I know, that’s why I put it in quotes. 
Yes, probably very soon, in fact. I would speculate that they’re hoping to have them in time for back-to-school shopping.
I happened across this article by Scott Hanselman which gives a good overview of the differences between the first two models -
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/AmazonKindlePaperwhiteSECONDGENERATIONReviewPlusNewKindleSoftwareUpdate.aspx
Also, in case anyone was wondering - don’t hesitate to get the version with “special offers”. The ads only display on the screensaver and a small banner on the homepage. It’s very unobtrusive and even occasionally useful. If you decide that you hate the ads anyway, you can always pay a one-time fee to turn them off. (It used to be $50 - the price difference between the models with ads and ones without. I’m not sure what the fee is these days. I never bother with it.)
The current price difference is $20.00, so probably that amount. But I don’t care about that, either.
Heading out to Office Depot today to take a look at it! Thanks for all the info and tips!
I bought the 2nd gen Kindle Paperwhite a month ago or so when they had that amazing $50 off deal for certain Prime subscribers. Best purchase I’ve made in a while.
For those on the fence, I’m pretty sure you can buy and return within 30 days for a full refund. See here.
Edited to add: I have it with special ads, and I’ve actually used them on occasion (bought a bunch of the Dresden File books on sale). The only downside is that it occasionally shows various Fabio-clones with tag lines like “She’d never let anyone get in her way… not even the gorgeous pool boy” which have resulted in a few raised eyebrows from visitors.
Can’t speak to the Paperwhite II, but I had a Kindle classic (loved it), then bought a Paperwhite I a few years back. Loved it even more. Looking at the Paperwhite II online - drool. I may very well buy one.
I have a Kindle classic (at least, I think it’s a classic). I think you just led me into temptation.
Does the new one have page turn buttons?
Touch screen.
I have a Paperwhite II - bought the day it first shipped (my Nook had been stolen 6 weeks before, so I wanted a replacement).
It’s pretty good; the only real problem I’ve had is that the “next page” touch area can be a bit wonky and I’ve occasionally had trouble with it navigating the WRONG WAY. Once I learned that you can swipe right to left to go to the next page, that’s been less of an issue - though sometimes I hit just the right area and wind up changing the font size by accident.
Whatever you get, load Calibre onto your PC - invaluable for side-loading books (a lot easier than treating it as a Windows “disc”). That also allows you to convert books from one format to another if desired.
I’d been hoping for page turn buttons. Oh well. It’ll have to be a replacement battery for my Kindle 2 then.
I think that mine may have been linked to my account by default but I imagine that she can just put in her own account information when she does the initial setup. She’d need to be able to put in a password etc. at least once. Inability to do so would mean it’s impossible to give them as gifts! (plus since third-party sellers like Staples carry them, I’m 100% sure there’s a way).
OOOh - one thing I don’t think anyone else has mentioned yet: you can get files to your device wirelessly by emailing them. You get an email address like my_address at kindle dot com - and if you have a mobi, txt, pdf or whatever from another source, email it to that address then the next time your device connects via wireless it will appear automatically. Useful if for example you get books from other sources like Baen or Weightless Books, or you just want to put your personal documents out there. B&N does not have anything like this - yet - and I don’t think they plan to.
I think Merneith mentioned it earlier. I have a Kindle 2 3g, and often transfer documents to it, but I’ve never used the wireless send service because they charge for it if you have a 3g Kindle. At least they used to, and I’m not sure if they still do or not.
When you get one straight from amazon, there is little/no initial setup, except to connect to wifi if you don’t have the 3g version - it comes connected to your account. But you can remove it from your account both from the Kindle itself and from the Amazon.com website here: Amazon Sign-In Edit to add, and when you first order it if you check the box to make it a gift I think it comes just like the ones from Staples, etc as well.
Well, I ended up purchasing one from Staples on Sunday. Got everything setup for WIFI pretty easily and am pretty impressed so far!
Purchased a couple books on Amazon with a free $10.00 gift card I received for filling out a survey for something at work and got them put on very easily, too! I’ll have to play with the store on the device itself, though. Much easier to navigate (so far) on a PC.
Found out my library has a loan-out service that works with Kindle as well. I had a library card years ago, but I’m sure it was no longer valid. Went to the library on Sunday to get a new one and their computers were down… 
Will try again this weekend, though.
Thanks for all the help!
PS - I installed Callibre and entered the email address for my Kindle, but haven’t really had a chance to do anything with it yet.
Thanks. I assumed there’d be a way. I guess we’ll just have to wait for it to arrive and for me to give it to her before we try and figure out how.