I've had this Kindle for a couple of months now, and I'm not at all disappointed. It's a huge upgrade from the first generation Kindle I pre-ordered back when Amazon first announced ereaders, and while I do miss the keyboard, the reading experience is top-notch.
It has a long battery life, and it's small and thin enough to fit in my purse with no problem. The lighted screen is nice, but my favorite part is being able to control the text size. For someone with bad vision, this makes reading a hell of a lot easier. It's also got a nifty little feature that tells me, based on my reading speed and how many pages are left, how long it will take me to finish a book -- that's great when trying to decide if I have enough time to finish before bed.
I also think the 3G version is a must. While I'm usually reading at home, where I can tap into my wifi, the 3G comes in handy anywhere else... Like if I'm out at the soccer fields watching the kids while my brother plays with the league -- with 3G I can order a book from the sidelines or rate a book I've just finished, instead of having to wait until I can tap into wifi somewhere.
The one thing I don't like is a USB charging behavior. The moment the charger cord is attached, the Kindle goes into a charging mode and shows a message that if I want to keep reading while it's charging, I can leave it plugged in but eject it on my computer. That's fine for when I have it plugged into a computer. But I could just as easily use one of the dozen or so other micro USB chargers I have lying around for other devices, like the one that plugs into my car charger or the one that plugs into a regular wall outlet. However, the Kindle assumes it's plugged into a computer, no matter what, and it immediately goes to that charge mode screen. So basically, I have to have my computer nearby and turned on in order to recharge my Kindle and read at the same time. It's not the end of the world, but it's a bit frustrating. It would be nice if it only pulled that move when attached to an actual computer, so I could read while charging through other ports.
All in all, though, it's a great device, and while I sprang for the version without ads, I do think the ad version is a good way to keep the price down and still get the 3G feature. I do miss my ancient white keyboard & slider first generation Kindle, but it was well past time to upgrade, and this one's great.
UPDATE: Not that anyone's going to come across a review this old, but I may as well add to the story. After all these years, my poor beloved Paperwhite is on it's last leg. A few months ago, I upgraded to the 10th gen Paperwhite, which is awesome, but I'm still sentimentally attached to this old one. Unfortunately, the USB charging port has started to come loose inside (a known issue with old, well-used Kindles), and I've been unable to find anyone who will repair it. It's soldered to the motherboard and is a rather easy fix if you have the right tools and know-how -- which I don't. And while there are plenty of repair shops that will happily fix the same loose part in a Kindle Fire, they won't touch a Paperwhite. Wish I knew why. Mine still works for now, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time before it comes loose completely and can no longer be charged. But as sad as I am about that, I can say this thing was still worth every penny. I'm a heavy reader, usually at least 4 hours a day, and sometimes 12 hours if I can get away with it. And all that time, it served up my books faithfully, never crashed on me, and aside from that charging port, performs just as well as the day I brought it home. I got more than my money's worth out of this amazing little piece of technology.
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eReader Perfection!
The Kindle Paperwhite second edition has earned every bit of the 5 stars I'm giving it, and then some. I'm not going to go into detail about all the features because others have already done so and anyone who reads the product description can read about the features there. What I do want to point out is how some other reviewers are being unfair. Several people rated it below 5 because it doesn't have everything they want such as text to speech. Seriously? You can listen to audio books on your smart phone, why would you want to carry around an eReader to read to you? Several other reviewers reduced the stars because they didn't feel it was enough of an upgrade from the previous Paperwhite. What? The product review should be for the product you're currently reviewing, not an evaluation of how different it is from the previous version. One person actually said they would give it 5 stars because it's that good, but they were reducing the stars because it wasn't enough of an improvement over the original PW. If you're happy with the original, why are you buying the latest version anyway? Off my soapbox now. Let me tell you, if you are serious about actually reading (not being read to), you cannot go wrong with the new Paperwhite. Amazon sums it up very well, "The best device for reading, period." I whole-heartedly agree. From the fantastic features, to form-factor, to performance, to screen quality... this all adds up to eReader perfection! Personally, I am upgrading from a Nook Simple Touch with Glow Light and feel this is a major improvement in every aspect over the Nook. I've been reading ebooks since before many people knew what they were. Back in the 90s I was reading on my PDA (aka Palm Pilot type device) and while not ideal, I thought it was awesome to have several books in my purse to choose from at any time. When the first Kindle came out I wondered why anyone would pay $400 for a dedicated eReader when they could read ebooks on a multifunction device such as a PDA. When the Kindle 2 came out and the price came down a bit, I decided to give it a try. I quickly realized why one would want a dedicated ereader as I fell in love with my Kindle and vowed to never read a dead tree book again. Between then and now I continued to experiment with other dedicated reading devices (Nook, Nook Simple Touch, Nook ST with Glow) as well as using reading apps on various tablets and smart phones. I have found that the ideal display (for me) is e-ink with a light. The back lit displays of smart phones and tablets just don't get it for any long-term serious reading and they are nearly impossible to read outside. The Kindle Paperwhite has many great features, but the most important feature of any reader is the quality of the screen. My last ereader, as a comparison, was the Nook Simple Touch with Glow Light. The difference in screen quality is amazing. I posted a picture of the two side-by-side so you can see for yourself. The Paperwhite screen quality is as if you were reading a paper book in a well-lit room with warm incandescent lighting. All the additional features are just the icing on the cake. My personal favorite feature next to the screen quality is the minutes left to read a chapter. I don't know if the previous paperwhite had this feature, but I love it! My second favorite feature is the auto wake. When I open the Amazon leather cover I am ready to read with the light at the previous brightness level. With the Nook I had to turn the light on each time and that's just another unnecessary step. I always use the light unless I'm reading outside. I highly recommend the Kindle Paperwhite to anyone who is serious about reading whether you are upgrading from a Nook or have never had one, this is THE eREader to buy. I also highly recommend getting the Amazon leather cover to take advantage of the auto wake feature. It adds very little bulk or weight and protects it beautifully.
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- Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2013
