Paperwhite Second Gen: First Impressions

[fearindex]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

My first PW2 that I exchanged had a slightly lopsided screen and so does one of my Sony's. Just something that happens sometimes. I decided to live with it on my Sony, and I forgot about it after awhile as I was reading. But if it bothers you, then exchange it.

If it only were that simple with the Paperwhites. For those who are particular about these things of course, majority of people aren't bothered by variances such as these.

There are so many variables in the screen that can go wrong in an exchange process. The next one might be straight, but have pinholes or uneven LED lighting/brightness, dust specks between layers, hue issues or whatnot. There are so many ways the LED allowances, layer alignment and purity etc. can go wrong.

So clearly one is dealing with a lot of stuff from both manufacturing and consumer perspective with these frontlit readers, that wasn't there for regular e-ink. None, not a single one, of the regular e-ink Kindles I have had (seven or so I think) has had a crooked/lopsided screen. I have checked them side by side, every other one is perfectly position and straight. Only PW1 is misaligned. Pictures I've seen on the Internet seem to confirm - many PWs seem to be higher or lower in the frame and some of them are slightly crooked like mine. I haven't seen this on regular e-ink Kindles. I think the reason is that the PW screen assembly is more complex and thus internally misaligned, I'm sure the screen assembly itself is screwed in to the same place.

For my PW1 I chose to keep the one I got, even though it is slightly crooked. It is still, for a PW1, a fairly uniform screen. Let's see when the international shipments for PW2 start what I will do with PW2...

[cr3nk]

So I just got my Paperwhite 2013 this morning in Melbourne (used a mail forwarding service, cause I just can't wait )

Was nervous since I had a terrible experience with the Kobo Aura (pinpricks, light leaking out of bezel, blotches) and read similar experiences with some of the PW2 users here.

I'm here to report that while my unit has 1 barely noticeable pin leak, it is flawless. Even lighting, no software problems.

So there you go, hope that appeases some of the worries that potential buyers might have. That, or I just got lucky

[Larla]

cr3nk -- your PW2 looks great, however, my neck hurts.

[cr3nk]

Originally Posted by Larla

cr3nk -- your PW2 looks great, however, my neck hurts.

Heh, sorry bout that! It's the correct orientation on my Mac but uploading it seems to drop the rotation ahhh...

[Tony1988]

Originally Posted by fearindex

If it only were that simple with the Paperwhites. For those who are particular about these things of course, majority of people aren't bothered by variances such as these.

There are so many variables in the screen that can go wrong in an exchange process. The next one might be straight, but have pinholes or uneven LED lighting/brightness, dust specks between layers, hue issues or whatnot. There are so many ways the LED allowances, layer alignment and purity etc. can go wrong.

So clearly one is dealing with a lot of stuff from both manufacturing and consumer perspective with these frontlit readers, that wasn't there for regular e-ink. None, not a single one, of the regular e-ink Kindles I have had (seven or so I think) has had a crooked/lopsided screen. I have checked them side by side, every other one is perfectly position and straight. Only PW1 is misaligned. Pictures I've seen on the Internet seem to confirm - many PWs seem to be higher or lower in the frame and some of them are slightly crooked like mine. I haven't seen this on regular e-ink Kindles. I think the reason is that the PW screen assembly is more complex and thus internally misaligned, I'm sure the screen assembly itself is screwed in to the same place.

For my PW1 I chose to keep the one I got, even though it is slightly crooked. It is still, for a PW1, a fairly uniform screen. Let's see when the international shipments for PW2 start what I will do with PW2...

Well said. Lighting is a cool feature to have but it still is not perfected yet. The biggest issue imo is the pin holes. Shadows around the frame when the light is on, i have seen people complain about for both the pw2 and kobo aura, seem to be a normal thing and in most pictures i have seen barely noticeable.(and a bit nitpicky to complain about imo.) I was considering the aura but decided i cannot justify the $150 expense for something that will most likely have light holes on the screen. I decided to wait on a lighted ereader and purchased a like new prs 650 for 35 bucks. It will satisfy my need for a 6 inch reader and having owned one before and a 350 i know it to be a very capable and excellently built reader. I will continue to monitor this thread and the kobo thread with hopes that the screens improve over time.

