Amazon announce 6.8" Paperwhite Kindles

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

As I've stated before, Amazon seems to release stuff in the USA early to work out the bugs. We suffer so you don't have to. You're Welcome!

It's that Amazon really doesn't care about their shops other then the US.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

With a wireless charger, Amazon could dump the USB socket altogether. This would make a water proof device possible.

Dump USB and say goodbye to side loading. That would be a huge mistake on Amazon's part.

The PW5 can be waterproof with a USB port. Kobo does it.

[JSWolf]

Say hello to the all new Amazon Kindle H2O.

[drofgnal]

If I hadn't recently bought an Oasis, this would be a no brainer. It could push out the Oasis. I have to wonder if there is an Oasis refresh in the works.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by rcentros

That's true. I didn't think of that. So really, for the same the product, in the U.S. it's $160 U.S. dollars, in Canada it's $150 in Canadian dollars (which, at current exchange rates, would be $117 in U.S. dollars).

In Great Britain, on the other hand, they're paying 129 pounds which works out to $176 in U.S. dollars. (The last time I bought something from England the exchange rate was, I think, around 2 dollars to a pound? When did it drop to $1.37?)

Canada has had a deal on Kindles for a while. Pretty sure they are trying to increase market share as Kobo is top dog there. Don't forget GB prices include sales tax while Canada/US ones don't.

[booklover6]

There's a curious size difference, which will matter if purchasing non-brand covers:

Paperwhite 4.9” x 6.9” x .32” (124.6 x 174.2 x 8.1 mm) 205g
Signature 4.9” x 6.9” x .32” (125 x 174 x 8.1 mm) 208g
PW Kids Ed 5.1” x 6.9” x .5” (129.2 x 175.5 x 13.5 mm) 321g including cover

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Say hello to the all new Amazon Kindle H2O.

In some ways, yes...

Kobo Aura H2O (2nd edition) -- 172 x 129 x 8.8 mm, 207 grams
  IPX8 Water Resistance -- 17 LEDs -- 8 GBs -- 265 PPI screen

Kindle Paperwhite (2021)    -- 174 x 124 x 8.1 mm, 205 grams
  IPX8 Water Resistance -- 17 LEDs -- 8 GBs -- 300 PPI screen

I'm guessing the 2021 Paperwhite has a faster CPU and more operating RAM, but I have no way of knowing for sure because Amazon doesn't list those features. The 2021 Paperwhite has USB-C but no microUSB slot. Unless Amazon has greatly improved their font rendering, the H2O most likely wins out there. At any rate pretty close specs, considering the gap between releases.

BTW — I need to correct myself. For some reason I thought the new Kindle had 27 LEDs instead of 17. I don't know how I got that into my head, but I repeated it several times.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by booklover6

There's a curious size difference, which will matter if purchasing non-brand covers:

Paperwhite 4.9” x 6.9” x .32” (124.6 x 174.2 x 8.1 mm) 205g
Signature 4.9” x 6.9” x .32” (125 x 174 x 8.1 mm) 208g
PW Kids Ed 5.1” x 6.9” x .5” (129.2 x 175.5 x 13.5 mm) 321g including cover

It looks like the kid's edition is being measured with its cover installed. I think they're just rounding the numbers on the Signature version. I guess the circuitry to enable wireless charging accounts for the slightly higher weight.

[rcentros]

Just got thinking. Probably the best "upgrade" Amazon could do for the Basic Kindle is to rebrand the Paperwhite 4 as its new low-end reader. I wonder if they've considered that possibility? That would be two huge upgrades in their Kindle line and the Paperwhite 4 is already designed and ready to go.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by rcentros

It looks like the kid's edition is being measured with its cover installed. I think they're just rounding the numbers on the Signature version. I guess the circuitry to enable wireless charging accounts for the slightly higher weight.

That's logical! I was ready to cross the Kid's off my list. Now it's back in the game. I'm choosing between that one and the Signature. I may end up getting the Kids with the black cover. (Same price as the PW5 without ads, which I pay to remove anyway, so....if they are actually identical in every way....why not?)

[issybird]

Originally Posted by rcentros

In some ways, yes...

Kobo Aura H2O (2nd edition) -- 172 x 129 x 8.8 mm, 207 grams
  IPX8 Water Resistance -- 17 LEDs -- 8 GBs -- 225 PPI screen

The H2O1 has a ppi of 265. Typo?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by issybird

The H2O1 has a ppi of 265. Typo?

Yes, my fault. I'll correct it. Sorry.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by rcentros

In some ways, yes...

Kobo Aura H2O (2nd edition) -- 172 x 129 x 8.8 mm, 207 grams
  IPX8 Water Resistance -- 17 LEDs -- 8 GBs -- 265 PPI screen

Kindle Paperwhite (2021)    -- 174 x 124 x 8.1 mm, 205 grams
  IPX8 Water Resistance -- 17 LEDs -- 8 GBs -- 300 PPI screen

I'm guessing the 2021 Paperwhite has a faster CPU and more operating RAM, but I have no way of knowing for sure because Amazon doesn't list those features. The 2021 Paperwhite has USB-C but no microUSB slot. Unless Amazon has greatly improved their font rendering, the H2O most likely wins out there. At any rate pretty close specs, considering the gap between releases.

BTW — I need to correct myself. For some reason I thought the new Kindle had 27 LEDs instead of 17. I don't know how I got that into my head, but I repeated it several times.

Also the Libra works well with Calibre. Local book management, collections, series and annotation is terrible on the Kindle. Wife and I both have PW3 and have switched to Kobo Libra. Not impressed with my son's PW4. He also thinks it's inferior to the PW3. He upgraded from a Kindle Keyboard 3.

[JSWolf]

The PW4's screen is not as good as the PW3. The P4 is less clear then the PW3.

[93terp]

I was curious to see how the Trade-In is working, so when I clicked on the link on the new PWSE page, it brought up the list of eligible devices that are registered to my Kindle/Amazon account. Curiously enough, the current Oasis 3, which I own and is registered to me, is NOT eligible for the trade-in, but the last generation of the PW (which I also own/registered to me) is eligible...



I also noticed something new WRT returns; at least, I don't recall seeing this restriction before when new Kindles are released. Under the "Pre-Order Now" button, there's a link to the Return Policy, which states "This item is non-returnable, but if the item arrives damaged or defective, you may request a refund or replacement." Is this new??? Seems like in the past you could always return it for any reason within 2-4 weeks of delivery.