[manou]

I have Amazon's cover with the built in light as well for my KK and love it, especially when travelling. However sat home sometimes I prefer to read with a clip on light.

 

[northofdivision]

wow. the font darkness on the 69 dollar kindle next to the pw in that in the dark picture is crazy. the pw font looks terrible next to it. reminds me of when i first turned on my k3 and said "wow, these fonts are beautifully black." might have to sell my k4 and pick that new basic up. crap that font looks good. loving the pw screen texture though. perplexing because the ppi on the PW is 216 and the basic is the same as the k4. *shrug*

 

[CAR]

wow. the font darkness on the 69 dollar kindle next to the pw in that picture is crazy. the pw font looks terrible next to it. reminds me of when i first turned on my k3 and said "wow, these fonts are beautifully black." might have to sell my k4 and pick that new basic up. crap that font looks good. perplexing because the ppi on the PW is 216 and the basic is the same as the k4. *shrug*

Well you do have a extra layer you are looking thru that is not really being used in that picture. FearIndex you had me convinced to try the $69 Kindle and the lighted cover. Until I looked at the reviews for the lighted cover... did you have problems with the page turn buttons with the cover on?

 

[FearIndex]

Well you do have a extra layer you are looking thru that is not really being used in that picture. FearIndex you had me convinced to try the $69 Kindle and the lighted cover. Until I looked at the reviews for the lighted cover... did you have problems with the page turn buttons with the cover on?

Actually, I don't like the official Amazon Kindle 4/5 lighted cover either. I like the idea of a lighted cover that takes its power from the device - the Kindle 3 Keyboard Amazon lighted cover for example is, in my view, excellent. However, the Kindle 4/5 official lighted cover is not the best: the light has a tendency to shine in your eyes when reading in bed and the quality of the cover is a little suspect.

The cover has also interfered with the page turn buttons for some people. For me, it was really minor with the Kindle 4 - not a problem. And for some reason with Kindle 5 there is no problem at all, is it the new slicker material or is it a hair smaller or something. My main gripes with the official Kindle 4/5 cover were the light angle and the quality (not worth the price in my opinion).

I am currently thinking the TechNet lighted cover for Kindle 4/5 would be a better solution, because the light is adjustable and its design is such that it shouldn't affect the page turn buttons either, it also takes its power from the device and the reviews are good: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008635H4M/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=electronics

 

[FearIndex]

wow. the font darkness on the 69 dollar kindle next to the pw in that in the dark picture is crazy. the pw font looks terrible next to it. reminds me of when i first turned on my k3 and said "wow, these fonts are beautifully black." might have to sell my k4 and pick that new basic up. crap that font looks good. loving the pw screen texture though. perplexing because the ppi on the PW is 216 and the basic is the same as the k4. *shrug*

It is really perplexing. One would thing the increased resolution in the PW would allow for sharper fonts, not the other way around, but definitely the crisper fonts are in the $69 Kindle 5 - and Kindle 4 too. Even Kindle 3 Keyboard is a tad bit darker/crisper than the PW, even when the PW frontlight is to the minimum. I'd attribute a part of this on the new PW screen and the two layers (touch, light) on top of it, part on the software. So I think there is some hope that future updates bring a little darker fonts to the PW. Indeed currently Caecilia and Helvetica fonts are darker than other fonts on the PW, the one in the pictures is Caecilia though, so it is using one of the darker fonts already. Swap to Baskerville or Palatino and the PW will look even less dark than in those pictures.

 

[FearIndex]

I have been doing these comparisons between other Kindles in this thread...

$69 Kindle 5 vs. Kindle Paperwhite vs. $79 Kindle 4 here: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,129956.msg1921055.html#msg1921055
And Kindle 3 Keyboard vs. $69 Kindle 5 vs. Kindle Paperwhite here: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,129956.msg1921549.html#msg1921549
And my Kindle PW review is here: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,129852.0.html

Now it is time to put the venerable Kindle 2 against both the Kindle PW and the $69 Kindle 5. Is either a good upgrade from Kindle 2?

