6 ms·

Kindle Paperwhite

54 points by Artemis2 11y ago

joshuapants 11y ago
I'm glad that the display has improved. The screenshot shows better typography than ebook readers typically have, but I bet that won't be the norm. I have a Kindle touch that was gifted to me, but I don't think I'll buy one of these to replace it. I'd rather stay away from the Amazon ecosystem as much as I can.
- baq 11y ago
  at least now there's absolutely no need to ever touch amazon on a kindle. never know what the future brings, but i'm cautiously optimistic. the hardware itself is best in class; it's the macbook of e-readers.
  - joshuapants 11y ago
    Ah, I'm looking for more of a Thinkpad of e-readers :P
- DennisP 11y ago
  I don't see why it wouldn't be the norm, given that they have half a million books converted already. If Knuth could make good typography happen in software decades ago I'm sure Amazon can do it now.
  - joshuapants 11y ago
    I was guessing that books might have to be reformatted. Hopefully not, and if it works on any text you supply it with I might very well buy one.
Splendor 11y ago
This looks nice but until Kindle supports EPUB it's a no-go for me.
- baq 11y ago
  i haven't seen an EPUB that calibre couldn't convert into a MOBI with less than good results.
  - ascagnel_ 11y ago
    I find that some more advanced things get messed up pretty badly and need manual tweaking (ie table of contents).
- eternauta3k 11y ago
  I've been using Liberator, a much better reader which supports epub, djvu and other formats (sorry, couldn't find a download link).
  - kldavis4 11y ago
    This it: https://github.com/kai771/kindlepdfviewer/tree/librerator https://github.com/kai771/kindlepdfviewer/tree/librerator ?
masonhensley 11y ago
Neat, reminds me that I want to turn an older one into an uptime / analytics monitor sorta like this: http://mpetroff.net/2012/09/kindle-weather-display/ http://mpetroff.net/2012/09/kindle-weather-display/
- lucaspiller 11y ago
  Unfortunately since the 5.6 firmware, you can't root it without opening it up and connecting a serial port.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - RexRollman 11y ago
    But it does have a web browser. Could always serve a website with the uptime that auto-reloads every so often.
TheDom 11y ago
I'm kind of bummed out that they didn't update the Voyage too. The Voyage still seems to be better but I don't want to buy an "old" model. I specifically waited for the next Kindle generation to update mine...
lambdaelite 11y ago
Yawn. I upgraded from a Paperwhite 1 to a Voyage because I thought the screen and haptic buttons would be improvements. I can barely see a difference in the screen quality when I'm deliberately looking (and don't notice any while reading), and the haptic buttons are poorly placed so I rarely use them. The Voyage is nice but was questionably worth the extra money over the Paperwhite 1. Now with the Paperwhite 3? Fuggetaboutit. You know what feature would be a great improvement? A backlight without blue light, for reading at night without screwing up sleep cycles. edit: clarified
- DennisP 11y ago
  Note that this is the upgraded Paperwhite, not the Voyage, and it's the same price as the previous Paperwhite. Personally, if I set the light near the lowest setting I drop right off to sleep. It might not be campfire light, but it's not so far off from moonlight. Still, if they offered a warmer color option I wouldn't turn it away.
  - lambdaelite 11y ago
    Yeah, I wasn't clear on the versions. At night, I have to use level 7 on the backlight for comfortable reading without any other lights on. It's noticeably blue to my eyes at that setting. I get that Amazon's trying to make the display look whiter in normal light, but I (and I think others may) place more value on a warmer backlight for nighttime reading. Outside of vacations and doctor appointments, bedtime reading is my most frequent use case.
    - walterbell 11y ago
      > A backlight without blue light, for reading at night without screwing up sleep cycles This is much needed. The Marvin e-reading app on iOS can change the screen color temperature to adjust the blue level, which helps with bedtime reading.
- acconrad 11y ago
  Is the Paperwhite worth upgrading from the regular Kindle? I've never bought one before but considering it
andrewla 11y ago
