Kindle Paperwhite

[Scuba]

I like my waterproof Kindle Paperwhite but only use it for 2 things -
Reading in the pool or at the beach, or traveling. The rest of the time, I use my iPad. Still, I’m glad I have it.

 

[steelyman]

Thanks for the comments. I think I’ll go ahead and order a new one on Prime Day. They’re not expensive to begin with so a bit of a discount is welcome.

I use my Paperwhite daily and have mostly succeeded in getting physical books out of the house (difficult to box and move! Same thing with music CDs which are now finally digitized and imported into Apple Music, another tedious chore but well worth the effort).

I also found some open source software (Calibre) that does a good job of converting PDFs to Kindle format so things like manuals are on the Paperwhite are easy to get to when needed and portable.

I wish it were easier to lend Kindle titles to others, though. Haven’t found a way to do that.

 

[MissMolly]

Have you received this email from Amazon about discontinuing accepting MOBI formatted documents? I use Calibre too and convert things to MOBI in order to read on my Kindle, but looks like I will need to start converting to EPUB instead since they will now accept that format.


= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Dear Kindle Customer,

Thank you for using the Send to Kindle service to send personal documents to your Kindle library. We wanted to let you know that starting August 2022, you’ll no longer be able to send MOBI (.mobi, .azw) files to your library. Any MOBI files already in your Kindle library will not be affected by this change.

MOBI is an older file format and won’t support the newest Kindle features for documents. Any existing MOBI files you want to read with our most up-to-date features for documents will need to be re-sent in a compatible file format.

Also, compatible formats now include EPUB (.epub), which you can send to your library using your Send to Kindle email address. We’ll also be adding EPUB support to the free Kindle app for iOS and Android devices and the Send to Kindle desktop app for PC and Mac.

If you have any questions, please visit our help page or contact our Customer Service team.

Regards,
The Kindle Team

 

[Fermion]

I am probably going to order a new paperwhite on prime day too if they are on special. My paperwhite is the 10th gen, purchased in dec 2020 but it is unreadable now due to something called "ghost touch". The screen will randomly flip to different pages, change the font, sometimes several times in a few seconds, then it will be ok for a minute. It isn't dirt, or anything, it is clean (I cleaned it three times trying to see). I guess the sensing chip is glitching. Interesting that if you manage to get to a book page and select turn off touch screen it works fine, except the only thing you can do is hard swipe the screen with your finger to turn a page...but it doesn't double detect that or anything, it is just very annoying to have to hard swipe across the whole screen.

Too bad they didn't include a sensitivity setting...throwing away a perfectly good paperwhite over touch issues seems wrong.

 

[steelyman]

Have you received this email from Amazon about discontinuing accepting MOBI formatted documents? I use Calibre too and convert things to MOBI in order to read on my Kindle, but looks like I will need to start converting to EPUB instead since they will now accept that format.

This is new to me. It’s been a while since I needed to move converted titles and, as I recall, Calibre could do the job if the Paperwhite was connected by cable to the computer.

 

[steelyman]

I am probably going to order a new paperwhite on prime day too if they are on special.

[…]

Too bad they didn't include a sensitivity setting...throwing away a perfectly good paperwhite over touch issues seems wrong.

Disconcerting! I’d better hang on to my older Kindle until I’m sure a new one doesn’t have such issues.

I’m hoping to donate the old one. I’m sure there are plenty of people who would appreciate it.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Have you received this email from Amazon about discontinuing accepting MOBI formatted documents? I use Calibre too and convert things to MOBI in order to read on my Kindle, but looks like I will need to start converting to EPUB instead since they will now accept that format.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Dear Kindle Customer,

Thank you for using the Send to Kindle service to send personal documents to your Kindle library. We wanted to let you know that starting August 2022, you’ll no longer be able to send MOBI (.mobi, .azw) files to your library. Any MOBI files already in your Kindle library will not be affected by this change.

MOBI is an older file format and won’t support the newest Kindle features for documents. Any existing MOBI files you want to read with our most up-to-date features for documents will need to be re-sent in a compatible file format.

Also, compatible formats now include EPUB (.epub), which you can send to your library using your Send to Kindle email address. We’ll also be adding EPUB support to the free Kindle app for iOS and Android devices and the Send to Kindle desktop app for PC and Mac.

If you have any questions, please visit our help page or contact our Customer Service team.

Regards,

The Kindle Team

I interpret this to mean you can no longer use the email feature of sending .mobi and .azw files to your Kindle library. But does it mean you can no longer transfer these types of files directly to your Kindle's memory via USB connection?

 

[MissMolly]

I interpret this to mean you can no longer use the email feature of sending .mobi and .azw files to your Kindle library. But does it mean you can no longer transfer these types of files directly to your Kindle's memory via USB connection?

