Side by Side Comparison of: Amazon vs Barnes & Noble

Let me preface this by saving that this is my review on Amazon evahhh! I'm a Prime Member and their customer service is second to none. NOW on to the Kindle Paperwhite...I have an iPad Air and LOVE it. I downloaded a ton books over the years and I rarely ended up reading them. Why? Size in my hands and the glare when reading outside. I took a chance and got the Kindle. Guess what? I'm reading all the time! I read at the beach. I read on the throne (TMI), and I even started reading when I go to bed (again after many years).It takes a little getting used to regarding the navigation of the device but the helpful digital how-to booklet included got me on my way quickly. Honestly I really love this device. It's the perfect size in my hand, zero glare, lightweight but sturdy, great battery life, yada, yada, yada. I miss the colors of the iPad but there's also something old school and soulful having it be in black and white. I'll call it Digital Nostalgia, (I just made that up).I read some reviews about the screen being beige, etc. Mine has none of that. It works great and I couldn't be happier. Highly recommend.

Let me guess: you love books, but you're not sure you want to get a kindle because you love the feel of books, right?I'm here to tell you that the kindle is the perfect balance of book and digital format.SHORT REVIEWYes, you should buy a kindle. Get the paperwhite with no ads. You're welcome.LONG REVIEWI love physical books too, I'm with you. But I know myself, and I know that once I forget to take the book I'm reading with me, that's it. I'll start another book and rarely finish the first. I also know if I try and read on my phone or iPad that I'll get distracted and start wondering about what's happening on the internet (Instagram's not gonna scroll ITSELF). Either way I'm not finishing the book.WHY KINDLEThe kindle takes the best of both worlds and mashes them together. The e ink display is honestly incredible. I wish iPhones had an e ink display. It really looks just like a printed page. So you get the experience of reading a physical paper book, but with the perks of being digital.Namely:- Share what book you're reading to Goodreads, Facebook, or twitter (so you can look SMORT)- Built in dictionary (so you can learn the proper spelling of the word SMORT)- Export your highlights as a PDFPlus, it'll also sync with the kindle app on your phone so you can squeeze in the final few pages of the chapter while you're in the bathroom (don't pretend you don't do that. You're either on your phone or you're reading the febreeze ingredients)READING IN BEDThe backlight looks great. It's a perfect size. And because it's one page at a time, you overcome another annoyance of physical books: you can read laying down in bed without the awkward "I just need to hold the book weird like this for a second while I finish the left page, then I'll be on the right page and can relax" situation. It's great.LIBRARY BOOKSYou can check out library books digitally without leaving your house. And yes, you can make highlights and export those as a PDF (to answer your next question, yes, you could technically highlight the whole book, but that would take more time than it's worth).ADS OR NAH?Get the one without ads. Remember the problem with reading on your phone? Distractions. Why would you buy a device that ONLY does one thing exceptionally well (isolated reading) and then ruin the experience with ads about products you should buy? Now you're thinking about "oh right, I gotta get my oil changed" or "what am I gonna make for dinner?" instead of whether Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy are really ever going to get together.WHICH MODEL?And no, you don't need a more expensive kindle. This one works great and the other ones don't give you much more for the money. Get the wifi only model (please, you're REALLY going to use the 3G to download books on the go? Get real).And yes, this is the best e-reader out there. Come on, it's Amazon. ANY book you want is a few taps away.WHAT YOU WANTKindle Paperwhite (wifi only, cuz really, you're gonna use 3G??) with no ads.You're furiggin welcome.

Amazon help pages actually tell you that you can't use borrowed library e-books with the children's FreeTime feature that let's you track the amount of time they read each day (see attached image). In fact, even some customer service representatives tell you it can't be done.Luckily, it can....and it makes for a wonderful combination for parents who want to track their kids' reading while still taking advantage of free library loans.Here are the steps after having checked out the book:1. Go to "Manage Your Content and Devices"2. Click on the "Actions" button (labeled "...") next to the library-borrowed book.3. Choose "Manage Family Library"4. A small dialogue box should pop up with your child's Freetime profile. Click the "Add to Library" button next to it.5. Sync the Paperwhite....and the book shows up in their Freetime account!I've confirmed this with a borrowed e-book on my son's Paperwhite.Now Amazon needs to update their help pages and give these instructions.

I have had 4 other Kindle's prior to this one. This one is BY FAR my favorite. It is so easy to use, it is super light, and makes a book worm like me able to read with no effort at all!

