Paperwhite Second Gen: First Impressions

[Corran006]

To any current owner, can you tell me if you can 100% turn off your right with the PW2? I know for the first model you can only lower to 1% but not off. Has this changed?

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

They definitely don't seem to have worked them out completely in this area, no. It seems dust particles are finding their way between the screens. It's very possible others also have them and maybe they don't notice them as they can be very tiny. I showed the PW to my friend and they could not spot anything, but to me it's obvious. I think waiting and trying one at Best Buy is a good idea.

I didn't notice my pin holes a couple weeks later after I changed the font. I think some you can just overlook. Some you can't.

[elemenoP]

Originally Posted by Lbooker

It is with the light on. Warm white LEDs are better for your brain and your health. Blueish white LEDs may make it harder for your brain in the evening/at night to feel sleepy. They could mess with your biological clock. Some studies suggest that blueish LEDs are bad for your eyes too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_e...rcadian_rhythm
http://www.livescience.com/31949-led...ye-damage.html
http://www.cclvi.org/contributions/effects1.htm

So you are saying that if I DON'T upgrade my PW, it will be detrimental to my health, right? I wasn't planning to upgrade, but if it's for my HEALTH...

Kidding but I do dislike the blue glow of my PW...

eP

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Good One! I just ordered a HDX so I'm out of funds at the moment. I am hoping the pics will help me decide if I need the new PW2. So far I am not impressed with pics and Engadget said the same thing about the screen.

Blossom, since you are very happy with the screen on your current PW, I don't really think it's a worthwhile upgrade for you. Mine still had some color hue issues so it's a huge difference for me. For you, I'm thinking the main difference would be the software additions. It is faster and the screen is also a shade whiter, but I don't think that is probably enough to warrant the upgrade in your case. Well, unless you just want a second PW kicking around. hehe.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by Corran006

To any current owner, can you tell me if you can 100% turn off your right with the PW2? I know for the first model you can only lower to 1% but not off. Has this changed?

You cannot turn it off 100%, no. It is much more dim at the lowest setting than the PW1, but it is still on, nonetheless.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

Blossom, since you are very happy with the screen on your current PW, I don't really think it's a worthwhile upgrade for you. Mine still had some color hue issues so it's a huge difference for me. For you, I'm thinking the main difference would be the software additions. It is faster and the screen is also a shade whiter, but I don't think that is probably enough to warrant the upgrade in your case. Well, unless you just want a second PW kicking around. hehe.

I do want a second one but the no custom fonts is really the deciding factor because I don't see blacker text on those pics than I was expecting.

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by Blossom

OMG My eyeballs would burn off if I did that. I keep my PW1 on 8 at all times but my PW is brighter than most. I think the setting in normal conditions on most is 10 not 22.

You really do need to get your eyes checked. Your probably hurting your retina by looking at a screen that bright in the dark.

I only use my Fire HD in dark ambient light. I use the PW's in bright light. I'm hoping the HDX will work equally well in bright and dark light without glare.

I'm ancient in age and am still seeing fine without any glasses both for near and far vision. I have a large cataract in one eye now for 9 years and I can see just fine through it. There is no question these Kindles have extended my vision and avoided glasses and a cataract operation. I am the eldest and practically the only patient at my Ophthalmologist's office getting by without glasses or surgeries.

For me Kindles have replaced eye glasses totally.

This new PW 2013 is the best yet. Fonts are better on it than any other eReader I've seen so far and make print books totally obsolete.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

I only use my Fire HD in dark ambient light. I use the PW's in bright light. I'm hoping the HDX will work equally well in bright and dark light without glare.

I'm ancient in age and am still seeing fine without any glasses both for near and far vision. I have a large cataract in one eye now for 9 years and I can see just fine through it. There is no question these Kindles have extended my vision and avoided glasses and a cataract operation. I am the eldest and practically the only patient at my Ophthalmologist's office getting by without glasses or surgeries.

For me Kindles have replaced eye glasses totally.

This new PW 2013 is the best yet. Fonts are better on it than any other eReader I've seen so far and make print books totally obsolete.

Oh good I thought you used the PW in the dark like that! *phew*

My mom was just diagnosed blind in her right eye with a cataract and is going to have surgery. I know if it ever happens to me I would have the surgery without a doubt. Don't hold off too long not to get it fix. You don't want to wind up where she is now. she's 73

I wear glasses at all times as you can tell from my sim Avatar. I'm near sighted with a left astigmatism and many floaters. I need to get a new prescription it's been two years. My eyes have not change much over 9 years according to the eye doctor. They sure feel like they have to me. I squint at everything without them now. I have more than my eye sight against me I am dyslexic. So the Kindles really help me be able to read more. I found a font and modified it so it works perfect for me. I put it on all my Kindles.