The looks:

The white Kindle 2 has held up remarkably well. While I think Kindle 1 was a bit weird looking, Kindle 2 already has that timeless design most Kindles have. Kindle 2 is, however, next the Kindle PW and Kindle 5, absolutely huge which makes its 6" screen seem smaller than the rest although it is the same size.

Out of the three, I think Kindle PW looks, with its very simple lines and rubbery sides, the best and Kindle 5 and Kindle 2 are tied for second position. All look good, Kindle 2 is just a lot bigger and heavier than the rest.

$69 Kindle 5 is the smallest and lightest, if that is a consideration. It is a LOT lighter than Kindle 2 and even Kindle PW.

Amazon lighted leather cover:

Kindle 2 didn't have a lighted Amazon leather cover, but it did have a very good regular leather cover from Amazon, much like the Kindle 3 non-lighted cover. Kindle PW also has a very nice non-lighted leather cover from Amazon, which closed up actually looks a bit like the Amazon 2 cover because they both have a metallic Kindle logo on them - something Kindle 3 or Kindle 4/5 lighted cases didn't have.

Only lighted case is for the Kindle 4/5, but as far as non-lighted cases go, Kindle 2 and Kindle PW have the better ones. Kindle 4/5 also have an official non-lighted case, but it lesser quality of all these. Kindle PW case is the best with the magnetic closing mechanism and the device sitting tightly inside it. Kindle 2 case lets the device wobble a bit in its metallic clips, but is otherwise a very solid, high-quality cover.

So, if you are used to and like the Kindle 2 cover from Amazon, upgrading to Kindle PW with Amazon cover is a safe bet. The Kindle 4/5 official case is a bit more of a mixed bag. Perhaps consider an alternative there, for example: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008635H4M/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=electronics

The software:

Unlike Kindle 3 Keyboard, which still runs pretty much the latest Amazon features (not quite all, but most), Kindle 2 software is starting to show its age. It too did get a 2.5 software update, which brings crisper fonts, collections and social media support, but there is a lot more missing than on the Kindle 3 Keyboard which is fairly equal to Kindle 5 in software-terms.

Some new things Kindle PW and Kindle 5 would bring to a Kindle 2 owner are the option for partial page refershes (instead of blink after each, this is not available on Kindle 3 either), support for panel view comic books and children's books, parental controls and some other smaller features. Kindle PW would also include X-Ray, translator, cover view for books etc. that Kindle 2 or Kindle 5 don't have.

Not to mention that the new devices are inherely a lot faster and run their software better. So, in terms of new software features, the upgrade certainly carries weight. However, again as a reminder, Kindle PW or Kindle 5 do not support audio of any kind! So if you need audiobooks or text-to-speech, consider upgrading your Kindle 2 to Kindle 3 aka Kindle Keyboard (still sold by Amazon).

The function:

There are a couple of things I must mention about the Kindle 2, when compared to Kindle PW and Kindle 5. First is, since it is bigger, the second generation Kindle does probably have the best hardware keys and page change keys of all Kindles. PW obviously is touch only (but works well both in page changing and virtual keyboard), Kindle 5 has smaller page change keys that are harder to hit (not hard, but harder than Kindle 2) and no hardware keyboard, so if you must have a keyboard, Kindle PW's virtual one is better than the scroll-character-by-character Kindle 5 keyboard which is fine for short search words, but not much else. Kindle PW's virtual keyboard may be the best keyboard in any Kindle. The Kindle 5's 5-way controller is a bit better than the control knob on Kindle 2, in my opinion, though.