Recently retired my well-used Kindle Keyboard for the Paperwhite, as I was looking forward to getting one with a backlit screen. Overall, this is easily the best e-reader I've had the pleasure of using. It's just the right size (and feels less bulky than my Keyboard), the interface is faster, the text more vibrant, and the adjustable backlight is exceptionally convenient for all lighting conditions. Here are a few thoughts for those that prefer lists:LIGHTING:The Good: the adjustable backlight on the Paperwhite is great. Some reviewers have mentioned it being yellowish, but the unit purchased is a nice, blueish-white. While reading in bed, it can be dimmed enough to where it doesn't strain your eyes, though it does wash out the text slightly. I didn't think the backlight would be useful in the daytime, but it actually makes it much easier to read at max setting, which I was pleasantly surprised with.The Bad: There is a little bit of light bleeding from the bottom of my Kindle. It's not terribly noticeable, but if you look closely enough you can see a little blotchy unevenness near the bottom. Not nearly enough of an issue at this price point worth complaining about.THE UNIT:The Good: Love the design - more compact and sleek than the Kindle Keyboard it replaced. It fits easily in either hand without being too big or small. Perfect screen size.The Bad: I am mourning the loss of the page turning buttons from my Keyboard. Anyone who owns a newer Kindle would be lying if they said they've never accidentally turned the page by touching the screen. It can be a maddening experience. Plan on getting a case for your Kindle, as the plastic on the front and rubbery texture on the back are oil magnets and will suck any grease off the cleanest of hands, and it's obnoxiously hard to clean. I never had this issue with my Keyboard. Minor complaint about having the "Kindle" namesake on the front of the unit not embossed in white...looks a bit cheaper than the last gen in that regard. Power on/off button is obscenely tiny and very hard to activate - buy a cover that turns it on/off automatically.BATTERY/CHARGE:The battery doesn't last as long as my Keyboard's did, but it is still exceptionally strong even with heavy backlight usage. I have well over 3/4 of the battery reading for a few hours each day over the course of a week. It seems to charge for about the same duration as my Keyboard and I assume the backlighting eats up the battery a bit, but not enough to where it has been problematic yet. I find it frustrating that they only include a short USB charger. I don't appreciate upselling of charger plug ins.INTERFACE:The Good: Love the bookshelf view showing the covers (if you don't, you can put it back into List view like older models). Touch interface and changes from the Keyboard model took me a little white to get used to, but it is all fairly intuitive and much quicker than the model it is replacing. I absolutely refuse to tie my Twitter/Facebook account to my Kindle, but love the option of doing it for my Good Reads account - good call on that, Amazon. Newer features that let you learn more about people, places, and events in books has been great (I'm looking at you Game of Thrones). LOVE the feature that tells you how much additional time you have in a chapter...makes it easier to know if can squeeze one more in before bed. Same goes for Word Wise, which will put brief descriptions/similes of complex words above the word in question. You can set the threshold - awesome.The Bad: Collections show a generic book image, rather than a collage of the books within like I expected. Minor complaint. I bought a Kindle Touch for my mom awhile back and have had to work with her quite a bit, as its her first e-reader. She struggled with the interface and is still learning how to get the most out of it. I know it's a cost-saving measure, but I really resent a Kindle copy of the user guide instead of the traditional paper insert. Minimalism has its place, but not here. The filter 'buttons' on the screen are annoyingly hard to press (maybe I have fat fingers?), but feedback is exceptional everywhere else.AD VS NO AD:Ultimately, it's going to come down to your preference. Many people have found good discounts on things they'd buy on Amazon or other eBooks (it uses your recommendations). If they were only on the "off" screen when not in use, I wouldn't have ponied up the extra $20 to remove them because my cover hides it when not in use, but the ad banner at the bottom of the home screen put me over the edge. I want to point out - I've read Amazon doesn't allow you to use Gift Cards to pay for the ad removal (it requires '1-touch payment'), so if you don't think you want the ads and you have a gift card - buy the version without ads. I believe it applied $20 of a promotional credit I had on my account, however.PRIME HOUSEHOLD SHARING:The Good: If you're an Amazon Prime member and have added a second adult to your 'household', you can share select (or all) of your Kindle libraries with one another for free. I didn't see this advertised much, but it was an awesome way for my mom and I to share our books with each other.The Bad: It's horrific to set up. Once you've activated your Household, you need to go to Manage Your Content, flip "Books" to on (for both parties, and manually select which titles you want to share. Then you need to go to "Manage Your Device" and ensure the little box for "Share My Content" is selected. I believe both people need to do this, but once you do, you'll be able to access your family member's books in the Cloud after dropping down the filter to "Shared". It will take quite awhile for it to process if you have a large library, but once you get it set up, you can click and download any of your family member's books. I just wish it wasn't such a royal pain to set up.For most people, I'd suggest buying the one with no ads and saving $20 for books (or a library subscription...I borrow 90% of my books, it's awesome). If you hate the ads, pay to remove them - no sense in paying more if you can live with it in the first place.All in all, this is an exceptional machine for the price and any negatives I can find are easily forgivable given how many great things there are. Amazon Prime members can also download one book from a very large selection per month for free, with no return dates, as well as download one free new release with Amazon First - something I found out through a lot of digging on Amazon's website. These features should be a little clearer. My mom loves her Kindle Touch, but after buying myself the Paperwhite, I wish I'd coughed up a little extra and got her the Paperwhite. The backlit screen and increased clarity of the e-ink is exceptional for all reading conditions. Should you upgrade? If you own a Kindle without a backlight or a a Keyboard/older model - 110%. The interface is faster and the screen clarity significantly better. The biggest complaint I have is for Kindle Keyboard users who are used to the manual page turner buttons are out of luck (unless they opt for the Voyage, I believe) - I sincerely wish they'd bring that feature back.TL;DR? If you love reading, treat yourself or a loved one and buy a Kindle Paperwhite. It's worth every penny.

