New basic Kindle

[Atunah]

Someone on Kboards just received theirs and they say that in their opinion its as dark as the previous basic.

[haydnfan]

The screen comparison is correct, the new basic has an inferior screen. The contrast is significantly lower than the K4 black. I received mine today. Disappointed with the screen.

The reader is lightning fast and responsive, it is what the Kindle Touch really should have been. OMG it is so fast. Maybe enough that I can forgive it the poor contrast. Have to live with it to see.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

The screen comparison is correct, the new basic has an inferior screen. The contrast is significantly lower than the K4 black. I received mine today. Disappointed with the screen.

The reader is lightning fast and responsive, it is what the Kindle Touch really should have been. OMG it is so fast. Maybe enough that I can forgive it the poor contrast. Have to live with it to see.

I went to Best Buy, specifically to see the new Kindle Basic. Unfortunately I have to agree. The Caecilia font is good and dark, but the contrast is not as good as the K4. (Its fonts look the same as the Paperwhite's.) When I turned the light "off" on the Paperwhite (one sitting next to the New Kindle Basic) both had almost the exact same contrast -- which means both are "murkier" than my K4. I wasn't able to tell -- for sure -- whether the New Kindle Basic used Infrared or a Capacitive screen for touch -- and the Amazon rep who was stocking up the Kindles couldn't tell me either. (There was a display model, but none in stock when I first got there.)

On the positive side, the fonts are darker than my Kindle Touch's fonts. So, if I want Kindle Touch features (except for audio features) this may be the better choice. I should also mention that the New Kindle Basic is very fast -- hardly any delay at all. With the Kindle Touch I have a slight lag when I hit the Menu (not really noticeable until comparing with this New Basic). Of course, if the screen is no better than the Paperwhite with the light turned off, I'm not sure that a Paperwhite, especially one on sale, might not be the better choice. The build and feel seemed about the same as the Paperwhite's build. Not quite sure why they have the screen offset towards the top, however.

The store is only a couple miles away, I think I may be grab my K4 and compare them head to head this evening -- so long as Best Buy let's me take my Kindle into the store, that is.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

The fonts are different: the old basic uses caecilia in this picture, the new one uses baskerville. The baskerville font is lighter and has poorer contrast. So we still don't know for certain.

That's true. I tried the Baskerville font and, though I liked the face better than Caecilia, it was definitely lighter with less contrast.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

The screen comparison is correct, the new basic has an inferior screen. The contrast is significantly lower than the K4 black. I received mine today. Disappointed with the screen.

The reader is lightning fast and responsive, it is what the Kindle Touch really should have been. OMG it is so fast. Maybe enough that I can forgive it the poor contrast. Have to live with it to see.

Well that is a disappointment as I know you got a K4B like mine. Ah well I think my Kindle eINK days are over I'll just keep what I have if Amazon has kept inferior screens.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Well that is a disappointment as I know you got a K4B like mine. Ah well I think my Kindle eINK days are over I'll just keep what I have if Amazon has kept inferior screens.

This reviewer seems to think the screens are the same ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN0gal55kcg

If you translate the German on the picture link, they claim that the screen difference is too small to notice.

So I'm definitely going to take my K4 to Best Buy and do a direct comparison in the same light -- again, provided they allow me to take my old one into the store.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by rcentros

This reviewer seems to think the screens are the same ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN0gal55kcg

If you translate the German on the picture link, they claim that the screen difference is too small to notice.

So I'm definitely going to take my K4 to Best Buy and do a direct comparison in the same light -- again, provided they allow me to take my old one into the store.

I have seen many do just that so it shouldn't be a problem.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by rcentros

So I'm definitely going to take my K4 to Best Buy and do a direct comparison in the same light -- again, provided they allow me to take my old one into the store.

Okay, I went back to Best Buy -- tried to take pictures with my camera phone but they didn't come out too well.

My conclusion. The screen background is the same "whiteness." The fonts on the New Kindle Basic are lighter and have less contrast. These pictures don't show it too well, but my daughter was with me and there was a noticeable difference. The New Basic Kindle comes somewhere between the Kindle Touch and Old Basic Kindle (K4BNT). Not horrible, but the fonts are not as sharp and dark on the NKT as they are on the K4BNT.

(I guess I'll have to figure out some place to host my pictures. I thought I could just upload them.)

Okay, hopefully this works ...

https://app.box.com/s/ii95snparv4av9kkmiac
https://app.box.com/s/xkv371prpxe4059nm3t5

(I should mention that the K4 is in an Amazon Kindle OEM case, so it looks a bit bigger than it would out of the case.)

[Barty]

Well I feel pretty good about telling my sister to get the K4NT when it was still for sale.

I wonder if the screen is any different or they just changed the font or rendering software. Amazon claims to always be tweaking their fonts but they never look better to me, only fainter. If they keep doing it eventually the fonts will be invisible.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Barty

Well I feel pretty good about telling my sister to get the K4NT when it was still for sale.

