Narrowing down to a new PW

Patricia1066 · 03-05-2022, 06:11 AM

Reading this forum is a recipe for wanting a new device, but this section has clarified my needs and wants and budget £100 - 120

I am now wondering if PW5 is worth the upgrade for my needs, as I can use whispersync to change devices for night time use. Some issues may persist as same firmware is involved I think.

I use PW4 and the bluewhite screen makes my eyes water at night, the screen looks muddy with "ghosts" and touch is so slow except for page turns. I don't think it has changed, I think its my eyesight that has got worse.
Though page turns are fast with refresh every page turned on in settings, my thumb rests on the area that opens the top menu. Annoying! Disabling touchscreen didn't improve my ability to forget the machine and enjoy the book.
Slow turn on (several seconds)
5 books per Library view!

The Fire 7 is better as I can change colour on schedule, read library books using silk browser and libbyapp.com and play audiobooks with wired headphones. Weight is similar as PW4 has a bulky cover. My amazon music and prime subs integrate well of course too.

Need - orange light - integration for amazon prime and music subscriber - buttons for pageturn - clear screen - quick response to touch - long battery life - calibre integration - dictionary

Kindle PW5 - is it quick to access library view?
Same firmware as PW4?
Is device wake from sleep and library page turns only a little faster than PW4? I am comparing it to the Fire 9th gen.

The PW4 organises only collections not by series. So in my Fiction collection, I have the Lymond Chronicles scattered, some are recognized as a series, other not, despite calibre series setting.
Is Kobo better for this aspect?

As PW5 is a larger screen, my thumb will sit lower down the screen, so probably wont trigger the top menu as often.

The Oasis is beyond my budget, and and if only hardware buttons will suit me then I would stay with the PW4 for daytime reading. I realise Kobo Libra 2 would be equivalent, and I could dispense with fire 7 for library books.

Quoth · 03-05-2022, 08:36 AM

A Fire is merely an Amazon version of an Android tablet. Not actually a real Kindle or ereader.

Since you HAVE a PW4, the serial number would let you simply read Amazon books on a Libra 2.

The original Libra is better than PW3 & PW4 (I have the original Libra & PW3, son has PW4) and the PW3 is better contrast than the PW4 with the front light off.

Also Collections, covers and Series work poorly on any PW compared to any Kobo, and hardly at all with "sideloaded" ebooks, using Calibre or not. The Kobo works fine with no Internet access and with Calibre Kobo Utilities is best for proof reading -> annotations to PC and edit original.

ZodWallop · 03-05-2022, 12:23 PM

None of the Paperwhites have page turn buttons. But the Paperwhite 5 does have the orange lighting. And a faster processor, so you should see a speed improvement across the board as compared to the any of the older Kindles.

If you really want orange lighting, page turn buttons and faster speed on a Kindle, you will need the latest Oasis.

They are all on the same (or similar) firmware, so five books a screen will stay and any other annoyances with Kindle firmware.

As Quoth mentioned, a Libra or Libra 2 will have orange lighting and page turn buttons. It also integrates with Calibre FAR better than a Kindle. You can create collections and manage series in Calibre and they will show up on your Kobo.

Kobo also integrates directly with OverDrive (the makers of Libby). So you don't have Libby on your Kobo. Instead you directly browse OverDrive for your library on the device, the same process as shopping at the Kobo store.

Kobo seems like it would better suit the needs you mentioned, BUT it does mean having to download your Amazon books to Calibre and strip the DRM. It's easy enough to do (it's what I do) but it's not worth it for everyone.

If you don't enjoy organizing and maintaining your Calibre library (and not everybody does) it might be worth it to stay in the Amazon walled garden.

Another Kobo strike is that the Libra and even the newer Libra 2 still use the same old processor. Neither one is as snappy as what I've seen of the new Paperwhite 5.

Lastly, the Libra 2 at least will be more costly than the Paperwhite 5.

So both readers have benefits and downsides.

Patricia1066 · 03-05-2022, 03:31 PM

I am going to give the pw5 a go. The price is right, the speed of refresh and size of the screen, the orange backlight all appeal.

