# How Happy Are You With Your Kindle Touch?



## sparklemotion (Jan 13, 2011)

I'm wondering how happy everyone is with their kindle touch. Anything you would change about it or anything that disappoints you about it?

I really love my fire for reading so I've thought about getting a touch. (I have a kindle keyboard e-ink reader now) However, I was disappointed to hear that it didn't have landscape mode, so I'll likely hold off and see what the next model brings. I'm curious as to people's thoughts who have a touch and have been using it for awhile now.

For those that have a fire and a touch, is the touch sensitivity similar?


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

I have have had every generation of Kindles with the exception of the Kindle4 or Fire. I really love the Touch. I'm not missing the keyboard at all. I'm very happy I went to the Touch. I love the size much better and really find the touch keyboard much easier to use.


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## ElaineOK (Jun 5, 2009)

I HAVE to have a physical keyboard on my phone, but I actually prefer the onscreen Touch keyboard to the one on my K2.

It could be a little snappier and the back button is a pain.  Definitely keeping it, though!

Elaine
Norman, OK


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Love mine, no major issues. Wouldn't trade it for any other Kindle model.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

I've had a K2, K3, and now a KT, and, although I've loved all of them, the Touch is my favorite. There isn't a thing about it that I dislike, nor is there anything else that I wish it had or did.


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## frazzm737 (Jun 4, 2010)

I am extremely happy with my Touch.  The size is perfect and since I rarely use the keyboard, I don't miss the physical keyboard.  The one thing I do miss is the progress bar.  The Touch gives you the % figure, but without the progress bar there is no way to know how near you may be to the end of a chapter.  I hope they bring that feature back to the Touch.


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## lindnet (Jan 25, 2009)

I've had the Touch and the K4 here, trying to decide between the two.  I thought I had decided on the Touch, I love the touchscreen interface.....but I think I may end up keeping the K4 instead.  My Touch has been slowing down, response and page turns, and tonight I tried using it at the gym.  When I set it up on the shelf on the elliptical machine, it kept pushing on the power button and rebooting.  I thought "no big deal, I'll just read it landscape".  Hmm....Touch doesn't do landscape.  

Between those two things, I think I may return it and wait for the next generation of touchscreen Kindles, after they work out some of the bugs.  I've read posts from too many people have issues with the slowdowns and freezing.  Also sometimes I have to tap the screen several times before the page turns.  I understand it may just be a defective device, but with so many having issues, I also wonder if it is because of it being the first generation.


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## Lionfury (Jan 1, 2012)

I have had my touch since christmas and i am completely happy with it. In regards to your comment about landscape mode, unless you read PDFs often, you wont notice it. And in regards to touch sensitivity, Its about as good as touchscreens get. The software could use an update to make the overall performance of the device quicker, but the screen itself is perfectly fine


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## Lionfury (Jan 1, 2012)

lindnet said:


> I've had the Touch and the K4 here, trying to decide between the two. I thought I had decided on the Touch, I love the touchscreen interface.....but I think I may end up keeping the K4 instead. My Touch has been slowing down, response and page turns, and tonight I tried using it at the gym. When I set it up on the shelf on the elliptical machine, it kept pushing on the power button and rebooting. I thought "no big deal, I'll just read it landscape". Hmm....Touch doesn't do landscape.
> 
> Between those two things, I think I may return it and wait for the next generation of touchscreen Kindles, after they work out some of the bugs. I've read posts from too many people have issues with the slowdowns and freezing. Also sometimes I have to tap the screen several times before the page turns. I understand it may just be a defective device, but with so many having issues, I also wonder if it is because of it being the first generation.x


Landscape is purely a software thing, and with the ammount of complaints about the lack of it Im sure amazon will implement it relatively soon. And whenever my touch starts to slow down i just restart it and its all fast again


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I prefer my K4, I think. But the Touch is a nice device.  I'm enjoying both.