Review updated September 17, 2015As a background, I am a retired Information Systems professional and I am writing this review from the perspective of being a long-time Kindle user. I have all the current e-readers and Fire devices from Amazon including the basic Kindle, the 2013, 2014 and new 2015 Paperwhite, the Fire HD6, Fire HD7, Fire HDX7 and Fire HDX8.9. This review is for the 2015 “All-New Kindle Paperwhite.” The attached picture shows the 2014 Kindle on the left and the new 2015 Kindle on the right. Here is the summary of my initial impressions of the 2015 model versus the 2014 model.I am somewhat disappointed in the 2015 version as there is not a huge improvement over last year’s model. The Paperwhite made many improvements from its original first generation 2012 model to its second generation 2013 model, especially in the display and processor area. The 2013 model came with 2 GB storage, a wonderful display, a great battery and was the e-book “workhorse.” The second generation 2014 model changed by only increasing storage to 4 GB. The third generation 2015 model increased the display resolution but reduced the battery life slightly.WHAT COMES IN THE BOX: A Paperwhite device, a quick-start guide and a short USB cord. Amazon still does not supply a power adapter.SIZE: It’s the same identical size as the older Paperwhites. The weight has been reduced slightly from 7.3 to 7.2 ounces, a fraction of an ounce, most likely because of a smaller battery.The good news is that all cases that fit the other Paperwhites will fit the 2015 version!!DISPLAY: The resolution has been bumped up to 300 ppi, equivalent to the Voyage. However, in practical use, I can’t tell the difference unless I put an earlier version next to the new version for comparison. Unfortunately, when I place them side-by-side, I noticed that the new Paperwhite is not quite as bright as the older models when set at the same brightness level. This is more noticeable at lower settings. Also, my Kindle has a slight shadow area along the bottom that appears as a small gray smudge and isn’t quite as evenly lit as the rest of the display. It is very small but noticeable. The logo on the bottom of the screen is now shiny black against matte black on the plastic case instead of being displayed in silver lettering. It's difficult to see except when viewing the shiny "Kindle" reflection at an angle to light.(September 2015 update: The Kindle logo is how I tell my new 2015 Paperwhite and older Paperwhites apart. They are that similar!)BATTERY: The battery of the 2013 and 2014 Paperwhites are rated a third larger than the new model. And it is noticeable! When operating simultaneously, the new PW battery drains much faster. It is currently rated at 6 weeks of ½ hour average daily usage versus 8 weeks for the older models. That specification translates to 21 hours of use versus 28 hours of use for the older models.(September 2015 update: I was on a week-long vacation trip but forgot my chargers. I had the 2014 Kindle with me, and as I was on vacation, I read a lot. The battery lasted--barely--the entire vacation. Given the shorter battery life, the 2015 model would have lost power before I came home. Normally, this shouldn't be an issue for most people as the 2015 battery does last a long time. But.... I am so spoilt by not having to carry a charger on trips, even long trips.)STORAGE: Nothing has changed. It comes with the same 4 GB of storage. Mine netted 2990 MB free space from the factory. This number will vary slightly from device to device depending on the actual hard drive.HARDWARE: Alas, there is still no audio with the Paperwhite. So you still can’t play songs in the background or listen to Audible books. If you need audio features, you may want to look at the Kindle Fire lineup as audio capabilities are not available on the PaperWhite, standard Kindle, or the Kindle Voyage. (September 2015 update: I still wish I could listen to Audible books like you could on the Kindle Keyboard.)Wifi: Nothing has changed. I had hoped for an upgrade to 802.11ac or at least add the less crowded 5-Ghz range of wifi. If you are in a wifi crowded area, you will need to be closer to your router to download books. While the Paperwhite does not use a lot of bandwidth, it does need to be able to communicate with a router for WhisperSync to work and to download books.It is possible that the new Kindle Paperwhite either has a slightly faster processor, or more likely, the memory has been upgraded from 512MB to 1024MB to match the Voyage. I have over a thousand books installed. To keep track of what I have, all books are added to collections, such as “Reading Queue” for those I have not read but want to read, and “Already Read” for those books I have already read. In addition, my books are also categorized by genre collections such as “Crime/Mystery/Thriller,” “SciFi/Fantasy,” "Historical Fiction," "Romance," etc. Categorizing my books helps me considerably when I wish to find a new book to read in my library which I have not read and what I want is a Mystery novel, but not a SciFi. When I download a new book and try to add it to the appropriate collections for later enjoyment, the process can be extremely slow, so slow that sometimes, I am not sure that I have even touched the check box in the add-to-collection screen because it takes forever to respond. The 2015 Kindle seems to be faster in that area.(September 2015 update: I've noticed that the speed is directly related to the strength and quality of the WiFi signal. I am in a crowded WiFi area and although I can get a fairly good signal, the speed definitely degrades when I am not in the same room as the router. I still wish it had a 5Ghz antennae as that bandwidth is less crowded and faster.)SOFTWARE: The user interface on the new Paperwhite is identical to the old Paperwhite except that the new Paperwhite comes with the Bookerly font installed. Those who own one of the new Fire tablets already have the Bookerly font for comparison. Personally, on the Paperwhite, I like the Caecilian and Palatino fonts as much as I do the Bookerly. It seems that the best font for reading changes depending on the book and the magnification of the font. (There are still eight size magnifications.) However, the firmware version installed with my 2015 Paperwhite was a version behind. The Firmware Version installed on the 2015 model is Kindle 5.6.1.1 (2634130033) versus Kindle 5.6.2.1 (263439002) installed on my 2014 model.(September 2015 update: Amazon has updated the software on all their Kindles so the Bookerly font is available on all the devices.)WITH SPECIAL OFFERS OR WITHOUT?? If you buy a case that automatically shuts the device off when closed and turns on when opened, I strongly recommend paying the extra $20 for removing the ads. If you have special offers, the Kindle still needs to be swiped from the lock screen to get to the page of the book where you left off. If you do NOT have special offers, when you open your case, you are immediately brought to the book and page where you stopped reading. No lock screen! Having a Kindle Paperwhite without special offers is wonderful. Open up the case, Kindle turns on and you pick up right where you left off. Close the case and it turns off. No extra finger swipes! This is true only for the Kindle e-readers. The Fire tablets continue to open up to the lock screen which must be swiped irrelevant of whether you have special offers or not.NOTE: I received the advanced order of the 2015 Paperwhite on June 30. I was not able to order the device without special offers. Normally, you should be able to pay the upgrade difference online to remove special offers. Unfortunately, the device that I have received does not have an option to remove special offers for this device only! I do not know if this option will be available for all new orders or if they will correct the oversight in the future. So, order the device without special offers if you think you will ultimately want that because it is possible that you will not be able to remove them in the future.(September 2015 update: Amazon fixed the option to remove special offers. And I still recommend that you buy it without special offers if you use a case that automatically turns it on and off.)SUMMARY FOR THOSE LOOKING TO UPGRADE:This is what has changed from the 2014 model.PLUS: Higher resolution screen with Bookerly font. Possibly quicker when managing large numbers of books. (September 2015 update: Bookerly font is now available on all Kindle devices including older Paperwhites)MINUS: A smaller battery and shorter time life between charges. No power adapter.NEUTRAL: The "kindle" logo at the bottom of the 2015 model is now black on black instead of the silver color at the bottom front of the 2014 model.(September 2015 update: The Kindle logo is how I tell my newer and older Paperwhites apart.)THE VERDICT: The new Paperwhite is still the state-of-the-art e-ink e-book reader. The only things I can think of to improve the Paperwhite is to add a power adapter, a longer USB cord, bring back the longer battery life of the earlier model and perhaps make it waterproof.(September 2015 update: the Paperwhite is still my favorite reader. I also like the Voyage but not enough to justify the huge price difference.)Although the Paperwhite is only an e-reader and not a tablet, there are other considerations:* No distraction from email* No distractions from text messages* No distractions from phone calls.SHOULD YOU BUY? If you own last year's Paperwhite - I don't think it is worth the upgrade. If you do not own an e-reader or have a 2012 or earlier Kindle version, definitely get the Paperwhite. It has the best mix of features for the price compared to the other Kindle e-reader models. If you are considering upgrading from the current basic $79 Kindle, definitely get the Paperwhite. If you are considering whether to get the Voyage or the Paperwhite, ask yourself, "Is getting the Page Press area at the edge of the screen worth an additional $80?" If not, get the Paperwhite.(September 2015 update: I really like both the Paperwhite and the Voyage. But I can't tell you which one to buy. If you are the type that will buy a Cadillac instead of a Chevy, buy the Voyage. It is definitely a very nice reader. Personally, I like the Paperwhite. Even though the Voyage is slightly smaller and lighter in the hand, there is something about the Paperwhite that makes me grab it instead.)For reading, I prefer the Paperwhite over all the readers including the Fire tablets, the basic Kindle and even the Voyage. It’s optimized for readers and reasonably priced. You can throw it in your purse or pocket for traveling, even for reading in the doctor’s office waiting room. If you forget to charge it overnight, it will still have enough juice to get you through the next day or two. You can read it on the beach in BRIGHT, BRIGHT sunlight or at night under DARK, DARK moonlight. Whether you sit on the front porch or hide under the bed covers, you can enjoy reading books with the Paperwhite. In addition, there is a huge selection of case styles and colors to trick out your Kindle to match your personality and reading style.If you want to save a little money, Amazon is currently selling the 2014 model for $109. Although it doesn’t have the Bookerly font, it does have a better battery. You can’t go wrong with the 2014 model either, especially when it is slightly cheaper.(September 2015 update: My older Paperwhites have been updated with new software and now all have the Bookerly font. Unfortunately, the 2014 model is no longer available for sale through Amazon.)FOR NEWBIES: You might want to explore the following features.VOCABULARY BUILDER: The Amazon Kindles have a tool called Vocabulary Builder which is not available in the Fire tablets. Vocabulary Builder is supposed to help you learn new words while you read: words you look up in the Kindle's dictionary are stored in Vocabulary Builder. You can review those words, test yourself with flash cards, even see where in a book you highlighted the word and remove the word from your list when you’ve mastered it.PAGE FLIP: When you're on a page, swipe up from the bottom, and a slightly smaller pop-up of the page appears. The pop-up has page turn arrows to go back or go forward in the book (you can also just swipe the pop-up page). When you're ready to return to your original page, press the "X" in the upper right corner of the pop-up, and the pop-up page goes away.HIGHLIGHT: The highlight feature allows you to highlight (in black-and-white of course) a particular passage in a book and save it so you can go back to it at a later time. You also have the option of turning on an option that shows you other popular highlights from other readers of the book. This is a VERY useful feature, especially for non-fiction books as 99% of the time, the highlights other users have made point out very important sentences and paragraphs in the book. Note that this feature does not show EVERY reader's highlights, it only shows the most popular ones and even tells you how many readers have highlighted a particular section. This can be turned on or off if you find it distracting.---

