[kacir]

Originally Posted by ingmar

Actually, that price [110Eur] does include the VAT already. Adding tax at the time of checkout is pretty much considered consumer fraud in the EU, all advertising must display the full price. You can get a PB 626 aka Touch Lux 2 for about 100 € if you shop around.

I have looked in several e-shops here and the price was 110 without VAT. You must live in country with better prices. Lucky you.
In Russia, the prices are even worse.
In brick and mortar shops the price tag must include VAT. In our e-shops you usually have price without VAT in big red letters, and underneath you have the complete price with VAT in much smaller black print.

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

To be fair, I haven't seen much of the Touch Lux 2, but had looked at video comparisons of the original Lux and PW1

I owned both of them at the same time so I had lots of time to do side-by side comparison and also extended testing for both of them. Even with the first paperwhites there were many people returning them because of non-uniform light. So the quality might vary from unit to unit, even for Amazon.
I had a chance to see a few PocketBooks first hand and none of those had any problem with the light or display, even when compared with a PaperWhite version I or II.

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

By the same token, I understand that for some the PB 623 is good enough, but the screen isn't for me.

you haven't seen it in person. Period. There is difference [or was, for the two units I was comparing], but it was really minimal. I just had to admit that there was some difference if I wanted to be fair.
But, whatever ... This discussion is about the importance of CHOICE and innovation.
I personally was extremely pissed off that I can't switch off the light on Kindle completely. I understand that there is almost no difference in battery life and that you can't possibly see the lowest level of light in the bright sunshine, but I was still *very* annoyed. Just as you would be annoyed if you knew that there exists a model with a tiny bit better display, even if the model you currently own is really great ;-)

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

... but as much as I love my diminutive PRS 350, but I am using it less and less as when I switch to using it instead of my PW, I really notice how poor the screen is on it.

And yet, PRS 350 was considered to be THE best reader of its time. Then innovation happened ;-)

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

Also, while the limited customisation options on the Kindle are definitely a negative point for a lot of people, there is still some available, I have fairly small fonts with narrow line spacing and the margins are 5mm - so hardly huge?

Those margins are five times wider than what I am using ;-)
The second Kindle - now called Kindle Keyboard did have possibility to set your own margins by editing a simple text file in the "system" directory on Kindle. I can't understand why Amazon removed that option.

Seriously. What pisses me off, is knowledge that there is no real technical reason for removing options, such as justification or margin size or list of font sizes, even in the form of advanced settings buried deep within the fifth level of experimental menu, or an xml file you would have to create and edit on PC in a "system" directory.

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

The Touch Lux 2 does look an option worth considering now, and long may Pocketbook continue to produce good alternatives. Looking at the reviews, if only it had been available when I was upgrading, it would certainly have been an option I would have considered.

THIS is exactly what I am complaining about. Users have no choice.
It is not that I think that Kindle is not a good reader for some people. It is exactly the type of device I would recommend for a non-technical user that has no support and needs to get his/her books and set her/his options unassisted.