Basic Kindle and Paperwhite on sale

[tomsem]

$25 off on Kindle, $30-35 off on Kindle Paperwhite (in US).

I was wondering why Amazon hasn’t had a sale on Kindles, what with everyone supposed to be staying home and public libraries being closed. Finally here is one.

I am probably going to get another Paperwhite (a blue one so I can tell it apart from the one I have now) as I gave away 3 of my spares and my Voyage died after I did that. I think I can trade in the dead one for another 20% off + $5 credit? [Edit: yes, 20% brought price down to $79.00 and $5 will be issued when they get the dead Voyage].

Also still have a Kindle Touch, but I’m too used to newer fonts and typography to enjoy reading on it.

[notareader69]

I dont need a kindle since I love my Paperwhite 3, but are the major and minor differences between the PW3 and the latest and greatest? I can't seem to pinpoint any resources that compares the two. thanks!

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by notareader69

I dont need a kindle since I love my Paperwhite 3, but are the major and minor differences between the PW3 and the latest and greatest? I can't seem to pinpoint any resources that compares the two. thanks!

I agree that a comparison thread for them on mobileread is not easy to find. While you are waiting for someone to point one out, you can look over
https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/20...-review-video/

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by notareader69

I dont need a kindle since I love my Paperwhite 3, but are the major and minor differences between the PW3 and the latest and greatest? I can't seem to pinpoint any resources that compares the two. thanks!

PW3 - glass substrate

PW4 - other substrate, light/dark modes, more storage space, link to bluetooth to play Audible audiobooks, waterproof.

PW3 is a pretty solid ereader. Unless you need these other additions, no real reason to upgrade. My sister's bf reports that manga shows clearer on PW3. This is but one person.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Tarana

PW3 - glass substrate

PW4 - other substrate, light/dark modes, more storage space, link to bluetooth to play Audible audiobooks, waterproof.

PW3 is a pretty solid ereader. Unless you need these other additions, no real reason to upgrade. My sister's bf reports that manga shows clearer on PW3. This is but one person.

Both the PW3 and PW4 have a glass substrate.

The PW4 display is flush with the bezel and the PW3 display is recessed. Many that have used both say that text looks sharper on the PW3. Some of those say the PW4 is still good enough to read on.

[tomsem]

The PW3 and PW4 have the same underlying screen/substrate, what is different is what the 'top' layer is.

I think the PW4's top layer is a little thicker, or maybe even a different material, and diffuses light a bit more (it not as sharp as Voyage). OTOH, PW4 has 5 LEDs vs PW3's 4, so lighting is a little more even. My PW3 has been 'on loan' to a friend since before I got the PW4, so I cannot compare them directly.

If Kindle was my primary reading device I might pony up for an Oasis, but it's perfectly fine for the amount of reading I do on it.

I would use it more if it played audiobook companions with synchronized page turns (immersion reading with or without text highlighting). Can it really be impossible to do this?

I find dark mode something of a novelty, not nearly the equivalent of dark theme on a tablet/smartphone. But as many others here have suggested it would be more useful for the masses as a Theme option (rather than as Accessibility setting only).

[JSWolf]

PW3 - End-of lifed
PW4 - Still supported with new firmware

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

PW3 - End-of lifed
PW4 - Still supported with new firmware

Which, in practice, means nothing. Just because the PW3 hasn't received the newest firmware doesn't mean it has reached EOL. I think you can even use the original Kindle to buy and download books from Amazon.

[binaryhermit]

And given that there's source code required by various open source licenses on components included in the firmware for 5.12.5 posted for the PW3, I'm not sure that the PW3 is actually EoL yet.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by binaryhermit

And given that there's source code required by various open source licenses on components included in the firmware for 5.12.5 posted for the PW3, I'm not sure that the PW3 is actually EoL yet.

If the PW3 was not EOLed, then why hasn't the 5.12.5 been posted for the PW3?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Which, in practice, means nothing. Just because the PW3 hasn't received the newest firmware doesn't mean it has reached EOL. I think you can even use the original Kindle to buy and download books from Amazon.

Any Kindle not getting 5.12.5 is EOLed.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Any Kindle not getting 5.12.5 is EOLed.

But the impact of that, currently, is zero.
It functions exactly the same as it did before 5.12.5 was released.

[NullNix]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Any Kindle not getting 5.12.5 is EOLed.

By your definition, which appears not to include things like "can use it for its intended purpose with all newly-sold content". People who don't hang out on forums like this don't even *know* when their firmware updates (citation: my own mother, who only notices the occasional UI change and had no idea until I mentioned it that the software on the Kindle was being changed at all). They would certainly know if they were unable to buy newly-published books. *That* is what constitutes EOL for a Kindle from Amazon's perspective, *and* from the perspective of every single user who isn't a software developer and probably most of those as well. Your definition is also not the legal definition, which is jurisdiction-dependent but is very unlikely to exceed the duration of a three-year extended warranty -- yet Amazon often keep providing firmware for Kindles older than that.

The only team which is in any way likely to use your bizarrely-specific definition of EOL is the team at lab126 actually developing the firmware. You'll pardon me if I find that definition less useful than one that actually reflects the user experience. It is certainly not an uncontested definition worthy of constantly harping on about like this, redirecting conversations in much less useful directions than they would otherwise be, into pedantic arguments over your *personal* definition of "EOL".

(Also... when you buy a Kindle, is the top-of-line item "continued firmware updates" or is it about, well, *buying and reading books*? Oh look it's about buying books. Imagine that! You might almost think it was a reader and not a general-purpose computing platform.)

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

But the impact of that, currently, is zero.
It functions exactly the same as it did before 5.12.5 was released.

Not necessarily. There have been reports of some Kindles with 5.12.4 having an excessive battery drain. That will not be fixed with 5.12.5 with a PW3. The PW3 may have gotten 5.12.4 OTA as Amazon did pull 5.12.4 from the website but from from OTA.

So if you have a PW3 that have excessive battery drain due to 5.12.4, there's no way to install 5.12.5 to fix that.

[tomsem]

I Predict that PW3 will eventually get 5.12.5. As has been noted, it initially got 5.12.4 and that was removed (and updates page still cautions about updating the Kids Paperwhite to 5.12.4). It has 512 RAM, same as all the other Kindles that have gotten 5.12.5. No reason it should be left out. I think 7th gen Kindle may be left behind, but we’ll see.