In the last 2 or 3 years I have had the opportunity to use the Kindle App on different devices such as PC, Mac Retina Web , Playbook and Android, which means that I’ve been reading books on different types of screens and environments; from 5 inches to 24 from resolutions 1024 x 600 to 1920 x 1200, and the only common experience with these devices is that it is definitely not the same as reading a book, the feel of the paper and eyestrain are totally different. This time we will test the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite WiFi (2nd Generation) seeking respond essentially two questions:
- How the Kindle Paperwhite stands out compared to the Kindle App on other devices
- Is Kindle Paperwhite really like the experience of a book?
Unboxing
The Kindle Paperwhite comes in a box completely ordinary, minimalist and strictly necessary to use the Kindle, nothing more. In the box you will find a Kindle Paperwhite loaded about 50%, which is enough power for initial setup and some days (or weeks) of use, plus a USB cable of some 3 feet and a paper that tells you how to turn on / turn the Kindle as load (in addition to the terms of use overleaf).
Specifications
The Kindle Paperwhite has dimensions of 6.7 x 4.6 x 0.36 inches, a 6 inch screen with 4: 3 and weighs 7.3 oz (about 1/2 lbr). For connectivity features a Micro USB 2.0 port, WiFi b / g / n @ 2.4 GHz with WEP, WPA and WPA2 and 3G (on the Wifi + 3G version).
The display It is most special about the Kindle Paperwhite , is what makes the difference between any version of the Kindle device and Kindle App available for phones, tablets and computers. Besides being a 6-inch screen with a 4: 3, also has a resolution of 212 ppi and uses a technology called E-Ink. E-Ink or Electronic Paper (electronic paper) is a technology designed to simulate the texture of the paper on electronic screens , for this there are 3 key points:
- Screens E-Ink must be illuminated from up front, either with an artificial light produced by the same device (such as the Paperwhite 2nd generation) or the same ambient light, this, in addition to creating the conditions necessary to operate the E -Ink, allows the screen to operate at very low brightness, so the reader can read comfortably without disturbing who could be with him , even in a completely dark room itself
- The contrast does not seek the highest possible, but seeks to be as similar as possible to the paper
- The display, instead of creating black and white colors, works with something more like a OLED, ie that seeks to eliminate the light at points other than black, so this does is suspending particles in a sheet and rearrange them to reflect or absorb light, producing a very similar result to actual ink . in a book
The only major disadvantage of these screens is that until now only exist commercially black and white, which is not bad for reading; provided that there are no pictures because, at least in the Kindle Paperwhite, there is the possibility to vary the contrast of the screen, so if the image is illegible in the publication, will be illegible in the Kindle in any environment.
Finally the Paperwhite has a LED indicator on the bottom that indicates the battery level when locking and unlocking the device, it also must be on at all times that the device is charging; orange while charging and green when it is complete, you can also see the state with the battery indicator on the screen. If the Kindle is plugged in and the light is off, the Kindle is not charging.
First Use
When you turn the Kindle Paperwhite first, I had to wait about half an hour to it can be used, first started by the initial configuration, then an update to the software and then another configuration (assuming the charge time is not as long as I experienced). Once the device is configured and connected to the Internet start with the first use, obviously my first step was to download a book and read for a few minutes, also explored the menus and used functionalities select and recall words (all this will be discussed later ).
Immediately turned on the Kindle, the moment I tried to download the first book, my instinct was to find where to connect to my Amazon account to download one of my books already in my collection … It did not take long to realize that Kindle Paperwhite is preset with Amazon account that made the purchase , this also explain in the book that comes bundled “Kindle Paperwhite User Guide 2nd Edition” . Once I knew my new Kindle was already connected to my account, it only took me a few seconds to go to my list of books and download my collection of Mark Twain, which is what I’m currently reading (or rereading … The Adventures of Tom Sawyer They are a classic).
The most difficult to buy the Kindle Paperwhite decision was whether to buy it with or without ads … searching and reading I discovered that you can buy with ads and then remove them (for the same $ 20 extra dollars that cost buy without ads) so the decision ended up being nothing difficult and in the end, do not plan to remove the ads because the vast majority are books you can buy in the Amazon Kindle Store, with an occasional random ads, one Wall charger for Kindle and other fur lining for the Kindle. The ads do not bother at any time during playback, are only on screen once you lock the device, they are completely static and, according to Amazon, Kindle Paperwhite not consume battery while the shows, personally helped me to find very good reading, so actually recommend buying the version with ads .
