Paperwhite Second Gen: First Impressions

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by nynaevelan

You get these messages when making collection changes while wifi is off. Now you cannot make any changes quickly unless it is on, and for sideloaded books you get two annoying messages, one asking you to connect/ignore and one telling you the collection for that book will not be saved on the cloud.

That would drive me nuts. The KF and Kindle For Android collections are not like this. I'm able to put sideloaded books in them without any problems with WiFi on or off.

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by nynaevelan

You get these messages when making collection changes while wifi is off. Now you cannot make any changes quickly unless it is on, and for sideloaded books you get two annoying messages, one asking you to connect/ignore and one telling you the collection for that book will not be saved on the cloud.

That explains it. I never change my Collections and only add to them when I finish and / or buy an eBook which only takes place for me about every 6 weeks. I read two eBooks at a time each numbering between 600 and 1,000 pages and only on History or Biography.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Blossom

That would drive me nuts.

So, Amazon is completely "cloudifying" their readers.

Kobo still has a lot of problems as far as I can see, and converting from EPUB to KEPUB is hardly as fool proof as converting from EPUB to AZW3.

There are not many other e-readers that have front lights, and the ones that do, are hard to obtain (at least in the Netherlands), and stuff like covers are practically non-existent. Also, many eaders have a really huge bezel on the bottom compared to current Kobo's and Kindle's.

Nice. Tons of readers on the market and all have problems in one way or another, except maybe the Kindle Touch and Paperwhite.

It actually makes me think to look into some 6-8 inch 4:3 android tablets as my next reading device, despite their problems with regard to readability on bright days. (You can't lower your light levels in public transport, for example, or outside in a train station.)

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

So, Amazon is completely "cloudifying" their readers.

Kobo still has a lot of problems as far as I can see, and converting from EPUB to KEPUB is hardly as fool proof as converting from EPUB to AZW3.

There are not many other e-readers that have front lights, and the ones that do, are hard to obtain (at least in the Netherlands), and stuff like covers are practically non-existent. Also, many eaders have a really huge bezel on the bottom compared to current Kobo's and Kindle's.

Nice. Tons of readers on the market and all have problems in one way or another, except maybe the Kindle Touch and Paperwhite.

It actually makes me think to look into some 6-8 inch 4:3 android tablets as my next reading device, despite their problems with regard to readability on bright days. (You can't lower your light levels in public transport, for example, or outside in a train station.)

You may want to try a Kindle Fire HDX 7 2013. It absorbs more light than other tablets and has less glare. Plus, using white text on a black background is exceptionally clear.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

You may want to try a Kindle Fire HDX 7 2013. It absorbs more light than other tablets and has less glare. Plus, using white text on a black background is exceptionally clear.

I don't want to try that. It's an Amazon-geared tablet that does not fully function in the Netherlands. Also, it's 16:10, which I don't want, and AFAIK, it doesn't have the standard Google Play market (without hacking it).

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I don't want to try that. It's an Amazon-geared tablet that does not fully function in the Netherlands. Also, it's 16:10, which I don't want, and AFAIK, it doesn't have the standard Google Play market (without hacking it).

It also has the blue haze issue that stands out on some tablets. If your going with a HDX the 8.9 is the best one as it doesn't use Blue LEDs and does not suffer from this weird blue border problem. For a 7" tablet I prefer the Nexus 7.2

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Kobo still has a lot of problems as far as I can see, and converting from EPUB to KEPUB is hardly as fool proof as converting from EPUB to AZW3.

I don't have any problems (well it did freeze recently) with my Glo, as long as I don't turn wifi on to allow it to sync or update the firmware. I also experience no problems with converting epub to kepub using Calibre and the various plugins. It is done for me when loading to the device.

If one uses wifi and updates, I can't speak for their experiences. After my Glo updated to 2.8.1 I did have issues, so I returned to the previous firmware. It is so superior to the Paperwhite (for me) that I will never get another PW.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by booklover6

I don't have any problems (well it did freeze recently) with my Glo, as long as I don't turn wifi on to allow it to sync or update the firmware.

Uh... that is not my definition of "not having problems".

In that case, I could also state that there are no problems with the latest KPW2 update, as long as one leaves Wifi off, doesn't use collections, and doesn't update the firmware.

I also experience no problems with converting epub to kepub using Calibre and the various plugins. It is done for me when loading to the device.

OK. Does Calibre save the KEPUB file as a seperate format, as it does with AZW3? I can't select KEPUB as output format.

If one uses wifi and updates, I can't speak for their experiences. After my Glo updated to 2.8.1 I did have issues, so I returned to the previous firmware. It is so superior to the Paperwhite (for me) that I will never get another PW.

But it's only superior when using firmware 2.8.1.

