MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

Gingah · 08-29-2013, 02:42 PM

An update on my case: After a long process of considering the benefits of the Paperwhite against similar models, and especially what sets it apart - the soft backlight, the touch screen, the resolution - for me, I decided against the model as a whole. I justify this, somewhat ironically, by the features that I liked:

- The backlight, which can be turned off completely or adjusted to the equivalent light of a LCD screen, is a good feature. So good in fact, that it was one of the reasons I first opted for the PW. However, given the variable quality of the font in the articles I read (even when the size was optimized for kindle), I regularly had to keep the kindle fairly close to my eyes, with the backlight on to create enough contrast. Since the backlight is made from LEDs, the result was that reading on the PW was much like reading on the laptop. In this regard, the feature I like most about the kindle is the e-ink, and if I am reading the kindle without the backlight I do not really need a PW.

- The touch screen was not really a disappointment, but I had imagined this feature would make for a fairly smoother interface for the kindle. However, after a few days use I realized I might as well have had the buttons or keys for page-turning.

- The resolution was really a selling point, and it really was quite excellent. For most books, indeed all books I bought from Amazon, this does make a big difference: Reading is easier and text is clearer. But the vast majority of the documents I will be reading are not of book-quality; they are mostly photocopies of notes/book sections, articles, and various materials that require optimization before use on the kindle. As such, the higher resolutions, and indeed the backlight, are features that I do not really need.

- Though not specific to the Paperwhite, quite the opposite really, the organization of books into collections was a cumbersome process. The case might be the same for other kindle models, but at least with them I know that Calibre already can do it. When I am likely to keep upwards of a thousand articles in the kindle, rather than a small handful of books, I really do need to be able to organize them quickly. Also, they might be switched out for other articles at any given time, so creating new collections on the fly is needed.

In conclusion, I returned my Paperwhite to Amazon. To sum up the past four paragraphs, I do actually quite like the device, but the features that set it apart from a regular kindle are not really apt for my use. But fret not, I ordered a regular kindle! It may not perfectly resolve all the above issues, but for the uses I have for it, the price is certainly better.

Another thank you for the responses on how to jailbreak a paperwhite, they surely will help others.

08-29-2013, 02:42 PM	#14
Gingah Member Posts: 14 Karma: 1000 Join Date: Aug 2013 Device: K4S B00E	An update on my case: After a long process of considering the benefits of the Paperwhite against similar models, and especially what sets it apart - the soft backlight, the touch screen, the resolution - for me, I decided against the model as a whole. I justify this, somewhat ironically, by the features that I liked: - The backlight, which can be turned off completely or adjusted to the equivalent light of a LCD screen, is a good feature. So good in fact, that it was one of the reasons I first opted for the PW. However, given the variable quality of the font in the articles I read (even when the size was optimized for kindle), I regularly had to keep the kindle fairly close to my eyes, with the backlight on to create enough contrast. Since the backlight is made from LEDs, the result was that reading on the PW was much like reading on the laptop. In this regard, the feature I like most about the kindle is the e-ink, and if I am reading the kindle without the backlight I do not really need a PW. - The touch screen was not really a disappointment, but I had imagined this feature would make for a fairly smoother interface for the kindle. However, after a few days use I realized I might as well have had the buttons or keys for page-turning. - The resolution was really a selling point, and it really was quite excellent. For most books, indeed all books I bought from Amazon, this does make a big difference: Reading is easier and text is clearer. But the vast majority of the documents I will be reading are not of book-quality; they are mostly photocopies of notes/book sections, articles, and various materials that require optimization before use on the kindle. As such, the higher resolutions, and indeed the backlight, are features that I do not really need. - Though not specific to the Paperwhite, quite the opposite really, the organization of books into collections was a cumbersome process. The case might be the same for other kindle models, but at least with them I know that Calibre already can do it. When I am likely to keep upwards of a thousand articles in the kindle, rather than a small handful of books, I really do need to be able to organize them quickly. Also, they might be switched out for other articles at any given time, so creating new collections on the fly is needed. In conclusion, I returned my Paperwhite to Amazon. To sum up the past four paragraphs, I do actually quite like the device, but the features that set it apart from a regular kindle are not really apt for my use. But fret not, I ordered a regular kindle! It may not perfectly resolve all the above issues, but for the uses I have for it, the price is certainly better. Another thank you for the responses on how to jailbreak a paperwhite, they surely will help others.