I personally don’t see the point to a stand-alone Kindle when my phone, which I’m hauling around anyway, or an inexpensive tablet, or my laptop, can run the nice free Kindle reader app. Any of the devices I would use that app with have a range of functions, so why bother with the unitasking specialty device at additional cost?
If that works for you, great. However, there are some advantages to a stand-alone Kindle (or other dedicated e-reader) that some people care about, particularly if they do a lot of reading:
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Since the display is not back-lit, it’s more like reading something printed on paper, which some people find easier on the eyes (and easier to see when reading in direct sunlight).
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It tends to have a significantly longer battery life than those other devices you mentioned.
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Some people find it less distracting to read on a device that only does that one thing.
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At least compared to tablets and laptops, the size and weight make it easy to hold and to carry.
As someone who started out reading ebooks on a tablet and then switched to a Kindle, I concur with all four points. My reading preferences are now in this order:
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Kindle Paperwhite, because it’s much smaller and lighter than a typical book, and the illumination makes it much nicer to read in dim light, like in bed. The front-lit e-ink is nothing at all like the glare of a backlit LCD.
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A physical book.
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A tablet.
Incidentally, the only thing that ever really wears out in a Kindle is the battery. If Amazon replaces the battery as part of the refurb process, a used one should be as good as new. It’s also possible to replace the battery yourself to keep an old Kindle going, but you do have to be sure to get exactly the right one for a specific model and generation. There are at least two incompatible battery types just for the Paperwhite series, for instance, depending on the generation.
Mine have all gotten dinged over the years, on the case and screen. Maybe I’m rougher with them than other people? I don’t put a case on it and it goes into a bag just like a book would. They are portable physical devices, so the physical parts are going to wear out through minor damage.
Maybe you are rougher - or maybe it’s because you don’t have a case. I’ve had mine since 2012 and no dings or scratches - although with mine, dings wouldn’t make it non-functional as long as the charging port and power button work. There’s a difference between working as “good as new” and looking as “good as new”.
Maybe you are rougher - or maybe it’s because you don’t have a case. I’ve had mine since 2012 and no dings or scratches - although with mine, dings wouldn’t make it non-functional as long as the charging port and power button work. There’s a difference between working as “good as new” and looking as “good as new”.
I have several Kindle Fires and Android tablets, and prefer my Kindle Paperwhite for text too. Surprisingly, it does a decent job with pictures and graphics.
How do you read the non-Kindle library books then?
I mean, I know all about de-DRMing purchased books - e.g. if you want to purchase from Barnes and Noble and read on your Kindle - but I get the impression that’s not what you meant.
I actually had the USB plug wear out on mine. No matter which cable I used, I had to jiggle it juuuuuust right for the thing to charge reliably, and it quit connecting to the computer at all.
Yeah, I’ve at least one Fire where the USB/charger connection was what wore out.
Let’s just say that works on library books too. And if there’s no DRM, Calibre will convert EPUB and other formats to Kindle format.
I’m on my third kindle keyboard. If I traded it in, they’d have to reprint the letters on the keys, so I don’t think it would end up anywhere but the scrap heap. Which is a shame as the battery lasts for weeks between charges, the model supports text to speech and audible.com audiobooks, plain old mp3s, headphone jack, and I can play SUDOKU on it. And read books.
(Apparently they brought back sound on the newer models, but only with bluetooth output.)
Never had a Kindle, but I’ve had several devices reach retirement because of a failed USB port, and the condition/remaining lifetime of the port is the main reason I wouldn’t conciser buying a refurbished anything. I don’t know of USB C is any more robust, but MicroUSB is a fragile piece of garbage.
(And aother thing…) For instance, on one phone I would have to hold the plug just right to get it to charge (and keep holding it.) I looked down in the port with a loupe and flashlight and saw that one of the gold wires had lifted from the plastic “tongue” and then been pushed to the back of the connector and crumpled up–so it was charging only when the very tip of the corresponding wire on the cable just barely touched the lump of wire at the back of the connector.
It’s true, I don’t have a case. I wonder what percentage of people do?
It doesn’t take much of a scratch on the screen to distort the backlight. It’s the kind of thing that doesn’t really bother me because I know I scratched it and I can still read it fine, but I can’t imagine anyone being happy with receiving it used unless they got a pretty deep discount, so I expect mine would be scrapped if I tried to turn it in. Instead it’ll probably just get forgotten at the bottom of a drawer somewhere.
My first pair of Bose 35 sound cancelers died a week before warranty.
They shipped a new pair, and said the old ones would be shredded.
The USB connector on any device is the weak chain on most electronics. The gold layer on the connector is really, really thin. In addition to normal wear and wear, dust acts as an abrasive on other the plug and the jack. I’ve even had regular USB 3.0 plugs and jacks torn out, usually on external USB hard drives, where the connection is usually tight.
Huh - I hadn’t tried it with library books, because I’m basically honest that way.
But yes, changing the format is something Calibre is very good at. All the books I bought when I had a Palm Pilot, for example, plus anything I got in epub format from other places.
This may be a case of price discrimination, i.e. a way to charge different prices to different groups of people. They’re probably still making a profit at $30 off. But someone who already owns a Kindle is less inclined to upgrade to a new model (i.e. lower demand), so Amazon is essentially offering a $30 discount to those people to maximize sales. But they charge full price to people who don’t have a Kindle to trade in, thus maximizing profit.