greeat

Granny loves it. She buys and reads all her western romance novels. Lol.

Just what I needed and at a great price. Packaged well and arrived very fast.

bought it for my 86yr old mother, who isn't very good with electronic devices. But she has figured this out easily. thanks M Sampson

Awesome!!!!!

Love it! Great service!

I like the Kindle, love my original and wish I hadn't bothered to upgrade. It'll never give the same reading enjoyment as a real book, but I accepted that when I ordered my first one. The main reason I upgraded was for the back light, but that may also be the source of my disappointment. My problem with the paper white is battery life. I probably had to charge my original Kindle once a month. I've had this one 2 weeks and have had to charge it 3 times already. That may not seem very often, but when you pick it up to read and you get the message it has to be recharged it's a problem. Especially since one of the main features listed in the bullet list of its features is "A single battery charge lasts weeks, not hours". Obviously in my case this is not true. It may be a problem with my particular item and I plan to pursue this possibility with support.UPDATE: I'm changing this to 4 stars from 3. I sent an e-mail to Amazon customer support about the battery issue. Within the day (a Sunday no less) they had replied to me saying this was no normal customer experience, had already issued a new order at no costs for me, and sent me a cost free return label for my old one. The new one arrived today, if the battery life turns out to be as described with this one I will be back to change this to 5 stars.

I've had many versions of the kindle (keyboard, touch, and the paperwhite). My daughter has her own. I actually bought a nook glowlight for another daughter, so I can compare the two. The best use for us with the Kindle is as a way to borrow e-books from the library. With the Kindle, this is relatively easy, since I just have to go to the library site and "borrow" from the library, which sends it to the device automatically. My daughter now does this my herself now!The Nook actually supports this as well, but it's pretty painful since you have to connect the Nook to the PC in order to download the book (using Adobe software) -- this gets pretty annoying~I took out a star because the Kindle is a bit fragile and easy to break. I've broken 2 -- the Kindle keyboard got the screen broken when it was in my backpack. The touch just died one day (no idea why -- it was in a case). And my first paperwhite had touch screen issues. If you are going anywhere with it, you HAVE to put it in a case.I also wish they had a better landscape mode for viewing PDFs (e.g. for reading academic papers). The problem is that it splits a single page into 3 screens, but the last screen is only partial (e.g. last 10 or so % of the page). So I get lost on the 3rd screen... They should've just made it (or have a mode) which allows me to say I want to size it so that it's just 2 screens in landscape mode (albeit a bit smaller). It should also support a crop mode. I end up having to crop PDFs myself before putting it on the Kindle.

Kindle fan from way back, this is my 3rd one. The last one was a trusty old Keyboard with a nice black leather cover with built in light. Loved that Kindle. 1500 books on it, until I dropped it off the bed. The light went out permanently. Amazon discontinued the leather cover with light...I read often at night so...a broke down and bought a paperwhite, even though the keyboard still works fine. I have had it about two weeks. The adjustment to tapping on the screen and the small surround has been difficult for me. I am unimpressed with the arrangement for 'home' and the cloud storage. Often I tap on the left side of the screen to go back and it goes ahead anyway, then I have to 'go to' and guess a location back to where I wanted to go in the first place. Unimpressive, but that is all there is (although I cheated-went on e-Bay andwith a LIGHT THAT WORKS. To its credit, the paperwhite, with it own leather cover, is lighter and smaller than the old rig but I really liked the reliability of the old 5 way system. I don't like the 'library' arrangement or the wish listing, and 'sample' arrangements. On the keyboard everything was there when you opened to home. i liked the archive so I could look at all the titles alphabetically. Most frustrating was trying to reconstruct my collections which do not transfer automatically to the PW. I guess, all in all, the PW is OK but...I will fondly use my old KB when the PW is charging.

So it's been a little over a year since I bought my kindle and I have run into some problems that are getting progressively worse. The first being my kindle will no longer connect to any sort of Wi-Fi connection. That is kind of annoying since that was one of the main reasons I bought the device, it's ability to share quotes to goodreads. Secondly is that it has a tendency to lag doing the smallest activity. Like really? I have less than 400 books on my Kindle and according to THEIR OWN description the kindle itself can hold close to a 1000 books plus whatever I want in the cloud. There is no reason for this to be happening. I don't need Amazon to be pulling the old smart phone trick where you make the older version stop working so people have to buy a new one. I refuse to do so and waste my money for the same thing I already have and have to download all my books again.

