Kindle Reliability--we've had 4 lock up in 6 months time--what's up?

[3-Kindle Mom]

I purchased three Kindle 3's as Christmas 2010 gifts for my 3 kiddos.  Of the 3 original, one has been replaced twice and another replaced thee times.  The screens lock up with random lines and partial pictures/text.  My kiddos keep them in their cases and are careful with them but they do get used extensively.  We do live in a hot climate, Houston, and they go with us everywhere but there are not any warnings about temps in the 90's. 

Does anyone have any idea why our Kindles keep breaking?  So far, Amazon has replaced them all without charge.  They say that the only way the Kindle should act this way is if it is exposed to a strong magnet charge.  Gee, while I'd like to think I have a magnetic personality, ok, not really, we don't have anything stronger than a refrigerator magnet in the house.

Any ideas or suggestions?

[the bartender]

its probably from the cover. this has been a somewhat common problem, and covered on here numerous times. remove the covers for awhile and see if the problem goes away.

 

[kindlegrl81]

What kind of cover are they using? If it is the Amazon non-lighted cover that is probably your problem. If it is not that type of cover then I don't know what to tell you other than you have incredible bad luck with Kindles.

[NYCKindleFan]

It's either the cover or your kids are just not taking care of them as well as you think they are.

[Tam]

That "random lines on the screen and partial pictures/text" is from cracked screens. That can happen even when the kindle is in a case if it's carried around in a backpack with books or other stuff and gets knocked around enough to flex the screen. It will also happen if a kindle is dropped and hits hard enough or at the wrong angle, even in a case. It happened to my 24 year old daughter carrying her K2 in her gym bag, even though it was in a case. (Amazon was nice enough to replace it, even though it was about 3 weeeks past the one year old point.) The screens on these are fragile enough to require VERY careful handling.

[Ann in Arlington]

I agree that the description you give seems like the screens are getting cracked somehow, but without actually seeing it, it's hard to be sure.

Further, Amazon does have temperature warnings.  From the Users' Guide:

Operating temperature — 32°F to 95°F (0°C to 35°C).
Storage temperature — 14°F to 113°F (-10°C to 45°C)

So a Kindle in a backpack in the sun when it's 100 outside could be affected.