Review: Comparison with two other Kindle Paperwhite cases
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 01 20, 2014
In the past year, I’ve tried three different Kindle Paperwhite cases. For most of the year, I blithely went about using my Paperwhite “naked,” protecting it in a handsome Amazon Kindle Zip Sleeve. I loved it. I didn't think I'd ever want or need anything better. At the time, I never realized how nave this was!But two months ago, as an Amazon Top Reviewer, I was offered a MarBlue Vassen for Kindle case free of charge in exchange for an honest review. Honestly, I was very reluctant to take the offer, even if it was free! I couldn't imagine wanting to enclose my Kindle in a book-like case! After all, one of major joys of owning a Kindle should have been its naked featherweight. It can be easily held and read in one hand. Why would I want to read it like I would a physical book? That didn't make sense to me. It seemed regressive.I was used to reading my Paperwhite “naked,” i.e., holding it directly in one or two hands, usually propped up on a pillow to get it closer to my eyes and to help take some of the weight off my hands. Doing it this way, I often needed another tiny pillow behind the Kindle so that the reading surface was at the best angle for reading. I also have an ebook reading pillow that holds the kindle at the proper angle, but I don't always have it or use it. I thought I had it all figured out and was happy with the arrangements I'd made.Although the MarBlue Vassen case was twice the weight of the Zip Sleeve, I instantly fell in love with it. What I like best about the new case was that I'd discovered the front cover actually helps assist with holding the book at a proper reading angle. I didn’t need that other tiny pillow to prop the Kindle up at the right reading angle, nor did I need my special ebook reading pillow. If I'm resting the bottom of the case on a normal throw pillow on my lap, then my right hand easily holds the book balanced at the perfect angle with virtually little effort and weight. Honestly, I was flabbergasted! I'd have never guessed that it would actually be easier to read a Kindle if it were forced into a case that made it feel and look like a paper-based book.But now, two months (and for me at least five Kindle books later), the Amazon Vine program offered me another free cover for my Paperwhite in exchange for an honest review. This one is the Moshi Cirrus Standing Cover. It’s a sleek modern and good-looking travel case with a magnetic closure that easily converts into an easel-like reading stand to allow so-called hands-free reading. It is significantly lighter (3.2 vs. 4 ounces) than the MarBlue Vassen and (to my eye) better looking. I was eager to experience the convenience of hands-free reading and to move on to a better looking and lighter case.Unfortunately, I quickly learned that there is no such thing as hand-free reading! Whether a book is print or electronic, it still needs to have its “pages” turned. Naturally, with a Kindle all you need to do is touch the screen, but you still need your finger up there next to the reader in order to do that when the time comes. The only benefit with the Moshi Cirrus Standing Cover was that now my left hand didn’t need to also be holding the book-like front cover at the proper reading angle. I admit that was an advantage, but it was not nearly as important in practice as I’d assumed it might be. What I found out is that I just prefer to have both hands balanced on either side of the book. It felt odd to have my left hand doing nothing somewhere else, while my right hand was poised next to the Kindle reader to touch the screen for advancing the page. Eventually, that free left hand migrated up alongside the easel and stayed there, motionless, like a paralyzed appendage. It wasn’t really saving me any effort at all.And then there is the issue of using the reader in this case while on-the-go. It just doesn’t work well trying to balance this very narrow easel on my two rounded thighs while waiting seated in the doctor’s office and it’s extremely awkward to try to read it while standing up. It seems the only locations that make sense to use this device is while seated at a desk or seated in a chair with a pillow on your lap to rest the device on for balance as well as to get the device closer to your eyes.The Kindle slips in and out of the Moshi Cirrus Standing Cover easily with a simple slight twist that pops the device out of its inner polycarbonate container. The outer case looks like fuzzy suede-covered cardboard, but it isn’t; it’s terylene. The packaging says to clean it with “suede cleaner on a damp cloth.” That in itself is a big disadvantage and the surface looks like it might easily pick up dirt and discolor.Other posts here have faulted this case because it is designed to make the Paperwhite go in and out of sleep mode whenever the case is opened or closed. This would be a very convenient feature if it worked reliably, but unfortunately it does not.! I’ve tested it for hours, opening and closing it more than 50 times in a wide variety of different circumstances. But everytime I stop reading and close the cover, I have to purposefully remind myself a minute or so later to peek very gently under the cover to make sure that the Paperwhite screen has gone into sleep mode. That is a huge annoyance! Sometimes it’s dark and asleep; sometimes the screen is still on very bright. This feature is completely unreliable and, of course, a potentially serious drain for the battery. This problem is one of the major reasons why I’ve rated this case low. If you read the negative reviews for many other Kindle cases with this automatic on/off feature, you’ll see that perhaps all of them to suffer from this same issue.So, now I have three Kindle cases. Which do I prefer? Which will I use? Hands down, I’ll stay with the MarBlue Vassen book-like cover. This Moshi Cirrus product has too many serious disadvantages and not enough advantages.