Kindle

MrMister111

Have an old paperwhite Kindle which has built in backlight.

Just wondering if the newer kindles are an improvement over this one, it's a few years old now.

Not bothered on waterproof or 3G, or large Gb as books are tiny anyway.

Must have a backlight built in for night reading as notice the cheapest doesn't.

Not used loads but if there is big improvement, say screen quality, lighting, bigger screen? etc maybe worth it for a chrimbo pressy.

Thanks

Jamie

No IMO. I've got a recent paperwhite and my wife has one of the older versions.

Side by side the interface is a little different, the screen is possibly a bit better and the backlight is different (more white and crisp on the newer version)

Thing is though it's a tool to read a book. The biggest upgrade I've made is to a backlit version which makes a huge difference, similarly waterproofing might be nice but ultimately I don't see the value in spending more, it's practically perfect for the job it does, a higher resolution screen isn't going to improve a book.

Left is the original paperwhite, right is the newer version.

                                                                       

MrMister111

Thanks thanks the conundrum, not much more added really. Is the resolution not better as seems to have more ppi but what's it like in real life?

Wow those pics look massively different, are they on the same level backlight? Seems much better on newer one

Thanks

Jamie

Objectively the newer PW is a better screen, it's ever so slightly crisper if you look really close.

The backlight is on full on both kindles which actually exaggerates the difference, at usual lower levels the difference is less pronounced .

I've taken a second picture, this time with the same font and font size and the backlight set at a level I tend to use. You can see it's much closer now. Honestly you'll notice a slight improvement for 5 minutes but ultimately once you're reading a book it makes naff all difference.

                                                                       

MrMister111

Thanks again appreciate your pics. Yes looks nearer and now, are those settings more that you'd actually use?

Is the ppi/text noticeably better? Not sure what old paperwhite is tbh compared to now.

What generation is your paperwhite? Just in case mine is even older

Jamie

My wife's is the first gen paperwhite and mine is 3rd gen, apparently there's a 4th gen that was released about a week ago so mines not quite the latest version. The newest version is waterproof, has 5 not 4 backlight LEDs and a different flush screen whereas our 2 both have a recessed screen.

Yes the screen is noticeably higher resolution if you look for it but I'm not convinced it actually makes a difference for a device made specifically for reading a book.

barry7767

Looking at the pics above, the earlier model looks more paper like than the newer model, which looks more like an led screen. Impossible to judge from a photo, but the closer to a paper look the better for me, tgouth I would like a waterproof one for reading in bath.