Paperwhite Second Gen: First Impressions

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I see a little bit of every kind of device listed for you except any Kindle. Have you ever owned a PW1, or any kindle? Have you even seen a PW2? You are in Japan so I seriously doubt it. And yet you are somehow an expert on the PW2 who can mystically detect that they have no issues? At least Sirmaru is fanboy with extreme visual challenges, not that that justifies his attacks. But in your case there is no excuse for implying that all the MR people who are seeing hardware defects, and fine people they are, are not actually seeing these defects, but somehow imagining them due to past prejudices. Shame on you.

With my cataract and macular degeneration both eyes see at 20/20 vision WITHOUT glasses.

By the way, I see you use iPads these days with that Kindle Touch being ANCIENT per modern standards from your own equipment tags on your avatar.

How can you be an expert judge of the Paperwhite by NOT owning even one?

I would appreciate if you actually PURCHASED a PW 2013 and then give us all an impartial comparison of how they rate in reading eBooks against each other. You can always return the PW after reviewing it. Maybe you could convince me to buy an iPad.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Haesslich

They threw away TTS and audiobooks when they and Sony were among the only ebook reader makers to have the feature when the PW1 rolled around, so I wouldn't be too surprised.

What... they just added that feature to the KPW1 about 3 weeks ago. To leave hardware features out of a new device is one thing, but to leave out software features you just introduced to the predecessor is just stupid. This feature on the KPW1 is an incentive to NOT upgrade, at least for some.

As Amazon said that they are going to backport any features that don't rely on the new hardware to the PW1, I assume that they'll port the dictionary lookup forward to the PW2. As these readers are about 95% the same, I wouldn't be surprised if the firmware ends up to be the same (or nearly so) too.

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

What... they just added that feature to the KPW1 a week or 2 ago. To leave hardware features out of a new device is one thing, but to leave out software features you just introduced to the predecessor (which is, hardware-wise, 95% or so the same) is just stupid. This feature on the KPW1 is an incentive to NOT upgrade, at least for some.

That is one reason I am keeping my PW 2012 along with my new PW 2013. Both are great eReaders. There is no need to discard one when one purchases the other.

I use the new one and my wife now uses the old one when we both read at the same time. It will be the same with the HD and HDX.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

Ditto!!

I think people need to start reporting the missing feature. Maybe Amazon just forgot but they can include it in the first firmware update if enough people remind them.

Did I read someone in this thread who said the PW2 instant ON/OFF function doesn't work with the PW1 official case? If not I guess it was another thread or another forum. I wonder if I read that correctly. can anyone verify if their PW2 works in the PW1 official case?

[llcj]

Originally Posted by l_macd

To be fair, just from reading the forums at MR I get the general impression that Kobo owners are a little more forgiving than those who own Kindles. I don't think it's unrealistic expectations for the most part, just people wanting, and demanding a good product from a company that has it's own high standards?

That's interesting. I've always gotten the impression that it is the other way around. Kindle owners' seem to go 'oh well, that's just Kindle; gotta love Amazom.' Whereas Kobo owners' are more likely to go '*%#* Kobo won't let me overlap ascenders and descenders; *&$** Kobo.'

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Did I read someone in this thread who said the PW2 instant ON/OFF function doesn't work with the PW1 official case? If not I guess it was another thread or another forum. I wonder if I read that correctly. can anyone verify if their PW2 works in the PW1 official case?

The instant on/off for the PW2 works in the official PW1 case, yes.

[TimW]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I think people need to start reporting the missing feature. Maybe Amazon just forgot but they can include it in the first firmware update if enough people remind them.

There is another possibility. Since there is a blank tab with a grayed out *something*, it's very likely there is only one "default" dictionary on that account. I only have two myself...I just never bothered to add more. It's possible to add too much meaning to one fuzzy image.

"Don't Panic!"

[wlsinwi]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Did I read someone in this thread who said the PW2 instant ON/OFF function doesn't work with the PW1 official case? If not I guess it was another thread or another forum. I wonder if I read that correctly. can anyone verify if their PW2 works in the PW1 official case?

I have the amazon Paper white case and yes it works fine with the PW2

[SampleAndy]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I must be unique in that I rarely use the dictionaries at all, and if I do the Oxford English is sufficient.

I don't use the dictionaries that often myself, and I find that most of the time I don't find any results.

hmmm... maybe instead of making that a complaint about the dictionaries, I should think of it as a pat on the back for my vocabulary.

[slantybard]

Quick question - if you have a US amazon account but are living outside the US at the moment, can you order a kindle from the current geolocation and register it with your US account? Given the number of returns for quality issues, it might make sense to get a new PW in my current location so I could return it for any issues instead of having a US one forwarded to me by family.

[derangedhermit]

For people who would like to make a more objective comparison between the two versions, download a tiny Windows program called "Just Color Picker". It does not "install", so put it somewhere you can find it to run it. Then you can see the actual RGB numbers of any pixel on your screen very easily.

Use JCP with the "side by side" images (magnified) posted in this thread. If the image is not side-by-side, you cannot tell what has been done to the color balance (by the poster, camera, or image software). From what I have tried, the new Kindle is 10-20 units (out of 255) lighter than the old one in all conditions. The front-light on the old one is quite accurately white, keeping the slight blue of the screen as it is in the off state, and the new one has considerably more green, and somewhat more red, making the frontlit screen warmer. The side by side pictures where the new one looks lighter are accurate, but the blacks of the fonts are increased as much as the off-white of the screen is, compared to the old model. So there appears to be little, if any, increase in contrast over the old screen.

It does appear to be more evenly lit.

You may opine differently, so please try JCP for yourself and make up your own mind.

[derangedhermit]

To judge screen quality better, it may be helpful to adjust screen brightness on each so they are the same actual brightness. Then other differences will become more apparent.

[induna]

Originally Posted by SampleAndy

I don't use the dictionaries that often myself, and I find that most of the time I don't find any results.

hmmm... maybe instead of making that a complaint about the dictionaries, I should think of it as a pat on the back for my vocabulary.

Of course for those of us who are reading in a language that is not native, a good dictionary is an excellent learning tool. It may also be helpful to have both a standard and translating dictionary ready to hand.

[anywho]

Receiving my third PW2 tomorrow. Wish me luck!