Poll of the Day > Is the Kindle Paperwhite worth the price?

(+) Yeah! (+)

It only has a six inch screen, and it costs $20 extra for a device without ads, and $30 more for 32GB instead of 8GB, for a grand total of $180.

I have $200 on Amazon and I want an e-reader with an e-ink display that I can sideload books onto. Is it worth getting the Paperwhite or is there another brand I should consider? Mainly it's the small screen of the Paperwhite that bothers me.

---

You won't even notice the ads

---

Yes. I like the ads, Id get paperwhite. I have oasis.

Not sure if the small screen argument makes sense. The display area is more or less the same as a trade paperback page.

I love my Paperwhite FWIW. Totally changed the where how and when of my reading. Just being able to read in any lighting at any angle is a real game changer. Being able to change margins, fonts, and line spacing is a real bonus too.

The lack of distractions without constant notifications is also a huge plus over reading on a phone or tablet with the app.

I'm a huge fan of the thing.

---

Clench281 posted...

You won't even notice the ads

Really? One of the reviewers said you have to look at them for several seconds before you can get out of the lock screen, or something like that, and they show up in sleep mode too. Plus if you pay $20 it applies to future Amazon devices you buy.

TheNobleWoodApe posted...

Not sure if the small screen argument makes sense. The display area is more or less the same as a trade paperback page.

I guess I'm thinking of it like a tablet. I have a 7" tablet and it feels tiny to me.

---

kind9 posted...

I guess I'm thinking of it like a tablet. I have a 7" tablet and it feels tiny to me.

That's sort of the wrong way to look at a Paperwhite though. It was purpose built to do one thing and that is to push sharp text to your eye. It doesn't need all the screen real estate that something like a tablet has. Plus, the tablet can't really be held like a page because there's no real border.

The tablet also has a lot more going on. Icons, interface elements like menus, an active notification bar. Outside of full screen, the tablet needs that space most of the time for all sorts of unrelated things.

The kindle isn't going to have that issue. Everything but the text goes away and when you need UI elements, and you're not reading at the same time as messing with UI.


---

This is my Paperwhite and case next to a stardard sized, random trashy paperback someone left in the break room at work.

I can't get the dead tree book to lay flat for comparison, but the readable area of both is more or left the same give or take half a centimeter all around, and that's also font and spacing dependent on paper. You can get a lot more out of the kindle by adjusting fonts, spacing and margins. You can usually do away with the margin spacing since the device has a margin built in, the entire border of the screen.

Another point I forgot to make earlier is that when you eventually end up moving house, a Kindle is far easier to move than a few tons of paper.

---

Cool, I bought it. I haven't read anything in a long time because trying to read on a regular tablet strains the eyes too much. My sister gave me 2x $100 gift cards, and I couldn't think of shit else to buy anyway.

---

the paperwhite?

no.

the regular kindle?

yes.

the paperwhite is a higher ppi screen that you wont notice, and water resistance. the regular kindle also has the backlight, so there's no real reason to get a paperwhite.

---

In my opinion no, because I just read on my phone using the kindle app

---

do you hate your eyes

---

helIy posted...

do you hate your eyes

no and theyre perfectly capable of reading stuff on my phone without issue

theyre special eyes

---