Amazon Kindle - personal review

Happy Kindle Birthday

This year, my geeky gadgetry nature received a lovely birthday pressie from my equally lovely but not so geeky partner - an Amazon Kindle.

We had looked at this in previous years when we first heard that such a device had appeared on the market. But at that stage, there were many hurdles to combat - especially in the Australian market. For instance, I think we could not even get to buy and download books wireless as it depends on a wireless system called Whispernet which I am not sure was available to us Aussies at the time of release.

Just as well we didn't get one at that stage coz look how Mr Fatty it used to be in comparison to what it is now.

to how good it looks now. This is mine! Woohoo!

Of course I know that in the blink of a blinkety eye, Amazon (or someone else) will come out with something bigger/smaller, better, faster. And so it goes. But for now, I am content.

Standard Kindle vs Kindle DX

There is another current version of the Amazon Kindle called Kindle DX.

And if you like reading from a paperback size, then I recommend that you stick with the Kindle standard.

You can read more about both Kindles directly on Amazon.

Amazon Kindle vs Apple's iPad

And if your main aim is to have good looks, sleek gadgets, latest toy, and lots of money to splash around(and you may even be one of those non-readers from the old before-technology days who were seen carry around a book to cultivate an image rather than that they could actually read) - then you have to shove the Kindle to the un-chic corner and go with spinning arms and legs for the iPad.

However if you are into reading, then for my money (or hubby's in this instance), you have to choose Kindle over the newly release iPad. Kindle is easier on the eyes, about half the price of iPad, more dedicated to the needed reading functions, and at the moment, can be easily bought over the Net (which I think, the iPad, cannot).

Pros and Cons of Kindle

Pros

• Love the fact that you can just about be anywhere and still be able to download and or buy books. You don't need to worry about not bringing along books for your holidays - you can buy them while you are relaxing in a spa in the hills of Bali!!
  
  
• Light - or to not have to lug around heavy books just because you can't decide which books you want to read before you leave the house.
  
  
• Feels like a book - well as good as. Not 100% user friendly but darn close so very easy to use.
• Audio - can read out loud to you (for books that have been enabled. E.g. the manual that comes within the Kindle can be read out loud).
• Can change text and image sizes for ease of reading.
• Can make personal notes and highlight points as you read. (I have not used this extensively - just played around with it. It is a cool feature but I suspect it still needs some improvements. I can imagine from what I have seen that one's personal notes can become very messy and hard to find. There does not seem to be any apparent way to organise those notes properly.)
• Easy navigation.
• Lots of free ebooks on the internet which, when downloaded (to your computer) can be easily transferred over to your Kindle. 
  You can read more about the free books download sites and the formats required at each at http://www.amazon.com/gp/b/?node=2245146011
• Long battery life - I have not been reading continuously I admit. But I do find it so very annoying when batteries run down even when I am not using them: like mobile phones, and cameras. However since I got this Kindle in mid-April 2010 and now, a month later, I have only charged it once and have not had to do it again.
• Easy to charge - just use the provided USB cable and connect to computer.
• Easy to switch off/on and Kindle will remember which page you were last on (for each book) when you next "open" it.

There are many more goody features but these are the main ones that come to mind.

Cons

• Cannot read in the dark. OK. I understand why this is so at the moment - but it is still a disappointment. Reason: technology. 
  Kindle uses the e-ink technology which is what makes it so special. It consumes little power hence longer battery life. And it is easy on the eyes - you can read with glare-strain (which is a problem that iPad has. Being backlit, it also means that prolonged reading produces eye strain.). But because Kindle cannot be back-lit, you need surrounding ambient light to read. Which is a shame coz it would be lovely to be on a plane and be reading your Kindle without having to switch on the overhead. Or be in bed and just read your Kindle without having to switch on and off lights and disturbing sleeping partners.
• It does not come with its own padded safety jacket - which means, I will have to jacket him myself ... soon ... one day ....
• No color choices. No sexy colors.
• pdf files are easily copied-pasted over to the Kindle. However the size of text cannot be changed - so you can end up with very small text.
• Turning off is not always effective. Supposed to hold on-off slide in off position for 5 seconds. A number of times, that does not work. It puts K in a sleep mode (with a static pic still showing on screen) when what you really want is a blank (off) screen. Have to repeat process a number of times. I normally hold 10secs to be sure - which gives surer outcome.

I am sure I can think of more pros and cons. But right now, that's it for me.

Addendum 8 June 2010

Ads on Apple iPad has recently hit our TV screens (Australia) so I am presuming that means that finally, the iPad is commercially available here. It looks darn good. "Sexy" is the word my friend uses and sexy is what it is to be too. But is it all it is touted to be?

Here are some quick links to reviews that might prove useful:

• Apple iPad Review on engadget.com
• IPad review: Is it as magical as Steve Jobs promised? (on news.com.au)
• Top 10 iPad Pros and Cons (on news.com.au)

I only quickly browsed through all the above reviews. Without a doubt, the iPad is either going to kill off Kindle or K will have to really step up to the mark and change quite a number of things. But how can anyone beat the designers from Apple?!

The other things that caught my eye about iPad which are cons for ipad are: 
1) its weight - for extended use, it might be a bit on the heavy side
2) the backlit screen - tho looking better than K's eInk screen in the short run, with extended periods of use, it might very well be an eye strain