The second thing is the overall speed at which the devices operate. Kindle PW is fastest, Kindle 5 is fast enough and Kindle 2 slow as molasses. So, the newer Kindles change pages faster, operate menus faster, do everything faster. It is a quite distinct difference between Kindle 2 and later Kindles. Even Kindle 3 Keyboard is a lot faster than Kindle 2, which is in a slow-league of its own.

If you need hardware keyboard, an upgrade to Kindle 3 aka Kindle Keyboard might be useful. It is a lot faster than Kindle 2 and has a better screen.

The screen:

Kindle 2 screen was a controversial star of its time, not unlike Kindle PW now. It had less contrast than the first Kindle and the infamous sun fade problem plagued some units.

Looking side by side at Kindle 2, Kindle PW and Kindle 5... I can safely say that the controversial-in-itself Kindle PW has finally found an earlier Kindle which is beats in text blackness. So if you are upgrading from Kindle 2 to Kindle PW, you should see an increase in text blackness on the new device (the PW frontlight is a different consideration though, you might or might not like it, remember it can't be fully turned off). The Kindle 2 is clearly the most light-texted one of these all and it also has a darker background than the others. The Kindle 2 software update up to 2.5.8 does make the fonts a little crisper compared to 2.3 though, but still not enough to touch the Kindle PW.

However, again, the undisputed king of black text is the $69 Kindle 5. It is so much blacker than either of the two competitors, new or old, that it isn't really funny anymore. For me, best of bunch is again the $69 Kindle 5. Kindle 5 has by far the best pure e-ink experience and for plain old reading its size and feature-set are pretty much perfect, if that is sufficient for your needs. If you need audio features or hardware keyboard and are coming from Kindle 2, consider the Kindle 3 aka Kindle Keyboard instead - it is still sold by Amazon. If you want all the latest software tricks, Kindle PW is the way to go, but beware of the frontlight - you may love it or hate it.

 

[FearIndex]

Maybe some of you guys with experience on third-party lighted Kindle covers or clip-on lights want to chime in, how would you light up the Kindle PW (assuming frontlight-dislike)?

Still thinking about lighting up the PW as well, not sure, but looking at it. I am yet to find any real good covers that would include a light, I'm guessing some third-party Kindle Touch cases might be workable, but they seem awfully bulky and I dislike the idea of covering the Kindle PW bezel with a cover. I'd like to keep it as lightweight as possible, that's why I have preferred the Amazon lighted leather cases that have been very slim and light for what they are.

One option would be some kind of a clip-on light. This page lists some clip-on lights: http://www.squidoo.com/light-for-kindle

These two looked fairly interesting to me. Especially the first one seems kind of nice:

Verso Clip-On Reading Light for Kindle (Graphite)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Verso-Clip-On-Reading-Kindle-Graphite/dp/B003FZA1OW/

Verso Rechargeable Arc Light for E-Readers - Graphite - Frustration Free Packaging
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Verso-Rechargeable-Arc-Light-E-Readers/dp/B004D39RM2/

First one is probably the less intrusive of the two, but having to swap batteries every five hours of reading does not appeal to me at all - considering I've been spoiled by Kindle-powered reading lights since the Kindle 3 and Amazon lighted leather cover. The rechargeable model would at least be separately rechargeable without battery swapping. Still, the idea of adding a separate light, and one that doesn't get its power from the Kindle so needs charging/battery swapping, to my reading setup does not seem all that appealing. I like having a Kindle (with light) that is like a book, just open it and read, charge from one port both the device and the light. A separate clip-on light would indeed ruin that...

If anyone comes across a lighted cover that is suitable for Kindle Paperwhite, do post a link. Thank you. At least until I have setlled onto a satisfactory lighted case for the $69 Kindle 5, I'll keep looking at Kindle PW lighting solutions as well. And judging by the posts above, others who like PW but dislike reading it in the dark, might be interested in such solutions also.

