My first e-reader was an old Kindle Keyboard. I still have it for reading at the beach, since I can actuate the physical page buttons through a waterproof case. Needing an external source of light to read in bed was a big downer, so I bought a Kindle Paperwhite when it first came out. I owned the Kindle Paperwhite for a few months, and it was decidedly OK. I didn't use or appreciate the chains to Amazon's services, and resented that it couldn't play standard EPUB files. I sold it, and bought a Kobo Aura HD. The screen was larger and higher resolution than the comparable Kindle at the time, and the light can be turned completely off, unlike any Kindle. I also love that it supports many standard formats like EPUB out of the box, and I can simply drag-and-drop my files onto its internal storage. I haven't touched clunky ebook library management software (like Calibre) in years. At this point, I'm thoroughly impressed with the reading experience on my Kobo. I hope to use it for many years to come.