Another lover of the Paperwhite. My only complaint is our library system is backlogged with e-book requests. Every time I find a book I want to read, and check our library (as well as the wider library system we’re a part of in the northern Chicago suburbs), the book is never available, and there are umpteen people ahead of me to get the book.
From time to time, I will have friends loan me paper books. What I don’t tell them is, if I determine it’s a book I want to read, I will download it to my Kindle; I’ve reached a point where I no longer want to hold real books in my hands to read. Also, if you have an iPhone, you can download the Kindle app, and if you’re out and don’t have your Kindle with you, the two items sync with each other, and the iPhone will pick up where you last left off on the Kindle. Then later when you return to your Kindle, it will sync with the iPhone and you can pick up on the Kindle where you left off on the iPhone.
I’m also at a point where, sometimes I need reader glasses, but with the Kindle, I can easily adjust the font so I don’t need to put my readers on. With a book, I always need to put the readers on.
A note to your college kids: if they think they have to buy a paper copy of the textbook needed for a course because the course exam is an open book, closed computer exam… Amazon will sell a cheap ($3 or so) Kindle version of the same book to customers who bought a paper version from Amazon. This greatly diminishes the need to carry “bricks” in their backpacks!
I’m buying myself a Kindle for a joint graduation and PhD congratulations to myself.
1- Is there any advantage to the Voyage over the Paperwhite? I haven’t seen anyone here with the Voyage.
2- I already have a fairly extensive collection of e-books (some in epub, some in pdf format). Does anyone know if those are transferable to Kindles?
I have a Kindle Fire that I won as a raffle prize at a work-related event but I really like having it. I find it most convenient to use when travelling as easy to order books from Amazon as well as re-read the ones you’ve saved. I have taken ebooks from the library and read them however they do expire and sometimes unexpectedly. Just recently I was reading Amy Tan’s Valley of Amazement that I had borrowed from the library when… all of a sudden I lost access and received a message that my library card expired… sort of just what happened to Cinderella.
I have used it also for email or to read a magazine or watch a video.
Re epub books: you have to convert them to the Kindle format and if they are protected by drm (which they would be if you bought them from Barnes & Noble or another retailer) it may not be possible to convert them. There may be a way to strip the drm; I’m not sure. You can experiment with this by attempting to convert some files through Caliber or other free conversion software and then trying to read the books on the free Kindle app. If it works on the app, it should work on the device.
You can email pdfs to yourself on Kindle but on my older model they are difficult to read because you can’t adjust the size of the text etc. The older model Kindles are not effective pdf readers. Not sure if the current iteration has solved this problem.
Sorry Romani, I can’t answer your question. I have the paperwhite and I think the voyagers print is crisper. I bought a refurb paperwhite and am happy with it. Last night I couldn’t sleep and so it was nice to read in bed.
I know my S somehow transfers pdf’s to his kindle but that is above my pay grade
@romanigypsyeyes I have the Voyage! I wouldn’t have bought it for myself, as I couldn’t justify the price while having a perfectly-working Paperwhite, but my dear friend, who knows I love technology and Kindle specifically got it for me.
The Voyage is great, but the bottom line is, if money is an issue, I really don’t think it’s necessary. It has some cool features - the virtual page button, the automatic light adjustment feature (which I really enjoy, and I think it saves batteries). It’s smaller, not a lot smaller, but it does make it more convenient if you have a really small purse. The text is more crisp, and so is the lighting/contrast. They do say the battery life is shorter (probably due to a better screen), but I haven’t really noticed (maybe due to the light adjuster saving battery life?). I agree with it being described as a ‘delux’ e-reader, but I think these are all just marginal differences, and I don’t think you would lose out on getting the Paperwhite, if you don’t want to spend the extra money.
I have a Voyage and I love it, but I upgraded from a Kindle keyboard and bypassed the Paperwhite, so I can’t compare those. I have to say that I’ve not ended up using the page buttons or the light adjustment, so I probably would have been happy with the Paperwhite. As for PDF’s, you send them attached to an e-mail to Kindle with “convert” in the subject and they turn them into text for you and send them to your Kindle. You’ll be given a personal e-mail address for this. My husband is an expert on getting any type of e-book onto his Kindle. I’m not sure what he does, but it can be done. Google will be your friend for this.
Just throwing this in as an option. We have 2 Paperwhites in the family and some older Kindles. I’ve found that I actually prefer to read in the Kindle app on my iPad mini with the black background and white text. For me, this is much better for nighttime reading. Last I knew, you couldn’t reverse the colors on a Paperwhite, but can on a Kindle Fire. I don’t know with a Voyage.
I still love “real” books and don’t think an e-reader would ever replace them for me. But I bought a Kindle Paperwhite for a long trip and it’s great. I also take it to the gym. Downloaded practically every free classic available and have managed to put a lot of other fun books on there for practically no money.
@acollegestudent does it have the “X-Ray” feature yet and what, exactly, does that do? I’m thinking that might be useful as I try to trace names/etc throughout books.
@romanigypsyeyes yes! Both the Paperwhite and the Voyage have X-ray! Basically, if the book has it enabled (many older books may not), you can see a list of characters on that page or in that chapter or in the book, with a brief character summary, places they appear appear in the book, etc. Sometimes places are listed in X-ray too! It’s definitely good as a way to remind yourself of who the characters are.
I got my Kindle Paperwhite from son when he neglected to return the one we got for his birthday and he purchased his own two weeks prior to it (kid never answered any requests for ideas, sigh). So- that’s two votes for it. Like being able to change the illumination and font size. Easy to use.
I too upgraded from a keyboard one to the voyage. I considered paper white, but heck, it was Christmas! Also, I figured that since I won’t get another for a while,why not buy the newest one so,it won’t be “old” as fast.
I took it with me in my purse when I got my car serviced. I was getting really annoyed at myself because I thought I had left it at home. Nope, it was in my purse, but it was so small it felt like I didn’t have it! That is where it beats a book, very portable and you can bring all the books you want in one little space.
