today I switched from Nook to a Kindle

[stlc8tr]

I bought a Kindle 5 Paperwhite just a week ago, and returned it the very next day. My older Kindle 4 has an 800x600 resolution screen, so I thought the 1024x758 Kindle 5 would be visibly sharper. But I could really not tell the difference, even on the smallest font size on both. And the lighting on the Paperwhite was uneven and distracting to me, had quite a bit of light bleeding on the left side and with the light on, the text seemed to fade a bit.

You can fit ~4 more lines of text on the PW over the K4.

That was good enough for me to upgrade.

The front lighting was a nice bonus too.

Though I do miss the page turn buttons.

 

[gorcorps]

If you're one to have a light by your bed then the Paperwhite is probably not necessary. I needed the light because I didn't have any other light that could be turned off in bed, so the little bit of uneven lighting was nothing compared to using a clip on light.

 

[Bateluer]

If you're one to have a light by your bed then the Paperwhite is probably not necessary. I needed the light because I didn't have any other light that could be turned off in bed, so the little bit of uneven lighting was nothing compared to using a clip on light.

On my Nook GlowLight, I couldn't notice the lighted gradient after about 15 minutes.

Edit - gorcorps, did you get the Special Offers or no?

 

[gorcorps]

On my Nook GlowLight, I couldn't notice the lighted gradient after about 15 minutes.

Edit - gorcorps, did you get the Special Offers or no?

Yeah, both the glow light and paperwhite had a gradient but neither of them are that bad. The Nook leds are on the top where the Kindle has them on the bottom, so the hot spots are in a different spot.

I got the one with special offers. It didn't seem to be worth the cost to not have them and the only ads are on the "lock screen" and at the bottom of the home screen.

 

[Ravynmagi]

My Paperwhite had some pretty bad, I guess what I'd call, light bleeding like effect. I guess since it's not a back light it may not be the same thing. But for some reason on the left side of the screen I had spots that were much brighter on the edges. And on the right side I had some spots that were much darker. Which is weird I guess since this thing is suppose to be lighting up from the bottom. Perhaps it wasn't assembled well, screws too tight or something. Dunno. I hated it though, so had to return it.

 

[hclarkjr]

amazon slashed the 8.9" kindle prices today http://www.dailytech.com/Amazon+Sla...Availability+to+Europe+Japan/article30125.htm

 

[gorcorps]

My Paperwhite had some pretty bad, I guess what I'd call, light bleeding like effect. I guess since it's not a back light it may not be the same thing. But for some reason on the left side of the screen I had spots that were much brighter on the edges. And on the right side I had some spots that were much darker. Which is weird I guess since this thing is suppose to be lighting up from the bottom. Perhaps it wasn't assembled well, screws too tight or something. Dunno. I hated it though, so had to return it.

Some people are sensitive to it, but I'm in the "what were you expecting" crowd. It's literally just some leds on the edge of the screen. I find external lighting to be uneven as well so I'm not sure what the beef is. I'm sure they'll find ways to diffuse the light more evenly going forward but I don't think they'll eliminate the hot spots completely.

 

[lopri]

Excuse me for piggybacking on this thread - I have a 2nd generation Kindle (black and white e-ink with physical keyboard) that is dead. It is not dead dead - It boots but doesn't go anywhere else. Is there something I can do with it?

 

[Bateluer]

Excuse me for piggybacking on this thread - I have a 2nd generation Kindle (black and white e-ink with physical keyboard) that is dead. It is not dead dead - It boots but doesn't go anywhere else. Is there something I can do with it?

Does it still download books and display content?
Otherwise, factory reset, sell on CL, but the newer model.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Some people are sensitive to it, but I'm in the "what were you expecting" crowd. It's literally just some leds on the edge of the screen. I find external lighting to be uneven as well so I'm not sure what the beef is. I'm sure they'll find ways to diffuse the light more evenly going forward but I don't think they'll eliminate the hot spots completely.

What I was expecting? Well I never used or even saw an e-reader with a built in light (for some reason there was no display unit), so I had no idea what to expect. But I guess I was expecting better for the $50 premium over the non lit model (the touch input is meaningless to me).

 

[JJ24]

I still have and use my 2nd gen 3G Kindle from like 2009 almost every day.
I feel like its time for an upgrade, but it still works and does what its supposed to do (display text for me to read...) so I haven't justified buying a new one. When I do upgrade I'll definetly go with another Kindle and most likely the paperwhite one since all I use the eReader for is to read. My view is that if you want to surf the web or watch videos use a tablet for that, if you want to play games use a PC/Laptop, etc... An eReader should be reading so I like the simplicity of the Paperwhite (or my Kindle2)

I know a few people with Nooks and don't see any advantage, and like the OP said Amazon is more competitive with pricing of eBooks and has other advantages for their Prime members.

