The Kindle Paperwhite: A Review (Sort of)

I've had a series a technological glitches last week. First, I ran out of storage space at my old blog. Then my iPod refused to start, for which we had to take it back to the dealer's. And then my Kindle died. This one left me most devastated.


You see, I was in the middle of reading a book. So the natural thing to do was to look for a replacement. I thought of having one shipped from Amazon, but the model (Do people still use this word? Hee) that I liked will not be available until December 21st. I did not have the patience.


Turns out most e-readers are available locally from this store. I just had to SMS them, set a meet-up date and pay upon delivery. Of course I had to pay more than what I would have paid had I gotten my Kindle Paperwhite directly from Amazon, but that's just the price that I had to pay for literaly having very low EQ.


Anyway, this post is really all about the Kindle Paperwhite. I first thought of getting just the basic $69 Kindle because I was used to reading without a backlight in my old Kindle keyboard anyway. I'm glad I changed my mind because the backlight in the Kindle Paperwhite is just so damn awesome.


The downsides are that: 1) The Paperwhite is small and hence more difficult to hold. I liked the size of my old Kindle better; 2) I have to move my fingers when turning pages in the Paperwhite. I liked the page turn buttons at the side of my old Kindle better; 3) The Paperwhite is heavy. I wouldn't recommend getting a leather case for it actually. I just use a pencil organizer when it's in my bag so I don't scratch it -


- 4) The battery life on the Paperwhite isn't built for stamina. My old Kindle lasted two months without recharging. The Paperwhite lasts only around a month; and 5) the Paperwhite only comes with a USB charger, which means I'd have to find a PC or laptop before I can charge it. My old Kindle came with a power adapter and I got to plug it anywhere.

So to summarize, while older versions of the Kindle trump the Paperwhite in many respects, these do not matter to me as much as the Paperwhite's awesome backlight feature. I used to have to stop reading when it was Malik's time to sleep. Now I can go about my business even when all lights in the room are turned off. This one amazing convenience makes the Kindle Paperwhite a good buy, well, despite all other considerations.


- posted via BlogPress for iPad