Quote:
Originally Posted by fearindex
Finally got the international PW2 to compare. I'll post my first-impressions PW2 review on MobileRead as well...
Following my PW1 review, here goes - Kindle Paperwhite 2 (2013) aka PW2 vs. Kindle Paperwhite (2012) aka PW1:
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Anyway, I'll give the PW2 some time to see how I like it and whether or not I will exchange the unit. I do like the software it runs, it would be nice to be able to enjoy that. Maybe an another go with that clip-on light idea? Then again, the poorer text blackness is still an issue there. Maybe I'll just go back reading books on my excellent $69 Kindle with the official lighted cover... |
I thought I owed you guys one more report, so here goes...
Well, I decided to get a replacement for my PW2 - mostly due to its slanted screen and secondarily because of the pin-hole or two. Getting a replacement was a bit hard, because the Amazon support spent the better part of one day forwarding me from one attendant to another - I went through like 15 different people, each time getting to re-explain and most of the time asked for some info or another before being forwarded again - eventually forcing me to try another day. Re-trying next day it was sorted out on the second attendant and I got the replacement quickly.
Turns out, I got a good one. The new screen isn't quite as bright as the first PW2, it is somewhere in-between my PW1 and the first PW2 in brightness, but that's actually a good thing - the light is more even. There is none of the bottom right corner light-leakage and overall the "stage lighting" on the bottom edge of the new unit is the least pronounced of the three. I mean, like on all PW2s I believe, the stage lighting still shows there when you look very closely, but compared to the glare in PW1 it has now practically disappeared. The screen is yellowish like the first PW2, but it is a nice shade. PW1 with the light on looks very blue compared to the two PW2's.
The most important thing is, my second PW2 screen is straight and there are no pin-holes or specks I can see. I can't begin to describe how big of a difference this actually makes. There are no glaring defects with the screen, like there has been with my PW1 and PW2, which takes one major hurdle out of the way of enjoyment. I can now look at the menu without seeing crooked top bars and patchy, uneven corner graphics that really take away from the quality feel - let alone reading slanted text on my previous PWs. As far as what one can expect to get from a PW2, I believe, this unit is a keeper. So, unless something surprising surfaces over the next days, the first PW2 is going back and this one stays with me. Text blackness is okayish, like on all my PWs, clearly less black than my $69 baby Kindle, but it isn't bad. I think the text blackness on the new may be a sliver under the first PW2, but it is okay in both - not great, but okay.
That's the good news. The bad news? Well, the lighting of course isn't perfectly even - and when using the light high up, the text gets that milky look that happens on all PWs. Looking at a lit screen is still more taxing to the eyes in darkness than using a top down reading light that shines more evenly all over. The middle of the screen is still darker than the corners, but on the new PW2 unit this seems more even than before - the edges are more even and the darker area sort of expands more evenly in the middle making it look a lot more natural than the patchiness of either of my older units. For whatever reason, the remaining unevenness of the PW2 lighting seems to bother me much less on the new unit than before. Has it improved enough to cross a mental threshold? I don't know, but I do know it is good enough to keep anyway. The PW1 is actually quite terrible compared to the latest PW2 unit I got, no wonder I didn't get along with it. The first PW2 was still noticeably bad in my eyes (although better than the PW1), but the new PW2 invoked a better feeling.
I actually never expected to use the new PW2 that much, because the $69 baby Kindle is that good and I believe the PWs front-light technology has some inherent limitations (less "natural" e-ink feeling). The $69 baby Kindle, especially the late 2012 units I've seen, have such superior text blackness that the PW2 can't come anywhere close. I also think the case light in the baby Kindle is easier on the eyes in the dark than the PW2 lighting is. But, given my low expectations, I was positively surprised with the replacement PW2. When the screen is finally sort of good enough, it is easier to look past it and at the actually nice features the PW2 has and give it a serious go without cringing.
I don't know, maybe I'll actually get to read some on the darned thing...
