Is a KV worth it?

[drgonzalez94]

Hello, all. User idoit recently messaged me asking which reader I like more: my PW2 or my KV. I was initially going to type a short answer, but I got a little carried away Figured MobileRead can use yet another opinion-based comparison between the Paperwhite and the Voyage.

My apologies for the delay in answering. My personal favorite is the Voyage. It is, in my opinion a reader far superior to the paperwhite in many ways. The paperwhite is still an incredible piece of technology; don't get me wrong, and if the voyage didn't exist I would be ecstatic to be able to use a paperwhite. The things that really do it for me are:

1. Build quality. I LOVE the fact that the screen is not recessed, and is flush with the bezel. The PW tends to get lint stuck in the corners and in between the screen and the bezel every now and again (although the use of the kindle-branded case I've got reduces this considerably).

2. Page turn sensors - I read at night a lot, with the reader turned sideways and my head on the pillow. It's awkward to have to shift your hands to turn the page and then get back to your reading position. It gets old very quickly. With the haptic feedback sensors, I don't have to find a place for my thumb to dangle without getting in the way of the text in between page turns. I would buy a voyage JUST for this feature, honestly.

3. Glass screen - the fact that it is glass doesn't bother me at all even when reading outside (it is micro-etched, to reduce glare). It feels smoother to the touch. This will likely be personal preference, though. Some people like a slightly rougher surface, similar to a book.

4. The light - The front light is adaptive (I believe the PW3 now has this? I've only got the PW2). I personally like the light better on the KV. It just seems more evenly distributed. The PW2 has some SLIGHT shadowing near the point of origin. You eventually get used to this though and frankly it doesn't bother me one bit. One thing I love is that it is brighter than the PW. I use it as a night light sometimes. I turn it to max brightness to navigate down to the kitchen without having to turn my lights on. LAZINESS AT ITS BEST FOLKS

The battery life seems to be just about the same (they each last about a week for me. I read two books a week, on average. The screen itself between the KV and the PW3 is the same 300ppi eink Carta, so there should be no discernible differences there. Supposedly there is a new Voyage coming out next month (November 2015) with Eink Regal technology on a (probably) carta screen (which will provide the ability to have 100+ page turns without a full refresh), a much faster processor (I believe a 1 Ghz iMX7) and should maintain the $199 price tag. So if you've got the money for a voyage, I'd wait until it is introduced. Heck I'd wait anyway because if those new features don't really matter to you, the current generation KV's will flood the used market on eBay and sell for much less than what they're selling for now.

Hope this helps,

Dan

[Josieb1]

The PW3 doesn't have adaptive lighting, that's a Voyage only function.

I also think the Voyage is the best e-ink kindle but they all have the same software. I've moved to a Kobo Glo HD as I can actually have the right font size for my eyes.

[drgonzalez94]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

The PW3 doesn't have adaptive lighting, that's a Voyage only function.

I also think the Voyage is the best e-ink kindle but they all have the same software. I've moved to a Kobo Glo HD as I can actually have the right font size for my eyes.

Thanks, I wasn't sure about that, hence the question mark. In that case, just another point for the Voyage. I was personally disappointed with the Kobo's speed. It was excruciatingly slow - especially loading books and indexing newly added content. I read a lot of academic pdf's on my Voyage, and there is no comparison there, especially with zooming speed and the greyscale depth you get on the KV.

I also got spoiled by the Kindle's page turns, which are easily twice as fast as the Kobo if not more. Usability is far more important to me than font size and selection or out of the box support for KoReader which can easily be dealt with a jailbreak and custom fonts/font embedding in Calibre.

Our priorities seem to be different, which is why our e-reader of choice will be different as well. Glad you're enjoying your Glo HD

[thatworkshop]

Originally Posted by drgonzalez94

I also got spoiled by the Kindle's page turns, which are easily twice as fast as the Kobo if not more. Usability is far more important to me than font size and selection or out of the box support for KoReader which can easily be dealt with a jailbreak and custom fonts/font embedding in Calibre.

In fact, the page turn buttons for PDFs are one of reasons I might consider V2. Coming from the luxurious space that my gorgeous DXG provides me, I'd like to navigate through my PDF/djvus with buttons. Last point is Text-To-Speech which unfortunately I'd guess won't come back ever again and for that even after getting V2, my existing Kindle will be pampersed and revered. So, Amazon listen to me and read this please. Bring TTS back and make it waterproof and you get another purchase from me.

[jbcohen]

In my humble opinion that is a subjective question that only you can decide with members here giving advice. What you need to do is to compare the Paperwhite and the voyage side-by-side and look at the things that amazon has added in the voyage. Then attach what you consider to be a fair value for that enhancement. Then total up the dollar figures and see if the cost of the paperwhite+the enhancement total = < the cost of the voyage. My problem with the voyage is the only thing that I am willing to give extra dollars for is the adaptive lighting and I am not willing to add the difference between the paper white and the voyage. Sell me the voyage for $150 and I will do it, just not that much more. And I now I could probably get an old model voyage on ebay.

