I fell asleep reading once more last night, but this time I lay on my kindle (maybe I even slobbered on it), and now half of the screen is all scrambled and doesn’t reload; in short it’s toast. That’s rather bad because: a) I can’t live without my kindle and b) I’m unemployed and broke and really can’t afford shit like this right now. But I convinced my dear old mom to lend me the money for a new one, so now I’m getting this kindle paperwhite instead of this three year old non-touch model, and this is rather cool.
The display and reading experience were quite good, but I was never really satisfied with the old model’s software, especially with the fact that you couldn’t sort collections, the editing features and the general scattershot order of functions. I know from amazon’s product description in the link above of the paperwhite’s new software features like X-Ray, vocabulary builder (I like that) and others. What else can I look forward to? And do you have some general tips for a an upgrader to the paperwhite?
Is it faster? If there’s one thing that bugs me about the Kindle it’s the horrible lag when moving from one screen to the next. I don’t care when I’m reading a book if it takes a half a second to turn the page, but when trying to navigate pages outside of books (library, games, settings), it’s kind of annoying.
I believe the Paperwhite is the fastest yet, but still slow for general navigation.
I don’t own a Paperwhite yet, but plan on buying one soon. It’s the first eReader that has ever looked more-or-less perfect. The lack of integrated lighting was always a downer, and the first generation of lit ones still had some quirks I didn’t like.
The Paperwhite has solid software, an essentially-perfect screen size and DPI, and really nice sleep/wake leather covers. Pretty much a perfect gadget.
I’ve had the older Kindle-keyboard for a while and loved it. I recently upgraded to the paperwhite and love it, it is far more than just a backlight.
Paging is much faster, the backlight is adjustable, the touchscreen is easier to use and more “bump proof” than the hard buttons, the battery life is longer.
I was hoping the new Paperwhites would have the experimental browser that the keyboards have. Well, they do, but (afaik) it’ll only access Amazon and Wiki. Dang.
Not true, the browser is only restricted when using free 3G on a 3G version Paperwhite, when wifi is used the entire internet can be browsed with either version of Paperwhite.
Yeah. There’s a home button in the touch toolbar at the top. Also, you can turn off the backlight entirely if you want. In general, set the backlight to low, in low light settings and high in bright light settings. It’s easy to change so you can put it where you want.
First, guys, it’s not a backlight like a computer screen, it’s some sort of side-lighting I guess. Anyway, very easy on the eyes and completely adjustable from off to bright (and it comes with a warning not to use the brighter settings in a dark room, so I’m confused, but I never read in the dark anyway).
The home “button” is available through the touch menu at the top of the screen.
Page turn is very fast compared to my old keyboard Kindle.
I occasionally accidentally touch the “back” part of the screen at the left, but that’s just a matter of getting used to the touch controls.
My only concern is with the touch technology itself, how long it will last. On my old Kindle, the controls themselves finally got wonky after maybe 3-4 years of continuous use which is why I got this one. I hope the paperwhite lasts longer.
I still have a Kindle Keyboard but I’m dying for a Paperwhite. But a new one is supposed to come out really soon, so I’m waiting for that. It sounds really neat.
I just upgraded to a Paperwhite myself, and I really like it. I’m keeping my old Kindle, though. That way I can take the older, cheaper model with me to work or elsewhere, and leave the Paperwhite at home. Then just let them sync when I switch from one to the other so I can always pick up where I left off, regardless of which one I’m using.
Update: Paperwhite was in the mail this morning, and I’ve been fiddling around with it since then. No complaints yet, the initial setup worked like a charm, all my contents have been synched (even the collections, which didn’t work with my old Kindle), yes I can sort by collections, and I like the user interface much better than the old one. A cool new feature is the possibility to browse the contents of a book without losing your reading position (I think it’s called FlipPage). The real test will be tonight in my preferred place for reading, my bed (I promise not to drool), but so far I’m really satisfied.
I’m in the exact same boat. I will likely jump on the new one. The Kindle I have (2nd generation) works well, but I would like an upgrade and there have been rumors that the 2014 Paperwhite may have physical buttons again (at least hidden ones).
Yeah, I heard that and I hope it’s true. It’s supposed to come out in Q2 and I’m anxiously waiting for the announcement. I’ve wanted one for a long time but never could really justify getting one when mine works fine. But I’m really tired of either waking up in the middle of the night because I fell asleep reading with the light on, or using my lighted cover, which has wonky connections and is always flashing on and off.
I have a Kindle (3rd generation, I think? Really not sure) but would love one of these paperwhite ones. I wonder if they sell them to Aussies. There was a Kindle which was released a few years ago which couldn’t be bought here.
No, I don’t actually need a new Kindle but I do love new toys. (Also champing at the bit for the next iPhone to be released.)
