Are Kindles often lemons, or am I unlucky?

[abyssinia]

I purchased a Kindle in April 2011, a bit on a whim, and found I really loved reading on it. I've used it a lot, but rarely take it outside the house (unless I'm flying somewhere) so it doesn't really get banged around or stressed much. In December 2011 (8 months later) my screen completely died. Amazon was super responsive and quickly sent me a replacement, which was awesome.

Now the last two days (8 months later) Kindle has started freezing, pretty much constantly. I can reboot it but it refreezes again within a few minutes. I chatted with Amazon customer support who had me restore factory settings, which didn't fix the problem. Since it's been a year since my original purchase, they won't replace it again, but they'll give me a $15 discount on a new Kindle.

I really love my Kindle, and I want to have an eReader, but I can't justify spending money on a device that's only going to work for 8 months.

What I'd like to know is:
1) Is this a common problem with Kindles, or am I just really unlucky? Do most of you who own them find they last longer than this?

2) Is there anything else out there you guys really recommend? Something with a screen as good as a Kindle, but without the 8 month lifespan? [I'm highly tempted by that Nook with the light around the screen]

thanks!

Comments

[alchemy]

I have a Sony as well, and it's been nearly perfect for the last 2 years. I've definitely dropped it a time or two. That said, it's just a standard reader, it doesn't have color or a bunch of bells and whistles.

[zats_clear]

I have the ORIGINAL sony reader :) They upgraded the firmware for free and then contacted me later to let me know their upgrade caused excess battery drain so please send it back in this nice box we have provided and we can fix that for free too.