 

[Ann in Arlington]

For my money, the front light Kindle PW is vastly superior to any clip-on or case-mounted lighting I've used -- and I've had a Kindle since July of 2008 -- the original wedge shaped "K1".  I've used the "kindle kandle", the flex light, and one or two others I can't recall the name of.  All did the job, but none as well as the integrated lighting of the PW for me.

All clip-on lights or case-mounted lights, in my opinion, have the problem of a 'glare point'.  You can work around it depending on how you hold the device, but it's there. 

And, FWIW, I think the lighted case for the K4 is extremely cleverly designed.  A great improvement to the lighted case for the K3K which I actually never bought because I didn't like how it lighted the device, and felt like the extending arm could easily be broken.  It also added weight, mostly at the top, which made the whole thing feel a bit top heavy to me.  The K4 case really solved all those problems, but there's still the 'glare point'.

So. . . .I clearly don't have the problem . . . .but I can say that when looking for lights for my K1, K3, and K4, I looked for light weight lights that were flexible.  I did not want too much weight that could affect how I held the device or made it more fatiguing.  And flexibility meant I could move the light source to minimize glare rather than having to tilt the kindle.  More generalized, or 'soft', light sources also made for less glare.

 

[mooshie78]

Agreed.  For me the PW beats the crap out of any clip on light I used with my K1, K2, or K3.  They all have the glare point Ann notes, I always found it hard to get the screen lit etc.

The PW is clearly not for everyone as some have commented that they think it looks too much like an LCD screen when the lights up, some can't find one they don't notice color blotches on etc.  So its definitely a YMMV situation as everyone's eyes, preferences, quirks etc. are different.

I personally don't mind reading on LCD screens, so that's moot for me.  And I still find the PW screen is easier on the eyes than an LCS as the light isn't shining directly out form the screen as the screen is just glowing.  So it's near perfect for my needs.  Nice, evenly lit screen, whiter background with the light on (hate the drab grey of e-ink) etc.

 

[FearIndex]

Appreciate the comments Ann and mooshie78.

On the topic of Kindle 3 lighted cover, I never broke mine or felt it would be easily broken during the years of use. It is very durable and high quality. Also the Kindle 3 light doesn't shine in the eyes when reading in bed because the light points more downwards, unlike the Kindle 4 cover which many people comment does shine in the eyes when reading in bed. Kindle 4 does light the screen from the middle which some may prefer, whereas Kindle 3 case does it from the side though, which may affect preferences of course. I own both Kindle 3 lighted cover and Kindle 4 lighted cover from Amazon (Kindle 3 passed onto family now though). I greatly prefer the Kindle 3 case, both from lighting perspective and quality perspective, over the Kindle 4 case from Amazon.

It is true that the light both Kindle 3 and Kindle 4 Amazon lighted covers produce has hotspotting (in other words, an intense ball of light in one place) and from that bright spot it falls gradually darker towards the edges. However, personally I find that more pleasing to the eyes than the unevenness of Kindle PW frontlight and especially the LCD-likeness of the frontlight. I do appreciate that your mileage does vary, so anyone pondering this should try the lighted cases and the PW frontlight themselves to see which they like the best.

 

[bordercollielady]

My favorite reading light is the Lumatec - its very light and the LEDs are soft. The light is big enough that it doesn't glare like some of the others

http://www.amazon.com/Lumatec-Everest-Reading-Light/dp/B0001FUJLO

It also has a cord that you can wrap around your neck instead of attaching it to your cover.

 

[FearIndex]

Thanks for the great tip bordercollielady!

This also looks promising, great thing about it seems that it charges through micro USB, so it could be charged using the same charger as the Kindle:

Verso Rechargeable Wrap Light for E-Readers - Graphite
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004D39RMW/

 

[tiktokman]

After sending back two Paperwhites that I could not read on for more than 15 minutes without getting a headache I received my $69 Kindle on Friday. The contrast is so much better and the text much more crisp on the $69 Kindle. I read with the smallest font setting, typeface 'condensed', line spacing 'small' and WPL at 'default'. I have read for several hours over the last few days with no fatigue and the finally have the ability to get lost in a book again.

