The Kindle Chronicles discussion
Update from Kindle Touch to New Paperwhite
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Ed
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Oct 06, 2013 12:47PM
From everything that I have read/heard updating from last year's Paperwhite to this year's is a marginal improvement. What about updating from a Touch to a Paperwhite? Obviously, there is the backing lighting difference and new features like Voc Builder.
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As you may know the internals and software features of the Touch are virtually the same as the Paperwhite 1. Amazon has stated that they intend to update the PW1 with at least some subset of PW2's new features, and given the hardware similarities, they might as well do the same for the Kindle Touch, if for no other reason than to add Goodreads integration (with social features, the more, the merrier). Here's hoping they do so, anyway (I still have a Touch).I'm sure there are many people who went to the Paperwhite from the Touch and never looked back. It took several months for me to make the shift.
At first I noticed:
- a lot less storage, only about 40% as much. I ran out of space trying to replicate the collection I'd had on my Touch.
- no audio for TTS or audiobooks
- the screen (contrast, text clarity) was not the clear improvement I had expected. In some conditions, Touch still looks better to me.
- no Home button (takes two taps at the top of the screen instead)
- chapter navigation swipe gesture (up down) is gone, except for periodicals.
- toggling wireless on and off takes more taps (not an issue for me, I leave it on all of the time and just charge up more often)
On the plus side:
- the PW screen seems more scratch resistant and I've never felt the need for a cover. That makes it much lighter than the Touch with lighted cover and more pleasant to carry in my vest pocket. It's much more pleasant to use without a cover (the Touch is slippery).
- I like Palatino typeface (made feasible I suppose by the higher screen resolution). It is not as 'strong' as the Touch typefaces but I was tired of Caecilia and Helv or whatever it is.
- the built in light, while not perfect, is darn convenient and better than the lighted cover light.
- the bezel is not as 'deep' and doesn't catch as much crud as the Touch.
- capacitative touch is better as it is more sensitive and selective as to what it responds to. For example I can wipe the screen off with a cloth without having to lock it.
Eventually these physical advantages won me over. I also carry an iPod Touch everywhere and can use VoiceOver on that for a TTS experience when I want one (they added VO support earlier this year), so the lack of audio on the Paperwhite became less of an issue for me. Amazon also added KF8 support to personal documents service so I don't need to keep as much of my 3rd party content on the device to have convenient access to it. So my storage problem mostly went away (but if you read lots of graphic novels/manga it is still not really enough storage, as they can be dozens of megabytes each and take longer to download from cloud).
PW2 is by most accounts not a major leap forward, but the lighting is more even, the responsiveness improved etc. The new software features seem nice, but I expect most of them to show up in an update for PW1 so I'm not planning to upgrade just for a screen that is a little bit better than what I have. I think I'll be getting a Fire HDX this year or early next instead.
I made a lot of choices with this new model upgrade. I bought the new Paperwhite2 to replace my Touch but am still keeping it around for the TTS. After much agonizing, I chose to purchase a Nexus 7 to replace my KFHD. The deal breaker was that I get a full Android app store. I find it ever more irritating when I hear about an app I want and it is not available in the truncated Fire app store. As for Mirror Screen and Second Screen, I already have a DVD player that accesses Amazon Instant Video directly so I don't need it. Nexus comes tomorrow. Hope I am happy with it.
Mary, I have been using a first gen Nexus 7 since February. I did have a first gen Kindle Fire before that. I also have an iPad and Paperwhite first gen. Nowadays the Nexus and the Paperwhite get quite a work out every day. I am really satisfied with the Nexus and for me it fits my needs better than the Kindle Fire or the iPad. I like the size of the Nexus and the availability of apps. Plus since I have an Android phone, I can have the same apps on my phone. Hope you enjoy your Nexus.
Thanks for that reassurance, Tim. My Nexus 7 2013 came yesterday, a day early. I spent most of the day putting in apps, arranging the home page and signing into all the apps. I am writing this response on the Nexus. I like it so far. The size is "personal", easy to hold and the keyboard is "tight" so there is less travel distance from one key to another. I should be able to take notes at meetings with it using a stylus. I had an iPad 1 and hated the weight and size. I was surprised that some of the Android apps don't have a tablet version. Thanks for the note.
This is a question for Tom or anyone else who chooses to respond. I went from a Kindle Touch to the Paperwhite 2. Today I tried to open a book I purchased in 2009 from the Cloud. The message I got was that "it was not yet indexed". The answer ( or actually the non-answer) from Kindle support was inadequate. He could not tell me what "indexing" involves despite being put on hold to ask a co-worker. Can anyone explain this? I am also unsure about where my books reside with the new Paperwhite. What is the difference between the archived books and those in the Cloud? Tom, you alluded to less memory on the device. Thanks for the help.
To Marc,
Thank you so-o much for your extensive comprehensive answer to my questions. I have learned so much. Mary
Thank you so-o much for your extensive comprehensive answer to my questions. I have learned so much. Mary
Amazon has a special offer -- right now -- for Kindle Paperwhites; they are 100.00 off. I just snagged one for $19.00. They are limited to 5000 units; it's a flash sale, accessible on the lock page of the Kindle Fire HDX that takes you to the Kindle offer page.
I tried finding it. Do you have a direct link?
I got one of the 5,000 Paperwhites for $19. They were gone when I checked 2 minutes later. Just happened to see the Tweet 45 minutes ahead of sale time. Very cool.