Patricia1066 · 03-06-2022, 10:41 AM

Well I have my PW5 and I have set it up in 1 minute from kindle library, a further 2 minutes sideloading a few books I like having to hand.

First impressions are that it registers touch on the GUI buttons better than PW4, and is much quicker to load the library view.

The current firmware 5.14.1.1 has sorting by collections, and I have organised my tags on Calibre around these.

I will check tonight how my eyes cope with the orange light.

So far I am pleased I made the upgrade.

Patricia1066 · 03-07-2022, 05:12 AM

The comfort of the orange tinted backlight is great. I used the paperwhite for 4 hours yesterday depleting the battery by 35% with 50% backlight, dropping to 20% for last 30 minutes.

I have replaced all collections with ones created on the new kindle, so sometime I will need to put my books and docs into the folders, so I can find them more easily on the kindle.

ZodWallop · 03-07-2022, 10:49 AM

Yeah, I swore the orange lighting didn't matter much until I had a device using the orange backlighting.

rcentros · 03-08-2022, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Yeah, I swore the orange lighting didn't matter much until I had a device using the orange backlighting.

I don't even get too "orange," just the hint of orange makes a big difference. I use it at night and day.

BookCat · 03-08-2022, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patricia1066

The comfort of the orange tinted backlight is great. I used the paperwhite for 4 hours yesterday depleting the battery by 35% with 50% backlight, dropping to 20% for last 30 minutes.

I have replaced all collections with ones created on the new kindle, so sometime I will need to put my books and docs into the folders, so I can find them more easily on the kindle.

That amount of battery use in such a short time suggests that your new PW5 is busy indexing all those books you've put on it.

ZodWallop · 03-08-2022, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcentros

I don't even get too "orange," just the hint of orange makes a big difference. I use it at night and day.

(At night) I go as orange as it'll go. Otherwise I leave it on auto and let the reader decide.

Strether · 03-08-2022, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BookCat

That amount of battery use in such a short time suggests that your new PW5 is busy indexing all those books you've put on it.

Yes. The improved battery life is one of the nicest features of the new PW5.

Jim

tomsem · 03-08-2022, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Yeah, I swore the orange lighting didn't matter much until I had a device using the orange backlighting.

I have tried it a few times; I still don’t like it (on Kindle). I prefer to just use white text on black background.

Patricia1066 · 03-11-2022, 09:32 AM

I have used the PW for a week now, and I have mixed feelings. I will persevere as I am enjoying the late night reading experience, but book management and battery is a poor experience compared to earlier versions. I may ask for a replacement if the battery does not improve in a few weeks.

Price was my first objective really - if I could have a speedy responsive Kobo Libra 2 for £100 I would have gone for it. Though I would miss Kindle Unlimited, Whispersync and Wordwise.

I think 11th gen is quick, sometimes so quick that it registers a touch as double tap and goes forward a few pages. But equally quick to swipe back so that is ok, it is as fast as hardware buttons just not as reliable.

Screen clarity compared to 10th generation is good as at max brightness the contrast is very good. But that would be too harsh for my eyes anyway.

The warmth and brightness backlight controls are great. Whispersync and Wordwise are excellent, page animation terrible but it is not the default.

It cost £99 including 3 months Unlimited Kindle, which is worth £24 and which I am enjoying. I have found a couple of box sets that I have downloaded and have read voraciously.

The firmware is just as bad as everyone has warned about. Version 5.14.1.1 the most recent has an incoherent Library view and the swipe down settings takes up half a page but doesn't give the Text and Font controls. They are accessed with a different action - touching the centre top of the screen. Once there, there are Compact, Standard and Large versions of the Theme. Pity you cannot adjust the font size of the system, so that readers with poor vision can access their controls.

Touch sensitivity cannot be adjusted, and mine seems a bit temperamental.

Library view has a maximum 5 titles in list view, or 6 in icon; the bottom of the screen has been wasted by empty space and an icon of the book you are reading, so you can return to it in one click, but it displaces extra listing space. They have not used the larger screen size to display more titles

The rigmarole of accessing collections! CS in Amazon don't know how to access collections created on another device. You have to use Filter, and although Collections does not appear to be on the list, its necessary to swipe the scroll bar to find it. It is 10th on the list, when if I could I would remove all but Books and Docs. If you use the Sort drop down, the Collections showing will only be those created on the device.

