# Paperwhite Headaches



## rleanne (Dec 12, 2012)

I got the Paperwhite a few weeks ago. At first, I loved it. Recently, though, I've been getting headaches. I realized that it's when I read my Paperwhite. Does this happen to anyone else?


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## CAR (Aug 1, 2010)

Do you read in dark rooms with a high level of brightness?  That is the only thing I could think of.  In a well lit room or in sunlight, the light really only turns the screen white.


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## rleanne (Dec 12, 2012)

When the light is on, I have it at around 15-20 depending on how dark the room is. Otherwise, the screen is too dark to read on. I asked my sister (who also has a paperwhite) but she said she doesn't get a headache even if it's at the highest setting. She suggested asking here if anyone else has had a similar experience.


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## CAR (Aug 1, 2010)

rleanne said:


> When the light is on, I have it at around 15-20 depending on how dark the room is. Otherwise, the screen is too dark to read on. I asked my sister (who also has a paperwhite) but she said she doesn't get a headache even if it's at the highest setting. She suggested asking here if anyone else has had a similar experience.


In very dark room I read at 5. Medium dark maybe 10-14. Very well lit room or sunlight 18-24


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## rleanne (Dec 12, 2012)

I can't read it at 5. It's way too dark and I can't even see the letters.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

rleanne said:


> I can't read it at 5. It's way too dark and I can't even see the letters.


Neither can I but then, I never read in the dark. I hate the high contrast of bright light in a totally dark room so I always have a light on when the sun goes down, even if it's dim. Like CAR suggested, maybe that is the problem? Unless you're getting the headaches when it's light out too?


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## backslidr (Nov 23, 2012)

I've been reading for nearly 8 hours a day since I got mine and I haven't got any headaches from it. I have noticed that in the dark it's less of a strain with the lighting down to around 16, the font increased, which makes it a littler darker and give it more line spacing. Much easier to do than to write down.    You might just need to experiment a little to find what works best for you.


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## slkissinger (Jul 29, 2010)

I don't know if I would classify what my experience is as a headache, but it is definitely eye strain.  I still have my Kindle Keyboard, so I have for the most part drifted back to reading on the Kk.  I will read the pw still..but in bed lights off, anticipating I will fall asleep.  and I like that the pw will turn itself off.


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## Cyanide5000 (Aug 30, 2010)

Change the brightness down a tad, and also assess the lighting conditions that you are reading under, my wife gets a headache from her paperwhite also, but only when we are in the car, weird


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Cyanide5000 said:


> Change the brightness down a tad, and also assess the lighting conditions that you are reading under, my wife gets a headache from her paperwhite also, but only when we are in the car, weird


That's probably from the strain to keep her eye on the text as it moves about slightly with the movement of the car. I sometimes find it annoying to read in the car for that reason, especially if we're not on a highway and there's lots of stops and turns.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I can't read anything in the car. I can't even look at a map for too long. I not only get a headache, I get ill. 
Its unfortunate when I am a passenger in a long drive. All I can do is stare out the window.  

So far I haven't gotten a headache from the PW yet. I get eyestrain already anyway, just because of my usual vision issues I have. So I have to be a bit careful. I am light sensitive and I cannot read in a complete dark room. Or watch TV and use the computer for that matter. I always have to have some other light near me. But I read at 4-5 on the PW in bed, with a side lamp. I can't go higher than that or I'll get eye pain. 

I use a larger font as it gets darker, which really helps. I also go from Baskerville to Palatino and even to Caecilia at night. That is the order for me of lighter to darker font.


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## rleanne (Dec 12, 2012)

For now, I'm just reading it with the light off & using a clip on light. I wish that I could exchange it for a regular Kindle, but I got it as a present from my aunt. She can't remember where she bought it, she just knows that it wasn't Amazon and she doesn't have a receipt.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

If you really want a different Kindle, you might check to see what Amazon will give you on a trade-in.  Or you could sell it here on our Buy, Sell Trade & Barter board.

Betsy


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## fuschiahedgehog (Feb 23, 2010)

I've noticed eyestrain with mine if I have it set too brightly in a dark room.  It was a bit of an adjustment from using my tablet to read on - in a dark room I would set the background to black in the Android Kindle app, so going to a bright white background kinda threw me for a bit.  I've also noticed that if I light a small candle in the room it helps with the eyestrain issue without greatly lighting up the room.  I imagine a small nightlight might work too but I live in an old house with a shortage of electrical outlets. 

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2


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## Shapeshifter (Dec 22, 2009)

This is something that interests me greatly.

I used to get eye strain reading paper books, getting the kindle stopped that completely, so the last thing I want is to upgrade to the new PW and find that I'm getting eye strain again.


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## Ergodic Mage (Jan 23, 2012)

I don't have a Paperwhite (yet) but would recommend increasing the Font size when reading in darker areas. The contrast between a dark room and lighted screen can cause eye strain but larger fonts is easier for the eyes to focus on.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I have never had eyestrain while using the Kindle unless I didn't have enough light and/or my eyes were really tired for some other reason.  Same was true with regular paper.  Which is why I have full spectrum lighting in all my 'reading nooks' around the house. 

But: advantage Kindle because I can increase the font size and that definitely helps if I'm in an unavoidable low light situation.

