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Comment by InTheSwiss | Hacker News Reader

I have owned every Kindle e-reader and currently use a Paperwhite (2012 model) which I find to have the best screen (which is really the most important part of an e-reader) however I much prefer the physical buttons on the regular Kindle. I find the touch screen annoying. The only time the touch screen was a nice to have was the initial setup when I connected it to my wifi.

I still jump back and forth between the Paperwhite and my older model with the physical page turn buttons. What I would really like is a non-touch screen Paperwhite. I would also like to be able to totally disable the backlight rather than just put it to the lowest setting (which is still actually on and more than good enough to read in a pitch black room).

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I own the previous model (with the physical buttons) and I'm considering upgrading to a Kindle Paperwhite (because of the occasionnal glow on the screen when I read in bed).

The main issue for me is the weight of the device: 206g for the paperwhite and 170 for my older kindle (according to the amazon website).

Is this difference really noticeable? Is it still possible to read with one hand?

I can't recall ever noticing a big difference in weight between the two. I can easily go 2-3 hours reading the Paperwhite with one hand although the lack of physical buttons is annoying as it means you need to stretch your thumb over the bezel to touch the screen. Unless you need the lit screen I would stick with your current Kindle.

Ok thanks for the advice. I guess I'll wait for the next gen to upgrade

36 g (the difference in weight between the paperwhite and the older Kindle) is about two DVDs without cases.

> What I would really like is a non-touch screen Paperwhite

I would honestly pay almost double the price for a Paperwhite that had physical buttons.

I love the Paperwhite - I stare at backlit screens all day enough as it is, so the frontlight is a welcome change - but I can't stand the touch screen. I really wish they'd bring the physical buttons back.

This is why I bought another Kindle Keyboard when I lost my previous one. I can't stand touching the screen to turn the page. Page turn buttons are really a must have feature.

Pocketbook Touch Lux and Bookeen Cybook Odyssey Frontlight are comparable to Kindle Paperwhite 1 and do have physical buttons for turning pages. Unfortunately, price is the same as that of a kindle paperwhite, not double the price.

The issue I have is with the use of the touch screen for page turning. I prefer the touch screen to the awkward keys of the Kindle Keyboard's keyboard for everything else, but I really miss the physical page turn buttons. I would prefer awkward keys + physical page turn buttons to only touch.

Yeah, I don't understand why no backlight is not available. The screen can obviously do it, because it goes into that mode when it is "off".

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