Any Kindle Oasis users out there?

[Ham]

My trusty Kindle Paperwhite is feeling its age - born 2012 (and the battery is more than tired). So, after a moment or two considering just replacing the battery I'm going to change it for a noo one. Of some sort.

The big decision is Paperwhite or Oasis, and I'm curious to know how other folk get on with the Oasis. The paperwhite has travelled with me everywhere,  the size means that - with a hard leather case - it can drop into my pocket, a pannier, it travels with me and gets used. The Oasis, though, is a tad wider which makes me think it might not be as flexible while travelling. Any views or experience? The other issue is possibly battery life, I've seen some negative reports about the Oasis, but I suspect that as long as I have no extended spell off the beaten track, it will be no more of an issue than my phone which I now consider essential to keep charged, or GPS (which admittedly has AA backup).

[Ham]

Don't all shout at once....

OK, what about any users of new generation paperwhite compared to old paperwhite?

[ian]

Heh.

Sorry, still using a similar old paperwhite (probably the first generation) which seems to have retained its battery life. Only gripe is that it can be very slow at anything other than turning pages. But it ain't broke and I'm mostly turning just turning pages.

For travel, I just use my phone these days. It's not the most ideal reading experience admittedly, but it's one fewer device to carry and it gets charged every day.

[Ham]

I don't tend to use my phone much, for battery drain reasons but also because reading on the kindle is more pleasant, there's also the idea taking a book "off the shelf" is easier on a device, but I suppose that's because I don't download everything to the phone. It appears to be true that the Kindle is likely the single most used item of tech I have, replaced less frequently than the phone, and I certainly feel I get my value from it.

It remains that the Oasis does have  a killer feature IMO - those buttons instead of a touch screen, although I've lived with the touch screen happily for many years now, which is why there is no clear winner in my mind.

The basic paperwhite is £120/£130 which is an absolute slam dunk in the value bucket. For £230 you can either get a Paperwhite with 3G (actually 4G but who cares) - and I've never had a kindle without that* - or a basic Oasis without comms. You have to go up to  £320 for the whole nine yards. Then, while I'm fortunate that cost isn't the ultimate decision maker, you look back at £130 and think OH RLY?

* the mobile connectivity is something I use infrequently but on the occasions I do, it is good to have. That's not just for purchasing in out of the way off-the-cuff moments, when really you could hook up your phone as a hot spot, but also to look up stuff you are reading about on wikipedia etc, when it would be all too much faff to set up. Poking with a finger and browsing for a few seconds is no more disturbance than looking up a footnote.

[ian]

I've been perfectly happy with the Kindle touchscreen, not sure on the why of buttons. Horses for courses, though I imagine only having hooves would complicate matters.

Never bothered with mobile connectivity, wifi is pretty ubiquitous these days (and I have a mothership phone with global roaming).

I think the only real boon for the Oasis is the better screen resolution – I can't say I notice how crappy my old Kindle is, but once you've got up a level, it's hard to look at a low dpi screen again.

[rafletcher]

If you've already got the internet access via a phone, and can still tether for downloads (I'm assuming Oasis allows that by WiFi, although I haven't been able to confirm it), then I'd go without the cellular on the Kindle. Then it's do you really want to pay the premium for water resistance/buttons/larger screen on the Oasis. To be honest, although the Oasis tech is good, the form factor/size would put me off, so I'd stick with a paperwhite.

[Ham]

If you've already got the internet access via a phone, and can still tether for downloads (I'm assuming Oasis allows that by WiFi, although I haven't been able to confirm it), then I'd go without the cellular on the Kindle. Then it's do you really want to pay the premium for water resistance/buttons/larger screen on the Oasis. To be honest, although the Oasis tech is good, the form factor/size would put me off, so I'd stick with a paperwhite.

You get water resistance on the paperwhite now, but I've not missed not having it previously. And yes, I too am a little concerned about the form factor, which is why I'm looking for those who use it in real life in similar ways to how I intend.

