This is the Kindle Paperwhite Sleeve edition, in white! The storage has been cranked up to 32GB, and Amazon says the device can flip through pages, 33 percent faster than its predecessor. And while it has eight times the storage space of existing Kindles, the rest of the spec sheet remains unchanged — same screen resolution, same brightness, same weight, same dimensions. In fact, it even slots nicely into my existing Kindle case. It’s impressive that the company has managed to keep the weight identical to the existing Paperwhite; presumably other components have been swapped to lighten the device regardless of the storage increase. The Manga edition does, however, cost 2,000 yen ($ 19) more than the standard Kindle Paperwhite.
Amazon shoppers have been able to buy manga and comics on Kindle devices for several years now. Fortunately, most manga series are grey-scale, making them ideal for the Kindle’s e-ink display. There are a few drawbacks, however. Relative to typical books, these all-image comics take up a lot of file space, regardless of their monochrome design. Standard Kindles have roughly four gigs of storage, but when you’re trying to read an entire comic-book series, that’s not gonna cut it. (Even the high-end Kindle the Oasis has the same storage the Amazon’s entry-level readers.) With the smartphone-level 32GB of storage, the made-for-manga Kindle can cram 700 volumes of manga, according to Amazon’s estimates. It was (way) more than enough for the manga and comics in my existing collection .
One minor issue with the Kindle line in general is how the devices take a bit of time between dense e-paper image refreshes. It’s hardly the deal-breaker, but the lag might grate as you try to flip through the dialog-light action or scene-setting views. The Paperwhite Sleeve edition improves on this in two ways. First, there’s that 33 percent speed increase on page turns. While I wasn’t able to measure this down to the millisecond or what have you, it’s noticeably faster. It seems less like the display is was going to be used to update, and that the touch panel is more responsive.
Then there’s the fast-forward feature. Just hold the far left of the page, and the Kindle will bound through comics at the speed of around seven pages per second. You’re not expected to read that fast, but it offers a speedier way to navigate through a medium that doesn’t offer much menu-based navigation. Unfortunately, this feature didn’t work on the western graphic novels and comics I tested — you’ll still have to tap your way through the pages.
Better still, both of these speed improvements are now part of the latest firmware update being delivered to existing Kindles, including the $ 80 version, the Kindle Paperwhite (6th generation or later), Kindle Voyage and Kindle Oasis. If you update your Kindle this month, you should see the difference. It does, however, diminish the benefits of the Mango edition for those who already own a recent Kindle device.
Another note about reading manga (or comics) on the Kindle hardware: Another part of the software update allows you to double-tap on individual comic panels to expand them to full-screen. You can also pinch to zoom, making reading and navigating through picture heavy books much easier.
So who is the Kindle Sleeve edition is? While the idea of the comic-specific Kindle is pretty tempting, the reality is that you’re probably fine with your existing Kindle, especially with that free software update that is mentioned above. This Manga edition is aimed at those owning or growing a pretty substantial manga library. (The Manga, not western comics.) I own about 25 different volumes, but storage-wise my old Paperwhite is more than enough for me. It’s definitely the Japan-specific e-reader, but those looking for an e-ink comic reader for their entire manga library — bought through Amazon, I may add — it may be worth the extra few thousand yen (a few bucks) more. You’ll just have to figure out how to import one.
No comments:
Post a Comment