Betsy


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## Hoosiermama (Dec 28, 2009)

I had a K2, and now have a Touch and a Fire. I love the Touch as my eink reader. It's small and light and fits on my purse nicely. I didn't even realize that other Kindles had landscape mode...so I didn't know I was missing that on the Touch.  I don't miss having a keyboard at all. I prefer touchscreens.

I love my Fire for reading on a dark room, but love my Touch for most reading.

I gave my K2 to my son, but he wanted a Fire for his birthday, so I'll be selling the K2.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk


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## mikeschr (Dec 7, 2010)

I'm very happy with the Touch.  Landscape is the one thing I can see them likely adding, to bring it in line with the other Kindles.
The lack of apps is also inconvenient for me, but they'll probably come in time.
I have no other complaints.


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## geko29 (Dec 23, 2008)

Lionfury said:


> Landscape is purely a software thing


It's not purely a software thing unless you're talking about selecting orientation from a menu. The way it's implemented on nearly every electronic device in the past few years is by way of an accelerometer, which is a piece of hardware that detects orientation. This, in fact, is how Amazon does it in the Kindle DX and Fire.

So if the hardware's not there, I wouldn't hold my breath for the feature to come. And if the feature's not available, chances are the hardware isn't either, otherwise they would have used it.


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## KayakerNC (Oct 7, 2009)

geko29 said:


> It's not purely a software thing unless you're talking about selecting orientation from a menu. The way it's implemented on nearly every electronic device in the past few years is by way of an accelerometer, which is a piece of hardware that detects orientation. This, in fact, is how Amazon does it in the Kindle DX and Fire.
> 
> So if the hardware's not there, I wouldn't hold my breath for the feature to come. And if the feature's not available, chances are the hardware isn't either, otherwise they would have used it.


No accelerometer in the K4-NT, so why not update the Touch software, if that is all that it takes?
For the few times I might need it, the menu would work fine.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

geko29 said:


> It's not purely a software thing unless you're talking about selecting orientation from a menu. The way it's implemented on nearly every electronic device in the past few years is by way of an accelerometer, which is a piece of hardware that detects orientation. This, in fact, is how Amazon does it in the Kindle DX and Fire.
> 
> So if the hardware's not there, I wouldn't hold my breath for the feature to come. And if the feature's not available, chances are the hardware isn't either, otherwise they would have used it.





KayakerNC said:


> No accelerometer in the K4-NT, so why not update the Touch software, if that is all that it takes?
> For the few times I might need it, the menu would work fine.


Just to be completely clear.  The K3Keyboard, and the K4 for that matter, have the screen rotation option as part of the font change menus. . . .so while the hardware doesn't allow for automatic switching, the software _does_ allow for manual switching.

For whatever reason, they apparently decided not to include that option on the Touch. I'm guessing they just decided it was a complication they didn't need on this first iteration of a touch interface.


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

I've used my mom's when setting it up for her and I'd like to see physical page turn buttons on the bezel so we have an option.  I found the page turning to be clunky and it slowed me down when I was trying to read.
I have a Nook Simple Touch as well and it has both the touch feature to advance the pages as well as buttons.  AND you can also choose if you want the top buttons or the bottom buttons to be the forward buttons.  That's pretty slick since the way that I hold it makes the top ones better for advancing.


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## Aenea (Dec 24, 2011)

I love my Touch. For me the only thing that takes a little getting used to is how sensitive the screen is. It will change pages when I try to blow some dust off the screen and when my fingers get too close. I can't even feel them touch the screen but the page changes. I'm learning to avoid that now though. Other than it being a little too sensitive I have no other complaints. It's a great reader.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

Aenea said:


> I love my Touch. For me the only thing that takes a little getting used to is how sensitive the screen is. It will change pages when I try to blow some dust off the screen and when my fingers get too close. I can't even feel them touch the screen but the page changes. I'm learning to avoid that now though. Other than it being a little too sensitive I have no other complaints. It's a great reader.


I forgot to mention that as my only problem with the touch. I have to admit that I wish I could brush off a speck of dust without having to put my KT to sleep. All in all, though, I can live with that. I usually have a microfiber cloth nearby, and that doesn't affect the page turns.