I wish there were more details about the changes from the last paperwhite. From what I read, primarily it's a higher resolution display; the rest of the stuff on there seems like it could just be OS features that will be applied to old paperwhites as well. Oddly enough, given that they have a higher resolution display, it does not appear that they've changed the smallest font size, which is something that I would definitely like to see. I can't help but wonder why they made that decision, when the smallest font is still noticeably larger than what you would find in a standard print book.
swozey 11y ago
I've owned every single small Kindle, since the Kindle 1, I think so far I've bought 4 Kindles including 2 PWs (1st gen, 2nd gen). They keep upgrading things that don't bother me. What I WANT them to upgrade is the software. Why can't I sort books by Genre? Or Tags? Or Series? Making Collections is a pain so I never use it. I've got hundreds of books and the sorting is rough. I'd like to be able to list #SpaceOpera, or #Mystery, #Vampire, etc. Having to be online to get book info sucks. Most books don't have descriptions so I can't pick a random free book I've downloaded and read the jacket to see if I'd enjoy it. I'd like an offline synopsis.
- joekrill 11y ago
  I primarily use Google Play Books, and have thought the same exact thing. Is there maybe not a high demand for this kind of thing?
- tmd83 11y ago
  It kind of feels like as bad as it can get. Even my far older sony had options to do some sorting. With good naming of my book files I can get it sort by author at least.
- walterbell 11y ago
  It's a bit easier to organize books into collections on the iPad Kindle app, than on the slower Kindle devices.
- wkdown 11y ago
  I want to be able to use it for RSS feeds as well. Even native Pocket or Evernote integration would be great.
rob-alarcon 11y ago
I want more cpu and memory specs, I really like my kindle but it's extremely slow.
ableal 11y ago
Not-too-informative notice at Wired: http://www.wired.com/2015/06/kindle-paperwhite-upgrade/ http://www.wired.com/2015/06/kindle-paperwhite-upgrade/
jwr 11y ago
Same bad typography (and full justification), no page turn buttons, still heavier than my Kindle 4. I would really like to buy a newer Kindle, but everything past the 4 has been a disappointment.
- andor 11y ago
  Better typography is "coming soon": "All-new typesetting engine lays out words just as the author intended for beautiful rendering of pages. With improved character spacing and the addition of hyphenation, justification, kerning, ligatures, and drop cap support, our best-in-class typography helps you read faster with less eyestrain."
  - nutate 11y ago
    It does look pretty good on iPad. I guess we'll just have to wait for them to figure out how to release it for their... ya know, flagship e-reader.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
aaronbrethorst 11y ago
(warning: meta) Is it a fair assumption that someone 'de-editorialized' the title of this article? It's really starting to bug me that mods are removing pertinent information from submission titles, like this one from me where the title was changed from something like "Final Retail Oculus Rift Hardware Announced" to "Oculus Rift" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9701298 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9701298) "Kindle Paperwhite" as an article title doesn't mean anything. It would be nice if we were allowed to give such articles meaningful titles, and not have that change on us.
- d23 11y ago
  I agree. No idea why this is being linked or what I'm supposed to be looking for on the page.
  - smcl 11y ago
    "This item will be released on June 30, 2015." - looks like a new version of the Kindle Paperwhite. To be honest I'm still not sure if that's exactly what I should be looking at, it's not like there are any particularly funny reviews or anything
- pja 11y ago
  Agreed: "2015 Kindle Paperwhite" or "The New Kindle Paperwhite" would be informative titles. "Kindle Paperwhite" alone is not.
- Artemis2 11y ago
  I submitted the page with the title "Kindle Paperwhite". I assumed that most HN readers would recognize a new Kindle model. I usually get my titles edited, so I am trying to help the mods. Of course, "Amazon releases the Kindle Paperwhite" or "New Kindle Paperwhite preorders" would be a lot clearer.
  - makeitsuckless 11y ago
    I find it very hard to recognize a new model if it has the same look, same name, and 95% the same features as the old model...
_nullandnull_ 11y ago
I wish Amazon or someone would make a smaller kindle. I'd really like something the size of an iphone (6 or lower). It would be nice to have an ebook reader that could fit in my pant or jacket pocket.
- walterbell 11y ago
  There's a dual-screen e-ink phone, http://www.engadget.com/products/yota/yotaphone/2/ http://www.engadget.com/products/yota/yotaphone/2/