Update:Since my last review a while ago my kindle paper white got an update again and I don't know what they did but it fixed the battery problems. I'm SO happy! My old love has returned 😊If you had asked me 2 weeks ago how I liked my kindle paper white my answer would have been 5 stars I love it. However, recently I was forced to download a software update (there was no decline button and the only way to read my books was to accept the software). Before my battery literally lasted for about a month. Since the update I am often locked out of reading due to empty battery after 1 1/2 days. Are you kidding me people. I'm sure there are those that love the new features but I can't get past the lack of battery life. There is no way to roll it back to the previous version either so I am now stuck with a product that used to be my best friend but has turned into the ex you can't stand to be in the same room. Amazon I'm very disappointed in you for the first time in our long love affair. Please return my beloved battery life.

UPDATE: My video on YT of poor performance garnered a comment that the latest software might help. I found that while the documentation says that the Kindle will update itself, in fact mine was on an old firmware version. I used my laptop to get the update and apply it. In the last week I have not had any instance of the terrible performance. If it remains this way, then I'm happy. In case you want to see how slow it was, check out my YouTube video: [...]Original review:I am a long, long time Kindle user. I have read the LATimes on a Kindle every day for the last 5 years - maybe 10. I have used the one with the single navigation button for years. A few years back I bought a touch screen version and returned it a day later; I was accidentally touching the screen and the newspaper navigation was just horrible. Instead of the Kindle fading away I found that it was always present while reading. I went back to my single jog button version.Yesterday bought a Paperwhite. Wow! The user interface for newspaper reading is much improved. I feel like Amazon listened to customer feedback and fixed it. I really like the Paperwhite, but I have several suggestions to make the UI better for readers of a newspaper.a) When reading an article, tapping the bottom of the screen advances to the next article. I sometimes tap it by mistake, or even tap it twice. There is no easy way to go back one article. [UPDATE: A swipe up will move back one article.] I suggest having a small area on the left side of the screen bottom that would go back one article; similar to the back one page area.b) When viewing the newspaper contents in list mode a swipe up in the articles list will advance to the next page of articles. However, if you are already at the last of the articles in the current section, then nothing happens. Instead I have to tap on the next section. I suggest that a swipe up in this case should advance to the next section and advance the articles list to show the first page of articles in that section. This is what the next/previous page buttons did on my older Kindle and I liked that very much.c) [UPDATE: Get the latest software.] Sometimes the display responds quickly to my tap and sometimes not. The sluggish response can cause me to tap the article advance area at the bottom of the screen twice (see my comment a above). I suggest that the Kindle should always quickly flash very small areas in the four corners of the display when a tap is recognized. This would let the user know that the Kindle is working on the action and avoid my inadvertent double taps. If the corner taps are too distracting when reading a page of content, then I might only do the flash on taps that invoke anything except "next page." I think that once a user thinks about going back or up or anything other than "next page", they are already out of reading flow and aware that they have a Kindle in their hand instead of a book.Thanks for listening,Jim Schrempp

Melton freidman for nook

Wonderful sharp screen but a little heavy to hold for long periods.

It's a little heavier than I expected. My arthritic hands can't handle it.

The paperwhite is my third Kindle. I prefer Kindles because of their light weight and approximately paper-back-book size. My first two Kindles were E-ink and were absolutely wonderful right up to the day each one quit working. I thought that the back-light of the paperwhite would make it easier to use in low light conditions, and I also thought that the touch screen interface would make it easier to use.I was half right. It is easier to read in low light conditions. The touch interface is way, way less than average. The unit always starts in a mode that displays the cover images of three books, the one that is currently being read and two that the unit selects in some unknown way. Getting into a listing of all the books on the unit is quite unreliable, and often requires "touching" the library icon until I wear a blister on my finger.The biggest drawback, however is the very short battery life. 3-G is always on, and the backlight is an energy hog. Either of my "old" Kindles would last a complete 11-hour Atlantic crossing and still have enough battery left for me to read myself to sleep in the hotel. Not so with the paperwhite.I will keep the current device until it quits, then probably replace it with another E-ink unit. One with physical buttons, I hope.

I am waiting for my third replacement. First one had a defect on lighting, second one shown on picture is very yellow. Frustrated, I went to Bestbuy to view a standard one, and there was so much difference in contrast. Until then I wasn't sure if I was being too sensitive and even felt bad asking for a third replacement. Since Amazon wasn't interested in looking at my photos to see what exactly is wrong with my device, I am posting here. The one with the alarm is one at bestbuy, same light level, same room, and I even switched left and right to be fair in lighting condition. If the third one I receive is still not normal, I will be very disappointed.

Lets start for what this is all about. Its an ereader, eink has been around for awhile now. I've had one other ereader and it was a sony 6" as well. Honestly at this point I don't fully understand why the screens haven't gotten a bit bigger. While easily readable on a 6" screen, it would be nice to have something more 'book like' in size. In comparison my phone is a 5.5" screen. So this is slightly bigger then the average modern smartphone. I also bought mine at Best Buy - same price and got it the same day.What I like about this reader;1.Back light, easy readable in all lighting conditions.2. Eink, it really hasn't gotten any better from older models to new models, 300ppi is nice but really I don't think its something you'll really care about or notice on plain text, graphics are another story. But really who would use this on a graphic novel?3. Your own email to send ebooks to, its one of those nice things that is convenient. Send your book via email without having to mess with cords and such, from anywhere. I like that.4. Dictionary. I am well read, but sometimes you come across a word that is just, unknown. The built in dictionary is handy in that regard.5. Battery, it charges fast and so far holds it for a long time. Out of the box it had over half battery and I didn't have to charge it for 2 weeks, even with heavy back light use.What I don't like. And I'll start with what really prompted this review and why I am giving it a 3 star review.1.The high jacking of you're device and being held hostage with ads. Sure, you can remove them but you'll pay amazon $20 to do it. Last I checked, I owned this thing and paid for it. Now, for awhile I didn't really care about the ads, they were about books or some electronic device (battery banks and such). But what took the cake was the ad for Hefty trash bags - Hefty. Trash. Bags. My device is my device - not some ad platform that should be held hostage with a paywall to remove ads from a device I OWN. Now, I'll be paying the ransom to remove the ads from my device because I really don't want to see ads for trash bags ever again. Its honestly a desperate act by amazon to spam me with ads, and really it should not be like that. And no amazon, its not a deal to say its $99 with 'special offers' if those special offers are a means to thrust ads into my face every time I turn on my device. Because nothing puts you into the mood to read your favorite book then 'Hefty trash bags', yea no thanks. I've attached an image of the festive bags for reference.2. Touch screen. Why is everything touchscreen? Sometimes my hand gets near the screen and I turn the page or go back inadvertently, the simple page buttons would be ever so nice. Granted you'd complicate the dictionary side of this, but honestly its a thing that can be overlooked.3. The paper white really isn't paper white. Its still grayish white and it bugs me that the ads/pictures for this clearly are making it look 'whiter' to other older models. It simply is not and looks like typical eink tech - the back light is what makes the screen 'pop' in my humble opinion.4. Some of my ebooks required converting so that the kindle could open it. Not a problem, just get Calibre and convert to supported format - granted its one more step if you have your own ebook collection aside from your amazon ebooks.Conclusion: Its a solid device with excellent battery and the back light is great, pay the extra to remove the ads and forgo the festive-santa-hat-wearing-trashbags. Because eventually your bound to get an ad on yours that makes you say 'really, amazon?'.