So until I can either see the contrast on the PW2 or it allows custom fonts like the PW1 does I am holding off on buying one.

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Oh good I thought you used the PW in the dark like that! *phew*

My mom was just diagnosed blind in her right eye with a cataract and is going to have surgery. I know if it ever happens to me I would have the surgery without a doubt. Don't hold off too long not to get it fix. You don't want to wind up where she is now. she's 73

I wear glasses at all times as you can tell from my sim Avatar. I'm near sighted with a left astigmatism and many floaters. I need to get a new prescription it's been two years. My eyes have not change much over 9 years according to the eye doctor. They sure feel like they have to me. I squint at everything without them now. I have more than my eye sight against me I am dyslexic. So the Kindles really help me be able to read more. I found a font and modified it so it works perfect for me. I put it on all my Kindles.

So until I can either see the contrast on the PW2 or it allows custom fonts like the PW1 does I am holding off on buying one.

I'm way, way older than your mom and have macular degeneration as well. Cataract surgery can worsen the macular and will definitely not cure it. In addition, life expectancy kicks in and, the longer we wait, the less likely we will need any surgery. Plus, I am the ONLY patient in my eye doctor's practice not requiring any glasses for near or far vision other than kids under 30 years of age.

My doctor told me both the cataract and macular had stopped getting worse since I've been using Kindles. There is no question in my mind that Kindles have been a miracle for the elderly with bad vision.

By the way I just dropped in on the PW 2013 page at Amazon and see they now have 33 reviews of which 25 are five stars and ZERO are one stars. There is only one 2 star review.

That is the best beginning review record I've seen for any products on Amazon.

[kevinpars]

My initial impressions are that, like others have pointed out, the lighting is much softer and has a yellow rather than a blue tint. I think i will find it easier to read using the PW2 but time will tell.

One thing I did notice is that after loading about 120 books it took very little time to index everything. I did the search on a nonsense term 'sdlfasdfhjas' and discovered that after less than an hour all my books were indexed. So the new processor does more than turn pages faster.

Speaking of pages - I think I can go an average of 12-13 pages without a black flash (font size 5 and middle line spacing and smallest margins).

I see very little difference in the touch sensitivity. I tried playing a game (Shuffled Row) and did think it was easier to select letters when playing the game.

The new software feature that allows you to scroll through a book without losing your place is going to be handy for people like me that sometimes like to scroll back and reread a section and come back.

Incremental improvements is what I am seeing.

[sirmaru]

One great feature is that ALL bookmarks show in the upper right corner on the PW 2013. If one holds a particular bookmark, a bubble pops up with that entire page. One can delete the bookmarks there as well.

The battery life of the PW 2013 is also supposed to be much better than the PW 2012. It will take me a couple of months to track reading sessions on a spreadsheet to calculate this. The PW 2012 showed 10 hours of single session battery life in two cycles of reading session measurements.

[allowingtoo]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

You're not crazy. I find the brightness of the lights almost always differ between PW's. I have 3 PW's in my possession atm. One PW1 and two of the new PW2's and the light brightness is different on all 3.

I already sent my PW1 back so I don't have it to compare to. But I keep wanting to turn up the light on my PW2 and it's already up. I didn't notice it until it started getting dark here. And then it was like the PW1 at 22 or something - or maybe it's the yellow tint on the screen. It's driving me crazy. What I loved about the PW screen is gone on this one. I love the features - I love the evenness of the light better - but the color? Not so much.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by allowingtoo

I already sent my PW1 back so I don't have it to compare to. But I keep wanting to turn up the light on my PW2 and it's already up. I didn't notice it until it started getting dark here. And then it was like the PW1 at 22 or something - or maybe it's the yellow tint on the screen. It's driving me crazy. What I loved about the PW screen is gone on this one. I love the features - I love the evenness of the light better - but the color? Not so much.

It will take some time to get use to a warm screen if your PW1 was cool.
My PW1 is warm unlike most. I have the yellow tint. I would love a cool screen I think.

[Blossom]

Karen (Koland) has some comparison pics on her Blog. I notice no different other that tint between the two.

[FanciFreez]

Originally Posted by aceflor

+1
My point, and my experience too, exactly.

Yep.. I bring it home, plug it in and run it continuously and put it through it's paces for 10 days or so.. if it doesn't break within that time frame.. chances are 95% it won't it the next yr or so.. if it fails before the return policy I would just return it.. which I can't ever remember that happening .. but it could.. LOL.. hope I didn't jinx myself.. plus not to mention.. those extended warranties are so full of holes.. well we don't cover this or that..