- DanBC 11y ago
  Kobo mini? It has some unpleasant requirements to connect to the Internet to set it up. This can be avoided with a bit of SAL on the microSD card (which is hidden inside the device). http://uscoffings.net/clc/tech/embedded/kobo-touch/ http://uscoffings.net/clc/tech/embedded/kobo-touch/ > Connect the Kobo via USB, and mount its onboard storage on your desktop machine. > Ensure you have an SQLite3 database browser installed, or some way to execute SQL. For example, sudo apt-get install sqlitebrowser > Open /mnt/onboard/.kobo/KoboReader.sqlite. > Execute this SQL: insert into USER values("foo", "foo", "foo", "foo", "foo"); > Save, unmount, and disconnect.
listic 11y ago
Wow, 'Holds thousands of books' is now technical details. How do we stop this trend of dumbing down the specs?
- Artemis2 11y ago
  The previous versions of Kindle Paperwhite did include 4gb of storage space. Consumers may start to compare the storage between their ebook reader and their phones, and feel that they are getting ripped off by Amazon. Of course, 4gb for a reader is a lot more appropriate than 16gb for a phone (I'm looking at you, Apple).
polskibus 11y ago
I really hope they bring back the large screen version. For PDFs the screen size really matters.
- listic 11y ago
  At least they do upgrade the resolution. I guess it should help as well, if one has good eyesight.
micheljansen 11y ago
Ouch, they ran a father's day promotion for all of last week in the UK where they sold the Paperwhite with £10 discount and then they announce a new model just before Father's day. I wonder how many geek dads will get a disappointing gift on Sunday.
Osmium 11y ago
> All-new typesetting engine lays out words just as the author intended for beautiful rendering of pages. With improved character spacing and the addition of hyphenation, justification, kerning, ligatures, and drop cap support, our best-in-class typography helps you read faster with less eyestrain. Finally. And I say that un-ironically. Would've switched to a Kobo just for this if it weren't for the Kindle store. Any news for if the Voyage will get a software upgrade? I only got one a few months ago and it'd be a shame for it to be obsoleted by a cheaper product so soon after it was launched. Edit: Nice to see in-line translate too.
listic 11y ago
What ebook reader would be good for those who would like to read ebooks on their own terms? After long deliberation (because Amazon doesn't really sell books in my native language) I finally bought myself a basic Kindle 5, because it's made by Amazon, the large company that has enough production prowess to do the hardware and software right and basically it looks like all books are there. I don't like the DRM, locking down my books from me, but I decided I'll figure that later. When I did try to figure out how to liberate my books [1] from my Kindle, I was basically asked 'Are you asking us for help on breaking the law here? (TOS, actually)' Oops, turns out like I am. Now that I thought this over and figured that I want a reader that provides comforts of reading like a Kindle does, but allows me to read my books on my own terms, I am very reluctant on buying another Kindle. What options are there? [1] Ebooks StackExchange: How do I liberate ebooks from Kindle device? http://ebooks.stackexchange.com/questions/1192/how-do-i-liberate-ebooks-from-kindle-device http://ebooks.stackexchange.com/questions/1192/how-do-i-libe...
- dedrm 11y ago
  https://apprenticealf.wordpress.com https://apprenticealf.wordpress.com
  - TheLoneWolfling 11y ago
    I quote from the grandparent's link: > I use Linux, so I can't use Apprentice Alf because apparently it is Windows and Mac-only (even though Calibre works on Linux)
    - DanBC 11y ago
      Apprentice Alf is not windows / mac only. The Apprentice Alf tools work on Linux.
      - TheLoneWolfling 11y ago
        I was just going by what the linked Stack Exchange post said. If they are incorrect, correct them.
Grue3 11y ago
Why would you name your product to sound like "paperweight"? What's next, Apple iBrick?
lukaslalinsky 11y ago
In my opinion, Kindle 4/5 was the perfect product. It's the lightest of all Kindles, and it can survive pretty much any environment. Maybe I'm a minority, but I'm using Kindle like I'd use a paper book, not as an electronic device. I couldn't care less about any feature besides opening a book and turning pages. I take it with me hiking and camping, so it's often in freezing temperatures. The screen often gets wet, because I like to read while taking a bath. I can't imagine using something with touchscreen in similar conditions.

