They updated the Kindle and now a lot of books, you can flip through like you do a paper book. I have the same Kindle as you. I figure if mine ever breaks down, I'll just use my tablet.

I was going to say have you checked for any updates for your version? You can pass the old one to someone who would appreciate it. I have passed several on to people that could not get one themselves. I am all for going for better technology, each time I get a new tablet there's a lot of improvement I appreciate.

I've been reading on my tablet, which works great, but it's heavy.

I was thinking of donating the old one to a thrift shop. Sometime ago I checked with Amazon to see how much they would give me for it, and I think it was $2.50. But if they would recycle components or donate somewhere, that would be fine.

Thanks for the encouragement, Raven!

Definitely or find a family with a lot of children and donate to them the gift of reading and free books is an excellent way to get them reading. Just be sure before you do anything to fully remove all of your Amazon account information and remove your Amazon sync to your books and account.

I love my kindle paperwhite! My old kindle had stopped holding a charge and I had been using the ipad. Then Amazon told me they owed me over $100 and I applied that to the purchase of the paperwhite. You can read it anywhere! Lightweight. It ios worth the price. Not sure, but it might be a tad easier to look back,etc.

Thank you all. You've given me some good ideas. I'm thinking I really would enjoy a step up.

I have four Kindle e-readers, and two Kindle Fire devices (the original Kindle Fire, and the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9).

Yes, you can read books on the Fire (great for cookbooks and magazines because it's a color screen), but the Fire is significantly heavier than a dedicated Kindle e-reader, and if you read a lot, like I do, you'll get tired of holding the Fire. Great for movies and tv shows, though! :-)

I have the 2nd generation Kindle (white), with a keyboard. I have the first generation of the very lightweight Kindle (it's considered by Amazon to be the 4th generation Kindle) -- under 6 ounces. It's the graphite color. It doesn't have a physical keyboard. It has two "buttons" on each side, the top one for going backwards and the bottom one for paging forward. It is my very most favorite Kindle. You can hold it very comfortably in one hand (either hand - hence the page turn buttons on both sides), and can turn the pages without having to take your hand off the device. The latest generation Kindle is a newer version of this device, and they've done away with the page-turn buttons and now it's a touch screen. I like the page turn buttons better because with the touch screen devices (like the Paperwhite) you have to be careful where you touch. Sometimes I end up with the top menu when all I want to do is turn to the next page.

I have the very first generation of the Kindle Paperwhite (graphite) and I recently got the newest version of the Paperwhite (in white).

I love the internal light on the Paperwhites. If my little lightweight Kindle had the built-in light I'd be in e-reader Heaven.

Having said all that, I use the newest Paperwhite most often, because the place where I read the most is in bed. Hubs will be next to me either reading on his Kindle Paperwhite or doing stuff on his MacBook Air. I always take a Kindle with me when we go anywhere (whether it's a day trip, vacation, or just a doctor's appointment). When I was still working, I had to go across one of two bridges to get to/from work, and sometimes the bridge would be "up" or "turned" for river boat traffic and you'd have to sit there for up to 15 minutes until the bridge was open again. It was nice to always have my Kindle to read when waiting.

As Elmer said, a new Kindle is less expensive than most items folks replace without a second thought. Also, and not insignificantly, the screen resolution is so much better on the new Kindles than on the older versions.

Oh -- not all books have a Table of Contents. The newer versions of the Kindles can show a page number in the lower left corner of the screen. You can touch that area with your finger tip and "scroll" through your choices -- location number, page number, time left in chapter, time left in book, or keep that area blank. So if you are on, say, page 132, you can tap at the top of the screen to get the book menu, then tap on "Go to" and you can either choose a Chapter, location, or page. When you're done looking at what you wanted to see, tap again on the top and you can either use the "Go To" again or you can tap the back arrow to return to where you were.

SOME, but certainly not all, books have the X-ray feature enabled. Let's say you're reading a book that does have X-ray. You're progressing nicely through the book, then a character's name is mentioned, but you're not sure who that is because it's been quite a while since you first saw that name. Tap at the top of the screen, then on X-ray. You will see a list of characters, etc., and you can go to the place where that particular character was previously mentioned. Then back again to your current reading spot.

I have a kindle fire, a paperwhite and the kindle app on my tablet. I use the paperwhite for travel because it's lightweight and can be read in the sunlight - a big plus on a cruise ship and holds a multiday charge. The kindle fire is much heavier but can read magazines, etc. from the library on it and also on my tablet. It's charge last about 2 days, depending on whether I'm reading magazines. The tablet which I like because everything is on one device, kindle, magazines from zinnio, books and my e-mail, etc. has the downside of a short charge time depending on usage. If you're just looking to read books on it, I'd certainly recommend the paperwhite.

I got it! Amazon gave me $5 for the old Kindle plus $20 for ordering a paperwhite. I like it, mostly understand all the features. I'll continue to read regular books as well. Thanks again for all the suggestions, everyone.

Congratulations on your purchase!