Who came up with this kludge! Clearly not a Kindle reader.

The battery needs to be charged every two to three days, with 4 hours per day in use. Its not indexing as I have downloaded only 30 titles.

I read about the dissatisfaction of Kindle users in Q&A section, and of course as even the CS staff don't know the answers, they wont find their collections (greyed out on Sort, until it is accessed on the Filter menu) or Wordwise (touch top screen, More and scroll down to bottom of the list) and say things like well at least I can read a book, I have given up on finding my collections.

Strether · 03-11-2022, 11:24 AM

I can only address a couple of your concerns. If the battery life doesn't improve, by all means exchange it. I read at least as much as you do daily and I get around 6 days before I need to charge. And it was that way out of the box.

I've had this since it was released and I, too, had the problem with a tap resulting in it moving a couple of pages. When I checked with Amazon, they told me to hold the power button until it showed the option of restarting the Kindle and choose that option.

Whether they knew what they were talking about, or just wanted to provide me with something to do about the problem, I'm not sure. But the sensitivity has reduced over time. I can get through most books without any problems.

But the battery isn't normal, so don't hesitate to exchange or return, would be my suggestion.

Jim

BookCat · 03-11-2022, 01:30 PM

I'm not sure how different the firmware on the PW5 is to the much older firmware I'm using on my PW3, but you need to do a check on whether your reader is stuck indexing an awkward book. I've had this happen when I've put as few as three books on a kindle.

In mine, you do a search from the home page. Insert something garbled, which it won't find, into search, such as dfghg then search everywhere for this.

If you have a book still indexing, you'll have a Text result, go into these results and you'll be told which books are still indexing. This is draining your battery.

If anyone with a PW5 knows how to search for indexing on its firmware, please let the OP know. I'm sure my method is outdated.

It's worth doing before sending it back for another battery, unless you just want to send the device back and purchase a Kobo instead.

03-05-2022, 06:11 AM	#1
Patricia1066 Zealot Posts: 135 Karma: 19894 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Bromley, UK Device: Kindle 11th gen, Kindle KB 3rd gen	Narrowing down to a new PW Reading this forum is a recipe for wanting a new device, but this section has clarified my needs and wants and budget £100 - 120 I am now wondering if PW5 is worth the upgrade for my needs, as I can use whispersync to change devices for night time use. Some issues may persist as same firmware is involved I think. I use PW4 and the bluewhite screen makes my eyes water at night, the screen looks muddy with "ghosts" and touch is so slow except for page turns. I don't think it has changed, I think its my eyesight that has got worse. Though page turns are fast with refresh every page turned on in settings, my thumb rests on the area that opens the top menu. Annoying! Disabling touchscreen didn't improve my ability to forget the machine and enjoy the book. Slow turn on (several seconds) 5 books per Library view! The Fire 7 is better as I can change colour on schedule, read library books using silk browser and libbyapp.com and play audiobooks with wired headphones. Weight is similar as PW4 has a bulky cover. My amazon music and prime subs integrate well of course too. Need - orange light - integration for amazon prime and music subscriber - buttons for pageturn - clear screen - quick response to touch - long battery life - calibre integration - dictionary Kindle PW5 - is it quick to access library view? Same firmware as PW4? Is device wake from sleep and library page turns only a little faster than PW4? I am comparing it to the Fire 9th gen. The PW4 organises only collections not by series. So in my Fiction collection, I have the Lymond Chronicles scattered, some are recognized as a series, other not, despite calibre series setting. Is Kobo better for this aspect? As PW5 is a larger screen, my thumb will sit lower down the screen, so probably wont trigger the top menu as often. The Oasis is beyond my budget, and and if only hardware buttons will suit me then I would stay with the PW4 for daytime reading. I realise Kobo Libra 2 would be equivalent, and I could dispense with fire 7 for library books.

