software (unless it has copy protection). most popular software is called ‘calibre’ (check Google)
kindle color: eink color kindle doesn’t exist yet. so if its color now then its lcd which means no good in the sun
I so want to push the buy button… The new Kindle Touch is $109. But… ach…
I’m worried about damage. I have kids that love cell phones and devices no matter where I hide them, they can find them…
I can purchase an all risk 2 year warranty from square trade for 24.99. This plan includes shipping from an US address and will cover things like dropping and other accidents.
So… If I have it sent right to my home here in Taiwan, I will just get the normal 1 year warranty. I think I read Amazon covers shipping for warranty covered items, no? It will not cover dropping or other kid damage.
Option 2. Have it sent to a US address with warranty. Have Dad repackage it and ship it off to me.
Could I pass it off as a “forgotten” personal electronics device? What duty would I have to pay. For returns and repairs, I’d have to send it back to Dad or an other US address. When the device comes back, would I have to pay duty again?
One oh Nine seems cheap enough and worth the risk… But…
Help me out. My cart is full. Which address should I choose…
Like the ICRT commercial about the Taiwan Facebook Contest…(Help me grow some Grapes)- so cute … “Help me choose an address… Help me choose an address. help me choose an address…” Here or there.
And if I import it from Dad… what’s the best way of getting it to me… Any hints for getting it through customs.
Touch and Fire are still only available to buy for US customers, so if you want to buy now, you’ll have to ship to a US address. I’m hoping that once they get through their pre-order backlog that they’ll make it available for International customers. That should be in a little over a week for the Touch if the current shipping estimates are accurate.
Strange, it did not stop me… I did not choose the address yet, but it did ask me what country I would like to use it in. I chose Taiwan. It just gave me rules and conditions… I will continue to the Check out screen.
So, say I send to my US address. …
My Dad will send it over to me. What special duties would I expect? Would the wifi aspect be a problem? Could I repackage it as a “used” personal device to save on duty fees?
What’s the best way. Thanks…
EDIT: IT LET’S ME GET TO THE CREDIT CARD PAYMENT SCREEN WITH MY TAIWAN ADDRESS. One more click and I would assume that I would have bought it. I tried buying other things and it would stop me at the shipping address selection stage. SO what to do…
That’s strange. When I try to select a Taiwan shipping address for Kindle Touch it will give me an error that it “is not currently available to ship to the selected non-US address” and sends me to an international Kindle page which only offers regular Kindle or Kindle Keyboard.
Don’t worry about the import stuff. For just one at a time you will at most have to fill out a form saying it’s for personal use, and if there is any import duty it’s usually just 5% so no big deal.
[quote=“jlick”]That’s strange. When I try to select a Taiwan shipping address for Kindle Touch it will give me an error that it “is not currently available to ship to the selected non-US address” and sends me to an international Kindle page which only offers regular Kindle or Kindle Keyboard.
Don’t worry about the import stuff. For just one at a time you will at most have to fill out a form saying it’s for personal use, and if there is any import duty it’s usually just 5% so no big deal.[/quote]
Yeah… it even told me it would be shipped via international courier and would take two to four days…
Don’t Jinx Me… so… what of it… 109+ 26.99 for peace of mind? (House cat dropped hers)
Would the shipping back and forth out way the savings? What would you do…?
If my Dad sends it to me, I guess I could insure it for real value and pay the 5% or so. How much would you shipping be? For USPS or any other economical method? I think you have done something like this before… That why I’m asking… Thanks.
Are you sure you have the right model? The only way I can think of a $109 price tag is the new Kindle (basic) at $79 plus $30 for the one with no advertisements (without special offers). I think the Touch would be either $99 or $139, depending on whether you want ads or not.
I think the reason why you’re able to ship it to Taiwan is because you’re not selecting the Kindle Touch.
Are you sure you have the right model? The only way I can think of a $109 price tag is the new Kindle (basic) at $79 plus $30 for the one with no advertisements (without special offers). I think the Touch would be either $99 or $139, depending on whether you want ads or not.
I think the reason why you’re able to ship it to Taiwan is because you’re not selecting the Kindle Touch.[/quote]
You are right!!!.. There is some kind of switching going on. But I have to wait until I get some quiet time to check this out. I may be prevented from buying it with a Taiwan billing address. I like the touch screen unless you can convince me that the controller is easy to use. Thanks a lot for saving me from a possible disappointing surprise.
A few friends in the states got their Fires (a few also have iPads). What they relayed is that the Fire is definitely more than a reader but is less than an iPad, in both functionality and price. So that thing could definitely hit a sweet spot that a lot of people have. Will very likely be the actually first commercially successful Android tablet.
Hopefully this should work nicely.