Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite is amazing (too bad it’s sold out until November)

If you’ve held off on ordering Amazon’s new Kindle Paperwhite e-reader, you’ll now have to wait more than a month to get your reading on.

Amazon began shipping out Kindle Paperwhite preorders Monday, but now the e-reader is showing an expected ship date of four to six weeks. From the looks of it, the delay applies to all Kindle Paperwhite models, which include the Wi-Fi and 3G versions as well as the versions with and without ads.

While Amazon could conceivably receive a new load of Kindle stock in the next few weeks, I wouldn’t bet on getting your hands on one until next month. Best Buy and other retailers will also offer the e-reader soon in-stores.

We’ve contacted Amazon about the Paperwhite delay and will update if we hear back.

Amazon announced the Kindle Paperwhite alongside its new Kindle Fire tablets in early September. The company touted the e-reader’s sophisticated front light as the key feature, but it also includes improved E-Ink technology and better touch response. Up until now, Kindle e-readers had no built-in lighting, you either had to read them in a bright room, or with some sort of light accessory.

Even though Amazon’s playing catch up to Barnes & Noble’s Nook Glowlight e-reader, I think the Kindle Paperwhite still wins out when it comes to its execution of E-Ink lighting. After a few days of testing out my Kindle Paperwhite, I noticed that I never really had a reason to turn off its light. It obviously helped when reading in dark rooms, but it also made a difference in normally lit rooms as well. I grew used to the ethereal glow of the Paperwhite’s screen — and eventually, I began to prefer it to relying solely on external lighting. (Luckily, Amazon says the Kindle Paperwhite should see around eight weeks of battery life with the light turned on.)

I’ve also been pleased with the new Kindle’s touch response. On last year’s Kindle Touch, the technology just felt out of place — typing and simply maneuvering the device’s interface was a chore because the screen took forever to refresh. But with the Kindle Paperwhite, touch response is almost real time, which makes it feel more like a tablet than an e-reader.

Check back for my full review of the Kindle Paperwhite sometime next week.

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