BIGGER advantage PaperWhite because it has it's own light. . . . I find it to be easy to find a setting that works well no matter the ambient light.  It is much preferable to an external light source that clips on and puts it's own sort of glare, and because the screen is lit so evenly, I don't have to resort to increasing the font size as often.  If it's really dark -- not that I do this often -- I can turn it down to a really low light setting and still see it with no problem.  Note, I have 53 year old eyes, lasik surgery 13 years ago, and use 2.0 readers.  My eye doctor tells me my eyes are 'normal' and 'healthy'. 

I really feel like, if you're having headaches from using the thing there's definitely eyestrain happening. It might be smart to make a visit to the ophthalmologist.  Make sure there's not something going on with your eyes.  What you report seems to me to be unusual based on both my personal experience and the fact that it's not something that's regularly been reported here.  In fact, many say the kindle has really helped with their eyestrain issues. 

Difficulty while reading in a car is a completely different thing since that has to do, as well, with balance issues.  The print isn't moving, necessarily, exactly as the rest of your body, most especially your head, and the brain isn't happy trying to sort all that out.  Hence, headaches and/or nausea.  I was actually very surprised that I don't have this problem nearly as much with the kindle as I always did with paper books.  My theory is that it's because the page that I'm looking at is rigid, so, though the words move differently, they at least all move together.


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## rleanne (Dec 12, 2012)

I ordered the Kindle 5 from Amazon and it will be here tomorrow. If I like it better than the paperwhite, I'll be selling the paperwhite. What would be a good price to sell it for?


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

rleanne said:


> I ordered the Kindle 5 from Amazon and it will be here tomorrow. If I like it better than the paperwhite, I'll be selling the paperwhite. What would be a good price to sell it for?


Since you got it as a gift, I would sell it for the cost of the Kindle 5 - nothing lost, nothing gained. Unless you plan on reimbursing your aunt for some of the gift too? In which case, I'd probably try to sell it for around $100, assuming you got the $69 Kindle and the $119 PW. If you have one of the more expensive Paperwhites, maybe a little more.


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## rleanne (Dec 12, 2012)

I got the Kindle 5 today.  I love it. It's awesome. The screen really is much better than the Paperwhite (if the light is turned off).


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Glad it works for you!

You can surely find someone to buy your PW here: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/board,5.0.html

Or, of course, if it's within 30 days you can return it to Amazon for full refund less return shipping. Just contact Kindle Support.


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## rleanne (Dec 12, 2012)

The Paperwhite wasn't purchased on Amazon.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

rleanne said:


> The Paperwhite wasn't purchased on Amazon.


Even so, if it was purchased new, and it's been less than 30 days, you can return it to where you purchased it. I believe Amazon makes that a requirement of retailers who carry them. (I'm assuming you're in the US with this; I don't think they're carried anywhere but Amazon outside the US.)


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## FearIndex (Oct 10, 2012)

rleanne said:


> I got the Kindle 5 today.  I love it. It's awesome. The screen really is much better than the Paperwhite (if the light is turned off).


My experience was similar. I don't think I got literally headaches from the PW, but I have found it to be more taxing on the eyes than using the $69 Kindle 5 with a lighted cover. And I agree, the Kindle 5 screen is much better than the PW screen, the text in the latest "small Kindle" is that much blacker in my experience. So, I too moved from PW to Kindle 5. I still have the PW, but I rarely use it now.

Even though the PW directs the light at the screen (frontlight) and not like a backlight at the reader, the fact that the surroundings are not lit by the screen means it can be quite a bit more taxing on the eyes if read in the dark. Lighted covers or other types of reading lights have the bonus of lighting up the surroundings a little too, which makes the experience less taxing on the eyes because it isn't just the screen that is abnormally bright compared to dark surroundings. Other people's mileage will of course vary.


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## Seleya (Feb 25, 2011)

Does the K5 have the same dictionaries the Paperwhite has? Chinese-English and monolingual Chinese among the others?


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## rleanne (Dec 12, 2012)

The only dictionaries on it are the New Oxford American Dictionary and the Oxford Dictionary of English.


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## Seleya (Feb 25, 2011)

Strange, not even the usual French, German, Italian, Spanish ones?


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## rleanne (Dec 12, 2012)

Those are the only two on the Kindle. I don't know if it's possible to get other ones, maybe through the Amazon website.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

I don't get any headaches or even eyestrain reading on a KPW, and I'm not someone who enjoys backlit screens in the dark. I don't even pick up my Nexus 7 after I turn out the light, because I do get eyestrain/fatigue looking at a backlit screen in the dark.

But the KPW works for me. I set it around 5 when I'm in the dark, sometimes lower, with no issues. In a dimly-lit room I might bump it up to 8. In a well-lit room, sometimes 12 to 15, depending on my mood.

I can understand someone saying a K5 screen is better "for them" than a KPW, but I can't agree with that statement if it's made as a broad generalization. The KPW screen is pretty darn nice.  It might not work for a few people, and that's fine... everyone's mileage and preferences vary.

It's nice that Amazon has more than one type of Kindle to choose from.


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## rleanne (Dec 12, 2012)

I said that the screen on the Kindle 5 looked better than the Paperwhite screen with the light off.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Seleya said:


> Strange, not even the usual French, German, Italian, Spanish ones?


They're available. When you first set up your Kindle and specify the language, it puts only one, or in the case of English, two, on the device. But they're all in amongst Your Books at MYK so you can re-load them if you need them.



rleanne said:


> I said that the screen on the Kindle 5 looked better than the Paperwhite screen with the light off.


For me, this is not true. At best, they're about the same. Which was sort of Craig's point: what works for one may not work for another.


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