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## Eltanin Publishing (Mar 24, 2011)

I just recently got a Touch. I've had a K2, and also have a K3. Here's my thoughts:

The touch sensitivity and response time is better than I expected. I thought I'd really miss page turn buttons, but for the most part, I like turning pages with touch just fine. It is not hard to page forward with the left hand, as I feared it might. It even usually works to touch the screen with a blanket-covered finger, when I'm on the couch with a throw blanket.

I don't miss the keyboard as much as I thought I would. Typing notes on the pop-up touch keyboard is fine.

Highlighting is easier. Dictionary lookup is easier. I thought there would be times where I touched one word and it thought I was touching a different one, but this happens infrequently.

I miss Triple Town and Chess (some games work on the Touch, but not many). I know, I know, the kindle is for reading. But I liked those games.

Re: Lighted cover - I like that the light is centered rather than on the corner like with the K3, but I can see the light itself on the Touch, whereas the light was recessed on the K3 so that I didn't see it. It's a little distracting (to see that bright point of light) but not too bad. I have mixed opinions about the cover vs. the K3, with regards to how it wraps around the Touch, rather than the hinges on the K3. I know the wrap-around gives it more protection, but it is harder to get it out when I want to read it naked. And the Touch cover just gives me more of a sense of a tablet in a mostly-plastic protective wrap-around case, rather than more book-like (the K3 in its cover seems more book-like).

The new cover does feel smooth and sleek in one's hand, though. The slightly rounded back of the Touch (and form-fitting cover) feels nice, but that means that when you fold back the cover, there's kind of a gap on the right side - the front cover flap doesn't totally lie flat against the back cover, because the back cover is curved. Not a big deal, but it just feels a little less ideal when holding it with my right hand. And if you read for a while like that, the front cover will have a slight curve to it (not permanently), which, when you close the cover, causes the cover to lift up off the kindle a little.

I miss the progress bar at the bottom. I liked seeing my progress, especially if chapters (or each short story) had a dot on the progress bar. Also, since the K3 only had a progress bar and percentage, I got less-used to locations (after having them on the K2), so I tend to think it's odd having "Loc 203" or whatever in the corner. I really think Amazon needs to give users some choices in the settings, for what they want to see at the bottom of the screen WRT page numbers, percent, locations, and progress bar. This could be done easily with a software upgrade. I emailed kindle feedback with this suggestion, and I recommend other people do, too. Choice is always a good thing.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

I haven't had any page turns from blowing dust off the screen. In fact, I had more accidental page turns with the side buttons on my K3/Keyboard than I have with the KT. I see a lot of people complaining about it with the KT but it hasn't been a problem for me at all. 

I think I only have two complaints about my KT. One is the color. It's better than white but I prefer graphite/black. I've thought about getting dark/black skin for it but I'm terrible at putting stuff like that on. Second, I miss the progress bar! It was really handy to have the chapters marked on the progress bar on some book. Not having that feels like a step backwards. 

I'm not as happy with Amazon's KT lighted cover though - I made complaints in the accessories section about the built in light shining in my eyes and I also feel since it's more like a case, it muffles the speakers/TTS more.


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## DJRMel (Nov 7, 2011)

I am extremely happy! I'm a first time Kindle owner who wouldn't buy a Kindle until it was available with a touch screen, so I can't speak to the differences between the KT and all the previous models, but I've used many touch screens for other purposes and Amazon has done a great job for a first generation product. The only time I have the slow down/freeze problem is when I'm using the browser on non-mobile sites and I accept that that's me using the device for something beyond what it's designed for. The one change I'd like to see is that when you touch _any_ button or object on any menu or window within the reader OS it would darken. Once in awhile my aim isn't perfect, and it would be nice to have consistent feedback from the screen.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

history_lover said:


> I haven't had any page turns from blowing dust off the screen. In fact, I had more accidental page turns with the side buttons on my K3/Keyboard than I have with the KT. I see a lot of people complaining about it with the KT but it hasn't been a problem for me at all.
> 
> I think I only have two complaints about my KT. One is the color. It's better than white but I prefer graphite/black. I've thought about getting dark/black skin for it but I'm terrible at putting stuff like that on. Second, I miss the progress bar! It was really handy to have the chapters marked on the progress bar on some book. Not having that feels like a step backwards.
> 
> I'm not as happy with Amazon's KT lighted cover though - I made complaints in the accessories section about the built in light shining in my eyes and I also feel since it's more like a case, it muffles the speakers/TTS more.


