AAAAAUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

[dichroic]

My Kindle just broke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Currently it's still readable-on; there's an area on the upper right about half an inch wide and 3 inches long where the screen is displaying .... well, sort of boxes with smudges in them. Not test, anyway. This happened because I was charging my backup battery for our trip - when I put the better battery back in and turned it back on, this had happened.

I called Amazon, but since my Kindle is over a year old the warranty has run out. So my options are:
- buy a refurbed Kindle 1, $99. And they are back-ordered so it won't be shipped for at least three weeks.
- buy a new Kindle 2, $259, could be shipped today.
- buy an iPad when those go on sale, $459, shipping in late March.
- don't buy anything and hope none of my books have important information in the upper half of the rightmost 1/2".

This is the worst time for this to happen, as I head out for almost two weeks tomorrow and am then only back for a week before leaving again. I'd probably go with the Kindle 2 option tonight .... but then there's the Macmillan thing. How can I drop that much money on the Kindle when I don't even know if I'll be able to get the books I want?

So I guess my best choice for the moment is option 4, coupled with hoping that the problem doesn't expand and if it does, the lodge where we're staying has a good library. And while I'm gone, I will debate between the K2 and iPad options. I guess. And see what the news is when we return.

Fuck.

(I'm actually feeling a foolish tendency to descend into full-blown panic over this - How will I survive without a functional Kindle if it goes bad? I am reminding myself hard that anxiety is a side effect of the malaria drug I'm on, and that the Kindle 2 option does at least exist.)

Any and all advice is welcome. I don't promise to take it but would be reassured by hearing others' views, even if they're "You're being an idiot. Go order a bunch of dead-tree books from Powell's. Or reread the ones you have."

Comments

[wordweaverlynn]

Why not buy a Sony or B&N ebook reader?

[dichroic]

Because it wouldn't be able to read the couple hundred Kindle books I own. That's why the iPad does have some appeal even though i am a staunch fan of e-ink vs backlit screens.

[calicocat]

I'd recommend borrowing a book or two from the library or a friend. They'll take up space in your luggage, but at least you'll have them if you need them.

[dichroic]

I had some to-be-read books around to take - in fact I'm already taking two or three paperbacks and a couple of magazines (This trip will involve a lot of quiet afternoons, I think - you go out on safari drives early in the morning and at sunset, and then just hang out in the afternoons. So lots of reading time. ) I always take at least one book and a magazone partly because I like reading magazines on planes (then I just give them to the flight attendants who are always glad to get them), partly because of the rule about no electronic devices during take-off or landing, and partly in case of calamitous Kindle failure. But I can't take enough books for the whole time, especially because, since we'll be on a couple of charter flights, our carry-on and checked bags *together* can't weigh over 44 lbs / 20 kg.

And in April I will be moving back to the Netherlands and my stuff (including books) won't get to me for five weeks. Can't just buy more there because ENglish-language books are somewhat limited there (outside Amsterdam) and quite expensive.