Buying a New Kindle Paperwhite

[Brianrh]

Hi

I've got a birthday coming up and I am thinking of getting a new Kindle PW. i was hoping there would be a January sale on after Christmas and I could get one cheaper than the usual recommended price but that didn't happen.

At the moment the cheapest price I've seen in the UK is for the Kids version at £139.99 from Amazon themselves. However I haven't been able to find out many differences between the standard PW and the Kids version. Is there a restriction on adult book content or anything else stopping me use kids version as a normal ebook reader?

Thanks.

[shamanNS]

It is 100% the same hardware (and software). "Paperwhite Kids" is just a "bundle" that combines Paperwhite 11th Gen with other extra stuff.
And of course you can exit out of Kids mode (and even delete the kid profile) and use it without any restrictions.

[Frogm4n]

If you're waiting for a sale, Amazon often has them around gift giving holidays and Valentine's Day is coming soon. There could be a sale starting in the next week or so.

[Brianrh]

Thanks guys, I'll hang on until around Valentine's Day with my fingers crossed.

[bugmen00t]

Originally Posted by shamanNS

And of course you can exit out of Kids mode (and even delete the kid profile) and use it without any restrictions.

Be aware though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnti_N7Fllk&t=136s
I keep my PW11K away from recent firmware updates, mostly to be able to use KUAL and KOReader.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Brianrh

At the moment the cheapest price I've seen in the UK is for the Kids version at £139.99 from Amazon themselves.

I see the price as £159.99. How odd. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09TM2S6T1

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I see the price as £159.99. How odd. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09TM2S6T1

I think the £139.99 price is for 8GB.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I see the price as £159.99. How odd. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09TM2S6T1

I see that some Kindles on UK Marketplace ship to UK, IoM, Ch Is and Ireland and some are UK only. Isle of Man and Channel Islands are "British" but not in the UK.
A 300 dpi Basic with front light (thus a little like a PW3) is about £88. Ships UK, IoM, Ch Is and Ireland.
A Kids Edition is £108 approx, but actual UK only.

Search Kindle on the UK Marketplace. As usual the Search may return items that are UK (excludes IoM & Ch Is) only and no indication till you look at the item.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I see the price as £159.99. How odd. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09TM2S6T1

And that one is curiously UK only.

Note that UK marketplace is what amazon.ie loads and is the default for Irish owners of a Kindle.
Irish, IoM, Ch Is. sales are bundled with UK sales for KDP and many (all?) 3rd party sellers. Obviously 1922 never happened.

[JSWolf]

One difference is that the kids version comes with a cover so no need to buy a cover.

[Brianrh]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I think the £139.99 price is for 8GB.

Yes it was for the 8GB version now I come to check. My current ordinary Kindle is 8GB and I'm wondering if I would really need 16GB?

How much storage do you guys find you need?

[Quoth]

8 G is loads if it's ebook novels only.
PDF instruction manuals and illustrated works use it up quick.
I think about 7000 items (some PDFs and illustrated) leaves about 16G free on a 32 G Sage.
I'm thinking of swapping from 256G to 512G on my tablet so as to add all the old technical magazine scan PDFs and other non-Fiction content.

So it depends on what you do. I might download about 100 PD titles a month from Gutenberg and other places and only be immediately wanting to read a few. I put all on to the ereader from Calibre except larger page size / smaller print PDFs.

A 2G byte or 4G byte is certainly too small if you are getting PD content. An 8G is fine as the Paperwhite is not much use for PDF, manga etc.

As you already have a Kindle an 8″ epub ereader like Kobo would easily let you download the ebooks from Amazon via Calibre and plugins. Then you can set subtitle, series and collections on Calibre.

[Brianrh]

My current Kindle is a 7th generation and my wife is quite keen to give an ereader a try so that's where it is destined.

I bought a cheap second Kobo Touch from Ebay a few months ago and although it was terribly slow, I quite liked it. However one thing I did miss was the ability to synchronise reading postions between the ereader and the corresponding app on my Android phone for side loaded books. I do have a few periods each week when I have to wait in the car and read on my phone while I'm waiting. I don't believe the Kobo can do this.

[dkabot]

Originally Posted by bugmen00t

Be aware though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnti_N7Fllk&t=136s
I keep my PW11K away from recent firmware updates, mostly to be able to use KUAL and KOReader.

Mine wound up getting stuck on a white screen after accepting the Kids+ subscription and had to reboot.
When I did, the prompt to continue the barrage of upsells was gone, I had no child profile, and I had no ads.
Even shows as "Special Offers Disabled" on the Amazon device page.

I've also heard Reddit anecdotes of the ads simply not appearing if you skip creating a child profile, though YMMV.

[Brianrh]

Originally Posted by Frogm4n

If you're waiting for a sale, Amazon often has them around gift giving holidays and Valentine's Day is coming soon. There could be a sale starting in the next week or so.

I hung on as you suggested and it turned out as you predicted. I've just bought a 16GB Paperwhite from Argos for £124.99 so I am a happy bunny. It looks as thought Amazon have dropped the price which probably led to Argos following suit.

Thanks for the help guys, enjoy your Valentines I know I will now.