Kindle HDX as an ereader?

[slackerinabox]

I absolutely adored my kindle paperwhite but recently gifted it to my mom after lending it to her while she was in the hospital (she loved it as well). I'm putting together my christmas list and am thinking of replacing it with either another paperwhite or an HDX (7 or 8.9), thoughts?

I have an iPad 4 retina and don't really need another tablet, but having a lightweight cheap alternative couldn't hurt while traveling. But if my primary goal is reading (let's say an hour a day or so to be optimistic), how does the HDX fair? Is it light weight and have decent enough standby time to work, or am I better off with an e-ink reader? For comparison, I had a first gen nexus 7 that had decent enough ergonomics but had abysmal standby time (I just couldn't leave it in my messenger bag all week and expect to whip it out when I have a moment to read, I had to charge the thing daily which made it less convenient for my purposes)

 

[cronos]

While I think the HDX is a fantastic device, it would be way too overpowered for just reading. Also, if you want something for reading than nothing will beat e-ink. Paperwhite will be your best bet.

Having said that, the HDX is pretty light and I experienced the battery to be outstanding, as long as you turn off the wifi.

 

[Joe1987]

I'd get the current gen paperwhite.

HDX has no gps, no expandable storage, the weakest ecosystem.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I use my Kindle Fire 1st-generation as an e-reader and it works perfectly for that. I have an e-ink Kindle too and the main way it's better is in the battery life.

Amazon cloud streaming for music and Amazon / Netflix video streaming also work well on the Fire. It would be nice if it had an SD card slot and HDMI, but otherwise the Kindles are good tablets. There's no Google store access but you can side-load applications just by changing one setting to allow it.

 

[gorcorps]

IMO, the benefits of the e-ink devices (weight savings and battery life) far outweigh the tablets if you're primarily going to read. Especially given that you have an ipad, I say get another paperwhite.

 

[sweenish]

For just reading, get something with e-ink.

 

[slackerinabox]

paperwhite it is, thanks!

 

[lopri]

Kindle Fire for ebooks is an overkill when you already have a capable tablet like an iPad.

 

[Midwayman]

For what you want to do, the paperwhite is the best bet given you already have a general use tablet. I know I treat my old gen 3 kindle like a regular book when on vacation, not like a tablet.