I don't know. On one hand I think it may only be on the documents you email to Kindle (which is how I do it) and on the other hand it says MOBI files will no longer supported. So I am in wait and see mode. But, regardless, it's a heads-up to Kindle users.

 

[Masquernom]

I've been using an iPad to read books downloaded free from our local library. Some come in kindle format and download from Amazon. Some come in other formats and use different software to download. Do the Kindle readers only work with books downloaded from Amazon? What file types can they read? Guess I shouldn't be lazy and Google that question. A better question; Has anyone found library book downloads that the Kindle reader can't display?

 

[MissMolly]

https://www.coywolf.news/productivity/what-formats-does-kindle-support/

Updated May 5, 2022: Amazon adds Send to Kindle support for EPUB and drops support for MOBI and AZW.

Several years ago, I found an ebook online that used the EPUB format when I got my first Kindle. I wanted to download it, but I first needed to verify if Kindle supported it. It ended up that it didn’t support it, but it was possible to convert it to Amazon’s MOBI format.

In 2022, Amazon discontinued support for its MOBI and AZW formats, but added support for EPUB, sort of. Existing MOBI and AZW files will be converted to the KF8 (.azw3) format but can no longer be emailed or sent to a Kindle library. EPUB files can be emailed or sent to a Kind library, but they will be automatically converted to KF8 files.

Supported Kindle Formats
These are all of the file formats you can use on a Kindle in 2022.

Amazon KF8 ebook (.azw3)
Amazon Print Replica ebook (.azw4)
EPUB ebook (.epub)
Unprotected PRC ebook (.prc)
PDF document (.pdf)
Microsoft Word document (.doc, .docx)
Rich Text Format document (.rtf)
Plain Text document (.txt)
HTML page (.htm, .html)
JPEG image (.jpg, .jpeg)
PNG image (.png)
BMP image (.bmp)
GIF image (.gif)

If you have an ebook format that Kindle doesn’t support, you can usually convert it to a compatible format if it’s not protected by digital rights management (DRM). For example, you can convert an unsupported ebook format to Amazon’s KF8 (.azw3) format using Kindle Create, Calibre, or Convertio.

 

[cathy63]

This is new to me. It’s been a while since I needed to move converted titles and, as I recall, Calibre could do the job if the Paperwhite was connected by cable to the computer.

Yes, you can port your entire library from Calibre to a new Kindle via the USB cable. In Calibre, you just select all the books and then click the "Send to Device" button.

You can also email the books to Amazon or upload them with their SendToKindle app. The advantage of doing it this way is that you can use WhisperSync to read books on multiple devices and pick up from where you left off each time you switch. All your devices have to be connected to wifi for this to work.

 

[cathy63]

I am probably going to order a new paperwhite on prime day too if they are on special. My paperwhite is the 10th gen, purchased in dec 2020 but it is unreadable now due to something called "ghost touch". The screen will randomly flip to different pages, change the font, sometimes several times in a few seconds, then it will be ok for a minute. It isn't dirt, or anything, it is clean (I cleaned it three times trying to see). I guess the sensing chip is glitching. Interesting that if you manage to get to a book page and select turn off touch screen it works fine, except the only thing you can do is hard swipe the screen with your finger to turn a page...but it doesn't double detect that or anything, it is just very annoying to have to hard swipe across the whole screen.

Too bad they didn't include a sensitivity setting...throwing away a perfectly good paperwhite over touch issues seems wrong.

Look for trade-in options when you're ready to buy a new one. Usually you can trade-in your old Kindle for a discount on the new Kindle even if the old one doesn't work perfectly, and sometimes they increase trade-in values on Prime Day. A couple of years ago, I managed to stack up enough discount coupons, Prime Day deals and a trade-in to get a new Paperwhite for $6 out-of-pocket cost. It's been well worth the money.

 

[cathy63]

I interpret this to mean you can no longer use the email feature of sending .mobi and .azw files to your Kindle library. But does it mean you can no longer transfer these types of files directly to your Kindle's memory via USB connection?

You can still add mobi and azw (which is really just mobi by a different name) files directly to your Kindle via a USB cable.

 

[Masquernom]

Thanks MissMolly. I'll take a look at Kindle readers on Amazon days.

 

[cathy63]

I've been using an iPad to read books downloaded free from our local library. Some come in kindle format and download from Amazon. Some come in other formats and use different software to download. Do the Kindle readers only work with books downloaded from Amazon? What file types can they read? Guess I shouldn't be lazy and Google that question. A better question; Has anyone found library book downloads that the Kindle reader can't display?

You can't read library books that have embedded DRM (digital rights management, e.g. copy protection) on your Kindle unless they come directly from Amazon in Kindle format.

If your library uses Overdrive, most titles are available for Kindle, but there are some titles that are only available as DRM'ed EPUB files. To read those files you use Adobe Digital Editions on a tablet, computer or phone. If you find a book that's in Open Epub format, you can just email it to your Kindle and read it that way.