I covered my KT with a skin, but isn't the color black/graphite? Maybe it's dark gray, which is graphitelike to me. I really like my Amazon cover with the built-in light, but I'm such an unabashed Oberon fan that I'm mostly using the beautiful Oberon that my daughter and son-in-law bought me for Christmas.


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## sport91 (May 6, 2009)

I received a KT for Christmas. I have had a K2 and loved it, and love my iphone and ipad. I asked for the KT as it is now 2nd nature for me to touch a screen to look up a word, etc. I do not mind not seeing dots for chapters as others have indicated bothered them. Once or twice the page turned with a light brush of my dog's tail as he was jumping up into my lap (all 75# of him) or at the brush of a blanket, but not much. Once when it was very new I must have swiped up or down because I think it jumped a whole chapter; had to look at the directions of use to figure that one out and get back to my page where I was reading. I feel the page turns are fine - sometimes they seem faster with a quick swipe rather than a simple touch. I like that it is easy to page forward with either hand. Overall I am happy with the KT - it is smaller and lighter than my K2. Now if I can just find a cover/sleeve/light solution. I was using M-edge cover with the e-luminator light for the K2.


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## pahiker (Feb 27, 2010)

I love my kindle touch.  Now if I can only teach my cat to turn the pages when I want them turned instead of when he wants to turn them!


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## Hoosiermama (Dec 28, 2009)

> I haven't had any page turns from blowing dust off the screen. In fact, I had more accidental page turns with the side buttons on my K3/Keyboard than I have with the KT. I see a lot of people complaining about it with the KT but it hasn't been a problem for me at all.
> 
> I think I only have two complaints about my KT. One is the color. It's better than white but I prefer graphite/black.


I had more accidental page turns with the K2, too! When I first got my K2, you could press down on the page turn, and the page wouldn't actually TURN until you lifted your thumb. Then they did a software update, and it turned as soon as you pressed down, and I was FOREVER turning pages before I meant to!

I haven't had a problem blowing dust off mine, either. And it's kind of become second nature to hit the power button, if there's a smudge on it.

I love the color of this one. I haven't skinned it, and don't intend to. I love the color as is.


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## Toby (Nov 25, 2008)

Yes! Love mine as well. I also like the time being shown on the home page.


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## talleylynn (Apr 24, 2009)

I have a K2, a K3(keyboard) and a touch. 

For page turning, I like the K2 the best. I like buttons and I liked them pressing inward. I have some accidental page turns on the K3, but it's not often enough to be annoying. I love the touch, but I am having a lot of trouble with the page turns. I read one handed (left) and I've discovered I run my thumb across the corner of the screen while I'm reading and that results in a lot of unwanted back page turns. That is a habit I'm trying to break. The touch also frequently turns two pages instead of one. 

My biggest problem with the touch is one-handed reading. In order to hold it stable enough to turn pages one handed, my little finger has to rest on or very near the power switch, which results in pushing the switch often while reading. I wish the touch had a slider switch like the K3 or that the switch was moved to the top.

All that being said, I still like the touch, but at this point in time I don't love it. I've only had it since Christmas; so perhaps that will change.


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## j.elliott (Jun 27, 2011)

I can't even tell you how much I love my Kindle Touch.  Between that and the lighted cover to go with it, I'm reading more, and enjoying it more.


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## MichaelPaytonMZ (Dec 29, 2011)

My KT is my first eReader and I love it.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Cindy416 said:


> I covered my KT with a skin, but isn't the color black/graphite? Maybe it's dark gray, which is graphitelike to me. I really like my Amazon cover with the built-in light, but I'm such an unabashed Oberon fan that I'm mostly using the beautiful Oberon that my daughter and son-in-law bought me for Christmas.


