For those who have a K3 and a K4

[jbcohen]

What improvement do you think amazon has made in the design of the kindles when they made the Kindle 4s available?  Is the 4 smaller then the 3?  Is the 4 faster?

[KimberlyinMN]

What improvement do you think amazon has made in the design of the kindles when they made the Kindle 4s available?  Is the 4 smaller then the 3?  Is the 4 faster?

NO keyboard! I'm a happy camper.  I rarely used the keyboard on the K3 and those keys just bugged me.  I also like the smaller size and lighter weight. The lighted cover is also a better design, better connection too. (I just wish the color choices were better for the covers.)

[arshield]

4 is smaller.  Not sure there is a speed difference. The big deal is the keyboard.  I have used the 4, but I won't buy one because I take a lot of notes.  For people that primarily read novels or never takes notes, I think it is a solid choice. 

[jonathanmoeller]

The K4 is smaller because of the lack of keyboard, and it redraws the screen somewhat quicker (it tends to flash the screen every five or six pages, rather than with every page like the K3).

[Ann in Arlington]

I don't think the K4 is either better or worse than the K3.  Both are equally good for reading.  K3 has a few more features.  I don't miss 'em with the K4.

There's a comparison of all Kindle models on pretty much every Kindle product page. . . . whether the differences are 'improvements' or not is really up to the user.

[The Hooded Claw]

K4 is smaller and has no physical keyboard nor audio capability.  The smaller size makes K4 easier for me to use one handed, though I believe not everyone agrees with that evaluation.  To my mind, no other meaningful difference.  Page turn buttons slightly different.

[mlewis78]

My K4 responds much more quickly than my K3 does.  I may have put too many books on the K3, but it is not full, and I delete most books after reading them.

[patrickt]

I prefer my K4. Smaller, faster, and I hated the keyboard on the K3. Why couldn't Amazon had made the keys and letters contrasting colors? And, since mostly I entered numerical codes or numerical locations not having keys for numbers was a major headache for me. And I always loved having to hold down one miniscule key while pressing another.

My only wish is that the page forward and page back keys we color-coded or had a symbol on the edge of the Kindle so I could find the keys without hunting. I did cheat and marked the edge of my Kindle with a black marker, extra-fine point, to denote the center of the two page buttons.

[Meemo]

K4 is smaller, thinner, & lighter than the K3, which I really like.  It's also more basic (no audio), has less memory and shorter battery life.  None of those are important to me.  The lack of keyboard hasn't bothered me yet, the on-screen keyboard is pretty simple to use. 

The biggest screen improvement, as Jonathan said, is that now there isn't the black-screen-flash with every page turn & refresh.  One page kind of dissolves into the next except for every 5 or 6 pages, when it refreshes & flashes.  On the Nook Touch and I think the Kindle Touch you have the option of having it refresh with every page turn - I don't see that option on the K4.

I'm keeping my K3 for now - my system of "organization" for my Amazon books has always been that if it's on my Kindle, I haven't read it but I want to (there are 4 on our account so there are lots of books on the account that I don't care to read).  Once I read a book I delete it from the Kindle.  What I'll do in the long run remains to be seen...I know my daughter would love an upgrade from her K2....I'm still kicking myself for not picking up one of those $85 K3s w/3G on Black Friday. 

[KimberlyinMN]

The biggest screen improvement, as Jonathan said, is that now there isn't the black-screen-flash with every page turn & refresh.  One page kind of dissolves into the next except for every 5 or 6 pages, when it refreshes & flashes.  On the Nook Touch and I think the Kindle Touch you have the option of having it refresh with every page turn - I don't see that option on the K4.

The K4 has this too. I think was what the first firmware update added.   (I'm only saying "first" in case I have somehow missed one, to my knowledge there has only been one firmware update.)

[Andra]

The only thing I miss on my K4 is the 3G option.  All of my Kindles up to this point have had it and I haven't quite adjusted to remembering to load it up before I head out.  In my experience the wifi at hotels has been a little weird...
The screen is the same Pearl screen and the option to have a san serif font.
The onscreen keyboard on the K4 isn't that bad, especially if you don't have to type much.

[Meemo]

The K4 has this too. I think was what the first firmware update added.   (I'm only saying "first" in case I have somehow missed one, to my knowledge there has only been one firmware update.)

Ah, I just got my K4 Tuesday.  It doesn't have the update.  I just checked and that update is 4.0.1 (I'm on 4.0).  I don't much care about having that option, am happy with the page turns as they are, so I'll skip that update.  Good to know the option is there, though - thanks!

[Ann in Arlington]

I don't think they're shipping with the update at all, and they don't appear to be pushing it to the devices. . . .but it's easy enough to download if you want it.  It gives you the option of changing how the page refresh works.

[pitbullandfire]

LOVE my K4 aka: Baby Kindle for me...LOL  The compact size is awesome and makes it one of my main readers to carry around.  I have the Amazon Kindle Cover which is nice and compact, but waiting for my Oberon to finally arrive (it's lost somewhere in the US  ).  But even with the case that's a little larger it will still be my main carry-with-me Kindle because it's smaller than the K3 and FIRE.