If I need to read at night in a dark room I'll just use my iphone or ipad with the background set to black and the font set to white.

For me the Paperwhite is one or two revisions from being usable (if ever). I had the Kindle Touch and loved it so there must be something with the 3rd overlay that breaks the reading experience for me.

 

[Lursa (aka 9MMare)]

Agreed. For me the PW beats the crap out of any clip on light I used with my K1, K2, or K3. They all have the glare point Ann notes, I always found it hard to get the screen lit etc.

The PW is clearly not for everyone as some have commented that they think it looks too much like an LCD screen when the lights up, some can't find one they don't notice color blotches on etc. So its definitely a YMMV situation as everyone's eyes, preferences, quirks etc. are different.

I personally don't mind reading on LCD screens, so that's moot for me. And I still find the PW screen is easier on the eyes than an LCS as the light isn't shining directly out form the screen as the screen is just glowing. So it's near perfect for my needs. Nice, evenly lit screen, whiter background with the light on (hate the drab grey of e-ink) etc.

Totally.

And I think the new PW screen...one that is not defective...is great. Have used one and like it.

OTOH, I ended up buying the Fire HD yesterday, lol. After weighing many factors.

Love everything about it except the extra weight. But the reading screen, with the Sepia setting, makes for a very nice "softer" reading environment IMO.

If I have anything left after the holidays, I may still splurge and get the PW but my K Keyboard still functions just fine for home reading. The Fire will commute with me.

 

[mooshie78]

Yeah, I don't mind reading on a back lit screen at all.  I just have no real use for a 7" tablet--I need the 9.7" iPad screen for a lot of my work PDFs and other tasks.  And I don't really want two tablets in different sizes--and also don't like that pretty much all tablets other than the iPad are 16x9 widescreen ratios rather than 4:3.  I find 16x9 screens too narrow for reading in portrait orientation, and too wide in landscape.

So I just keep a Kindle as I like the smaller and lighter form factor for curling up and reading a novel.  The longer battery life is nice too.  But I do still do a good bit of reading on my iPad between newspapers and PDFs of scholarly journal articles for work.

 

[CAR]

Maybe some of you guys with experience on third-party lighted Kindle covers or clip-on lights want to chime in, how would you light up the Kindle PW (assuming frontlight-dislike)?

I would not recommend a PW to anyone, if you are not going to use the light. I explain why in my PW review here: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,130000.msg1926357.html#msg1926357

 

[Lursa (aka 9MMare)]

Yeah, I don't mind reading on a back lit screen at all. I just have no real use for a 7" tablet--I need the 9.7" iPad screen for a lot of my work PDFs and other tasks. And I don't really want two tablets in different sizes--and also don't like that pretty much all tablets other than the iPad are 16x9 widescreen ratios rather than 4:3. I find 16x9 screens too narrow for reading in portrait orientation, and too wide in landscape.

So I just keep a Kindle as I like the smaller and lighter form factor for curling up and reading a novel. The longer battery life is nice too. But I do still do a good bit of reading on my iPad between newspapers and PDFs of scholarly journal articles for work.

It's all about portability for me and a 10" tablet will not do it. Love the 7" format and have been shopping the Samsung and Nexus for awhile. I dont need to work on mine...I have a light wt work laptop...that I can take with me (but prefer not to!).

I do love the ergonomics (basically it comes down to weight with the new Fire...the last one was a little squared off box...this one is shaped just like the PW) of the e-readers but will have to deal with it. It's still worlds better than a book.

I like to be able to get info and get directions and pull up the Web fast when I'm out and about...and the larger screen...larger than my smartphone...feels like luxury. Plenty of room for maps and Web pages.

And the screen definition is amazing on the Fire. Very impressive.

