Paperwhite Second Gen: First Impressions

[jocampo]

I already own a Kindle 3G paperwhite. And while I do not have major complaints with mine (yes , light it's uneven but no weird colors or screen issues) I was really curious about the new one.

So I went to Best Buy and bought the wifi version. And boy! ... I am impressed. I am very anal with my readers, very picky, like Jack (almost, lol ) ... and the screen looks really good, in low light and daylight conditions.

The interface and touch screen seems to work faster. And I love the fact that I can jump or move between chapters without having to go to the main Index. Of course, I know this will be added via software update to old ones, but it's a nice addition anyway.

Now, to the question if you should upgrade or not? I guess it depends. If you already own a Kindle paperwhite and the screen looks ok plus you can live with the unevenness of the integrated light, skip this one. You won't find major hardware upgrades that will "wow" you. But, if you really dislike how the integrated light looks under low light condition or like others here, tried 3 or 4 and never found one with a nice screen, this new generation will deliver and fixes that.

I already ordered the 3G version via Amazon and will return this one in a few days.

Good job Amazon! I hope eink devices can be around for a while. For people who actually read and want no distractions, it's the best device we can get.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by jocampo

I already own a Kindle 3G paperwhite. And while I do not have major complaints with mine (yes , light it's uneven but no weird colors or screen issues) I was really curious about the new one.

So I went to Best Buy and bought the wifi version. And boy! ... I am impressed. I am very anal with my readers, very picky, like Jack (almost, lol ) ... and the screen looks really good, in low light and daylight conditions.

The interface and touch screen seems to work faster. And I love the fact that I can jump or move between chapters without having to go to the main Index. Of course, I know this will be added via software update to old ones, but it's a nice addition anyway.

Now, to the question if you should upgrade or not? I guess it depends. If you already own a Kindle paperwhite and the screen looks ok plus you can live with the unevenness of the integrated light, skip this one. You won't find major hardware upgrades that will "wow" you. But, if you really dislike how the integrated light looks under low light condition or like others here, tried 3 or 4 and never found one with a nice screen, this new generation will deliver and fixes that.

I already ordered the 3G version via Amazon and will return this one in a few days.

Good job Amazon! I hope eink devices can be around for a while. For people who actually read and want to distractions, it's the best device we can get.

Hopefully you will get a decent 3G Paperwhite but the quality control issues on the devices means you can't be sure tbh, until it arrives.

I wish we had a Best Buy over here, if we buy a Paperwhite from a retailer we can't just return it if we change our mind as most won't take back used Kindles, and as soon as the box is opened it's classed as used. Only one is John Lewis and the deduct at least 10% of the purchase price as a charge.

Of course we can return to Amazon without losing any money, i've had to return two with unacceptable screens, but it also means no popping into a retailer If I fancy trying a third device.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

Hopefully you will get a decent 3G Paperwhite but the quality control issues on the devices means you can't be sure tbh, until it arrives.

I wish we had a Best Buy over here, if we buy a Paperwhite from a retailer we can't just return it if we change our mind as most won't take back used Kindles, and as soon as the box is opened it's classed as used. Only one is John Lewis and the deduct at least 10% of the purchase price as a charge.

Of course we can return to Amazon without losing any money, i've had to return two with unacceptable screens, but it also means no popping into a retailer If I fancy trying a third device.

I hear you :-)

We can't return stuff in Colombia either. I guess I'm blessed that I live and work in USA, lol ...

I would buy it from Best Buy if they were selling the 3G version, but they are not, at least no yet .

[jocampo]

Ha!

Did "quality control" with my wife, lol ...

She "hates" when I buy electronic stuff, she says that I waste too much money on that (actually, she may be right) And that most of the time, I get stuff that looks exactly the same.

Well, I put both Kindle side by side, and she picked new one! hahaha... got mad, because she admitted new one looks better. Not only the light is more even, but the letter are more crisp and clear, she said.

[Barty]

Originally Posted by jswinden

My response from them was nearly identical to yours, so definitely canned.

Amazon support is excellent, compared to many. But, it's still just support. I'm sure if I email them and say they need to send someone to my house to feed me delicacies while I lie in bed reading my kindle, they'll say thank you for your input. we value your feedback and will consider your suggestion to improve our product.

[BeeTee-Ess]

I already own a Kindle Keyboard, four basic Kindles (distributed amongst various family members and a Kobo Mini.

Yesterday, I took delivery of two new Kindle Paperwhite 2s.

I acknowledge a degree of trepidation as I unpacked them, although the balance in this thread is strongly positive.

And now, I can add my vote in favour too. Both my wife and I are reading comfortably with the lights set at 13, and the screens are perfect. That is not an exaggeration, both of them are faultless.

We are both very pleased with the new PW2.

A comment on the Amazon delivery process...

I am in Australia, and pre-ordered my Kindles from Amazon US, and was advised to expect delivery in late October, early November.

On 16 October, I received an email advising that my Kindles had been shipped. In fact, they left LA at 10.10 via DHL. Yesterday, 18 October, the DHL courier knocked on my door at 15.13. And that is standard shipping. Impressive!

[meeera]

In this case, I suggest you to order the new Kindle Paperwhite from Amazon.co.uk.

