Kindle Paperwhite

[roverhi]

My wife complained about the separate LED light for night reading on the original Kindle so she got me the Kindle Voyage with built in backlight for my birthday. The Voyage is the high end Paperwhite Kindle with better resolution and automatic backlight dimming, among other things, for night reading. It's a little smaller than the Paperwhite though not much. Haven't compared them side by side for weight but the Voyage is very light and easy to hold for long reading sessions. Battery life is a little less than my old non back light Kindle but still will easily last through a book or two. Not especially fond of the touch screen for inputs but then I don't really like that on the iPad either. The old Kindles button inputs were much easier to do things with. May just be learning how to work with the touch screen but had no problem getting up and running with the old Kindle without having to refer to the manual.

[denverd0n]

How long the battery will last is dependent on a couple of different variables. For my Paperwhite the two big factors are whether or not you have "Airplane Mode" on (that is, whether or not the wifi is operating), and the screen brightness.

I leave "Airplane Mode" on most of the time. That means that the wifi is not operating. Very nearly doubles the battery life. And, of course, you don't need the wifi operating to read a book.

As for screen brightness, with the Paperwhite the backlighting is always on, but you can set how bright you want it to be. I suppose that at the maximum setting it might eat up the battery pretty quickly, but there is no need to always have it on the brightest setting. In fact, I routinely take mine to the beach with me, and sitting in full, bright sunlight I do not need it set above about 3/4ths brightness to be able to read just fine. Under a little shade I will adjust it down to barely over 1/2. Changing the brightness is extremely easy.

Using it as described above, I easily get through most books. Currently reading "Portrait of a Lady" by Henry James. That is a long, two-volume book. My Paperwhite was at about a 95% charge when I started. Now half-way through volume 2 and have not had to charge yet. That's well over ten hours worth of reading--probably closer to 15.

[sammyo]

The current version of the base level kindle has a much improved 'blacker' display. Easy to read in quite low light. It also has the first service contract I've ever bought and fully expect to use. The eink technology is a wonder but delicate.

[annsni]

Originally Posted by Buzzman

Yeah, but using the backlit screen eats battery power. I can barely read a book without having to recharge.

Using the screen non-backlit I can go a week without charging.

Which model do you have? I have the Kindle Paperwhite and can get at least 2.5 weeks of heavy reading on a battery charge. I keep the light level even day and night (about 25%?) and I've never had a problem. I can read multiple books this way.

Now, the Kindle Fire is a different story.

[Sailmonkey]

My paperwhite has made it through each of the Clavell Asia novels with only a charge between books. I keep the backlight low, usually between 9-12 and the wifi off unless I'm loading another book.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[oldragbaggers]

Originally Posted by annsni

Which model do you have? I have the Kindle Paperwhite and can get at least 2.5 weeks of heavy reading on a battery charge. I keep the light level even day and night (about 25%?) and I've never had a problem. I can read multiple books this way.

Now, the Kindle Fire is a different story.

I have the Kindle Fire, and you are correct, it requires recharging for me almost nightly, especially if I do any web browsing or streaming of video. Just reading is a little better but it doesn't get 2 weeks no matter what I do.

[annsni]

Originally Posted by oldragbaggers

I have the Kindle Fire, and you are correct, it requires recharging for me almost nightly, especially if I do any web browsing or streaming of video. Just reading is a little better but it doesn't get 2 weeks no matter what I do.

No, with a Fire you won't get 2 weeks ever. I find daily or every other day charging is necessary if I use it at all. But I compare it to an iPad and not a Kindle e-ink version and it's less frustrating that way. LOL Any of the e-ink technology versions will absolutely get you weeks on a charge. That's the beauty of them!

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by annsni

But I compare [the Kindle Fire] to an iPad and not a Kindle e-ink version...

Which is exactly what you have to do. The Fire is a tablet computer that happens to be set up for Amazon and to facilitate book reading. You really cannot compare it to anything other than another tablet computer. In that comparison its battery comes off as average to maybe a little above. Compared to something like the Paperwhite, though? Well, that's just not even a fair comparison.

[Sailinnole]

I know this is a recently-resurrected thread, but having had both a Paperwhite and Fire HDX (7"), I thought I would contribute...as has been mentioned, the battery life is not really comparable between the two for the reasons mentioned...the Fire is more tablet computer than e-ink reader. The Paperwhite is also considerably lighter, which can be a benefit when reading with one hand for a while...with that said, however, I much prefer the Fire HDX. One reason is the display...much crisper and in color. I enjoy reading the various sailing/cruising books out there and being able to see the pictures in colors (and crisper) makes for a more pleasant experience for me...the black & white photos on the Paperwhite never really did it for me...not that I am a picture-dependent reader, but I'd much prefer to see Hiva Oa in color...

[annsni]

I feel the same way between the two devices. I have been finding I'm reading fiction on my Paperwhite and non-fiction on the Fire (I have the 6 which is nice and tiny!).

[Mycroft]

Same here. Paperwhite for all fiction (and non-photo nonfiction) and my iPad for large format reading. I get all my magazines on the iPad: Economist, Time, Wired, Cruising World, Sail, Yachting Monthly, Cruising Outpost, Good Old Boat, Ocean Navigator, etc. etc. I find the iPad most versatile as some magazines are on Kindle (only two), some on the "Newsstand" app, and the rest on PDF that I read with the GoodReader app.

Also nearly all the service manuals are better on the iPad. Calder's books, Ed Sherman, Don Casey, Wing, etc. So far, about the only books I haven't been able to find in Kindle or PDF versions that I want are the Dashew's Cruisers Encyclopedia and Chapman's.

[Buzzman]

Seems most people are saying the same thing. With the backlight on, and on fairly high, the Paperwhite struggles to enable more than one decent length book to be read between charges.
I sometimes read two books a day, so this is a pain.
Although I have recently invested in a plug in charger and extension cable so I can charge as I go, but this doesn't work at the beach, outside, or on my boat for example.
I guess what I'm getting at is that, while the backlit facility is neat, compared to a non backlit model it's an energy glutton. Ergo, how much of an 'advance' is it really if we can't actually use it in the same way we use the non-backlit models?
I had a back injury and was required to lie on my back for several hours a day to ease the pain and enable recovery, and a Kindle was a damn sight easier to use compared to a book, especially larger heavier books, but required me to have a lamp on as I did not have the option to take my bed outdoors.
Or I had to recharge it, and often it was in the final pages of the second book.....
Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing it, just sayin'.......
I *HEART* my Paperwhite.

[annsni]

There must be something wrong with your Paperwhite if you can't get a day without charging. We have a sailboat that we live in much of the summer and I will read much of our traveling days and every night and I still get about 2.5 weeks out of one charge. Even if I kept the light on brighter, I would expect over a week of heavy reading.

[Buzzman]

You say 'a week of reading' but what's that in terms of actual books read thru or actual time with the machine 'on'.

I'm talking about non-stop reading for 4-8 hours daily. Four is OK, but 8 drains the battery flat.

That's between 1 and three books per day.

What others seem to be saying they are getting from their Paperwhites.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Buzzman

You say 'a week of reading' but what's that in terms of actual books read thru or actual time with the machine 'on'.

I'm talking about non-stop reading for 4-8 hours daily. Four is OK, but 8 drains the battery flat.

That's between 1 and three books per day.

What others seem to be saying they are getting from their Paperwhites.

What others are saying this? Seems very short battery life - is that with Wifi left on? Or downloading a lot of books? Indexing uses quite a bit of power apparently. But if you're only getting 8 hours on a charge on a paperwhite something is up.