Reading on the Kindle Paperwhite
To talk about the experience that is the reading I do justice to the screen, so let’s review:
- has a 4: 3: which is the most comfortable for reading because it resembles the relationship a sheet of paper (wide screen ratios such as 16: 9 and 16:10 are better only to consume multimedia)
- resolution of 221 ppi: when buying Kindle which was consulting I was amazed at 300 ppi in the Kindle Voyage, the more I read about it, the more I became convinced that this was the appropriate resolution to simulate printed paper; and he was not wrong when I opened my first book and started reading; first thing I did was look for such defects of the resolution that knew were there and obviously found them … and that was the only time I saw them, I continued my normal reading and thereafter read everything perfect
- E-Ink: a screen, instead of displaying digital letters, pretend that every page is a printing ink, is no easy task E-Ink and delivers what it promises
- Contrast: even though the screen contrast is not adjustable, the reality is that I had the need rarely; only when I see images with a white I can not tell, but this would be a real inconvenience print if the images were printed. The contrast is greatly like paper
- Front light: (or front light) is the reason why the screen does not reach the huge contrast levels screens back lighting , found on all devices today, but, as we saw, is not necessary … what is necessary is the ability to read in the dark without disturbing the person next to us. This type of lighting also allows for huge energy savings since it is not necessary to illuminate each pixel independently (or small blocks) but minimal LEDs can light up the screen from the sides.
So, back to the topic What is it like reading a book on the screen with best technology commercially available and downloaded from the largest digital library of all time? This is a rich and unique experience. The combination of technologies on display makes quite close to a real book reading experience, weight and size of the Kindle Paperwhite make it quite comfortable to hold with one or both hands (I have never felt the need to hold with both hands, but is equally comfortable) and the screen is arranged so that the various actions as next page, home, bookmark and word wise are all easily accessible with one hand only previous and location needs them both.
Also, as in Kindle App, we have the ability to change the font size, choose between 6 fonts and adjust the line spacing and margins, but not all options are available for pdf books, yet read is really comfortable long as only’re turning pages later.
Having read in different lighting environments allowed me to appreciate the automatic dimmer in the Amazon Kindle Voyage, still change the intensity manually requires virtually no effort, so having it automatically is a plus, but not having it does not make the Kindle Paperwhite less usable and more uncomfortable, you also have to take into account that an intensity of about 3/4 of the maximum is comfortable for reading any environment, except in those darkest. The clarity as we said is not a problem, read on the Kindle Paperwhite requires no eyestrain, even in broad daylight .
Vocabulary Builder
Personally I enjoy the books in the language they were written, unless they are of Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, etc … but really this changed with the Kindle (even from Kindle App), as the facility to look up words in the dictionary The web or Wikipedia has made you can enjoy the content of those big speakers without the need to find translations to stop losing the essence. Vocabulary Builder is a feature that automatically saves all the words you queries and creates a personal dictionary that it’s any reference to future, to me it is very useful as reading a new word always try to consult several times to memorize and learn to construct sentences with it, which is exactly what Vocabulary Builder allows and, once you’ve mastered a word, you can mark it as such and moves to another category. Eventually you have a place in the Kindle with all the new words you learned (or you are learning). Vocabulary Builder is not available in Kindle App .
X-Ray
One of the biggest problems I have to read a complex book is to monitor the characters, especially if for some reason I can continue reading the next day, once spend several days between readings I have to give pages back to retrieve history, this also arise me many gaps of who’s who and how they got where are. X-Ray allows the reader to see additional to what is happening at that moment , such information can shade the name of a character and have a brief description of who he is. Another way to access this information is deploying the top bar and selecting X-Ray. In this mode you will have access to all content X-Ray that the book has. My only problem with this feature is dependent on the writer to include or not, so not all books have it .
Word Wise and functions Highlighting
When I read the works of the authors I mentioned earlier ["Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, etc"] my biggest drawback is having to consult each time the dictionary, looking for words that most likely no longer used, for this we have Word Wise, another feature that is unfortunately not available for all books, but to be so it can be your best help reading effectively, as you understand what you read without having to stop to select the word and refer to the dictionary. Word Wise automatically shows you the meaning of the words most complex and allows the reader to choose between 4 levels of difficulty (5 if you completely turn off) to show more or less complex words.
If the book you read does not have Word Wise always have access to the normal options like selecting a word and consult the dictionary or Wikipedia, you can also, when you select a phrase, share it on your social networks, highlight, translate between 16 languages, add a note or search current book; all books on your Kindle or Kindle Store.
Is It Worth the Kinde Paperwhite?
No change is 100% good or 100% bad, there is always part of both and must find the balance of what is being willing to sacrifice. In the case of Kindle advantage is portability; since you can carry thousands of books with you and charge one device not more than half a pound, which is very useful when you have to read more than one book at a time (like books free reading and content of work or study) you also have the security of content, since we can lose or damage Kindle and our content will be safe in the cloud, so we will not miss the place where we were or notes have already made. The major disadvantage of Kindle Paperwhite is that although itself is almost identical to a printed book eyes screen is very different role to touch, also not is the same feeling of holding a book in your hands.
In spite of this Kindle Paperwhite is the best E-reader device that your money can buy, Kindle beating App on any other device; its amazing display, battery life and weight and size make it a true contender for printed books.
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