Has the quality of Paperwhites improved?

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by FF2

since I did not re-read the entire thread - the PW can't be reversed - white letters on a black background?

Stock PW does not have option for white text on black. Maybe someone wants to write a hack for that? Doubt it would be useful though. If you deprive yourself from sleep, because you read when you should be seleping, then no amount of better light is going to cure that.

[lyric]

Let me add my anecdotal evidence to this.

I decided to return my UK launch day paperwhite to Waterstones due to the screensaver debacle, and bought a new PW direct from amazon.

Being a canny chap, I bought the new PW from Amazon before returning the other so I could compare.

The difference is night and day. While my old PW had a yellowish tinge and bands of pink and green, the new one is almost blemish free. Pure white rather than yellowish, and an almost completely regular background with hardly noticeable blobs!

I strongly recommend that those of you battling on with blotchy first-batch PWs return them. I may have been lucky, but my experience shows that good PWs are out there...

[alexjj]

I've just received a new PW that I ordered this week from Amazon.

The quality is very good. No discolouration at all. The unevenness at the bottom can still be seen if you set the backlight to maximum in a dark room - although still doesn't affect reading - but it's way too bright to read comfortably. Setting it at an appropriate brightness makes the unevenness go away/be unnoticeable.

I have no complaints with mine and based upon what I got would recommend anyone who is holding off on buying to order now.

[mngharry]

OH MY GOD. After going through three progressively worse replacements, I had given up on getting a good PW. However, I received another one today that I bought as a gift to someone, and boy, what a difference! The new one looks very sharp and actually resembles a printed page, whereas the old one looks pinkish and electronic. My eyes literally hurt and water a bit when I try reading on my old PW after doing some reading on the new one. The replacement battle goes on!

[mngharry]

I just accidentally posted the whole of the message above to Kindle support chat! Including the last sentence. hahah. Let's just hope the replacement is as good as this one!

I really can't believe how much better the new one is. And to think that my old one is the best that I kept out of the three that I tried!

[xendula]

Originally Posted by mngharry

OH MY GOD. After going through three progressively worse replacements, I had given up on getting a good PW. However, I received another one today that I bought as a gift to someone, and boy, what a difference! The new one looks very sharp and actually resembles a printed page, whereas the old one looks pinkish and electronic. My eyes literally hurt and water a bit when I try reading on my old PW after doing some reading on the new one. The replacement battle goes on!

I have heard that twice before on this forum, and now feel completely cheated, because I setteld for one pink overall, one with a hole in the screen and almost no colors and one very very faintly colored. I can't say that any of them are perfect.

[grechzoo]

I just managed to snag one from waterstones yesterday, (They got a delivery in that day)

here's a pic of it with full light. the only fault i can spot is the slightly darkish shadows at the bottom, is this normal? if so im fine with it (honestly doesn't bother me), but if its not normal, I still would like to know.

hope you guys can let me know.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by grechzoo

I just managed to snag one from waterstones yesterday, (They got a delivery in that day)

here's a pic of it with full light. the only fault i can spot is the slightly darkish shadows at the bottom, is this normal? if so im fine with it (honestly doesn't bother me), but if its not normal, I still would like to know.

hope you guys can let me know.

Yes that one looks good. Do NOT let anyone talk you into believing that it is bad. If you only think that there is something wrong, then your mind will make it so. The shadows at the bottom cannot be avoided as there is 4 leds, and there has to be a gap between each. As you notice it stops even before the text starts, so nothing to worry about.

If you are happy, that is all that matters.

For anybody else that does not agree with me, read the spoiler. Don't open it though if you think the screen looks good.

Spoiler:

Yes, there is slight a greenish discoloration in the middle, I can see that. I am not (color) blind. Remember this is not your Paperwhite, it is his. Don't nitpick him into believing that it is "the worst ever". The Image quality is not the greatest, it is entirely possible that a bad camera is at fault for it.

[grechzoo]

hah, damnt hat spoiler.

but yeah, i noticed that in the photo, you notice it a LOT less on the screen itself, the camera seems to accentuate it in the photo.

really im over the moon with it. way better contrast and way easier to read. no eye strain, and i dont have to fiddle with terribly uneven kindle light accessories, not to mention those lights last like a few weeks before dying.

totally worth the money. just wanted to make sure it wasn't worse than average, which i see it is not. so im good

[xendula]

Originally Posted by grechzoo

I just managed to snag one from waterstones yesterday, (They got a delivery in that day)

here's a pic of it with full light. the only fault i can spot is the slightly darkish shadows at the bottom, is this normal? if so im fine with it (honestly doesn't bother me), but if its not normal, I still would like to know.

hope you guys can let me know.

Good thing you like it. I will refrain from telling you what I see on your screen
I apparently have very good color vision.

[DrunkenDonkey]

You wanted color eink for years - you got one

[Lyn2012]

My PW arrived from Amazon a couple of days ago. Here is a photo taken with the PW light on fully, shot in artificial light, first photo with no camera flash and second with flash (taken at an angle to avoid seeing flash reflection on the screen). I don't know if it's a good PW or not, but I'm happy with it as I never use the light above setting 3 in bright light and in dim lighting, I use setting 1 or maybe 2.

[peter12345]

Originally Posted by DrunkenDonkey

You wanted color eink for years - you got one

Colour elink is the future

[xendula]

Originally Posted by DrunkenDonkey

You wanted color eink for years - you got one

True!

[sparklemotion]

I know someone who just received a new one they had on order for awhile and it wasn't an improvement at all. I think it's still the luck of the draw really.