I'd say the KT is more like a medium grey - the K3/Keyboard is much darker, almost black:


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

history_lover said:


> I'd say the KT is more like a medium grey - the K3/Keyboard is much darker, almost black:


Right you are. Thanks for the photo comparing the two.


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## laurie_lu (May 10, 2010)

I'm suprised how much I adore my Kindle Touch.  I love the small size.  The lighteness of it.  I love the metallic gray color which makes it look more upscale and less plastic-y.  I love the touch technology.  So convenient.  What pushes it over the top is putting it inside the Amazon leather lighted cover.  This combo is pure genious.  The cover is so low profile.  The light is invisible when tucked inside.


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

laurie_lu said:


> I'm suprised how much I adore my Kindle Touch. I love the small size. The lighteness of it. I love the metallic gray color which makes it look more upscale and less plastic-y. I love the touch technology. So convenient. What pushes it over the top is putting it inside the Amazon leather lighted cover. This combo is pure genious. The cover is so low profile. The light is invisible when tucked inside.


Exactly how I feel.


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## KimberlyinMN (Dec 30, 2009)

I totally miss this. 



Hoosiermama said:


> I had more accidental page turns with the K2, too! When I first got my K2, you could press down on the page turn, and the page wouldn't actually TURN until you lifted your thumb. Then they did a software update, and it turned as soon as you pressed down, and I was FOREVER turning pages before I meant to!


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## tradingbr (Oct 15, 2011)

If you crack your KT you can use Landscape. Its a function that was programmed by amazon but it was not made available  due some bugs. The guy who cracked the KT enabled it. I use it all the time for PDFs


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## sparklemotion (Jan 13, 2011)

tradingbr said:


> If you crack your KT you can use Landscape. Its a function that was programmed by amazon but it was not made available due some bugs. The guy who cracked the KT enabled it. I use it all the time for PDFs


Hmm that's interesting.


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## lizardbeth (Jan 23, 2010)

I like the touch MUCH better in the lighted cover case than naked. I was accidently page turning without as there's not a whole lot of room left to hold the device. I too wish it additionally had physical page turn buttons so I could protect it when at the beach or in the tub. Other than that, I think the menu system is much better layed out with the touch as opposed to the K3.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

The more I use my KT, the more I love it, which is saying a lot because I loved my K2, K3, and have loved my KT from the first time I used it!


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## ElaineOK (Jun 5, 2009)

Actually, the Touch screen will work inside a plastic bag.  So, you can use the same protection system you used for your former Kindles at the beach or in the hot tub.  

Elaine
Norman, OK


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

ElaineOK said:


> Actually, the Touch screen will work inside a plastic bag. So, you can use the same protection system you used for your former Kindles at the beach or in the hot tub.
> 
> Elaine
> Norman, OK


Doesn't the bag unintentionally turn pages? Or does it not register transparent objects? I've been wondering about that - I guess I could just try it myself.


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## PaulGuy (Jul 9, 2009)

I've have a K2, K3, Graphite DX, and now a Kindle Touch. The Touch is my favorite by far.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

history_lover said:


> Doesn't the bag unintentionally turn pages? Or does it not register transparent objects? I've been wondering about that - I guess I could just try it myself.


You can get some unintentional turns, but I thought it was manageable. Use a freezer weight plastic bag--heavier plastic, and wrap it so it's somewhat tight across the front. We had a thread somewhere with the discussion...

here it is:
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,95417.0.html

Betsy


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## Mark_51885 (Sep 30, 2011)

Just an FYI - Daily Deals is showing a 6:00 AM PST deal of "Shed some light on your Kindle Touch".  Not sure what the exact deal is, but maybe a discount on a lighted cover


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## Eltanin Publishing (Mar 24, 2011)

Mark_51885 said:


> Just an FYI - Daily Deals is showing a 6:00 AM PST deal of "Shed some light on your Kindle Touch". Not sure what the exact deal is, but maybe a discount on a lighted cover


I see it now - $10 off the lighted cover for the Kindle Touch: http://www.amazon.com/gp/goldbox/ref=cs_top_nav_gb27
You have to add it to your cart from that page (I got there by clicking on "Today's Deals" near the top of the main Amazon page).