If you're not happy with the quality of the new Kindle Paperwhite, I suggest you to return it for refund."

Originally Posted by jswinden

That is most likely canned. I'm sure they are getting a lot of customer questions/complaints, so they write a script and send it out to the CS reps.

You'd think that a scripted response would be in standard English grammar, wouldn't you?

[dax123]

Got my Kindle Paperwhite 2 yesterday, first thing I noticed when turning it on that the screen is definitely creme colored and not white/gray like my old PW2. But luckily no pin-holes and the screen looks pretty even lighted to me, no shadows. Contrast is good too. Nice dark font. Spend some time reading on it already and yeah I'm happy with it.

Originally Posted by meeera

You'd think that a scripted response would be in standard English grammar, wouldn't you?

A lot of CS is outsourced to other countries for cheap labor.

[xendula]

I got my replacement yesterday - third time's the charm?
The contrast is tons better, the black much blacker, even without my own fonts. There are no color hues. oK, the lower left corner is very very very faintly more greenish than the rest, but I can live with this.

One issue that I have is what I think Sparklemotion had reported on one of them: there is an extra flash between pages - I don't know how else to describe it. When I turn pages, I can see the font in the original page slowly get pixilated and extra bold, then the new page form. Page refresh is off. It's a bit distracting and I have to see if I can live with this. Also, while there are a ton of dust particles between the screens, they are small enough for me to believe that they are not actual holes, but there is a shimmer all over the middle section. I have to see if I can live with this.

What bugs me a bit is what I noticed on all of the ones I have: the white is not really uniform. I don't know if there are dust particles or if they purposely made it so weird as to resemble real paperback paper, but there is tons of grey, like grey dots, or, like marble. I do not like this, but since I saw it on all the PW2 I got, I assume that's typical for all. It's hard to capture this in images. Can anyone see it when comparing the PW1 background to the PW2 background? The bakcground itself is a bit lighter colored nd has a yellowish tint, but a pleasant one. The light is also a bit yellowish, but not like my pee colored one - it's very pleasant to the eyes.

Yesterday, I had a few spontaneous shutdowns. Very strange, but it hasn't happened again.

I'll do some more reading and see if the above issues bother me, especially the way the pages refresh (this was not happening on my first two PW2s I received, BTW). I love the contrast on the device I received. It's awesome. I'll try to add a picture later.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I got reply back from my request email, from a guy named Raj. It kind of looked rather canned though. I'm not sure what the email address is. I fished around on their website in the support area. They really should have a VERY obvious Send Request and Feedback section, but I found everything including Waldo and Nemo way before I found it!

What did he write? I agree, the email address should be very visible.
BTW, thanks for the test page screenshot!

[xendula]

Originally Posted by Yolina

kindle-feedback@amazon.com
kindle-feedback@amazon.co.uk

Thank you for the address Yolina. The canned response is disheartening, though.

[aceflor]

@xendula: I was wondering myself about the pinholes, whether they really are holes, or whether they are dust particles. On one of my PW2 there was one lighter point, and I could see it (not really well, I looked for it) at the same place the whole evening. Thursday I did not pay attention and did not read much on it, but yesterday I read 3 hours in the evening and could not find the pinhole anymore. But am wondering if it will be back somewhere else.. (it was OK were it initially was, in the margin on the left hand side).

Re fonts in PW2 : I sent almost the same email as jack to the kindle.feedback @amazon.com address, here the answer :

Hello,

I'm sorry to say that currently Kindle users can't add their own fonts on Kindle devices. It is certainly not our intention for our customers to have anything but a pleasant experience using Kindle.

I completely understand that this feature definitely would be of great help to our customers. It's unfortunate that this feature is not available right now.

We'll consider your feedback as we plan further improvements. Customer feedback like yours is always important to us. I'll be sure to pass your message along to the appropriate department as we continue to improve the Kindle experience for our customers.

As of now, I apologize for any disappointment this may have caused. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Best regards,
Maniraj S

Sincerely, I think the answer is OK. It's the pressure of many emails that will maybe make them move, so it would be nice if as many of us as possible could write them.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Just before I bought the PW2, I finally went into my Manage Your Kindle page and deleted all the dictionaries and user guides I didn't want. I had procrastinated because it takes so darn long to delete 20+ items the way Amazon has the page set up. After I bought the PW2 I got another group of these items, which I knew would happen, but I cannot delete them like I did for the Touch. Come to think of it, I might have already unregistered the Touch when I deleted them, so maybe Amazon locks these items as long as the related device is registered? Who knows. I would like to get rid of them as they do nothing but clutter up the page.

Jack, try doing this from YourMediaLibrary. It only moves the deleted items into your trashcan, but at least you can do a few items at once, instead of one by one.
I actually tried getting my trashcan removed on varius occasions, and they keep telling me it's not possible. I will email them about this separately.
Thing is, when something is on your trashcan, it is still searchable. I have hundreds of items in there that I just want gone. They were all freebies, so was told they can't even go the refund route, which is the only way to permanently delete items. When the kindle was first introduced, this approach would have been fine, but it is just not sustainable so many years later, with people's libraries the size of a whale.

[xendula]

@ aceflor: what I believe are dust particles stay in the same place on mine, but their visibility changes with the angle at which I am holding the kindle.