I'm a big fan of Paperwhite and wanted to upgrade from my previous generation model. I figured the new 300 ppi would be a nice improvement. I was fairly certain though, before ordering, that I was going to have issues with the screen as I had to replace several before getting an acceptable one for my previous models). The special price of $89. was irresistible and I gave it a try.Immediately upon receiving it and setting up I saw the problem with the uneven lighting along the bottom. That alone was a deal breaker for me as I can't stand it. I realized after a little while that the improved resolution of the text was not noticeable for me. I had hoped it would be. Also, now the text is not as dark as the previous model (less contrast)! What's up with that? I ordered a replacement to try out: same problems but with slightly different shadowy dark areas on the screen.I'm disappointed and look forward to the day when these issues are non existent and I can purchase a new Paperwhite with peace of mind.P.S. Bookerly is a nice font, but I think it needs to be bolder/darker or have a Bookerly Bold option.The Paperwhite is nonetheless still a good reader, and I know that these issues wouldn't bother everyone.

I purchased two brand new Paperwhite 300dpi units and, as soon as began the setup, I noticed a difference in color between the two devices. One had the correct color balance – a white background with perfect contrast and the other with a yellow background with murky contrast. The device with the yellow background also had an additional issue whereby the page filled with black screen artifacts when 'turning' the page, which was distracting. Also, screen sensitivity on the returned unit was problematic. I called Amazon and they offered to send a replacement unit. The replacement is slightly less yellow than the one I returned, but it is absolutely still way more yellow than white. Thankfully, it does not exhibit the same black screen artifacts when 'turning' pages and screen sensitivity is normal. I've included a picture of the Paperwhite with the correct white background (on left) and the new replacement Paperbeige (on right). You be the judge.

I have the new paperwhite and love it. I just ordered one for my husband and the display is NOT the same. It does not have the vivid bright white background like mine does. It has a sepia background. This is with the brightness turned all the way up and it's on any page, in a book, home screen, etc. I asked for a replacement. I received it today and it's the exact same thing. I talked to the kindle tech person and he acted like he almost didn't believe me. I have taken pictures of both kindles side by side with my Paperwhite(that I've had for a few months), but he didn't want me to email them to him. Maybe they don't have a way to view an email? Not sure, but now they are sending me a 3rd one. 1 day shipping...which I appreciate greatly, as this was an anniversary gift for my husband. If the 3rd one is the same, then I give up and I'll just give my husband my paperwhite that does have the bright white background and I'll keep the defect one, even though it's not as easy on the eyes to read. I'm going to assume that for some reason, amazon is manufacturing kindle paperwhites without the bright white background anymore. I've included pictures of the 1st kindle I got him and the 2nd one. Both are beside my kindle and both brightnesses are turned all the way up. In the first pic, my kindle is on the left. In the 2nd pic, my kindle is on the right and you can see the brightness levels are exactly the same

Outdated and could not access the internet nor download previous apps from same model/type previously owned. Games worked fine. Picture quality was good. Able to get one book downloaded from Barnes and Noble though.

having issues

My Kindle arrived two day ago and started to set it up which included assigning it to my Amazon account. After 30 attempts with all manner of error messages, I called tech support in the Philippians. After 30 minutes one tech that was convinced that I could not enter my account number and password correctly after 16 years with Amazon. He referred to a senior tech who identified the problem as an obsolete software version!.. After an hour of trying to download the software update he finally emailed me a link to an amazon update site. If you don't have version 5.8.9.2 please get it. I was unable to find out after 90 minutes why the delivered version made it impossible to assign my Amazon account number to my Kindle. I was afraid I had purchased a $120 paperweight.Don't bother to read the Legal section on a Kindle as it is 396 pages long. .

I purchased this device as an "upgrade" from an earlier model that had served me well. I like the compact size and the backlighted screen is nice to be able to read in the dark, without a light in the room. The trouble began shortly after the warranty expired. It became difficult to get recharged, due to the port on the device being "loose". I read numerous accounts on the internet of others having the same issue, leading me to the conclusion that the charging port has an inherent defect. I contacted Amazon and their "solution" is to buy a new one, offering $10 off. When I complained further, the discount was raised to $15. Even with a discount, I think that a new device every year or so is a bit much. I am currently shopping for devices from other sources.

I own two older models Kindle Fires (7" & 8") and a 2nd gen Kindle eReader, but the fires are a bit on the heavy side for heavy reading and the eReader was incompatible with some of my kindle books. So I was super excited to be getting the Paperwhite to handle all my reading needs. Not sure why an instock Amazon product takes so long to ship and arrive, but over the five days from order to delivery I was like a kid waiting on Christmas, especially given it would arrive just before I was to take an international flight.It was waiting for me when I got home from work and I eagerly unwrapped the packaging, plugged it in and started the setup process. Finished, I downloaded a book from my list and flipped it open. The Paperwhite was clunky in page flipping and accessing the menu, plus there was this annoying flicker whenever I took any actions.Ok, so Christmas reality sets in, but it could still be salvaged. I can get used to the page flips and the flickering wouldn't be present while I was reading, just turning pages. No biggy. Download my queue of books for my trip...The title is incompatible with this device. What? Again and again. About 1/2 my kindle books would not download because this brand new eReader is not sophisticated enough to open KINDLE books that my 2nd gen Fires can view without problem.Christmas is cancelled. Return.And oh yea, Amazon slaps me with over $10 in shipping fees for this and the leather case. iPad mini anyone?