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## Hoosiermama (Dec 28, 2009)

> I see it now - $10 off the lighted cover for the Kindle Touch: http://www.amazon.com/gp/goldbox/ref=cs_top_nav_gb27
> You have to add it to your cart from that page (I got there by clicking on "Today's Deals" near the top of the main Amazon page).


And that's why I love this board. I was just looking at that cover the other day, and you guys have "enabled" me into getting it for $10 off!


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## linda~lou (Mar 29, 2009)

I have the K3 and was excited about the Touch.  Got it in November and liked it but just a little annoyed at how sensitive the screen was.  Nice if you are turning pages but annoying if you happen to touch it the wrong way and jump a chapter.  

Decided to try the little K4 and got it yesterday.  In major love.  It has all the things I liked about the K3 like the status bar only the K4 is so much smaller.  The things that the Touch has that the K4 doesn't, I don't miss or use at all.  Granted the keyboard is a little time consuming but how often do I use it.  Not often.  If I want to browse the Kindle store, I do it on my iPad.  I love the page forward and back buttons, to me much better than tapping on the screen.  I really like not having to worry if you touch the screen by accident or you are trying to brush a little dust away.

Hands down I MUCH prefer the K4.  And since Amazon is so awesome, I was able to return my Touch no questions asked.


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## Lionfury (Jan 1, 2012)

geko29 said:


> It's not purely a software thing unless you're talking about selecting orientation from a menu. The way it's implemented on nearly every electronic device in the past few years is by way of an accelerometer, which is a piece of hardware that detects orientation. This, in fact, is how Amazon does it in the Kindle DX and Fire.
> 
> So if the hardware's not there, I wouldn't hold my breath for the feature to come. And if the feature's not available, chances are the hardware isn't either, otherwise they would have used it.


Just thought I would update and point out that I just found that there IS an accelerometer in the KT.


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## sparklemotion (Jan 13, 2011)

I picked up the kindle touch yesterday and I LOVE it! Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread.  While I still really like my kindle keyboard, after using my fire I found I really loved the touch factor, so I decided to try out the touch. I'm so glad I did, it's perfect! The only thing is I wish it had landscape mode, but I figure I can use my fire or kindle keyboard for that when need be. I love the smaller size and the touch screen makes it more intuitive to me. So yay, I'm very happy!


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## toadhall (Nov 25, 2011)

I'm really happy with mine 

I don't get what other people are complaining about when it comes to the Touch. I think it's because they're so used to using a K3. I guess I'm lucky that the KT is my first e-ink Kindle.


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## melodyyyyy (Feb 11, 2009)

I did not like the touch at all!  The touch was way too sensitive for me.  I soldmy k3 so I had to buy another.


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## scifiguy (Jan 22, 2012)

My wife bought a Kindle Fire just after Christmas. It was both of our intro into ereaders. I did not think I would like it at all but I was wrong.

I quickly discovered that for just reading books I did not need the KF so I ordered a Touch last week. Through not reading all the details i found out the Touch is not back lit and this was somewhat disappointing but not a total turn off. 

I've been using the Touch five days now (average 4 hrs daily) and actually like the screen on it for reading better than the Fire. 

I'm totally new to this stuff and am totally in awe of the whole process but so far I have found no faults in either.


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

scifiguy said:


> My wife bought a Kindle Fire just after Christmas. It was both of our intro into ereaders. I did not think I would like it at all but I was wrong.
> 
> I quickly discovered that for just reading books I did not need the KF so I ordered a Touch last week. Through not reading all the details i found out the Touch is not back lit and this was somewhat disappointing but not a total turn off.
> 
> ...


I find the backlit screens much harder on my eyes so I prefer e-ink screen. Love my iPad but just can't read on it for any length of time.


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