[cvkemp]

I got the PW2 first and I really like it, but I finally talked myself into the voyage, and I have to say I cannot go back to the PW2, the readability of the voyage is so much better to me. I know that I have eye issues and I cannot read on a computer screen or a tablet screen very long, the PW2 let me read for more than 45 mins, at a time. Now with the voyage I can and have read for hours at a time, without eye strain.
But to say if it is worth it to you, I would say that depends on you. How much and how long do you read at a time, etc.

[thatworkshop]

Originally Posted by cvkemp

...

Thanks all.
The only value that a potential V2 adds to my experience is going to be front-light, because I have always been happy with my two Kindle combinations.
But now, I believe V2 is way to go. By the sounds of it, I believe it's going to replace my trusty K3 which I'll pass to a family member. That way I'll have best of both worlds: Keeping DXG which I guess would still be my main ereader and having V2 as an ereader for night or when I'm OTG (On The Go).

[krazy4katz]

I went from a K3 to a KV. I skipped the paperwites because I felt stubborn about keeping the page turn buttons. The KV gives you that option. I have the "buttons" on the most sensitive setting and turned off the haptic feedback because…I can SEE when I have turned a page! As said above, having page turn "buttons" on both sides of the device is really convenient.

The KV screen is lovely, but of course you would get that with the paperwhite too. I also like the built in light and the way it adjusts for different environments. Worth the extra money for me but possibly because I owned a K1, which was the most expensive so I don't feel the difference so much. I am not sure what Amazon would be able to do to talk me into upgrading again though. Color does not seem to be on the horizon...

[drgonzalez94]

Josie, I've been doing some research and it appears I may have prematurely condemned the Glo HD. It seems that the page-turn and general slowness was a firmware glitch (fixed by version 3.16). I had sampled it as soon as it came out, presumably with the 3.15 firmware. Now that it has been sorted, I might have to look into once again.

[JSWolf]

One thing I have read from some Kindle owners. I've read that the font sizes are not optimal. You get a size that's too small and the next size up is too large. Check that out because that is something rather important.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by drgonzalez94

Josie, I've been doing some research and it appears I may have prematurely condemned the Glo HD. It seems that the page-turn and general slowness was a firmware glitch (fixed by version 3.16). I had sampled it as soon as it came out, presumably with the 3.15 firmware. Now that it has been sorted, I might have to look into once again.

Yes, I experienced that. At the time I tested it and knew it must be a software glitch and not a hardware problem (I could skim through pages very fast). I also was using 3.15 and tested it with epubs.

[drgonzalez94]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

One thing I have read from some Kindle owners. I've read that the font sizes are not optimal. You get a size that's too small and the next size up is too large. Check that out because that is something rather important.

I have noticed that on SOME books, especially very long ones such as Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged that were never formatted with the kindle reader in mind (shame on you, Amazon!).

Either paragraphs are indented, but there is no space between each paragraph, or vice versa depending on the version. Never both that I've found. That, to my eyes, KILLS readability, because it transforms an otherwise enjoyable work into a huge unreadable block of text.

On books like that, I'd love to have a specific font size between the third and the fourth settings supported right out of the box (I like to read relatively small type) without having to deal with it in dubious ways.

I do notice, however, that the gaps between sizes become larger as the fonts become larger. The biggest font size is twice as large as the preceding one. Why anyone would need such a huge font size is frankly beyond me. One needs glasses in that case, not an ereader

[shalym]

Originally Posted by drgonzalez94

I have noticed that on SOME books, especially very long ones such as Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged that were never formatted with the kindle reader in mind (shame on you, Amazon!).

Why shame on Amazon? Shouldn't it be shame on the publisher of the book?

Shari

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

One thing I have read from some Kindle owners. I've read that the font sizes are not optimal. You get a size that's too small and the next size up is too large. Check that out because that is something rather important.

I think what Jon means is THAT FOR HIM one size is too small and the next size up is too large.

Jon does have a point, even though he sometimes forgets that he is expressing an opinion - although it comes across as a blanket damnation - and that his needs pertain to a specific use.

Do, however, check out whether this factor may also apply to you.

[drgonzalez94]

Originally Posted by shalym

Why shame on Amazon? Shouldn't it be shame on the publisher of the book?

Shari

True, true!

That's what I meant. I'm tired today.

I do blame a lot of formatting issues on the mobi7 file format...I was building a fairly long list of grievances before KF8 came along). Thankfully Calibre does a good enough job of keeping formatting with epub --> AZW3, because ePub --> mobi was atrocious.

I say that because I just downloaded a sample of Atlas Shrugged (the last time I had tried was a year ago or so) and it looks perfect. It seems to me that when they released azw3, a lot of the early adopters were simply converting mobi7 to azw3 and that didn't really solve anything. Now that publishers go from source format --> azw3, they preserves formatting a lot better. I experienced this with a lot of the classics (20k Leagues, Treasure Island, ATOTC, War and Peace etc).