I have had my Kindle since 02/2016 and for the last 6 months or so have had lots of issues with charging [I purchased the Kindle charging kit]. I will plug it in and the yellow light will go on, but then go out. Sometimes I have to insert charger many times [a dozen or so] to get the yellow light to come on. Finally, today, when i finally get the yellow charging light to come on and leave it for 5 or 6 hours, when I open the Kindle cover I purchased, it just shows the dead battery graphic. I have tried holding down the power button for over a minute and still nothing. I'm very disappointed as I ordered all "Kindle" accessories, take good care of it and now I'm left with a Kindle that doesn't work and NO WAY TO CONTACT AMAZON FOR SUPPORT. I've gone to my order history to try to return it, but since it's been 15 months, that option is not in my order history. There is no chat feature or any other way to contact anyone to get it replaced. Anyone else have problems with the Kindle charger and have the same experience?

I got my first Kindle in January, 2011. It is one of the keyboard models with buttons on the sides to advance the pages. It is a great product, easy to use, easy to read even in bright light, and until recently went everywhere I did. Unfortunately, the back of the case cracked from side to side, and while it still works fine I know it's days are numbered. I ordered one of the new Paperwhites and have been using it continuously for nearly a month.On the plus side, I love the backlit screen that I can read in any level of light, and the smaller size with no keyboard attached.On the minus side are several problems. I really miss those buttons that let me hold the Kindle with just one hand and click easily, whether holding a beverage or lying on my side in bed. My Paperwhite's screen is incredibly unreliable. Sometimes it is so jittery or overly sensitive that a tap will jump the book ahead several pages or even chapters. Other times I have to tap, and tap again, and again, and again to move it along. It often jumps several pages just by being set down carefully. It changes the font of my books midpage with no prompting from me. The tool bar across the top sometimes pops up when I pass my hand over the screen, and other times I practically have to squeeze it to get it to open and respond. This variable sensitivity makes it very distracting to use. It really takes two hands, one to hold it and the other to click here and there to advance the pages.For the month I have had it, I have used it at the same rate as my first Kindle. Unlike the earlier version which could go about ten days between charges, the Paperwhite has needed charging every three to four days. Thankfully the charging cable from the first Kindle fits (thank you, Amazon!) so I can read while it charges because the short little cable that comes with it is pretty useless.Amazon, if you are listening, please give us back an option with buttons on the side to turn the pages and stabilize the touchscreen features. I'm going to use my old Kindle until it dies and hope that another version will be released that lets me focus more on what I'm reading and less on fighting with the product.

So, I have two problems with this new kindle.First - The light is just too yellow in comparison to paperwhite 1 and 2 (as can be seen in the photos I'm providing). Also, the light is weaker, which makers for a not so good experience while reading in a bright lit ambient).I'm not sure if my device is simply defective or if this new yellowish and weaker light is by design, if it is, I don't like it and think it should probably be advertised, maybe a change name to kindle paperyellow?Second: The 300dpi thing is quite meh (in comparison to 212 and even 167 of the pw1), I mean, is it better? Yes, I guess it is but - Will it make much of a difference? Well, maybe if you read using the largest setting, but even then just a small difference... Oh, also bookerly, it is a nice typeset, but I still prefer Caecilia and Palatino... A matter of taste, I know... Still, not much of a thing having this new typeset, even if one prefers it... Btw, why can't we just side-load our favored typesets as is some other brads reading devices? That would be an improvement.And what I like about it? Well, the same I did like about the previous devices, it is still a good ereader and I could probably get used to it, but I still prefer the previous version, both one and two, in my opinion, make for a better overall reading experience.The photos. They are, from left to right, Paperwhite 1, Paperwhite 3 (the current version), and Paperwhite 2.

My eyes are getting bad and reading in anything other than bright light was difficult. With the Paperwhite being backlit and having adjustable fonts was perfect. I'm enjoying reading again. I liked it so much I bought one for my 71 yo sister and 92 yo Mother.UPDATEWell I've had this for a while now and have changed my rating from 5 to 1. I was under the impression you could use this to read books from the city library, but you can't. Amazon has limited you to their content only and the free material is very limited. I would send it back if I could.Spend half as much for a regular 7" Kindle Fire, get a free library card and read for FREE. The library has a larger selection of books and they are FREE. Plus you can get audio books on the regular Kindle because it has a speaker and a headphone jack. I'm so mad at myself for buying these Paperwhites.

I've now had this for several months and just cannot adapt to the horrendous lighting. I'm astounded that so many people have given this product so many positive reviews. I should have bought a Voyage.Edit: The 'Replacement' Amazon sent has several dead pixels. This is unacceptable. I'm not going through the process of exchanging a product five times until I can get one that works.Edit: Amazon has reached out and is sending a replacement Paperwhite to exchange for the one currently in my possession. I'm hoping that the quality control gets it right this time around, but we'll have to wait and see. I'll update my review accordingly after receipt.I bought the Paperwhite when it first came out and, after three exchanges at a brick and mortar store due to lighting issues (my screen had 'color zones' of green, yellow, and blue shading) gave up on the prospect. Today, working under the assumption that Amazon had probably finally fixed the issue, I opted to purchase this Paperwhite model (300ppi w/4 LED) from Staples. Light distribution and color uniformity remain an issue. The screen isn't as horrid as the first few iterations, but I'm still not satisfied; color shading appears all along the bottom of the page, and the background color isn't nearly as crisp (or, for that matter, white) as the ad displays. It's been years, Amazon... how have you not rectified this QC issue? Is it because most people are settling for an inferior product, unwilling to return and exchange the item? Is it cheaper for you to mass-produce these units despite the inevitable return/exchange rate? Maybe I'm just patently unlucky when it comes to Amazon devices (I had a Fire Phone that was a few weeks out of warranty brick/die on me recently...).TLDR: Buy a Paperwhite if you're willing to gamble. Some people apparently luck out and end up with legitimately uniform (and white) displays. Many others end up with varying degrees of defective devices.

