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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2012
I received my Kindle Paperwhite yesterday afternoon. It was packaged excellently, and it was also very easy to open. I had heard that this Kindle was lighter, so I was expecting it to be somehow flimsier, but the product seems very sturdy and very well built. It is also quite attractive.
You don't have to worry about some manual that you have to decide to keep somewhere (after reading, partially, perhaps once) or throw away. When you turn it on, the tutorial tells you, in a few minutes, everything you need to know to successfully navigate and operate this device. I think that is a good move, compared to including paper documentation. We buy these devices to eliminate piling up so much paper, right?
As other reviewers have mentioned, it connected to my wireless right away, after prompting me to select my network and to supply my password. In seconds, I was then reading the Kindle book that I was reading on my other Kindle device. I noticed right away that the text was sharper, and the display was far nicer than my keyboard Kindle. The built-in lights can be set very, very low, to fairly intensely bright. This is a big win for me, since I usually end my days with my Kindle (or Kindle app on my phone). Now, I don't need to worry about an external light and its batteries, and I don't need to worry about potential eyestrain from reading on a backlit phone.
The text on my keyboard Kindle always felt a bit unrefined and "chunky", but I like the Paperwhite's text much better. It is definitely smoother, so it holds up to the claims of increased resolution. I haven't tried changing the font, so I can only comment on the default font until I play around with the settings a little more. But it appears to meet my expectations with regard to font quality.
Other reviewers have also mentioned the snappiness of the "page turning" or, more accurately, the refreshing of the display. It is definitely improved. I have not had a Kindle Touch, but I like the navigation of this device better than the keyboard Kindle. As I mentioned earlier, I often read from the Kindle app on my phone, so I like being able to touch the leading edge of the page to switch to the next page, and this kindle operates that way. Additionally, you access the menu by touching the top/north region of the screen.
For me, it was a great design decision for Amazon to eliminate the speakers and the keyboard. This smaller form-factor (that doesn't sacrifice any screen space) is sexier, and I haven't used the speakers on my older kindle *even once*. I have used the keyboard a maximum of a handful of times, too. I would really rather only pay for the things that I use, and this Kindle isn't wasteful in that regard.
As a brief aside that's worth mentioning, the case/cover that Amazon designed for the Paperwhite is perfect. It doesn't add a bunch of bulkiness, since it literally hugs the device. It also shuts it off when you close the cover, and turns it on when you open the cover. I think that it will also give the Kindle just enough protection.
So, what about the downsides of the Kindle Paperwhite, and what about the grievances that people are writing about it? Well, it isn't without flaws, and I think most of the problem is a misrepresentation of the product. The lighting is not exactly even over the surface, just like everyone is saying. Is it distracting, and is it a real problem? I don't think so; the only real problem is that Amazon originally portrayed the Paperwhite as having a pristine display that is lit perfectly evenly, and it has black text on a nearly-white background. The pictures make you wonder if this really *is* somehow paper from a novel. My Kindle Paperwhite does not look like the one portrayed in the picture, but it has an excellent and vastly improved display compared to previous Kindles.
Yes, there are some alternating bright-dark-bright-dark areas on the very bottom of the screen where the LEDs are. Yes, there is some bluish discoloration in certain areas of the display. I wonder if the layer that diffuses the light causes some refraction and/or some filtering of certain frequencies of the light that causes this phenomenon. It doesn't matter that much, because it's not distracting to me while I am reading.
Edit: I was able to verify what people were telling me. You can turn the light completely off if you want to.
Overall, the new Kindle Paperwhite is very awesome. With proper, honest, and realistic marketing from the start, I don't think that anyone could have any gripes about it. But I gave this four stars instead of five because Amazon misrepresented the product. I believe that they should have worked out some of these kinks before bringing it to market, or they should have accurately set consumers' expectations. I would recommend this to my friends, and I would tell them that they will get an excellent and vastly improved Kindle, but that they shouldn't expect the "pure as the driven snow" display that Amazon advertises. I would tell them that it's worth the price, all things considered.
