Books take up a lot of space – you have to put them somewhere. In my attempt to de-clutter with a vision of maintaining a more minimalist lifestyle, I introduce you to the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. After experiencing this e-book ready, I don’t think I’m ever buying a paper book again (maybe)!
The compact form factor is considerably lighter than a paperback, and is easy to hold. Unlike tablets, there is no screen glare, even in bright sunlight. The screen is nothing like a tablet or computer screen with the e-ink display being very crisp and easy on the eyes with a high resolution 300 psi screen. The screen front and size can easily be adjusted to relieve eye strain. The built-in adjustable light allow reading in bright sunlight or at night.
The battery life seems to last forever. Amazon says that single battery charge lasts weeks, rather than hours. My Kindle often sits unused for weeks, but there is always ample charge when I need it. I just remember to charge it before I travel, and never need to recharge on a typical holiday break.
The Kindle Paperwhite has WiFi connectivity, that when linked with your personal Amazon account quickly syncs up all your purchased books. The 4GB internal memory supposedly holds thousands of books, that I don’t think I’ll ever fill up. The Kindle can read all of the main e-book formats, that can easily be converted and synced using the free Calibre app.
The only negative with the grey scale kindle screen is that book with photographs or image are black and white, and not presented in colour as they would in a paper book.
The Kindle is a great gift for the avid reader and/or traveller, or for users like myself who don’t want to deal with bookshelf storage of paper books.
The Kindle Paperwhite sells for around AU$169 from local store such as Officeworks and JB HiFi.