As you probably know, the kindle paperwhite is black and white and is used as a dedicated e-reader for books and other reading material. I've happily worn out several generations of kindle paperwhites because I read so many books, and I've given away about a dozen (new) kindles as presents over the years. The idea of within a minute retrieving any book in my library or getting a brand new book is simply irresistible.
The kindle paperwhite is a great e-reader. Note that it frequently goes on sale so try to time your purchase so you can save $$. These are the things I like about it:
* PORTABLE
The kindle paperwhite is light and fits easily into my purse, even with a cover. By the way if you get a kindle definitely get a cover as well to protect it. There are many attractive ones besides just the official amazon covers. Or if you can live without the Signature edition, to save a little $$ buy the kids paperwhite kindle which comes with a case. (This is the exact same device as the regular kindle paperwhite -- just navigate out of the kids section on the device and don't forget to d/c the kids subscription).
* WATERPROOF
The kindle paperwhite is waterproof. Indispensable for the pool or bathtub.
* EASY ON THE EYES
The screen lighting of the kindle paperwhite is adjustable and reading is pleasant. I prefer to read with black background and white letters. (Settings > Accessibility > Invert Black and White). You can change the brightness by swiping down from the top and finding the "Brightness" setting. And don't forget you can change font and text size as well. When your book is open simply touch the top of the screen, select Aa > Font then adjust as you want.
* READ TO YOU EVEN IF YOU DON'T USE AUDIBLE
The kindle paperwhite reads to you even if you don't have audible books, alexa, or a phone app. Simply connect your bluetooth device to the kindle (Settings > Wi-Fi & Bluetooth > enable Bluetooth > select your device) then turn it on (Settings > Accessibility > VoiceView Screen Reader). You can adjust the volume and speech rate to your liking.
* WIRELESS CHARGING -- SIGNATURE
The Signature edition kindle paperwhite can be charged on your standard wireless phone charger. I turn the kindle upside down so the indicator lights are visible.
EXTRA SPACE FOR AUDIBLE BOOKS -- SIGNATURE
The standard kindle paperwhite has 8 GB storage which can store at least 2000 or 3000 ebooks or roughly 35 audible books. Newer kindle paperwhites have 16 GB. However the Signature kindle paperwhite has 32 GB which can store close to 160 audible books. (These numbers are from a quick browser search). Personally I like the text to speech feature on the kindle rather than subscribing to audible books since it's $$, but I use that extra space on the Signature to store other computer files that I don't want to lose. (You just attach the device to your computer and move files manually).
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These are three things I don't like about the paperwhite software:
* NO GAMES
I really really miss the games. These were so fun to play for me and to entertain young ones. Please can we bring supportive software for games back?
* KINDLE DEVICE HOME AND LIBRARY SCREENS
Oh my gosh finding books is so confusing! Home lists books in order of last opened and while Library can be listed by title or author (three lines at top right screen give you "Sort by" screen), I find that if I don't remove books after I've read them things go berzerk. I hate having to scroll through long bars to find something.
* COLLECTIONS IN AMAZON CLOUD
Organizing books in the Amazon cloud is abysmal since you have only one layer of folders. If you have, say, science fiction books and mysteries, you either jumble them together in "Fiction" or else you have to make two separate folders that don't link. Please, Amazon, fix this.
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Overall while the kindle paperwhite isn't *perfect* it's pretty darn close and lovely to read for books with plain text and even black and white images. PDFs and more complex images are difficult to see on the small screen and may do better with the Kindle Scribe which is larger. The kindle paperwhite and kindle paperwhite Signature is a great device for what it is meant to do -- read books -- and for that I will give five stars, although I am keeping my fingers crossed for software updates to make the experience even better.
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