Kindle News: Kindle Paperwhite - 1st reports and reviews - UPDATE3

First user reports  from Kindle forum are coming in and I'll mention the first few and get on with excerpts from the regular print reviews, which are, fittingly, glowing like a front-lit Kindle.  :-)   I'll add that when I saw the Paperwhite, in early Sept, I wondered how could it NOT sell like crazy?  This piece sells itself, just sitting there.  But, as I've said, it's very responsive too, which some of you saw in the video I took.   The Kindle Paperwhite started shipping officially yesterday, on time, and the first quick report I saw in the Kindle Forum today was by J. Davidson -- the message thread will grow, so you can watch it for as long as needed: ' Short review.  Just received mine and best Kindle ever!!  Light OMG I love it!   [ Pressed for more, J. added: '...Love the touch screen feel.  Power button is harder to push, so no accidental pushes...have found I need more light to read and this Kindle is what I've been waiting for.' bookloveranne says: '  'Mine just arrived. I seated it in the case and hooked it up to the charger.  I haven't messed with the fonts yet, but what I've played with so far, I love! ' They mention there are a few negative reviews in the Amazon customer reviews area from people upset that it doesn't have audio.  It shouldn't be a surprise to shoppers who read the details before they buy though.  I mentioned it early, in the Notes, so that  people would know in advance, and many others have discussed it.   In another thread, started before delivery date, someone points out,    "Experimental Web browser faster than on KK, for sure...." It's always fun on the first day to read the high anxiety over the (non)arrival of  UPS or FedExpress, while some do sentry or greeter duty at their front doors.  One dog got excited, alerting the family to The Arrival,  but it turned out to be Jehovah's Witnesses, whose booklets were not on a Paperwhite.

The Paperwhite product page already has some very helpful, detailed early customer reviews.  The gist of these reports is that other e-Ink upgrades were skippable but the reviewers there feel this model is different  It's not only the front-lighting, it's also the responsiveness of the capacitive screen (Touchco's) vs an infra-red one (the latter type is on the current Nook Glowlight and the Kindle Touch). [See updates on this further down.]   On the left or just above  is an image from the video I took of a very good demo of what it's like to use the Paperwhite, and if you didn't see it earlier, it'll help to take a look.  I had just tried out a few menu options and asked a Kindle Team member to show some of the features and functioning for the blog.   OK.  What do the Net Tech Sages have to say? Gizmodo's Kyle Wagner - "Forget Everything Else, This Is The E-Reader You Want" is the headline.   Description:  "The Kindle Paperwhite is a pivotal step forward for the technology of ereaders.  It makes previous generations feel like a pulpy paperback held up next to an ornately illustrated tome.  In short: this is the best ereader you can buy."  Wagner is one who has loved the Nook readers.'   I'm pausing here as, one of his many points is fairly key.  I wrote, on Sept. 21, that the the screen would probably be "less fragile" than an earlier front-lit one.   Kyle Wagner was the one who had accidentally dropped something onto his Glowlight, causing a "light tunnel" to form and he blamed himself but warned that people should not drop things on it, and his column was followed by Nate Hoffelder's story on his key-drop tests.   At the Amazon announcements, I asked a Kindle Team member about the strength of the screen, because I was concerned the Paperwhite might have the same problem, and the Kindle rep said they had, in fact, done several tests on this, dropping even a brass object on it, without bad effect  (no warranty on that, of course).  We're talking relative strength.  That was reassuring -- but I was talking to what I thought was a knowledgeable salesman with a technological bent. Sidenote and Update: I've just discovered who it was, and it turns out to have been Amazon's Director of Product Management  at Lab 126, Laurent Sellier.  No wonder he was so immediately responsive about the drop-on-screen tests.   Only the VPs wore name tags at the press conference demo area and others involved on the team didn't, and, although I asked, I wasn't able to quote him by name (rules of the day) at the time.  But he said OK to a photo and,  because of something I saw in Amazon's explanations of how they got Paperwhite to work after several years of development (boosted by the acquisition of Oy Modilis), I saw a French name, put 2+2 together and verified who my capable demo'r was.  The work they've done has certainly paid off in results. [End of Side note and update]   Wagner, who'd dropped a remote control on his Glowlight and probably read about Nate's series of dropped-keys tests (from 4 ft), has this to say on that topic: ' We tossed a set of keys onto the screen a few times from about three feet  (don’t tell Amazon), and didn’t wind up with any light pillars shooting out of the display.  So it’s sturdy.' Be sure to read Wagner's full review as it's VERY detailed.   Other Reviews  Chicago Sun-Times' Andy Ihnatko - "Industry-best e-reader gets better"   [Although he refers to a "backlight" (as many still do), he knows it's front-lighted but continues to refer to "backlighting" throughout his story.]   [Ihnatko says the unit is  "noteworthy" because Amazon]  " added the illumination to the Kindle in a smarter way... its true function is to make the apparent contrast of the display even greater...the Paperwhite’s background truly looks as white as a sheet of paper.  "... At the end of five hours of reading...my brain still thought it was paper.  My eyes had none of the complaints that often come at the end of a long session staring at a conventionally backlit tablet or notebook screen. : ... The backlighting doesn’t seem to affect the device’s battery life in any way that was obvious during a week of use."   [Ihnatko mentions that the 3G model lets you download books and content when away from WiFi but he probably doesn't know about an important feature that most reviewers won't run across:     With the 3G model, you get 24/7 Wikipedia on Free 3G -- that's from anywhere that an AT&T phone works, and this feature also works outside the U.S. when you're on vacation.] Read his full review.  Fun last line. Endadget's Brian Heater really likes the added contrast and adds,   "The Nook Simple Touch, on the other hand, loses contrast when bumped up to the GlowLight version, offering fairly uneven text throughout... ... On the whole...the light distribution is far, far more even than on the GlowLight."   Engadget's photo is a bit dark but gives an idea of that.  Here's the full article. Slashgear's Cory Gunther - "For those worried about this new light and capacitive touch technology to hinder the reading experience, it’s safe to say that isn’t the case.  Reading is simply awesome and we’ve loved our limited time with the new Paperwhite — and you will too. "... the concave back on the NOOK is still something we favor "... [Amazon has] even added a few awesome additions to make things even better. We have time to read, x-ray, and tools for readers all available with ease. X-Ray lets you instantly find any and all details of any character, place, or moment in a book. Amazon explains this as letting you explore the “bones of the book” with a detailed breakdown, and so far we love it.  Seeing and jumping to exact points in a 400 page read with ease is an awesome new feature for those diehards... .".. We also have instant translations by simply highlighting a section for easy translation.  "...So far I’ve read a little daily for the past week and a half and haven’t seen the battery meter drop one bit — so take it as you will..."   Full article here. TIME's Harry McCracken - "The Screen Makes It the Best E-Reader Yet" "... The Nook with GlowLight’s light-up screen is good.  But the one on the Kindle Paperwhite?  It’s spectacular — the best thing to happen to e-readers since the original 2007 Kindle came along. "For one thing, it’s the first e-reader with illumination that’s designed to stay on all the time, not just when it’s absolutely necessary. It turns on every time you press the Paperwhite’s power button. In dark rooms, it makes the display readable when the previous Kindle would have suffered a blackout. But it also helps in brighter environs and even outside in direct sunlight, largely eliminating the unappetizing greyish look of E Ink."   Full article here. TechCrunch's John Biggs - "The Kindle Paperwhite Is A Reader’s Dream" "...To be fair, the Paperwhite does have an absolutely beautiful screen when backlit and it looks almost perfectly white while the Nook still has a tinge of grey. "My recommendation, as well, is to pick up the 3G version, as it makes it easier to grab books on the go than the Wi-Fi-only model... "...I’m wildly impressed with the simplicity and beauty of this device.  If ever there was anything similar to the fabled Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, this is it."   Full article here. CNet (group review) - "...for the moment, the Kindle Paperwhite has jumped to the head of the e-reader pack.  It may not be perfect, but it's definitely the Kindle a lot of people have been waiting for."   CNET's David Carnoy - An Update November 30 to add this one by Carnoy, as I missed it in the original blog article (and saw it referenced today on the Kindle forums), but it's the most detailed I've seen insofar as features are concerned, indicating he had already used the device in depth (this is unusual in mainstream reviews) by Sept. 12.  It's very well written too, which is why I looked, this late, at who had written it.   Titled "Kindle Paperwhite shines," his bottom line is that "With an excellent built-in light and Amazon's best-in-class e-book selection, the Kindle Paperwhite rises to the top of the e-reader pack."   Carnoy describes, in detail, reading features that many others miss and he points out some that are missing from this model although they were included in previous e-Ink models.  The pros and cons of hardware and software elements are given good context.   Caution, I normally have extra pop-up blockers on (tech sites talk about Amazon ads, but these are really In Your Face, so I had not known most are greeted with these huge ads, which I saw, going in via a tablet w/o sufficient pop-up protection.  I really like ads to be more subtle instead of the 'BUY HERE' type.  What happened to CNET?