#TeamKindle

 

[obidamnkenobi]

Stupid question; can you buy ebooks from amazon and put them on a Nook? And how much hassle is that?

Philosophically I don't like to support locked-down and/or abusive systems, like Amazon (see deleting customers libraries etc) but the Kindle just seems better (selection, use, sync to phones, not nearly bankrupt..) so I'm thinking of betraying my principles in this case. Though choice.

 

[Midwayman]

Stupid question; can you buy ebooks from amazon and put them on a Nook? And how much hassle is that?

Philosophically I don't like to support locked-down and/or abusive systems, like Amazon (see deleting customers libraries etc) but the Kindle just seems better (selection, use, sync to phones, not nearly bankrupt..) so I'm thinking of betraying my principles in this case. Though choice.

Sure. Download kindle PC and calibre. You may need to break the DRM, but there is a plugin for that (no linky, rules)

 

[Bateluer]

Stupid question; can you buy ebooks from amazon and put them on a Nook? And how much hassle is that?

Philosophically I don't like to support locked-down and/or abusive systems, like Amazon (see deleting customers libraries etc) but the Kindle just seems better (selection, use, sync to phones, not nearly bankrupt..) so I'm thinking of betraying my principles in this case. Though choice.

That is the major thing that holds me back from spending any money on Kindle content, the fact that they can go in and delete things from my library. I'm assuming that means they can also delete local content that I've placed on the Kindle, such as epubs from Project Gutenberg or other such sources.

 

[gorcorps]

That is the major thing that holds me back from spending any money on Kindle content, the fact that they can go in and delete things from my library. I'm assuming that means they can also delete local content that I've placed on the Kindle, such as epubs from Project Gutenberg or other such sources.

It's perfectly valid reasoning, and I understand it, but I'm not as worried about it. Maybe I've just been brainwashed by Amazon's customer service history on my end, but all of the stories I hear about Amazon's ebooks have some semi-understandable explanation. The big one I remember was:

Amazon removes 1984 and Animal Farm from devices:
Expl: The copies uploaded to Amazon weren't from the real copyright holder, and the real rights holder complained. Amazon removed the illegal copies from their system which also removed the customers access.
Fix: Amazon didn't just delete the books, they gave refunds for the book as well. They also claimed they would fix their process so that already downloaded books wouldn't be removed (happened in 2009, not sure if something has happened since to prove this change)

The people who bought the books were pissed when they disappeared, but in theory that won't happen anymore. Plus it's not like they were screwed out of their money... they got a refund. At this point I believe there's a better system in place to ensure it's the copyright holder that's submitting books to Amazon.

 

[obidamnkenobi]

It's perfectly valid reasoning, and I understand it, but I'm not as worried about it. Maybe I've just been brainwashed by Amazon's customer service history on my end, but all of the stories I hear about Amazon's ebooks have some semi-understandable explanation. The big one I remember was:

Amazon removes 1984 and Animal Farm from devices:
Expl: The copies uploaded to Amazon weren't from the real copyright holder, and the real rights holder complained. Amazon removed the illegal copies from their system which also removed the customers access.
Fix: Amazon didn't just delete the books, they gave refunds for the book as well. They also claimed they would fix their process so that already downloaded books wouldn't be removed (happened in 2009, not sure if something has happened since to prove this change)

The people who bought the books were pissed when they disappeared, but in theory that won't happen anymore. Plus it's not like they were screwed out of their money... they got a refund. At this point I believe there's a better system in place to ensure it's the copyright holder that's submitting books to Amazon.

There was that, and the woman who had her whole library deleted and could not get any explanation from amazon (until the story got circulated everywhere, but how would I do that?)
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/201...mans-account-and-delete-all-her-kindle-books/

An Amazon Kindle user has had her account wiped and all her paid-for books deleted by Amazon without warning or explanation.

The Norwegian woman, identified only as Linn on media commentator Martin Bekkelund’s blog, approached Amazon when she realised her Kindle had been wiped.

She was informed by a customer relations executive that her account had been closed, all open orders had been cancelled and all her content had been removed, but has been unable to find out why.

I looked around at kindle, nook, kobo etc and now I think the kobo looks ok, from an openness perspective. Since I can buy ebooks on amazon and read them there too it sounds pretty good. They also have an app that (supposedly) will sync my books. No idea about their financials though, which is my concern with B&N.

I plan to use an ereader mainly for free classics though, only thing I'm using the kindle app for. So my requirements aren't that high.

 

[Plimogz]

Well, I just messed around with my new kindle paperwhite for the first time... My first impression was "nice build quality". My second thought was, "how easily can this screen get scratched?". My third realization was that the lighting is pretty uneven towards the bottom of my screen.

All in all, I have to admit that I don't quite know why I got this thing, seeing as how I really do like paper books. But we'll see...