You don't have to worry about some manual that you have to decide to keep somewhere (after reading, partially, perhaps once) or throw away. When you turn it on, the tutorial tells you, in a few minutes, everything you need to know to successfully navigate and operate this device. I think that is a good move, compared to including paper documentation. We buy these devices to eliminate piling up so much paper, right?
As other reviewers have mentioned, it connected to my wireless right away, after prompting me to select my network and to supply my password. In seconds, I was then reading the Kindle book that I was reading on my other Kindle device. I noticed right away that the text was sharper, and the display was far nicer than my keyboard Kindle. The built-in lights can be set very, very low, to fairly intensely bright. This is a big win for me, since I usually end my days with my Kindle (or Kindle app on my phone). Now, I don't need to worry about an external light and its batteries, and I don't need to worry about potential eyestrain from reading on a backlit phone.
The text on my keyboard Kindle always felt a bit unrefined and "chunky", but I like the Paperwhite's text much better. It is definitely smoother, so it holds up to the claims of increased resolution. I haven't tried changing the font, so I can only comment on the default font until I play around with the settings a little more. But it appears to meet my expectations with regard to font quality.
Other reviewers have also mentioned the snappiness of the "page turning" or, more accurately, the refreshing of the display. It is definitely improved. I have not had a Kindle Touch, but I like the navigation of this device better than the keyboard Kindle. As I mentioned earlier, I often read from the Kindle app on my phone, so I like being able to touch the leading edge of the page to switch to the next page, and this kindle operates that way. Additionally, you access the menu by touching the top/north region of the screen.
For me, it was a great design decision for Amazon to eliminate the speakers and the keyboard. This smaller form-factor (that doesn't sacrifice any screen space) is sexier, and I haven't used the speakers on my older kindle *even once*. I have used the keyboard a maximum of a handful of times, too. I would really rather only pay for the things that I use, and this Kindle isn't wasteful in that regard.
As a brief aside that's worth mentioning, the case/cover that Amazon designed for the Paperwhite is perfect. It doesn't add a bunch of bulkiness, since it literally hugs the device. It also shuts it off when you close the cover, and turns it on when you open the cover. I think that it will also give the Kindle just enough protection.
So, what about the downsides of the Kindle Paperwhite, and what about the grievances that people are writing about it? Well, it isn't without flaws, and I think most of the problem is a misrepresentation of the product. The lighting is not exactly even over the surface, just like everyone is saying. Is it distracting, and is it a real problem? I don't think so; the only real problem is that Amazon originally portrayed the Paperwhite as having a pristine display that is lit perfectly evenly, and it has black text on a nearly-white background. The pictures make you wonder if this really *is* somehow paper from a novel. My Kindle Paperwhite does not look like the one portrayed in the picture, but it has an excellent and vastly improved display compared to previous Kindles.
Yes, there are some alternating bright-dark-bright-dark areas on the very bottom of the screen where the LEDs are. Yes, there is some bluish discoloration in certain areas of the display. I wonder if the layer that diffuses the light causes some refraction and/or some filtering of certain frequencies of the light that causes this phenomenon. It doesn't matter that much, because it's not distracting to me while I am reading.
Edit: I was able to verify what people were telling me. You can turn the light completely off if you want to.
Overall, the new Kindle Paperwhite is very awesome. With proper, honest, and realistic marketing from the start, I don't think that anyone could have any gripes about it. But I gave this four stars instead of five because Amazon misrepresented the product. I believe that they should have worked out some of these kinks before bringing it to market, or they should have accurately set consumers' expectations. I would recommend this to my friends, and I would tell them that they will get an excellent and vastly improved Kindle, but that they shouldn't expect the "pure as the driven snow" display that Amazon advertises. I would tell them that it's worth the price, all things considered.