[Chi Cygni]

With all due respect to everyone I start to notice a worrying tendency "I have a perfect unit, only one pin hole" it is NOT how it is supposed to be, right?

Went to Waterstones today to see PW2 live but they didn't have it on display and won't have one, so they said. And say I'd buy it I could not ask for money back (169€), only exchange. How they want to do business with bright blue-pink PW of yesteryear on display I really wonder. Saw Kobo Aura in Fnac too, lovely, light and thin, interesting bezel but contrast is better on my PW1. And it had the scratched screen effect on top, of which I read in Kobo forum.

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by Chi Cygni

With all due respect to everyone I start to notice a worrying tendency "I have a perfect unit, only one pin hole" it is NOT how it is supposed to be, right?

Nope, it's not. I can honestly say that can't see any pinholes on my PW2. I haven't gone looking for them but I'm sure I would have noticed when reading if there had been any.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by 7hir7een

Haven't seen any photos, but here are a couple videos (one in bright light, one in a dark room): http://goodereader.com/blog/electron...e-paperwhite-2

Something of note that you might want to know is the diamond pattern on the Aura screen as shown in the closeups here: http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/201...-than-aura-hd/

Thanks for that. Very interesting.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by David58117

The Aura looks great, but it sounds like it has the issues my Kobo Glo has.

3. Brightness. If you're the type who reads before bed in a dark room - the Glo (and it appears aura as well) is way too bright.

The brightness on the new aura can go as low as the PW2. See the vid above.

[ixtab]

Originally Posted by Chi Cygni

With all due respect to everyone I start to notice a worrying tendency "I have a perfect unit, only one pin hole" it is NOT how it is supposed to be, right?

Hmm... well I hesitated to respond, but here it goes anyway.

With all due respect to everyone, but I noticed a tendency in this thread to be overly critical, to the point of (IMO) obsessively trying to find even the slightest irregularities.

Jeez - this thing is supposed to be an e-reader. You read read books on it. You know, books which consist only of letters. The entire joy comes from the immersion.

I have a Paperwhite (1st generation), and it's not absolutely perfect. It has those light shadows at the bottom, and if I look very closely, I think it even has blotches, meaning that some parts of the screen are minimally darker/lighter than others. It may even have some slight light bleeding at the bottom left. But guess what: if I'm actually reading a book, I don't notice any of these.

...

I guess that nobody would be upset if every Kindle was perfectly lit, had perfect contrast, etc. But for the time being, the technology just doesn't seem to be 100% perfect, and there are some small irregularities. I simply fail to understand the huge buzz around those. It seems like some people are simply unable to live with a 99.5% good device, but need at least 101%.

</rant over>

[Chi Cygni]

Originally Posted by Yolina

Nope, it's not. I can honestly say that can't see any pinholes on my PW2. I haven't gone looking for them but I'm sure I would have noticed when reading if there had been any.

I am happy for you and I mean it. I would not stand a pin hole.

Originally Posted by ixtab

With all due respect to everyone, but I noticed a tendency in this thread to be overly critical, to the point of (IMO) obsessively trying to find even the slightest irregularities.

True but I can answer only for myself here. I think everyone has a different tolerance for irregularities. Plus, an ereader is really special for me, and I do obsess about it because I care (and I spend hours with it). Another plus, I don't have that much life either

I think MR members are more into the subject than an average Joe who only heard about ereaders. There are shadows on my PW1 and it's ok with me. A pin hole, no.

[Dee Q]

My PaperWhite came today. She looks gorgeous!

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by Dee Q

My PaperWhite came today. She looks gorgeous!

I'm glad yours is perfect, especially as she travelled a long way. Mine is due tomorrow so keeping my fingers crossed here

[Dee Q]

Sure, Josieb1. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. She'll be great, I know.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by Chi Cygni

With all due respect to everyone I start to notice a worrying tendency "I have a perfect unit, only one pin hole" it is NOT how it is supposed to be, right?

I was thinking the exact same thing!