03-05-2022, 08:36 AM	#2
Quoth Still reading Posts: 13,998 Karma: 105092227 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	A Fire is merely an Amazon version of an Android tablet. Not actually a real Kindle or ereader. Since you HAVE a PW4, the serial number would let you simply read Amazon books on a Libra 2. The original Libra is better than PW3 & PW4 (I have the original Libra & PW3, son has PW4) and the PW3 is better contrast than the PW4 with the front light off. Also Collections, covers and Series work poorly on any PW compared to any Kobo, and hardly at all with "sideloaded" ebooks, using Calibre or not. The Kobo works fine with no Internet access and with Calibre Kobo Utilities is best for proof reading -> annotations to PC and edit original. Last edited by Quoth; 03-05-2022 at 08:39 AM.

03-07-2022, 05:12 AM	#6
Patricia1066 Zealot Posts: 135 Karma: 19894 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Bromley, UK Device: Kindle 11th gen, Kindle KB 3rd gen	The comfort of the orange tinted backlight is great. I used the paperwhite for 4 hours yesterday depleting the battery by 35% with 50% backlight, dropping to 20% for last 30 minutes. I have replaced all collections with ones created on the new kindle, so sometime I will need to put my books and docs into the folders, so I can find them more easily on the kindle. Last edited by Patricia1066; 03-07-2022 at 05:22 AM.

03-11-2022, 09:32 AM	#13
Patricia1066 Zealot Posts: 135 Karma: 19894 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Bromley, UK Device: Kindle 11th gen, Kindle KB 3rd gen	I have used the PW for a week now, and I have mixed feelings. I will persevere as I am enjoying the late night reading experience, but book management and battery is a poor experience compared to earlier versions. I may ask for a replacement if the battery does not improve in a few weeks. Price was my first objective really - if I could have a speedy responsive Kobo Libra 2 for £100 I would have gone for it. Though I would miss Kindle Unlimited, Whispersync and Wordwise. I think 11th gen is quick, sometimes so quick that it registers a touch as double tap and goes forward a few pages. But equally quick to swipe back so that is ok, it is as fast as hardware buttons just not as reliable. Screen clarity compared to 10th generation is good as at max brightness the contrast is very good. But that would be too harsh for my eyes anyway. The warmth and brightness backlight controls are great. Whispersync and Wordwise are excellent, page animation terrible but it is not the default. It cost £99 including 3 months Unlimited Kindle, which is worth £24 and which I am enjoying. I have found a couple of box sets that I have downloaded and have read voraciously. The firmware is just as bad as everyone has warned about. Version 5.14.1.1 the most recent has an incoherent Library view and the swipe down settings takes up half a page but doesn't give the Text and Font controls. They are accessed with a different action - touching the centre top of the screen. Once there, there are Compact, Standard and Large versions of the Theme. Pity you cannot adjust the font size of the system, so that readers with poor vision can access their controls. Touch sensitivity cannot be adjusted, and mine seems a bit temperamental. Library view has a maximum 5 titles in list view, or 6 in icon; the bottom of the screen has been wasted by empty space and an icon of the book you are reading, so you can return to it in one click, but it displaces extra listing space. They have not used the larger screen size to display more titles The rigmarole of accessing collections! CS in Amazon don't know how to access collections created on another device. You have to use Filter, and although Collections does not appear to be on the list, its necessary to swipe the scroll bar to find it. It is 10th on the list, when if I could I would remove all but Books and Docs. If you use the Sort drop down, the Collections showing will only be those created on the device. Who came up with this kludge! Clearly not a Kindle reader. The battery needs to be charged every two to three days, with 4 hours per day in use. Its not indexing as I have downloaded only 30 titles. I read about the dissatisfaction of Kindle users in Q&A section, and of course as even the CS staff don't know the answers, they wont find their collections (greyed out on Sort, until it is accessed on the Filter menu) or Wordwise (touch top screen, More and scroll down to bottom of the list) and say things like well at least I can read a book, I have given up on finding my collections. Last edited by Patricia1066; 03-11-2022 at 09:42 AM.