There are other online library systems that don't provide any Kindle books, such as Bibliotecha's CloudLibrary, which is almost entirely epub, and Hoopla, which has a proprietary reader app.

 

[MissMolly]

You can't read library books that have embedded DRM (digital rights management, e.g. copy protection) on your Kindle unless they come directly from Amazon in Kindle format.

If your library uses Overdrive, most titles are available for Kindle, but there are some titles that are only available as DRM'ed EPUB files. To read those files you use Adobe Digital Editions on a tablet, computer or phone. If you find a book that's in Open Epub format, you can just email it to your Kindle and read it that way.

There are other online library systems that don't provide any Kindle books, such as Bibliotecha's CloudLibrary, which is almost entirely epub, and Hoopla, which has a proprietary reader app.

If you use Calibre to strip the DRM and convert to MOBI you can currently read anything from anywhere on your Kindle, not just from Amazon. This includes converting EPUB books to MOBI. However, change is in the wind and we will see what options remain.

 

[braumeister]

My understanding is that Calibre by itself won't remove DRM because it's not legal to do so. You have to install a third-party plugin to Calibre.

 

[MissMolly]

My understanding is that Calibre by itself won't remove DRM because it's not legal to do so. You have to install a third-party plugin to Calibre.

True, you install a plugin. Since it's only for my own personal use and not for profit purposes, it's a gray area.

 

[cathy63]

If you use Calibre to strip the DRM and convert to MOBI you can currently read anything from anywhere on your Kindle, not just from Amazon. This includes converting EPUB books to MOBI. However, change is in the wind and we will see what options remain.

I prefer not to de-DRM library books. I do it for other books, such as the ones I bought from Google or Apple, but to me it just seems wrong for library books and I worry that I'd end up keeping the library books. That's my own quirk though, no judgment on others who do it.

My process for non-library books uses Calibre with the DeDRM, DeACSM and Quality Check plug-ins.
- download the ACSM file and import it directly into Calibre, stripping the DRM and bypassing Adobe Digital Editions completely -or- if it's open epub format, just download the epub itself and import that
- edit the metadata and add the ASIN from Amazon in the IDs field
- convert the book to azw3
- use the Quality Check plugin to "Fix ASIN for Kindle Fire"
- connect the Kindle to the laptop and send the book to the device

Doing it this way gives me a "book" instead of a "pdoc" file on my Kindle. With a book that has a properly embedded asin, the cover shows up on my Kindle and it automatically updates my GoodReads shelf with in-progress and finished statuses. Also, the azw3 file has some better formatting and display capabilities. I just like it better when my library looks nice and all the covers show up.

If you email an epub to Amazon you get a pdoc on the Kindle and no thumbnail cover. This is a downgrade from the mobi support where you also had a pdoc, but at least the cover would appear. Also, DH had some really old epubs that he emailed to Amazon and found that the quotation marks and other special chars were all messed up. For those we had to use the Modify ePub plugin in Calibre to "encode HTML in UTF-8" and resend them. Apparently Amazon's converter is inserting an ISO-8859 encoding if it doesn't find an explicit UTF-8 header.

 

[Scuba]

I've been using an iPad to read books downloaded free from our local library. Some come in kindle format and download from Amazon. Some come in other formats and use different software to download. Do the Kindle readers only work with books downloaded from Amazon? What file types can they read? Guess I shouldn't be lazy and Google that question. A better question; Has anyone found library book downloads that the Kindle reader can't display?

Yes this happens to me often. I’ve downloaded several that must be read through the Libby app. I just read them on my iPad rather than my Kindle.

 

[ElizabethT]

If not yet mentioned, the Paperwhite also has a very long lasting battery. It is one of the very few items I tag 'luxury' that I will take along with me on backpacking trips. It weighs just 6 oz without a case, can be easily read in bright sunlight, and has enough battery power to be read for a week without recharging.

Sitting in my lightweight backpacking chair with my Kindle out in the great outdoors is about as good as it gets.

 

[steelyman]

They have a Prime Day (2022) bundle on the Paperwhite Signature Edition (reader, cover, charging dock). I took the leap and am replacing my 2016 version.

 

[Fermion]

I got the same bundle. It is ad-free too I think. Don't really need 32GB but am interested in the wireless charger to see how that works out.

 

[steelyman]

I got the same bundle. It is ad-free too I think. Don't really need 32GB but am interested in the wireless charger to see how that works out.

I think you’re correct about ad free. That was important to me.

I’d previously added the reader (8 GB) and cover to my cart and saw the bundle so went that way. I already have charging pads but the dock is a nice bonus.

 

[aja8888]

I got the same bundle. It is ad-free too I think. Don't really need 32GB but am interested in the wireless charger to see how that works out.

Got a link to that deal? I have never bought one of these.