# Anyone Have the Kindle Paperwhite? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 17, 2012, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-the-kindle-paperwhite/644296 "2012-12-17T11:55:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-the-kindle-paperwhite/644296/41 "2013-01-06T21:25:19Z")
My favorite accessory is a case that can double as an easel-type stand - I use [this one](http://www.geeknaut.com/images/2012/05/OCTOVO-Notebook-Convertible-Stand-Case.jpg) - I do a lot of my Kindle reading during the week while on my lunch hour, and it makes for much more convenient hands-free reading while eating than trying to prop one of the typical book-style cases up on something. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-the-kindle-paperwhite/644296/42 "2013-01-07T03:30:51Z")
I got the paperwhite for Christmas and am adding to the LOVE IT choir. With very few exceptions, I couldn’t ask for a better e-reader, imo. I wish, though, that you would not refer to it as a “backlight”. That’s confusing and incorrect. It’s lit from the top. A backlit screen is like the color Touch screens and a completely different animal. Those hurt my eyes after even a short reading session whereas the e-ink with top lighting doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-the-kindle-paperwhite/644296/43 "2013-01-07T04:29:15Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > So I’m testing out other readers. Aldiko is currently on hand. Better, as long as it’s an ePub. (Despite the Android store saying it works with a dozen different formats, it _only_ handles ePub.) I have PDFs and txt files. Converting with Calibre, etc. is a pain. > > Next up either Moon+ or Coolreader. > > I might even try the Kindle reader for Android. Yes, there are people out their using Kindle software on a Nook. I would also recommend FBReader. I switch between it and an older version of Moon+. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-the-kindle-paperwhite/644296/44 "2013-01-09T17:34:14Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > … > So I’m testing out other readers. Aldiko is currently on hand. Better, as long as it’s an ePub. (Despite the Android store saying it works with a dozen different formats, it _only_ handles ePub.) I have PDFs and txt files. Converting with Calibre, etc. is a pain… If you use Calibre for all your file management, converting should be fairly trivial. I’ve found it such a pain to copy other files to my Nook using just Windows Explorer, and Calibre makes it all amazingly simple. I believe it would also work with files downloaded directly from the bookstore (Amazon or B&N) even though it can’t convert those because of the DRM. So really, there’s no reason _not_ to use it for managing the device’s files. BTW - especially since I’ve noticed that B&N will make books **disappear** from my Nook (the icon is there, but it must be redownloaded) if your on-file credit card expires or at other random times… I’ve made a point of keeping local copies on my computer as well. If the files disappear from the device, I can reload them easily. And if you use the Calibre add-ins to de-DRM\* the books, you can read them on any device (so for example I can buy a book at Amazon and read it on the Nook). - this is a matter of some controversy. Digital rights law says “can’t circumvent security” but you are also entitled to make backups of your files. De-DRMing advocates seem to take the tack that you’re not doing so for the purposes of redistributing the files, but for your own security, so it’s OK. As I found when [ereader.com](http://ereader.com) finally dissolved, several books were therefore no longer available (most were still available from Barnes and Noble, but if I’d had a Kindle, I’d be entirely out of luck). Fortunately, I’d made backups. ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-the-kindle-paperwhite/644296/45 "2013-01-09T17:51:16Z")
PDFs in my experience almost never convert to anything else well; sometimes not at all if the PDF is just image scans with no text in the document. The various text formats usually do just fine though, ie lit or epub to mobi for use in the kindle, or the reverse for use on my HP touchpad all work fine with few issues. Edit to add, and I just got a paperwhite. Way easier to read in marginal lighting than the original kindle with or without the “booklight”. Definitely easier on the eyes than a tablet like the HP Touchpad (still have) or Nook Color (had and sold) . Backlight off it doesn’t seem much different than the very basic Kindle (which I still have) or the Kindle Keyboard (which I used to have). The touching works fine but I think the physical turn buttons on the sides ultimately work better. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-the-kindle-paperwhite/644296/46 "2013-01-09T18:01:48Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > That’s exactly how it works on the touchscreens. Put your thumb anywhere on the edge of device and use slight pressure to move to the next page. There’s no reaching necessary. Is it just as easy if you’re using it in landscape mode? (That’s my preferred way to read when I use my Sony e-reader.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-the-kindle-paperwhite/644296.md?page=2)