That is exactly what I mean. That's ridiculous. You should be able to just update, and an e-reader should be able to be *FULLY usable* when not connected to the internet. (Barring syncing between devices, obviously.) It's not a tablet.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Uh... that is not my definition of "not having problems".

In that case, I could also state that there are no problems with the latest KPW2 update, as long as one leaves Wifi off, doesn't use collections, and doesn't update the firmware.

You've never had a kindle freeze up? A program on a computer? That is something that happens once in a while, not what I would consider a huge problem. My K3 froze up way more than my Glo ever did.

Originally Posted by Katsunami

OK. Does Calibre save the KEPUB file as a seperate format, as it does with AZW3? I can't select KEPUB as output format.

No. You can't choose it as an output in Calibre the way I use it. Though I did read there is a way to do it, I haven't investigated it. All I care about is the on-device output.

Originally Posted by Katsunami

But it's only superior when using firmware 2.6.1.

That is exactly what I mean. That's ridiculous. You should be able to just update, and an e-reader should be able to be *FULLY usable* when not connected to the internet. (Barring syncing between devices, obviously.) It's not a tablet.

Well as I said, superior "to me." I prefer to have control over my devices. That is why I rooted my PW1 & PW2. With the Glo, I don't have to root to get my device to work the way I want it... and to remain in control, I don't turn on the wifi.

My Kobo is fully usable to me at all times!

People keep interrupting me....I'll try to finish now.

When I had a Sony, I never used the wifi. When I had a Nook ST, I only used the wifi once, to register. When I had a K3, I had to quit using the wifi, because it starting rebooting after connection. When I had a PW1 I only used the wifi once a month, to get the kindle owner lending library book. Same with the PW2. I've been able to roll back or re apply firmware versions to everything except the PW2, if I haven't liked the latest fw release. So I don't need or want to sync anything. Therefore, the Glo is perfectly fine, for my uses. One only has to connect once, to register.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by booklover6

You've never had a kindle freeze up? A program on a computer? That is something that happens once in a while, not what I would consider a huge problem. My K3 froze up way more than my Glo ever did.

I wasn't referring to the freeze; I was referring to the fact that you said you have no problems as long as you don't turn on Wifi and don't update the firmware.

I've never had my KT or KPW freeze, but I have had to reboot the KPW to "unstick" the front light from either the on or off status.

No. You can't choose it as an output in Calibre the way I use it. Though I did read there is a way to do it, I haven't investigated it. All I care about is the on-device output.

No matter; I just save the AZW3's so I don't need to reconvert again should I get another Kindle later, but it's not of too big an importance.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I wasn't referring to the freeze; I was referring to the fact that you said you have no problems as long as you don't turn on Wifi and don't update the firmware.

Well after running to get kids from school, and other things, I finally finished my last post. It explains why I don't WANT to turn on the wifi, on any ereader, unless I have to, to register, so I don't see that as a problem.

I did like syncing and uploading over wifi and all that when I had my first Kindle (K3) but that was 3 years ago. I stopped doing that after I realized the limitations of that Kindle, and experienced the constant reboots after connecting to wifi.

[nynaevelan]

Originally Posted by l_macd

This is it exactly, Amazon have made it unnecessarily annoying unless you use your Kindle in a set way. If there isn't a change made in a future firmware update, I guess the only answer is just not to use any collections? Even then, if that works, I'll probably be fine since I rarely have more than 20-30 books on my Kindle, but not much use to many others who need collections.

Yes but keep in mind it doesn't matter how many books are actually on the device, since Amazon has added the extra annoyance of showing all books within the collections on the device and in the cloud whether they are on the device or not. So if you have a large MYK library, this will become inconvenient for you also.

[nynaevelan]

Originally Posted by Blossom

That would drive me nuts. The KF and Kindle For Android collections are not like this. I'm able to put sideloaded books in them without any problems with WiFi on or off.

EXACTLY! It took me over a week, closer to two to get all my books in collections so that they are not showing up on the home page. Now I have 13 pages of collections on my PW but probably only about 1 or 2 pages are collects of books on the device.

[nynaevelan]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

That explains it. I never change my Collections and only add to them when I finish and / or buy an eBook which only takes place for me about every 6 weeks. I read two eBooks at a time each numbering between 600 and 1,000 pages and only on History or Biography.

I make changes practically daily, between the addition of new books and collection updating once I finish reading a book, collections are essential to me. Of course prior to all this I used to use K4PC to maintain my collections and just import them onto the pw, but Amazon discontinued importing with the update. So I am screwed any way you slice it.

[nynaevelan]

Honestly unless Amazon fixes these issues I do not see me staying with the pw2. Unfortunately the bulk of my library is purchased through Amazon so I am going to stay with their devices for the convenience of my cloud as well as whispersyncing. I just need to investigate to see which features I want to give up in order to switch to another eink device. I will tell you this, I am sorry I gave away my pw1.