The Kindle was a device I never knew I needed.
A little over a year ago, Jules bought me a Kindle Touch as a holiday gift. Let’s just say, it shot up my reading somewhere in the ballpark of 6000% (I really love to read). I started tearing through multiple books in weeks (1 free book a month via Prime helps). Very rarely would a day go by where I didn’t pick it up at least once. The only thing that I didn’t like, was that I had to carry around a separate light so I could read in dim settings. I loved my Kindle so much, I ended up getting Jules the Paperwhite 1st gen model!
When the Paperwhite model came out, I immediately lusted after it. Not for the fact that it was new (which I am guilty of) but for the fact I did not need to carry a light around with me. When the Paperwhite 2nd gen came out (which wasn’t trumpeted too loudly by Amazon), I decided to sell my Kindle Touch and upgrade to a newer device. I thought that besides the light, everything else would be basically the same.
I was wrong.
(1st gen on left, 2nd gen on right)
The first thing I noticed was the screen refresh rate. I sold my old Kindle before I bought the new one, so I couldn’t time the difference but there was a noticeable one. The second huge difference, coming from the Kindle Touch, was the lack of a hardware “home” button. Now, the home button is on the top left of the screen so it requires some tweaking of some muscle memory. Two other things were difference that I noticed but didn’t really use: on board memory (was 4GB, now 2GB) and a headphone jack (for audiobooks/music). Since both the memory and the headphone jack need each other to function properly, this doesn’t really surprise me that much.
(1st gen on left, 2nd gen on right)
I’m really impressed with the screen, and the backlight seems even better than the 1st Generation Paperwhite (so its not marketing BS after all). The weight and size are practically the same for all three models, so there is no problem using my tried and true Timbuk2 sleeve. The one thing that I can wholeheartedly recommend is opting for the 3G version if you are an active reader AND you take your device with you a ton. Being able to look at books and download practically anywhere (for free) is an awesome feature.
(Curious what generation your Paperwhite is? If it says Amazon on the back, it is the 2nd Gen. Kindle= 1st Gen)
Do you own an E-reader? What is your favorite?
