Kindle 2012 vs kindle paperwhite vs kindle keyboard

[Chris]

I use readability.com to store all the articles I can't read during the day. I will mostly use the kindle to read on my way to and from work, and on the weekends. Which of the three models I listed above should I buy?

I already have an Ipad 2 and an iPhone and a laptop, so I'm leaning at straight e-reader. I love audiobooks, so the kindle keyboard is appealing for that and it's ability to annotate.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
-Chris

[Anika]

Chris wrote: "I use readability.com to store all the articles I can't read during the day. I will mostly use the kindle to read on my way to and from work, and on the weekends. Which of the three models I listed..."

Hi Chris, I think you should go with KK because I believe the PW does not have the feature to listen to audiobooks or read the book to you. I think the only feature that everyone likes about it is the clearer/whiter/brighter resolution screen so at night you don't have to use your bedside lamp you can adjust the light on the PW and don't have to attached those clip on lights. So for what you want stick to KK.

[sonya]

Chris,
I have the KK and won't invest in anything else until it breaks.

[Gwen]

Here are my thoughts on the Paperwhite - I started with a Kindle Keyboard and then switched to the Kindle Touch.

I’m very pleased with the Paperwhite. The upgrades from the Touch are all relatively minor but, when combined, they make for a really fantastic reading
experience. The letters are crisp and clear, the light (which is not a backlight) improves the contrast even more. You can’t turn the light completely off, but you can set it to be very dim. I’ve kept mine on 17 (out of 20) for the entire time I’ve had it. I haven’t had any problems reading in the dark, which is pretty awesome.

The light also means that I’m able to ditch the case and can read the PW “naked.” I keep it in a sleeve so I can toss it around without worrying about scratches, but since I don’t need a lighted case anymore, I don’t need to read with it in the case. Of course this makes it quite a bit lighter than my previous Kindles, but the PW itself isn’t that much lighter than the previous ones.

The PW made the switch to capacitive screen from IR screen. I wasn’t sure how I’ve feel about this change, but I’m finding that I quite like it. One of the problems I had with the Touch was that I’d have to turn it off to get something off the screen because any touch would engage the screen. Now, if I have to wipe a hair or something off the screen, I can just use a fingernail and the page doesn’t turn. This is a small thing, but it makes me happy.

The PW learns your reading speed and can predict how much time you have left in the chapter and in the entire book. This seems like a software update, so I’m not sure if it will be implemented for previous Kindle models or not. Again, it’s a small thing, but it’s nice to know how much longer “let me just finish this chapter” will actually be. Or whether you really should stay up to finish the book.

With the PW, you also have the option to view your books using “cover display” instead of the list display. This isn’t an option I’ve chosen, but other people might like it. The link to “archived items” has also been removed and, instead, there’s a tab for “Cloud” and one for “Device.”

When looking through collections you can now choose “recent” for a sort instead of just author and title – I’m very happy with this since I tend to get a lot of freebies each day and it can be hard to find a recently downloaded book.

The lack of home button took me a few days to get used to, but it’s not posing me any difficulties now. The interface is fairly straightforward.

I believe that you can’t turn Wifi off as easily with the PW as you could with the Touch and the Keyboard. You’ve got to go to the home screen > Settings > and then turn on Airplane Mode.

Other than that, I assume the new fonts are nice, but I haven’t used them since I’m happy with the default font. I assume the “experimental browser” is still a clunky pain in the butt to use – this is NOT a tablet. I found out that you can increase/decrease the font size with the pinch gestures like zooming on an iPhone – but you could do this with the Touch as well.

And there you go. It’s a lot of little changes but, when taken together, they make for a lovely reading experience and I’m very happy I decided to upgrade even though I had my Touch for such a short time. I was worried I’d feel silly for upgrading so soon, but I don’t – not even a little bit. :)

[Gwen]

In the year I used my Kindle Keyboard prior to getting a Touch, I never used the speakers/headphone jack and I maybe used the keyboard itself once for reasons other than typing in my password. So, for me, neither of those features are dealbreakers.