[Closed] Kindle reader

I’m a big fan of mine and far prefer the screen to just reading from my iPad

Not compared it to the standard version. I take mine van camping etc so went waterproof.

My wife and daughter have had both and would recommend the paperwhite. My wife reads hers in bed every night before sleep. Thankfully its light does not disturb me in the way a bedside light would.

I turn the light off on my PW often, but it is great for reading in the dark. Much better than a tablet.

agreed - they are great and definitely paperwhite version or better. So much better than reading off a tablet and brilliant for reading without need for a light.

Whispersync is my favourite feature and perfect for busy people - listen a bit, read a bit all synchronised together.

couldn't cope without mine, but I've quite a few non Amazon books (shall we say)

mine (my second) was above the paperwhite, but they don't make it anymore. all the bits are in the Paperwhite so get that

My wife and daughter have had both and would recommend the paperwhite.

Point of note, the latest regular Kindle now has a Paperwhite-a-like backlight. I bought one as a gift recently and saw little reason to stump the extra for the last-gen Paperwhite. It's got more storage (so you can store a zillion books rather than half a zillion) and a higher res screen, that's about it.

The Paperwhite is great. Long long battery life.

My only gripe is I'd like more power to organise my books. I find the existing method too restrictive.

My only gripe is I’d like more power to organise my books. I find the existing method too restrictive.

Have you tried Calibre software?

Thanks for replies. Decided to go for a Paperwhite as watching a couple of youtube vids the text seemed more clearer on the paperwhite.

couldn’t cope without mine, but I’ve quite a few non Amazon books (shall we say)

Interested to understand what this means? I've got a normal kindle.

avdave2

Have you tried Calibre software?

Thanks. I'll give that a go.

Interested to understand what this means?

I think it means that he's found sites where you can obtain a lot of books to download that might not exactly be legal. And if you happen to have Calibre then it doesn't matter what format they are in as you can convert them to whatever you want. I'm just guessing at this of course, no personal experience...

@mrjmt there are obviously sites like Gutenburg that has free books (and not just obscure texts from 17th century albania, but a load of Wodehouse etc)

but @avdave2 has an interesting idea as well. Never thought of that. 🙂

Ah ok, didn't know this was a thing with kindles, assumed they were tied to amazon

The latest Paperwhite is waterproof so great for bath reading, beach use etc.

I would be tempted to upgrade if I did not have a perfectly good Kindle Voyage with 3G.

3G was great when I used to do a lot of travelling - not really needed if you have easy wifi access.

@mrjmt Kindles can read anything in the MOBI format. And as mentioned above, if you get a PDF/DOC version, just go to Calibre and convert it. Albeit the formatting may not be the best.

So Paperwhite is the consensus the sister in law wants one for xmas.

I turn the light off on my PW often

Do you really? Is it a later model? I don't think that's an option on my Gen 1, I can turn it down but not completely off though I'd like to because it contributes nothing but battery drain in full daylight. Mind you, the battery life's still pretty good considering I've had it for 7 years.

Do you really? Is it a later model? I don’t think that’s an option on my Gen 1

Not sure what gen I have but I can turn it all the way down, which I do in well lit environments. Makes no difference to visibility, the screen just ends up the colour of the paper in paperback books.

Ah ok, didn’t know this was a thing with kindles, assumed they were tied to amazon

I think they can only use the Amazon store for commercial copy-protected books, but they can read all sorts of open formats and you can indeed upload things direct from the computer to the device if you want. You also get your own kindle email address to which you can email files and they appear on your device. If you email a PDF you can also have it converted to ebook format or remain native PDF by putting CONVERT in the email subject.

I had an old one with the keyboard. It is perfectly fine. But recently now have a paperwhite - the resolution and backlight are well worth the upgrade even if the old one didn't really need replacing; the screen is so much nicer

I'd recommend a paperwhite, purely for the ability to read in low light. Normal Kindle is fine otherwise. It's a simple device at the end of the day - In fact I preferred my early gen Kindle with buttons to turn pages. But that's a small trade-off for the paperwhite.

I used to have the button one til I lost it. There's an argument in favour of the buttons, however the user interface is miles better on the newer model, does much more stuff and you can browse other household libraries and so on. On the buttoned one you have to go on the website to pick books from your household i.e. bought by someone else and then send them to your device. Mildly annoying but not huge.

I still use the old button one. I think its coming up 10 years old and still works fine. The plastic case has developed an interesting patina, so I'm reluctant to "upgrade".

Drac, watch a couple of youtube videos where they review them side by side, even on my old laptop the paperwhite is a lot crisper than the standard Kindle.

I’d recommend a paperwhite, purely for the ability to read in low light.

Again - the current regular Kindle does this also.

The Paperwhite has a few advantages, but "being able to read in low light" is not one of them.

We've had ours for ages, original and second gen Paperwhite.

Excellent, probably my favourite gadgets just for the ease of use and quality.
So much nicer to use than a phone or tablet.

Batteries capacity not what it was originally, but the build quality is superb.

Mrs S's has a very small crack in the screen due to epic cackhandedness, but it's been like that for ages and hasn't spread.

I've just gone for the new Paper White too as a present for someone who likes to read in the bath. Good value in the sale. I have one already and is my favourite gadget. Agree with comments above e-ink screen much better than a tablet. Calibre is great; also means you can run it in aircraft mode as not reliant on over-the-air updates so battery lasts for weeks.

I ordered Four Kindles from Amazon and they sent me a Two Ronnies DVD.
Hopeless.

I'm totally stealing that.

Calibre is great; also means you can run it in aircraft mode as not reliant on over-the-air updates so battery lasts for weeks.

Can you not run newer Kindles in aircraft mode without special software? My first generation kindle is rarely connected to the internet - just to download books very occasionally - are the newer ones different?