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03-05-2022, 12:23 PM	#3
ZodWallop Gentleman and scholar Posts: 11,477 Karma: 111164374 Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Space City, Texas Device: Clara BW; Nook ST w/Glowlight, Paperwhite 3	None of the Paperwhites have page turn buttons. But the Paperwhite 5 does have the orange lighting. And a faster processor, so you should see a speed improvement across the board as compared to the any of the older Kindles. If you really want orange lighting, page turn buttons and faster speed on a Kindle, you will need the latest Oasis. They are all on the same (or similar) firmware, so five books a screen will stay and any other annoyances with Kindle firmware. As Quoth mentioned, a Libra or Libra 2 will have orange lighting and page turn buttons. It also integrates with Calibre FAR better than a Kindle. You can create collections and manage series in Calibre and they will show up on your Kobo. Kobo also integrates directly with OverDrive (the makers of Libby). So you don't have Libby on your Kobo. Instead you directly browse OverDrive for your library on the device, the same process as shopping at the Kobo store. Kobo seems like it would better suit the needs you mentioned, BUT it does mean having to download your Amazon books to Calibre and strip the DRM. It's easy enough to do (it's what I do) but it's not worth it for everyone. If you don't enjoy organizing and maintaining your Calibre library (and not everybody does) it might be worth it to stay in the Amazon walled garden. Another Kobo strike is that the Libra and even the newer Libra 2 still use the same old processor. Neither one is as snappy as what I've seen of the new Paperwhite 5. Lastly, the Libra 2 at least will be more costly than the Paperwhite 5. So both readers have benefits and downsides.

03-05-2022, 03:31 PM	#4
Patricia1066 Zealot Posts: 135 Karma: 19894 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Bromley, UK Device: Kindle 11th gen, Kindle KB 3rd gen	I am going to give the pw5 a go. The price is right, the speed of refresh and size of the screen, the orange backlight all appeal.

03-06-2022, 10:41 AM	#5
Patricia1066 Zealot Posts: 135 Karma: 19894 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Bromley, UK Device: Kindle 11th gen, Kindle KB 3rd gen	Well I have my PW5 and I have set it up in 1 minute from kindle library, a further 2 minutes sideloading a few books I like having to hand. First impressions are that it registers touch on the GUI buttons better than PW4, and is much quicker to load the library view. The current firmware 5.14.1.1 has sorting by collections, and I have organised my tags on Calibre around these. I will check tonight how my eyes cope with the orange light. So far I am pleased I made the upgrade.

03-07-2022, 10:49 AM	#7
ZodWallop Gentleman and scholar Posts: 11,477 Karma: 111164374 Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Space City, Texas Device: Clara BW; Nook ST w/Glowlight, Paperwhite 3	Yeah, I swore the orange lighting didn't matter much until I had a device using the orange backlighting.

03-11-2022, 11:24 AM	#14
Strether Guru Posts: 765 Karma: 2825929 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Fresno Device: Kindle 1; iPad Air; iPhone 7; Kobo Libra; Kindle Oasis 3	I can only address a couple of your concerns. If the battery life doesn't improve, by all means exchange it. I read at least as much as you do daily and I get around 6 days before I need to charge. And it was that way out of the box. I've had this since it was released and I, too, had the problem with a tap resulting in it moving a couple of pages. When I checked with Amazon, they told me to hold the power button until it showed the option of restarting the Kindle and choose that option. Whether they knew what they were talking about, or just wanted to provide me with something to do about the problem, I'm not sure. But the sensitivity has reduced over time. I can get through most books without any problems. But the battery isn't normal, so don't hesitate to exchange or return, would be my suggestion. Jim

03-11-2022, 01:30 PM	#15
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,911 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	I'm not sure how different the firmware on the PW5 is to the much older firmware I'm using on my PW3, but you need to do a check on whether your reader is stuck indexing an awkward book. I've had this happen when I've put as few as three books on a kindle. In mine, you do a search from the home page. Insert something garbled, which it won't find, into search, such as dfghg then search everywhere for this. If you have a book still indexing, you'll have a Text result, go into these results and you'll be told which books are still indexing. This is draining your battery. If anyone with a PW5 knows how to search for indexing on its firmware, please let the OP know. I'm sure my method is outdated. It's worth doing before sending it back for another battery, unless you just want to send the device back and purchase a Kobo instead.

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