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Comment by dombili | Hacker News Reader

Voyager looks nice, but as a Paperwhite 2 owner, I'm not going to upgrade it. I don't really care much about the physical buttons on the side for page turning but the screens and the bezel having the same height and being on the same level sounds great.

Also, $79 regular Kindle doesn't have any kind of backlight (or whatever that's called in Kindles), which could be a deal breaker with some people. Not to mention its DPI is much lower than Paperwhite 2, probably even 1.

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It's called Front Light. In Finland light is essential, because half of the year you're going to be in dark, when ever you aren't at work. I guess same rules apply to northern parts of Canada and US (Alaska) due to similar latitude.

Thanks for the clarification.

Apparently they still sell the Paperwhite 2 (same price), so people in those countries would probably buy that. I think making Paperwhite 2 100 bucks without changing its specifications would have been a better choice than to create a new Kindle version all together. Light is, as you said, essential and not only in Finland. Most people read books in bed, and light is essential there too. I can't imagine using Kindle without the front light.

I'm the opposite, I can't really imagine needing the light very often. A Kindle without a light should be about as readable as a book without a built-in light, and I rarely find myself in a situation where I can't read a book for lack of light.

It might be useful if I'm out camping or if I share a hotel room with someone who wants to sleep while I read, but most of the time I have a light source available.

You don't need the light but it makes it a more pleasant experience to read.

Even when it's a sunny day the Paperwhite stays at full brightness because it makes it more natural to look at.

You're saying that as if there were no bedside lamps in Finland.

The Kindle without Front Light are also non paperwhite, the screen is much darker overall and it's not that easy to find a "perfect position" in terms of light. Or at least, a lot harder than with Front Light.

I always preferred the indented bezel (as in the Kindle Touch) because it allowed me to handle the device more liberally while reading -- even if my fingers strayed over the bezel, they would often hover over the screen than touch it. I want to be able to hold a device like an actual book while reading. And that means touching the screen area.

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