Ok, home from work. Here are a couple pictures of the new Paperwhite in a totally dark room, with the light turned to maximum eye-searing level.
To my eyes, it looks perfect. There are a couple small smudges at the bottom, near the percentage and page numbers. I point them out only because they are noticeable if you are looking for a nit to pick. I was able to read no problem with my paperwhite v.1, and that looked much, much worse than this one. So, to me, the new paperwhite is what we had all hoped version one would be. Also, I got a chance to check out the feature that lets you jump around in the book without losing your place, or read footnotes. It works wonderfully.
To those who think that this is a merely incremental upgrade, I would suggest that the pictures speak for themselves. And, the speed difference is really apparent. This thing really zips through menus, page changes, etc. Whatever the percentage increase is, it translates vividly towards the actual reading experience.
This is a home run. I was "meh" with the first one, after getting a decent, but not excellent, specimen after a return. I used it a lot, and by day it was great; at night, very good but not excellent. This one is now a five star device. If you couple this with Calibre's ability to convert pubs into Amazon-friendly books, and then use the "Send to Kindle" program, any book can be sent to the paperwhite. The Amazon apps for iOS work really well in keeping everything synched among my paperwhite, Ipad and iPhone. I dumped a Kobo AND a Nook because they could not reliably sync my place in the book. The Kindle is unparalleled in this regard.
Not sure if the new software features will carry over to old paperwhites, but I say that this is well worth an upgrade to anyone who cares about a great user experience. This is a fantastic upgrade, and I'm sure you guys will agree.