That should give a pretty good idea of what the reception is like.  If I see any unusual ones, I may add more later, but there have been so many rave reviews since this was first posted, that I felt one would do unless there was something new being said.  If you've received a {a[erwjote and would like to add your thoughts, pro or con, to the reports, that'd be helpful.


UPDATE2 and 3 - The Light Panel - Some have mentioned that the bottom-most slice or row has uneven lighting that's noticeable when the room light is very low.  That's where the four lower-power LEDs are, underneath the bezel, where they're the light source for the fiber optic sheet of the display.

  The light travels about 1/2 inch, as it is, before it becomes evenly diffused, and you'll see some darker portions at that lowest space.  This is not very noticeable in daylight but is seeable in the dark and is to be expected (but not mentioned in the marketing materials, and so people have wondered if it's normal).

  Amazon explains that their design uses "nanoscale optical diffractive patterns" to enable 'fine-grain control" over the direction of the diffused light.

  Here's a very good video of this bottom area, with explanation, by phototristan, shot in a darkened room.

Updated to include the portion showing the same Paperwhite in normal room lighting before he turned the lights off.

  The patents involved with this are an interesting read (for some).  Considering the light guide layer is above the touch screen (front-lighting it), it's impressive that the screen is as responsive as it is.

      UPDATE 3a

Some have reported discolorations.  Prismatic in look.  For some, they've disappeared after a few days.  For others, they remain.  If they do remain, Amazon Kindle Support (1-866-321-8851) is replacing them.

[ End of Update 2 and 3]


NOTE - The Paperwhite is more or less backordered, as too many of us know, but to see it earlier you can go to places like Staples and Office Max.  While the stores should get something from carrying them, I should also mention one thing that I ran up against when I bought a Kindle for a family member at Staples.  They're nearby and I needed it quickly.  They mentioned that while Amazon has a 30-day return policy, Staple's is 14 days.  It was worth it to me.


   Kindle return policies (from Amazon Help Page)

Amazon's language:  "Note: If  [sic] want to return your Kindle for a refund and you purchased your Kindle from a third-party retail store, you must return your Kindle to the retailer where you made the purchase according to the retailer's return policies."



Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones

    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.


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