Upgrade to Oasis 3 from PW4?

[Waylander]

I'm thinking about upgrading from my PW4 to the Oasis 3, and am wondering whether people think this is worth it? Is the Oasis 3's battery good enough to justify it? Is the contrast better on the whole than the PW4 tends to be? Does the extra lighting make a really noticeable difference? How easy is it to hold with the bigger screen? Sorry for all the questions, but don't want to make the leap without some insight first.

[Plumadona]

I’ve had the Oasis 2 since it first came out and have no regrets. I rarely read paper books as the print has gotten smaller as my vision seems to get worse and the extra screen space enables me to use a custom font (Deja Vu) at a good size and still get a page’s worth on a screen. I also have a large library that I like to keep on hand, which is easily done with 32gb (please don’t start yet another discussion of “why do you need all of your books downloaded” - to each his/her own).

I find the lighting consistent, and the size is not a problem. With a lightweight cover (like those from Fintie), it’s not too heavy. I ended up getting a beautiful but heavy cover from Oberon (on sale), but I don’t mind the weight.

The only drawbacks related to size and weight are that it doesn’t fit easily in a medium or small sized handbag, but my solution to that is to use an old Paperwhite or borrow hubby’s new one if he’s not using it or change the Oberon cover to the Fintie. I’ve used it to travel with both covers with no problem.

I love the Oasis and use it a lot. I don’t find the size and weight uncomfortable. I can’t say that I found a great difference between the Paperwhite and the Oasis regarding battery, lighting, and contrast, but I do think the overall reading experience is greatly improved for my purposes. My husband, whose hands are larger and stronger than mine, is quite content with the Paperwhite, but he reads easily with a smaller sized font.

Your best bet is to check it out in person and see if it works for you. Good luck!

[Waylander]

Thankyou, that's a great help.

[Deskisamess]

I have the Oasis 2, and the newest Paperwhite. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't buy the Oasis. The only thing that is better for my use is the brighter lighting, and I like the auto rotate, but it's not a "need." It's much heavier, the almost square form is awkward, especially since I don't use the page turn buttons.

The larger screen doesn't give that much more actual room for more text, just a few lines. And the battery life is dismal. Given the much higher price, the benefits aren't worth the added cost. I use it when reading at home, but the Paperwhite is better for travel or for keeping in my purse when out and about.

[Sirtel]

Everyone has a different opinion, as usual. I upgraded from the Voyage to the Oasis 2 and vastly preferred the larger screen, form factor and physical buttons of the latter. Then again, there are multitudes of people who vastly prefer the Voyage to the Oasis. So really, you have to try for yourself.

[Junket]

No current method to jailbreak OA3, so you can't use koreader, epub, etc.

If you can live without those features, the Oasis is nice. Order from Amazon or somewhere with a good return policy and you could try both. I'd hazard to say that most would prefer the Oasis, but certainly not everyone.