54 points by Artemis2 11y ago

I'm glad that the display has improved. The screenshot shows better typography than ebook readers typically have, but I bet that won't be the norm. I have a Kindle touch that was gifted to me, but I don't think I'll buy one of these to replace it. I'd rather stay away from the Amazon ecosystem as much as I can.

baq 11y ago
at least now there's absolutely no need to ever touch amazon on a kindle. never know what the future brings, but i'm cautiously optimistic. the hardware itself is best in class; it's the macbook of e-readers.
- joshuapants 11y ago
  Ah, I'm looking for more of a Thinkpad of e-readers :P
DennisP 11y ago
I don't see why it wouldn't be the norm, given that they have half a million books converted already. If Knuth could make good typography happen in software decades ago I'm sure Amazon can do it now.
- joshuapants 11y ago
  I was guessing that books might have to be reformatted. Hopefully not, and if it works on any text you supply it with I might very well buy one.

Splendor 11y ago

This looks nice but until Kindle supports EPUB it's a no-go for me.

baq 11y ago
i haven't seen an EPUB that calibre couldn't convert into a MOBI with less than good results.
- ascagnel_ 11y ago
  I find that some more advanced things get messed up pretty badly and need manual tweaking (ie table of contents).
eternauta3k 11y ago
I've been using Liberator, a much better reader which supports epub, djvu and other formats (sorry, couldn't find a download link).
- kldavis4 11y ago
  This it: https://github.com/kai771/kindlepdfviewer/tree/librerator https://github.com/kai771/kindlepdfviewer/tree/librerator ?

masonhensley 11y ago

Neat, reminds me that I want to turn an older one into an uptime / analytics monitor sorta like this: http://mpetroff.net/2012/09/kindle-weather-display/ http://mpetroff.net/2012/09/kindle-weather-display/

lucaspiller 11y ago
Unfortunately since the 5.6 firmware, you can't root it without opening it up and connecting a serial port.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- RexRollman 11y ago
  But it does have a web browser. Could always serve a website with the uptime that auto-reloads every so often.

TheDom 11y ago

I'm kind of bummed out that they didn't update the Voyage too. The Voyage still seems to be better but I don't want to buy an "old" model. I specifically waited for the next Kindle generation to update mine...

lambdaelite 11y ago

Yawn. I upgraded from a Paperwhite 1 to a Voyage because I thought the screen and haptic buttons would be improvements. I can barely see a difference in the screen quality when I'm deliberately looking (and don't notice any while reading), and the haptic buttons are poorly placed so I rarely use them. The Voyage is nice but was questionably worth the extra money over the Paperwhite 1. Now with the Paperwhite 3? Fuggetaboutit. You know what feature would be a great improvement? A backlight without blue light, for reading at night without screwing up sleep cycles. edit: clarified

DennisP 11y ago
Note that this is the upgraded Paperwhite, not the Voyage, and it's the same price as the previous Paperwhite. Personally, if I set the light near the lowest setting I drop right off to sleep. It might not be campfire light, but it's not so far off from moonlight. Still, if they offered a warmer color option I wouldn't turn it away.
- lambdaelite 11y ago
  Yeah, I wasn't clear on the versions. At night, I have to use level 7 on the backlight for comfortable reading without any other lights on. It's noticeably blue to my eyes at that setting. I get that Amazon's trying to make the display look whiter in normal light, but I (and I think others may) place more value on a warmer backlight for nighttime reading. Outside of vacations and doctor appointments, bedtime reading is my most frequent use case.
  - walterbell 11y ago
    > A backlight without blue light, for reading at night without screwing up sleep cycles This is much needed. The Marvin e-reading app on iOS can change the screen color temperature to adjust the blue level, which helps with bedtime reading.
acconrad 11y ago
Is the Paperwhite worth upgrading from the regular Kindle? I've never bought one before but considering it

andrewla 11y ago

I wish there were more details about the changes from the last paperwhite. From what I read, primarily it's a higher resolution display; the rest of the stuff on there seems like it could just be OS features that will be applied to old paperwhites as well. Oddly enough, given that they have a higher resolution display, it does not appear that they've changed the smallest font size, which is something that I would definitely like to see. I can't help but wonder why they made that decision, when the smallest font is still noticeably larger than what you would find in a standard print book.

