Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

*** UPDATED *** I have the Kindle Keyboard, the low end Kindle, Kindle Touch, and Kindle Fire. All excellent devices in their own ways. I purchased the first generation Paperwhite, and I returned it in a matter of a couple of days. I wrote an extensive review, mostly focused on the screen. The screen lighting was a mess, and the light had a blue cast. I could not read on it without eye fatigue within a matter of minutes. Since I read extensively on both my iPad and smartphones, I couldn't understand why this device gave me so much discomfort. So, for me, the original screen was simply a deal killer. The improvements to the screen are the difference to me of a "keeper" and a device that I couldn't think of keeping. However, having said that, I was hesitant to purchase another one. Here's my first read on the new device: Screen: This device is much better.... I just read on it in low light with the light at approximately 11, and it's great. Even turned up to 15 or 16, it's readable. The light is whiter, much more even across the screen. There is still some unevenness, but it's not bothersome (there is a brighter "stripe" of light at the top of the screen.) Screen Contrast: Play with the light to see how the contrast changes with illumination. You'll see considerable variation. Still, it's too dark to read in a room at the settings Amazon suggests if there is no ambient light in the room, but the contrast is fine with the light set in the middle. Speed: It's very zippy! Quick page turns, quick book opens, responsive screen. New features: I love the ability to browse forward without moving from the current page. Highlighting is simple, and more flexible. You can change the length of the highlight easily by moving the brackets after your initial "grab" of all or part of a sentence. After you make the change, you touch "Highlight" and it's done. Not so easy on older devices. ** UPDATE** The vocabulary feature is great! Each time you look up a word, it goes into a vocabulary file. You can review the list, and give yourself Flashcard practice. Great way to improve your vocabulary! LOVE IT! Battery Life: I will update this review as I see how this goes. I noticed that after only a few hours of use, that I see a "tick" of battery life reduced. However, since it's new, is indexing, and I downloaded 11 books, we'll see how the battery holds up with use. **UPDATE** I've had the device a total of 9 days, haven't used it daily, and I keep wifi off for the most part. The battery will need to be charged soon. FYI. Page Numbers: I will also update this review after more experience on a variety of books. I'm reading a large book, and have the book on a number of devices. All have page numbers, except for the Paperwhite version. Not sure why. The book has been indexed by my device, so I'd expect them to be there. If this proves to be the case, I'll be calling the Paperwhite team in the hopes that this will be fixed in a software update. ****UPDATE**** To access page numbers: open your book. If you see location on the lower left, tap on it. It should switch to page numbers (tap again and you can scroll through other things: time in book and chapter). This will also change your table of contents to page numbers (hit Go To after tapping top of screen to bring up the menu). Weight: Has a slightly hefty hand feel, but not enough to be bothersome. What would I change: Not much, except for two things: Storage: 2G of storage is not enough, in my opinion. However, as my older devices became lower on storage, the device speed ground to a halt. So, this is one way of keeping the device performing. I'm already at 1.25G remaining storage with 11 books downloaded. I'd have paid extra to purchase a 4G option. Audio: I don't care so much about text to speech, but I don't understand the lack of ability to use Audible books on this device (although with 2G of memory, it's obviously not an option at that level). Not being able to use Audible doesn't make sense to me in light of the Whispersync for voice feature that has become so much a part of Amazon's ecosystem. I suppose this drives people to the Kindle Fire, but still.... For the last two reasons, the device doesn't feel like a bargain to me at $119 (it's stripped in some ways, particularly next to a $139 8G Fire), but it is still an excellent device as long as you are clear on what you are getting. A couple of initial tips: I saw some crazy flashing of the screen (may also have impacted the battery) which I later realized may have been the cover images of my archived items loading onto my device. The flashing has stopped, so I expect that was the case. I have a lot of books in my Archive. I found the recommendations at the bottom of my screen took up too much space from my library. I turned them off via "Settings".... great that you can do so. Play with light settings until you feel comfortable in different light situations. I expect that you'll be changing the settings, but it's simple to do. I'm glad that Amazon is not taking their focus off pure reading devices. I purchased this mainly to take the load off of my backlit devices (iPad and Fire), since I often found that I was either constantly charging, or couldn't read when I wanted to, since they were plugged in in another room. **** UPDATE 10/25 **** I've been using the device for about a month, and it's great! A pure reading device. I can read for long periods without eye fatigue, indoors or out. It's very easy to navigate back and forth...for example: what to check chapter length? Just tap 'go to' and a drop down will show you the table of contents, including page numbers. It's very responsive. The only lag I've seen is with a game that I downloaded, Slingo. That is sluggish. ***** UPDATE 10/30 I was reading outside near sunset. As it got darker, the device lighting enabled me to continue reading till it was almost dark without touching the lighting settings (and I could have continued reading after dark). Great! ****** UPDATE 11/13 Battery life: seems to be consistent around 9 to 10 days, with light set between 10 - 16 and with wireless off ( except when downloading). Not as good as I expected, but I can live with it. Speed: I have noticed with use, and additional books stored, that the device is becoming more sluggish. If I type my password too quickly, it doesn't take, for example. I need to purposefully input each number, wait for it to show up onscreen, and then put in the next number. Also, with page turns. Not as quick as when I first received the device, but it's still ok. ******** Any questions, comments, things you'd like tested? Please post and I'll be back to you as soon as I'm able. Enjoy! Nice job, Amazon!