Kindle Paperwhite Review: Forget Everything Else, This Is the E-Reader You Want

[Psykhe]

Originally Posted by Rizla

Duh. The main ereaders haven't used a capacitive touch screen in three years. The IR screen was introduced by Sony three years ago! The reviewer clearly doesn't have a clue.

The new Kindle switched from IR to capacitive, which is new, not from capacitive to IR.

Also, AFAIK the pre-IR touch eReaders had no capacitive, but a resistive touchscreen.

[jmilica]

You can check the Mobileread users reviews of PW in this thread
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=192526
There are some not really that impressed...

[Tarana]

I think this is a reviewer to avoid. I bought a Kindle PW for my mother as a gift. It is pretty good for her. There are no slots to add an SD card. The limited choice of fonts doesn't help those with vision problems. The light decreases contrast, which is a problem for some (me), while the Nook does not. The casing is slippery - almost requiring you to buy a case just to hold on to the sucker and not drop it. I'm not saying this device sucks. So far, seems to be a good product. But it certainly does NOT meet everybody's needs nor is it necessarily the best product out there.

[BobDyl]

I posted this in another thread but, in short, I think the capacitative layer does degrade the quality in a specific way: When I compare my PW to my KT side by side (light off on the PW), the text on the KT is both crisper and somehow "closer" - it's hard to describe but the KT text looks printed on the screen while the PW text sits under the surface. Also I think the fonts for the KT have been better optimized. This I hope can be fixed with a firmware update on the PW.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Tarana

I'm not saying this device sucks. So far, seems to be a good product. But it certainly does NOT meet everybody's needs nor is it necessarily the best product out there.

This can be said of any device out there, that's why it's nice to have choices.

[setite]

Yea after I spent an hour putting all my books into Collections, it's great. But that's not a PW problem, it's a Kindle Touch and Beyond problem. I'm hoping someone jailbreaks it soon.

[Dragoro]

Originally Posted by Tarana

I think this is a reviewer to avoid. I bought a Kindle PW for my mother as a gift. It is pretty good for her. There are no slots to add an SD card. The limited choice of fonts doesn't help those with vision problems. The light decreases contrast, which is a problem for some (me), while the Nook does not. The casing is slippery - almost requiring you to buy a case just to hold on to the sucker and not drop it. I'm not saying this device sucks. So far, seems to be a good product. But it certainly does NOT meet everybody's needs nor is it necessarily the best product out there.

What? The nook glow is faded as all get out.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Psykhe

The new Kindle switched from IR to capacitive, which is new, not from capacitive to IR.

Also, AFAIK the pre-IR touch eReaders had no capacitive, but a resistive touchscreen.

And Entourage eDGe, which had a Wacom screen (requires stylus).

[Heifzilla]

Originally Posted by franklekens

By the way, the tragic flaw mentioned in the review sounds pretty fatal to me.

You can also view it in landscape mode, which is what I have been doing to get around the thin bezel issue. Not everyone will like that, though, but works great for me. I like using the PW in landscape much more than I did the KK since I don't have to try to press the buttons to advance pages, it's the same motion now for both landscape and portrait.

[scrapking]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I had the Kobo Touch but it was buggie. They kept trying to get the FW to work right, but only made it worse. So I returned it. I think outside of Canada they don't have much of a following. I certainly don't consider them a major player.

Kobo is a major player internationally, not just in Canada. You're right that they're #1 in Canada (47% of the market there, Kindle only 23%), but Kobo's also reportedly #1 in France. Kobo's #2 in Australia and New Zealand (behind Sony, and ahead of Kindle, in both cases). Recent partnerships in the UK, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, and Brazil have raised Kobo's profile in those countries, and Rakuten is pushing Kobo aggressively in Japan now (a market Kindle has yet to successfully enter).

There are a lot of markets that Kobo is ahead of Kindle now, and the list continues to grow with Kobo's new partnerships. Kobo's strategy is to partner with major brick-and-mortar chains, rather than try to drive them out of business as Amazon is trying to do, which is winning Kobo allies all over. The U.S. market remains tough for them, though, no question, since with the closing of Borders there now is no major unaligned chain to work with. It'll be interesting to see if working with independent U.S. bookstores starting in 2013 nets Kobo dividends in that market or not.

Whether you see Kobo as a major player or not, the industry does.

[LuvDrafts]

I thought someone posted here that you could turn light off by holding down minus - sign on light setting page?

Other forums are saying light does not turn off.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by LuvDrafts

I thought someone posted here that you could turn light off by holding down minus - sign on light setting page?

Other forums are saying light does not turn off.

I have read that too, but if you try it and look closely, you can tell it's still on.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by scrapking

Kobo is a major player internationally, not just in Canada. You're right that they're #1 in Canada (47% of the market there, Kindle only 23%), but Kobo's also reportedly #1 in France. Kobo's #2 in Australia and New Zealand (behind Sony, and ahead of Kindle, in both cases). Recent partnerships in the UK, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, and Brazil have raised Kobo's profile in those countries, and Rakuten is pushing Kobo aggressively in Japan now (a market Kindle has yet to successfully enter).

There are a lot of markets that Kobo is ahead of Kindle now, and the list continues to grow with Kobo's new partnerships. Kobo's strategy is to partner with major brick-and-mortar chains, rather than try to drive them out of business as Amazon is trying to do, which is winning Kobo allies all over. The U.S. market remains tough for them, though, no question, since with the closing of Borders there now is no major unaligned chain to work with. It'll be interesting to see if working with independent U.S. bookstores starting in 2013 nets Kobo dividends in that market or not.

Whether you see Kobo as a major player or not, the industry does.

I find the partnerships with B&M stores baffling (including the ones that Google, Amazon and B&N have done). What is in it for the stores, apart from a small profit on the device? People who try digital reading LIKE it and they make fewer visits to bookstores and buy fewer print books (or at least this appears to be the trend). I'm guessing it involves a commission on ebook sales for the lifespan of the device, but it is difficult to imagine that income could replace regular book sale profits.

[Barty]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

I have read that too, but if you try it and look closely, you can tell it's still on.

Yes it does stay on. I turn it all the way down, then hold the minus button for 5 secs for good measure. I then take it into my closet. The screen glows and looking down the bottom you can see the lights.

[tomsem]

It's actually bright enough to read when turned down all the way (no ambient light), at least on my PW.