I wonder if the screen is any different or they just changed the font or rendering software. Amazon claims to always be tweaking their fonts but they never look better to me, only fainter. If they keep doing it eventually the fonts will be invisible.

Aint that the truth!

Oh well I just hope my K4 lasts a long time. my K3 is still working too both have really good dark text on it.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Okay, I went back to Best Buy -- tried to take pictures with my camera phone but they didn't come out too well.

My conclusion. The screen background is the same "whiteness." The fonts on the New Kindle Basic are lighter and have less contrast. These pictures don't show it too well, but my daughter was with me and there was a noticeable difference. The New Basic Kindle comes somewhere between the Kindle Touch and Old Basic Kindle (K4BNT). Not horrible, but the fonts are not as sharp and dark on the NKT as they are on the K4BNT.

(I guess I'll have to figure out some place to host my pictures. I thought I could just upload them.)

Okay, hopefully this works ...

https://app.box.com/s/ii95snparv4av9kkmiac
https://app.box.com/s/xkv371prpxe4059nm3t5

(I should mention that the K4 is in an Amazon Kindle OEM case, so it looks a big bigger than it would out of the case.)

Even with you phone pics I can tell a huge difference in the text. This is sad I was hoping for better contrast. Someone at Amazon needs their eyes Examined and it isn't us.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Even with you phone pics I can tell a huge difference in the text. This is sad I was hoping for better contrast. Someone at Amazon needs their eyes Examined and it isn't us.

I don't quite understand it either. This lighter font started with the Touch and the whole modern (touch) Kindle family has continued down that same road. (Though, I'm guessing, the higher resolution helps on the Paperwhite and the Voyage.) You can see the letters just aren't formed as well on the 5.x Kindles. It had to be a conscious decision to do this. Unfortunately the K4BNT appears to be the last of the "old" font line. It's not like the New Kindle is absolutely horrible, but it's definitely a noticeable depreciation in font quality.

I think I'm going to look for a backup K4BNT tomorrow.

I've loaded a darker font on my Touch -- and still use it when I need some of the features that the Basic doesn't have (like translation or "text to talk"). So, I can't say a New Kindle Basic is not a possibility down the road -- but, for straight reading, it'll be the Old Kindle Basic most of the time -- at least when I'm reading Kindle books.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Barty

Well I feel pretty good about telling my sister to get the K4NT when it was still for sale.

I wonder if the screen is any different or they just changed the font or rendering software. Amazon claims to always be tweaking their fonts but they never look better to me, only fainter. If they keep doing it eventually the fonts will be invisible.

I'm pretty sure the screen is the same quality, because pictures (book covers and ads) on my Touch appear at almost the same darkness and clarity as those on the K4BNT -- if there's a difference it's not very noticeable. The fonts Amazon chose for the 5.x family (and that's the only family there is now) are just not as filled in or as well formed. I don't know if they did this to speed up the Kindles or what, but (in my opinion) they screwed it up. I would love to see a hack that installs the "old family" fonts into the newer family Kindles.

I should mention that, it appears anyhow, that Staples still has the Old Basic Kindles for sale at $69. And, if you have a Fry's in your area, they are selling the Old Basics for $60 ($59.99). They're not shipping them however, you have to find one in a store.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I don't quite understand it either. This lighter font started with the Touch and the whole modern (touch) Kindle family has continued down that same road. (Though, I'm guessing, the higher resolution helps on the Paperwhite and the Voyage.) You can see the letters just aren't formed as well on the 5.x Kindles. It had to be a conscious decision to do this. Unfortunately the K4BNT appears to be the last of the "old" font line. It's not like the New Kindle is absolutely horrible, but it's definitely a noticeable depreciation in font quality.

I think I'm going to look for a backup K4BNT tomorrow.

I've loaded a darker font on my Touch -- and still use it when I need some of the features that the Basic doesn't have (like translation or "text to talk"). So, I can't say a New Kindle Basic is not a possibility down the road -- but, for straight reading, it'll be the Old Kindle Basic most of the time -- at least when I'm reading Kindle books.

The problem with that is there is no guarantee they will be able to jailbreak this so you can use a different font unless you add them through Calibre which is pain to do. I use a custom font on my PW1 that does help with the lightness some.

[Sirtel]

Hmm it's not as good as the old basic, true, but it's not terrible either, IMHO. I would really like to see what the Helvetica font looks like. Is the text/contrast on the new basic similar to that of Paperwhite (with the light off)? There are some shops here selling Paperwhite, I might go and take a look, if it has mostly the same fonts/darkness/contrast.
I don't need the frontlight and so can't really justify buying Paperwhite or Voyage, which are more expensive, if their text is no better. But I am interested in the newer software. Doing anything on the old basic besides page-turning is a pain, although I love the wonderful screen.