The cellular? that's just a nice to have, but they only do it as an add on (for £60) on the larger memory (32Gb for £30), and 8Gb is way more than enough for any books.

[tiermat]

If you are happy to forego the Amazon tie in and don't mind using Calibre then I can heartily recommend the Kobo H2O, my Sony died over a year ago and Mrs T replaced it with one of these. A brilliant piece of kit, IMO.

[Ham]

that's  interesting, bangs for bucks doesn't seem much different from the paperwhite and while I can understand not wanting an amazon tie it, it works for us. (one account, multiple devices). While I don't mind using Calibre, it is more of a faff. I suspect the higher prices for the Kindle devices is a result of the lack of meaningful competition these days

[lou boutin]

I have a Fire HD10 and use the kindle app on that.  It works well for me as I can also use it for tinternet, Audible, Amazon Music, Amazon Video and its also an Alexa.  I was impressed with the turn page function (i'm a sucker for a gimmick).  I think there are different sizes, I think there is a 7 inch version too.

[ian]

I waterproof my Kindle by popping it in a sealable sandwich bag.

[andrew_s]

When my last Paperwhite died drowned, I replaced with a Kobo Aura H2O (6.8" display).

I found the extra size sufficiently irritating, from a pocketability point of view, that I got a new Paperwhite 4 as well, when they were on special offer during the black Friday period (£90).
The screen size was nicer for reading though, and I quite liked the way it went orange(ish) at night.

Kobos and Kindles are largely incompatible from a book format point of view, but there are ways round this.
This largely involve downloading the book to a laptop, importing to Calibre, and then sideloading to the e-Reader via USB. You can still download directly to the reader via wifi as normal, but the book is then tied to either Kindle or Kobo until you replace it with a version that's been through Calibre.

[andrew_s]

I think the only real boon for the Oasis is the better screen resolution

The current Paperwhite is the same resolution as the Oasis (300ppi).
As for storage, 8 GB is plenty for plain books, but if you want to read comics or listen to audiobooks the 32 GB version may be good.

The new Paperwhite, has, compared to my previous Paperwhite 3, a higher resolution screen, double the storage, bluetooth for headphones (for audiobooks, not sure about mixed format such as language learning books), is waterproof, has a flush screen (doesn't trap crumbs), and is fractionally smaller (just enough that an old case is no good). It may be a bit faster, but not enough so to be really obvious, given the 6 month gap.

If you've a working Paperwhite, it's probably not worth upgrading unless it's an original that's starting to show its age, or unless you want audiobooks.

Against other Kindles like the Oasis, it would be a matter of how you view the trade offs between price, screen size, portability, and page buttons rather than anything else.

[ian]

I dropped mine in the bath. I thought it was a gonna but it came back to life after a week in the airing cupboard. Smelled nicer too.

I think all hardware companies are struggling to find ways to make people upgrade. Apple (and Samsung etc.) have finally noticed that people are no longer rushing out to buy the latest phone because, well, why? There comes a point with any device were improvements are incremental and no longer must-haves or game-changing. My Kindle, I think, is a second generation paperwhite, so a 2013 vintage (and my phone dates back to 2014 and will probably last another year before the battery life starts to annoy).

For many people, I suspect battery life is the biggest impetus for upgrading these days.

[jiberjaber]

Oasis owner here - replaced my 3G keyboard kindle a good few years ago with it.

[Gattopardo]

I recently bought a second hand MK1 paperwhite.  To see if I willread in bed with out a light.

Any one know any cheap replacement screens for normal kindles?  I have two that have suffered....

[Ham]

I've bought a screen off eBay from a chinese supplier before now (a few yeas ago) and it was fine, no idea where's best these days

[Gattopardo]

I've bought a screen off eBay from a chinese supplier before now (a few yeas ago) and it was fine, no idea where's best these days

Might look at alliexpress et al but at a guess probably more than buying a second hand one.