Kindle Question

Kindle PaperWhite is like the NOOK Paper, in that it's a B&W reader that uses "e-ink" It's a digital process that mimics ink print on paper, and is very easy on the eyes, is good on power conservation/charge times, and affordable.

For colour, you need a Kindle Fire.

Graphics are STUNNING. I have a Kindle Fire HD 8.9

I also have been testing out Netflix on it(because a friend is tempted to get one for roadtrips), and with a few spots of pixellation notwithstanding, it's really crisp. I've been watching BBC's "Sherlock" and it jumps out at you(not that I MIND Benedict Cumberbatch jumping out of the screen...).

I'm one of those that pushes a product to it's limits to test it out, and so far it's taking everything I am dishing out. I've managed to connect my Wacom Graphire BT tablet(it's a Bluetooth wireless tablet) and have been "drawing" using one of their PS emulators, and I'm impressed.
It also has a built in camera and SKYPE, so you can do video calling(I'm using it for LD Family gatherings), and have thus far had very little lag.
As I listed above, I've tested it with Netflix.
Youtube Videos run rather smoothly(as opposed to on my PC)
Email is clean and neat.
I have a note program and it has several "notebooks" where I can prep my LJ postings, make a grocery list, save my address book...
It has a nice sync with Amazon Mp3's Cloud Drive storage system, so you can back up everything, and I have my music ported over.
It has gorgeous sound.
I have played(with an app) , my iTunes Videos, some DIVX rips of my son's movies, and some of the music formats.

Tinkering with the lighting settings you can get a nice on your eyes reading experience.

I previously had a NOOK color, and a Pandigital Android Clone tablet, and they were lovely for books and a few other apps, but it cannot hold a candle to what this Tablet can do. I'm still a newbie on these touch screen interfaces, but by far this one is the easiest to handle, and it's as thick and light as a Good Housekeeping magazine, and as big as a trade paperback novel(so make sure you invest in the hard case and kit).

If you are concerned about certain formats, you can get an Android clone tablet(Pandigital makes some good ones) that can utilise both NOOK and Amazon formats(via Kindle app and NOOK app).

Charge time from dead to 100% on my plugged into my PC was 12 hours, and 4 hours with an AC adapter.

EDIT: I almost forgot to mention my favourite app for it. It's called, "Kindle Free Time". It makes a log-in for each child, which you can set up to have each child's preferences on there, and time limits they can use it.
It also blocks the internet, and also prevents accidental(and some not so accidental) purchases from going through, as internet is disabled while Free Time is active.
It's password locked, and with a touch interface, rather hard to figure out keystrokes. My son was always afraid of playing a game on a live machine like my laptop, as he has accidentally bought a game on my friends iPhone. No worries of that with this app.

Hope this helps.

If you want to color illustrations, you'll need the Kindle Fire (if you want to go with Amazon). I have the Nook Color, which came out a year or so before the Kindle Fire, so the Kindle Fire does a little more and might weigh a bit less. I love my Nook Color. I read just about every night before bed and my kids play games on it. I have never felt like it was too heavy. I'm sure the Kindle Fire is great.

I have a Kindle Fire, my 3.5 y/o grandson reads children's books on it and plays games frequently, neither one of us has a problem with it's weight. Great graphics :)

We have the kindle fire and LOVE it. my kids fight over mine so much we got them their own for xmas

The Paperwhite does not have color illustrations. It does support children's books but they will be black and white. My husband and I each have regular Kindles, which we love for what we use it for. We just bought a Kindle Fire for someone for Christmas and thought it was kind of heavy or bulky for it's size. I think I would be uncomfortable reading with that, imo.