Public Service Announcement for Kindle 3 Owners

I’m writing this in case there are any other Kindle 3 owners having trouble with their Kindles.  Here is what I experienced and how I solved it.

Background

About two months ago, I noticed something funky with my Kindle 3.  It was randomly restarting when I got it out of sleep mode.  Then, one evening, it wouldn’t even restart.  My husband suggested I give it a full charge.  I did, and it came back on.  Over the next month, I was pretty heavy into books in print, so I didn’t have much occasion to read on my Kindle.   The next time I did, it wouldn’t restart a second time.  It also didn’t even seem to be charging.  I called Kindle Support and, wouldn’t you know it, it started to charge and turn on as soon as they picked up the phone.  The guy was super nice and told me to call back if it to act up.

Discovering and Testing the Solution

What I didn’t think to tell him at that time was that I bought a non-lighted cover with my Kindle and that I kept it in the cover almost exclusively.  I didn’t think it mattered.  Besides, I love my cover.  I love  the way it has hooks that fit into the side groves, connecting to the Kindle very securely.  Then, my husband found and sent me this article from endgadget.  Apparently, those hooks were designed to conduct power to the book light for those who purchased the lighted cover.  When there isn’t a light to power, it causes the freezing and restarting issues I was experiencing.

My Kindle with my Cute Skin

I wanted to test this.  On Christmas I bought several new books for my Kindle with a wonderful Christmas present a friend sent me.  I started reading one of my purchases, Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters right away.  Instead of keeping my Kindle in the cover, I kept it off.  I experienced no trouble at all – until I put it back in the cover.  Then the restarting problem reoccurred.

Kindle Support

Feeling confident that the cover was my issue, I called Kindle Support again today.  They have a call me feature from the website.  Since I was logged in when I requested the call, they knew who I was.  I was on hold for less than 10 seconds.  Less that two minutes later, my problem was solved – no fuss, no muss.  Within 5 minutes of my call, I was ordering the lighted Kindle cover I was credited as a result of my phone call.

Glad I Can Be Of Help

What made me sit down and write about my experience is because of what happened on Twitter today. One of my book blogging tweeps tweeted about familiar issues with her Kindle.  I asked if she had the  non-lighted cover.  She did and found that her Kindle was fine outside of the cover.  She had a quick and pleasant Kindle Support experience like I did.  A little while later, I found out that another book blogger reads our tweets and was able to solve her issues as well.  I want to make sure anyone experiencing what I did knows what’s happening and how quickly and painlessly it can be corrected.

If you have been or do experience issues similar to mine and have a non-lighted Kindle cover, I encourage you to test whether the cover might be causing the issue.  If it is, call into Kindle Support.  You will be pleased with the service.  I was on the phone for less than 5 minutes total between the two calls. There was barely any time waiting in the queue.  They have the best customer support I’ve ever dealt with.  It makes me even happier to be a Kindle owner.