i bought my first kindle on the prime day, got the prime deal for $89. high expectations on the paperwhite, coz i read ebooks a lot. i use ipad for ebooks and i really wanna try this paperwhite. then i got the paperwhite. the 1st time using experiment is really bad. the screen kept flashing wherever i touched. when i was in the books cover page, i swiped, it flashed/blinked. when i open a book, turned pages, it flashed. it looks like refreshing itself every time i click on it. i recharged for a while and tried again, it's still flashing. i looked up the general settings, and read some blogs to reset, it still had the flashing problem. ok, i think i might be one defected kindle, i would like a replacement to give it another try since i like to read in a not sharp light device. then i got the replacement, the flashing is less than the 1st one, but it's still there. i read some questions about the kindle reviewers. some said they have no flashing problem, some said occasionally. i really wanna give it another try, but i don't want to go through the exchange thing again. if i still got another flashing kindle, that will cost both shipping fee for amazon and loyalty credit for me (since i will exchange and return 3 kindles if i did exchange again.). well, so i give up. although i really do like the lightweight and the built-in light, the paper reading feel. but the flashing really hurts my eyes and makes me frustrated. maybe i will try my friends' kindles next time, or i can buy a used one =)i want to upload a video, it's in my phone but in wechat app, still don't know how to get that out of the app.

I broke my beloved kindle that I had for 4-5 years. So fear naught, I ordered the newest one.Let's start off with the good points...The lighted screen is really a plus. You can vary the light to meet your current conditions.Touching a word and having a dictionary and wikipedia pop up is very nice.The increased screen resolution was exceptionally nice.And now for the downside(s):The older kindle had a rough, almost rubberized case. It didn't slip, you had a good grip on the thing and didn't worry about it slipping through your fingers and on to the floor. This new one has a polished, hard-plastic case, read that it slips in my old fingers.When it slips, you grab hold of it. When you grab hold of it, especially on the sides, it blindly launches your reading page into oblivion. You then get to find back where you left off. Very annoying.Touching a word to get the dictionary, as I mentioned, is great. Except when it selects the whole sentence. That defeats the whole idea behind the dictionary as now you've highlighted that sentence. Annoying but something I can live with. Still, you would think that someone would have a better way to deal with this.The web page for this goes into great detail about the features. In true marketing fashion, they don't tell you they've left out anything audio. No more text to speech, no more playing audio books. After looking at other kindle models, that's been gone for a while.The first two problems, while a major annoyance, I can live with. Losing two important features, that was the show stopper.So now I had to make a decision. Keep this thing and live with it or plunk down and buy the tablet. If I wanted a tablet, I would buy the tablet. So in order to get the audio features, I now have to take the charging stuff with me and Mr. Tablet has to constantly be friends with Mr. Charger. The whole idea behind a Kindle was the screen and the long battery life. I neither want nor need all the crap that goes with a tablet, but that's the only way I'm going to play an Audible audio book....I just can't justify the cost of this thing without the features I want. Who takes features OUT of a product with newer models?Hence I returned it and I'll try the stinking tablet. If, as i suspect, I can't stand that either, have no idea where/what I'm going to do.Thanks Amazon.

I've been a LONG time Amazon customer, but this is the first time I've written a review so needless to say, I feel very strongly about this.I was one of the customers that pre-ordered this new Kindle Paperwhite. I've wanted a Kindle for years and this NEW Kindle looked great! I used the free shipping but it was delivered very quickly after its official release. However, as soon as I received it, I noticed a line of dead pixels right in the center of the screen (Note pic #1). I online chatted with Danyielle who was incredibly helpful! She suggested that I return the old one and buy a new one to guaranteed a new model (instead of a possible refurb). She even upgraded my new Kindle for a free 2-day shipping. I was pleased. Product defects happen but at least Amazon's customer service is top notch!Then comes the 2nd Kindle... (see pic #2) As soon as I received it, I noticed very uneven lighting throughout the screen and some light leaks at the bottom of the screen (where light comes in) which created spots of shadow throughout the bottom of the screen. I even compared it to my first Kindle (with the dead line of pixels) and confirmed the lighting was definitely uneven on this 2nd Kindle. I look at screens every day for a living so it might be easier for me to notice these things than others. I was very bummed. I went online and requested a refund. And I ordered a 3rd Kindle, because I really want a Kindle!Then comes the 3rd Kindle yesterday...(see pic #3) It's definitely not a charm. There's a significant amount of dust and unrecognizable particles under the screen..I've read other reviewers talk about this but it's pretty shocking to see it for myself. The 3rd Kindle has already been dropped off at UPS to be returned.Now Amazon's customer service is incredible and deserves a 5-star rating. But I am not sure this product is up to par. Kindle is an incredible product and makes reading so much more enjoyable. But who wants to stare at the screen for hours when all you can notice is dead pixels, or dark shadows, or unknown particles under the screen. I am not sure if Amazon was trying to make a deadline so this product was prematurely released. I've never owned a Kindle so I can't compare it to previous models. I'd REALLY like to own a Kindle - but I am scared to order a fourth one that's defective again. As easy as Amazon makes the return process, it's still a huge inconvenience. I am also losing confidence that a fourth one would have a proper screen for a brand new product. This has been incredibly disappointing.

The is not a worthy upgrade... Uneven, and even dimmer lighting, no noticeable difference in text clarity or sharpness! As a matter of fact, at full brightness, last years version looks brighter and crisper, where the new unit looks dull, with blotchy and uneven lighting! I am so not impressed!Even with the new font, there is NO noticeable improvement! The only thing that has been supposedly upgraded on this unit, this one has 4GBs of storage, compared to last years 2GBs! Otherwise, this unit is an actual downgrade compared to last years model!Just look at a comparison of the two units and decide for yourself!Which one do you think looks brighter, crisper, more evenly lit... ???

What I received was NOT a Nook Color!!!! The picture shows a Nook Color and my daughter currently owns the exact same Nook Color that is in the picture. WHAT A RIPOFF!!! This was definitely sent back!!! You have a whole lot of nerve trying to pass this thing off as a Nook Color, it doesn't even look remotely close to the picture! Why don't you do your research on the product you are trying to sell first!

The nook itself is fine the chaging cord was not the original and will not change the unit then it broke. I cannot fine a cord to charge it .i feel misled.