gfunkdave

I have had a Kindle Touch with 3G for about five years now and feel it's time for an upgrade. Been wanting a PaperWhite for a while now so I can read in low light.

Amazon offered me $40 in credit toward a new Kindle and I think I'll do it. The PaperWhite with 3G is $180 before the credit, while the wifi only one is $120. I'm trying to figure out if 3G is really worth it. I've always thought I needed it, and it's certainly convenient, but there really aren't many places I'm away from wifi. And I can also use my phone to tether if I need to.

What do people think?

CRAZ8

I've done that switch, and I've barely missed having the 3G service even when buying books worldwide.

And the Paperwhite screen is awesome, so make that leap.

HelloKittysMum

Depends where you are and what you use it for. I bought mine with 3g when it first came out becuase I wanted the (very basic) free Internet when I travel to places with no wifi. It served me well to keep up with news and emails when I've been in rural sub Saharan Africa.

paperwastage

for the new 3G models (anything after the kindlekeyboard), i believe amazon only allows access to wikipedia and amazon store... all other websites are blocked on 3G(can still access on wifi)

(for older models, they can still access other website up to 50MB/month outside USA... once you hit limit, only wikipedia and amazon as well

6 years ago (wow!)... I had a kindle DX Graphite + 3G, and a smartphone with no data plan. relied on my kindle's 3G connection on some occassions...)

Need

I think 3G has very very limited use. I think only 1 time my wife asked me to turn on my phone's wifi tethering so she could get a book at the airport before we board the plane. It was because she got a book the night before and turns out she had already read it when she started reading it at the airport.

gfunkdave

Thanks all. Sounds like non-3G will be fine.

ckendall

I have to say 3G was cool back in the day (I downloaded a book on the subway in Italy) but my next Kindle will be wifi and I will tether it to my T-Mo phone if necessary.

javabytes

Now that tethering has become essentially ubiquitous, there is little need to have a cellular radio in every device. I just went through the same calculus with an iPad... my original had cellular data, which I cancelled as soon as I could just tether it to my phone. I agonized over the decision when replacing it, but ultimately grabbed a wifi-only iPad Air 2. Any time I have my iPad, I'll have my phone with me too. Chances are the same is true for you and your Kindle.

haa

I think if you read books only on one Kindle device, then 3G is not needed as you need to connect online only when downloading new books.

If you hop between multiple devices when reading, it would be good to have the reading location sync automatically, i.e. 3G would make it a lot more convenient.

I read on the Kindle (home, plane, planned reading sessions) and my iPhone (whenever I have some time to read, phone is always with me) hopping back and forth betweeh the devices all the time, every day.

I regret getting a WiFi-only Kindle as it is not always automatically connected and syncing reading location.

I'm waiting for the next Kindle sale and will upgrade to WiFi+3G model to have reading location sync everywhere without user action.

I'm sure you will like the paperwhite (or any lighted Kindle), it is really great for reading in the dark or low light (on the plane, or going to sleep at home/hotel). The 300 dpi screen on the new Kindles is also really nice.

We have a Kindle Voyage in the family, too, worth comparing the Paperwhite with: Same screen with physical page buttons, noticeably smaller, lighter weight and automatic light adjustment -- just enough extra functionality to be worth the higher cost.

USA_flyer

I have a Voyage. I really like the screen and the size of it. Perfect for my needs.

gfunkdave

Hmm. I hadn't been considering the Voyage. The auto dimming light seems like the biggest difference between it and the Paperwhite. It's slightly smaller and lighter too, with the option to change pages via buttons or touching the screen. Am I missing anything?

dtsm

V and PW3 are both excellent, depends on budget. You can't go wrong with either.

FWIW, you could always order both, test drive and return one before 30 days, right?

Often1

Unless you routinely need to purchase books during periods when you won't be anywhere near wifi, 3G is a waste. At absolute worst, you can burn some data on your smartphone's hotspot if you are in a real jam.