swozey 11y ago

I've owned every single small Kindle, since the Kindle 1, I think so far I've bought 4 Kindles including 2 PWs (1st gen, 2nd gen). They keep upgrading things that don't bother me. What I WANT them to upgrade is the software. Why can't I sort books by Genre? Or Tags? Or Series? Making Collections is a pain so I never use it. I've got hundreds of books and the sorting is rough. I'd like to be able to list #SpaceOpera, or #Mystery, #Vampire, etc. Having to be online to get book info sucks. Most books don't have descriptions so I can't pick a random free book I've downloaded and read the jacket to see if I'd enjoy it. I'd like an offline synopsis.

joekrill 11y ago
I primarily use Google Play Books, and have thought the same exact thing. Is there maybe not a high demand for this kind of thing?
tmd83 11y ago
It kind of feels like as bad as it can get. Even my far older sony had options to do some sorting. With good naming of my book files I can get it sort by author at least.
walterbell 11y ago
It's a bit easier to organize books into collections on the iPad Kindle app, than on the slower Kindle devices.
wkdown 11y ago
I want to be able to use it for RSS feeds as well. Even native Pocket or Evernote integration would be great.

rob-alarcon 11y ago

I want more cpu and memory specs, I really like my kindle but it's extremely slow.

ableal 11y ago

Not-too-informative notice at Wired: http://www.wired.com/2015/06/kindle-paperwhite-upgrade/ http://www.wired.com/2015/06/kindle-paperwhite-upgrade/

jwr 11y ago

Same bad typography (and full justification), no page turn buttons, still heavier than my Kindle 4. I would really like to buy a newer Kindle, but everything past the 4 has been a disappointment.

andor 11y ago
Better typography is "coming soon": "All-new typesetting engine lays out words just as the author intended for beautiful rendering of pages. With improved character spacing and the addition of hyphenation, justification, kerning, ligatures, and drop cap support, our best-in-class typography helps you read faster with less eyestrain."
- nutate 11y ago
  It does look pretty good on iPad. I guess we'll just have to wait for them to figure out how to release it for their... ya know, flagship e-reader.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

aaronbrethorst 11y ago

(warning: meta) Is it a fair assumption that someone 'de-editorialized' the title of this article? It's really starting to bug me that mods are removing pertinent information from submission titles, like this one from me where the title was changed from something like "Final Retail Oculus Rift Hardware Announced" to "Oculus Rift" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9701298 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9701298) "Kindle Paperwhite" as an article title doesn't mean anything. It would be nice if we were allowed to give such articles meaningful titles, and not have that change on us.

d23 11y ago
I agree. No idea why this is being linked or what I'm supposed to be looking for on the page.
- smcl 11y ago
  "This item will be released on June 30, 2015." - looks like a new version of the Kindle Paperwhite. To be honest I'm still not sure if that's exactly what I should be looking at, it's not like there are any particularly funny reviews or anything
pja 11y ago
Agreed: "2015 Kindle Paperwhite" or "The New Kindle Paperwhite" would be informative titles. "Kindle Paperwhite" alone is not.
Artemis2 11y ago
I submitted the page with the title "Kindle Paperwhite". I assumed that most HN readers would recognize a new Kindle model. I usually get my titles edited, so I am trying to help the mods. Of course, "Amazon releases the Kindle Paperwhite" or "New Kindle Paperwhite preorders" would be a lot clearer.
- makeitsuckless 11y ago
  I find it very hard to recognize a new model if it has the same look, same name, and 95% the same features as the old model...