 

[FearIndex]

I would not recommend a PW to anyone, if you are not going to use the light. I explain why in my PW review here: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,130000.msg1926357.html#msg1926357

Fair points there. The existence of two additional layers on top of e-ink certainly puts the PW at a disadvantage if you don't prefer the frontlight. However, some may prefer the additional software features and the touch it has (I know I would), so solving the lighting/contrast issues somehow (maybe a combination of future software updates from Amazon for increading font darkness and turning off the frontlight completely) with a clip-on light or a lighted cover, might be useful for some.

Personally, I'm first going to look if the new third-party cover I ordered for the $69 Kindle 5 works well, because the screen on the $69 Kindle 5 is just so great that I don't know if PW can ever match that for me. Alongside that I'm still looking forward to whatever software updates (maybe in the areas I mentioned) Amazon comes up with for the Kindle PW and if third-parties come up with good lighted covers compatible with the PW - the latter probably won't happen for obvious reasons (unless there are many people like me), so a clip-on light may be the only way to go if that is something I'd decide to do.

 

[mooshie78]

It's all about portability for me and a 10" tablet will not do it. Love the 7" format and have been shopping the Samsung and Nexus for awhile. I dont need to work on mine...I have a light wt work laptop...that I can take with me (but prefer not to!).

Yeah, portability is less of an issue for me. I do have a light laptop that I use for any work that requires typing (when not at home or the office where I have desktops).

But being a college professor/researcher I do a ton of reading of scholarly journal articles, and I need the bigger screen for those since most are pages too big for a 7" screen (especially with all the tables and figures). Some are even too big for the iPad screen even (i.e. 8.5x11" pages with two or three columns of small print text) and end up having to get read half page at a time in landscape which is annoying.

The portability issue is also kind of moot for most guys I think. Since we don't have purses, we're going to need a briefcase/attache bag or back pack to carry a 7" or 10" tablet around, where as for you gals a 7" tablet will easily fit in most purses thus very easy to take everywhere. No tablet is portable for me--heck even my Kindle isn't really--since I don't normally have any kind of bag with me when out and about. Other than going back and forth from work where I have my attache bag with my iPad and any documents/books I'm carrying around for current work. My iPhone is my only real portable gadget since that can go in a pocket and is thus always with me.

 

[FearIndex]

I am yet to receive my new lighted cover, but I have been happy reading the $69 Kindle 5 otherwise. When reading in the dark, the black bezel really lets you get lost in the book, it just "goes away" more so than the previous grey Kindle color does. It is more susceptible to finger prints, if you have greasy fingers or so, but not a problem. Luckily as someone wrote in another thread, the grey $69 Kindle 5 seems to be having the new screen too, so you can choose do you want more immersive black or more finger-print forgiving grey.

I was commenting on the PW quality in another thred (quote below) and it got me thinking - after all the hassle with the PW screen and all, it feels good to be "home" with a product that just works... The $69 Kindle 5 is really a mature product that does the "Kindle thing" remarkably well.

Whatever your feelings on the PW frontlight, I think it is pretty obvious there is more quality variance on the PW than usual. Not just yes/no, defective/not-defective type of problems, but a wide range of different anomalies regarding the screen - different hues and spots in varying places, different levels of brightness, specs and lines, etc. Clearly they are still trying to figure out a consistent assembly process for the frontlight/screen. I think mine is one of the better ones, but it still looks like a gamble... and I'm not very fond of the frontlight even in better form.

Some people also have tilted screens (screen not glued on fully straight compared to bezel) on the PW, mine is also a little tilted. I checked all my four other Kindles and none of them had tilted screens.

I hope they get the PW consistency better soon. Consistency is important, there shouldn't be this much variance between units. Thinking about it, I doubt I have yet seen anyone saying they received multiple PW units (be it for partners or replacements) that looked the same! Many people seem to comment how different their particular units look like when compared side by side. That is pretty bad for a consumer electronics product.