At the very least, it sure is a sharp looking toy. Hopefully I'll find a way to really enjoy the thing. All I need to do know is familiarize myself with ebook file formats and learn how to self-publish to my kindle: I have quite a collection of technical manuals which I've so far accumulated in various text formats, but I'd love to be able to copy these thousands of pages of stuff into the handheld.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

I just picked up a paperwhite last week. It's pretty sweet. Really light. The text for the older and non-paperwhite versions are supposed to be crisper but I like having the light.

If you are ok with open box items, check your microcenter stock. I picked mine up for $76 after tax. Amazon does sell refurb units for $104 if you want to go that route. I wish they would give you a discount on the kindle version of any physical books you've already purchased at Amazon. There's a couple books I'd like to stick on there for easy access.

 

[QueBert]

I picked up a Paperwhite last week, I like it a lot. But to me the text sometimes looks a bit off. Like a portion of some of the letters look a bit lighter in color. And I see a slight bit of fuzziness on certain words, it's not often but I do notice it. I don't know if these are normal things so I'm not going to return it unless I learn otherwise.

 

[Zaap]

Stupid question; can you buy ebooks from amazon and put them on a Nook? And how much hassle is that?

I rooted my Nook Simple Touch in the time it takes to insert an SD card in the slot and boot it. Absolutely hassle-free. Now it has a proper launcher, Kindle app (with access to my Kindle library) FB reader, play store, Opera Mini, in addition to the exact same B&N interface and built-in apps. Pretty much a no-brainer IMO; no downside that I know of.

 

[stlc8tr]

I picked up a Paperwhite last week, I like it a lot. But to me the text sometimes looks a bit off. Like a portion of some of the letters look a bit lighter in color. And I see a slight bit of fuzziness on certain words, it's not often but I do notice it. I don't know if these are normal things so I'm not going to return it unless I learn otherwise.

That's weird. I think my PW's font rendering looks a lot better than my K4's. Then again, I really like small text (all settings are to maximize number of lines of text onscreen) so perhaps the larger fonts aren't so great?

 

[gorcorps]

I rooted my Nook Simple Touch in the time it takes to insert an SD card in the slot and boot it. Absolutely hassle-free. Now it has a proper launcher, Kindle app (with access to my Kindle library) FB reader, play store, Opera Mini, in addition to the exact same B&N interface and built-in apps. Pretty much a no-brainer IMO; no downside that I know of.

I understand why you'd want the kindle app, but I have no idea why you'd want a browser on an eink device. It's one of those things that makes me think: just because you CAN, doesn't mean you SHOULD.

 

[Zaap]

I understand why you'd want the kindle app, but I have no idea why you'd want a browser on an eink device. It's one of those things that makes me think: just because you CAN, doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Not that I'd want to surf with this for an extended period or anything but Opera actually works surprisingly well on this. Its not like it harms anything. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
And yes, I'm responding on the NST.

 

[Plimogz]

After one week in with my KPW I can say that I think it will be a quite happy relationship, between the little gadget and myself. I can't comment on how it compares to other e-readers, given that this is my first (and that rooted Nook ^^ has me a bit jealous atm), but it certainly delivers what I was hazily expecting.

The uneven lighting at the bottom pretty much vanishes from my perception as soon as I get immersed in whatever I'm reading, so that's alright -- though I must call BS on Amazon's official stance that the lighting imperfection is limited to areas devoid of text: A couple of lines at the bottom of the page definitely overlap the blotchy light when it's turned up to, or near to, max. brightness.

Besides that, I thought the small size a weakness when I first unpacked the thing and was thus mildly disappointed, but it really is nice and light and lends itself to one-handed manipulation better than a larger device could have. So its small size is actually starting to feel like an advantage, and one screen-full of text is enough that I don't feel like I'm constantly having to tap for the next page. Though a slimmer bezel coupled with a larger screen would of course be an improvement; I guess that'll have to wait for the future. And I could see how someone using a larger font would be forced to "turn" pages awfully frequently.

Speaking of the future, it really would be something, it seems to me, if they made this thing waterproof. How hard could it be? I mean it already pretty much forces me to rely on WI-FI, and it only has the one physical button, and they already cut out those features which would commonly imply imput/outputs (sound, I guess). Except for charging through the USB and the initial setup (both of which can to an extent be made to be wireless, or just waterproof gold contacts for power), there's apparently no need to ever jack into the device.

And as much as I love paper books, that's one thing I've always begrudged them: their inability to weather an unexpected storm.

 

[Anteaus]

I won't provide instructions so please don't ask but as others have said it is easy enough to strip the DRM from purchased books. I suggest you do this regardless of where you buy them in order to future proof your collection. It has to dual benefit of protecting your purchase as well as making the books device agnostic. That said, my Nook Simpletouch with Glow Light is the best ebook reader I've ever owned and I've had a few. They can keep the color and LCDs. I only use it to read books and I much prefer e-ink.