_nullandnull_ 11y ago

I wish Amazon or someone would make a smaller kindle. I'd really like something the size of an iphone (6 or lower). It would be nice to have an ebook reader that could fit in my pant or jacket pocket.

walterbell 11y ago
There's a dual-screen e-ink phone, http://www.engadget.com/products/yota/yotaphone/2/ http://www.engadget.com/products/yota/yotaphone/2/
DanBC 11y ago
Kobo mini? It has some unpleasant requirements to connect to the Internet to set it up. This can be avoided with a bit of SAL on the microSD card (which is hidden inside the device). http://uscoffings.net/clc/tech/embedded/kobo-touch/ http://uscoffings.net/clc/tech/embedded/kobo-touch/ > Connect the Kobo via USB, and mount its onboard storage on your desktop machine. > Ensure you have an SQLite3 database browser installed, or some way to execute SQL. For example, sudo apt-get install sqlitebrowser > Open /mnt/onboard/.kobo/KoboReader.sqlite. > Execute this SQL: insert into USER values("foo", "foo", "foo", "foo", "foo"); > Save, unmount, and disconnect.

listic 11y ago

Wow, 'Holds thousands of books' is now technical details. How do we stop this trend of dumbing down the specs?

Artemis2 11y ago
The previous versions of Kindle Paperwhite did include 4gb of storage space. Consumers may start to compare the storage between their ebook reader and their phones, and feel that they are getting ripped off by Amazon. Of course, 4gb for a reader is a lot more appropriate than 16gb for a phone (I'm looking at you, Apple).

polskibus 11y ago

I really hope they bring back the large screen version. For PDFs the screen size really matters.

listic 11y ago
At least they do upgrade the resolution. I guess it should help as well, if one has good eyesight.

micheljansen 11y ago

Ouch, they ran a father's day promotion for all of last week in the UK where they sold the Paperwhite with £10 discount and then they announce a new model just before Father's day. I wonder how many geek dads will get a disappointing gift on Sunday.

Osmium 11y ago

> All-new typesetting engine lays out words just as the author intended for beautiful rendering of pages. With improved character spacing and the addition of hyphenation, justification, kerning, ligatures, and drop cap support, our best-in-class typography helps you read faster with less eyestrain. Finally. And I say that un-ironically. Would've switched to a Kobo just for this if it weren't for the Kindle store. Any news for if the Voyage will get a software upgrade? I only got one a few months ago and it'd be a shame for it to be obsoleted by a cheaper product so soon after it was launched. Edit: Nice to see in-line translate too.

listic 11y ago

What ebook reader would be good for those who would like to read ebooks on their own terms? After long deliberation (because Amazon doesn't really sell books in my native language) I finally bought myself a basic Kindle 5, because it's made by Amazon, the large company that has enough production prowess to do the hardware and software right and basically it looks like all books are there. I don't like the DRM, locking down my books from me, but I decided I'll figure that later. When I did try to figure out how to liberate my books [1] from my Kindle, I was basically asked 'Are you asking us for help on breaking the law here? (TOS, actually)' Oops, turns out like I am. Now that I thought this over and figured that I want a reader that provides comforts of reading like a Kindle does, but allows me to read my books on my own terms, I am very reluctant on buying another Kindle. What options are there? [1] Ebooks StackExchange: How do I liberate ebooks from Kindle device? http://ebooks.stackexchange.com/questions/1192/how-do-i-liberate-ebooks-from-kindle-device http://ebooks.stackexchange.com/questions/1192/how-do-i-libe...

dedrm 11y ago
https://apprenticealf.wordpress.com https://apprenticealf.wordpress.com
- TheLoneWolfling 11y ago
  I quote from the grandparent's link: > I use Linux, so I can't use Apprentice Alf because apparently it is Windows and Mac-only (even though Calibre works on Linux)
  - DanBC 11y ago
    Apprentice Alf is not windows / mac only. The Apprentice Alf tools work on Linux.
    - TheLoneWolfling 11y ago
      I was just going by what the linked Stack Exchange post said. If they are incorrect, correct them.

Grue3 11y ago

Why would you name your product to sound like "paperweight"? What's next, Apple iBrick?

lukaslalinsky 11y ago

In my opinion, Kindle 4/5 was the perfect product. It's the lightest of all Kindles, and it can survive pretty much any environment. Maybe I'm a minority, but I'm using Kindle like I'd use a paper book, not as an electronic device. I couldn't care less about any feature besides opening a book and turning pages. I take it with me hiking and camping, so it's often in freezing temperatures. The screen often gets wet, because I like to read while taking a bath. I can't imagine using something with touchscreen in similar conditions.