For those of us that just have to have reading material on a backpack trip, Amazon has started shipping the ultimate book reader, the Kindle Paperwhite. It weighs just 7.8 ounces and has the same 30-hour battery life as the Kindle Touch that it replaces. Like the Touch, the Paperwhite will last through all but the longest wilderness trips.
The Kindle Paperwhite has built-in front lighting so it can be read in anything from full, direct sunlight to a dark and stormy night in a tent. And the lighting doesn't noticeably decrease the battery life, at least in my tests so far.
How does this work? Unlike a tablet or a computer, which have backlit LCD screens, the Kindle Paperwhite uses E Ink technology like the older Kindles. E Ink uses tiny black ink capsules controlled by electric charges to draw the screen, so the page created much like a printed page, with tiny black dots on a white background. The process uses power only when a new page is drawn, so E Ink Kindle's only use power during page turns. In contrast, LCD screens are constantly refreshed so they use much more power.
Since E Ink screens work like a printed page, the brighter the light, the easier it is to read- just like a printed book. LCD tablet screens, which are dependent on backlights, work better under lower light and wash out under bright light. And the LCD backlight uses even more power, so most tablet computers have a battery life of about 8-10 hours.
Until now, reading an E Ink Kindle in the dark required an external light, just as a printed book does. Since we backpackers carry efficient LED flashlights or headlamps these days, that hasn't been a problem. But the Kindle Paperwhite goes this one better with it's built-in LED front lighting. Four white LED's light up the screen from the edges, and a special screen layer "pipes" the light evenly across the screen. With the light off, the screen looks like the older E Ink Kindles, black type on a light gray background. With the light on, the background becomes white and the black type stands out even more. The light can be adjusted different levels with an on-screen touch slider. This Kindle looks more like a printed book than any other e-book reader.
The Kindle Paperwhite comes in two basic models, the Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi and the Kindle Paperwhite 3G. Each of those comes with or without Special Offers- adds that appear as "screensavers" when the Kindle is off, and as small banners on the bottom edge of the Home screen when it is on. Ads never appear when you're reading. Most people don;t seem to mind the ads, and many like them because they save money on the discounts offered. I suggest you save the $20 or 30 and buy the Special Offers version, because you can pay the difference at any time and the ads will be removed. As an aside, I have to say I really like the "screensavers" on the models without Special Offers- they are really elegant.
A more important decision is whether to buy the Wi-Fi-only Paperwhite or the 3G model. For wilderness use the difference is not critical since you should have the wireless off most of the time to save the battery. The 3G models use the At&T cell phone data network to allow you to connect to the Kindle Store on Amazon to shop for and download books. The Wi-Fi-only models require you to be in range of a Wi-Fi hotspot. Since most backcountry areas have neither signal, you'll need to make sure you have enough reading material on the Kindle to last the trip. Since the Paperwhite holds more that 1000 books, this shouldn't be a problem!
Personally, I prefer the 3G model so that I don;t have to look for a Wi-Fi hotspot while traveling to and from the trailhead, and on other non-wilderness trips as well.
You'll want a protective case or cover for the Kindle Paperwrite- see my forthcoming post in Travels With Kindle for reviews.
Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi, $119 with Special Offers, $139 without
Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi plus 3G, $179 with Special Offers, $199 without
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