Kindle Wireless Reading Device Review

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Trevett (Astoria, Oregon) –

  

  

For my review, I’m going to focus it on the differences between the previous Kindle Keyboard, Wi-Fi, 6″ E Ink Display – includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers (which I’ll refer to as the K3), and the Kindle Touch (KT)

USE – As far as the reading experience, I really like the touch compared to the physical buttons on the previous generation. At first I was worried that I would constantly be turning the page from accidentally touching the screen, but this didn’t become much of an issue. The screen is broken up into mapped sections, so if you touch the far left side that covers about 1″ of the left of the screen, it goes to the previous page. If you touch anywhere on the other 80% of the screen beside that, it goes forward. Touch the top 1″ margin, and it will bring up the menu. There is also a physical button on the bottom of the touch that serves as the Home button and will take you straight to the Home menu. The area where I found the touch most useful is the dictionary. Previously, if I wanted to look up the definition of a word, I had to use the clunky joystick to navigate through the text. If a word was at the very bottom at the end of the sentence, sometimes I’d usually just ignore it rather than go through the trouble of pressing that joystick 15 times. With the Touch, I can simply touch the word and hold it down for about 1.5 seconds (so it knows I’m not trying to turn the page) to access the dictionary, which is incredibly useful and time-saving. Underlining phrases and highlighting works almost the same way. You hold down the first word in the sentence, then after two-three seconds it will recognize what you are doing, and then you drag your finger across the rest. I never used to do this before but now I do it all the time. The Kindle Fire actually handles the dictionary search much better. Though this is probably one of the only things the Fire does better than the Touch as far as ebooks. When you swipe your finger across the page or drag it down to change, the page changes just like it did with the Kindle Keyboard, in that it draws the next page. So there is a very short flash. It does not seamlessly and fluidly switch like it does with an iPad or what you would expect if you scrolled your mouse down a web site. This doesn’t detract from it at all for me. There is a new X-Ray feature that you can click on to bring up more ideas and common features of the book, but it is apparently only available on select titles and none of my books had it so I couldn’t try it out.

Form Factor – Even though the changes are fairly small, they feel significant. The KT is only .1″ less width, and a little over half an inch shorter than the K3, but after several hours of using it, I feel like I can hold it longer with one hand than with the K3. I think the main contributor to this is that this Kindle is one ounce lighter than the K3. This is a very noticeable difference from the K3. One ounce adds up after hours of holding it in front of you with one hand. I never had a real problem holding the previous version, but this one seems even easier.

Real Page Numbers – the K3 only displayed a percentage of the book completed or some weird “location” setting that I never understood. The KT displays the actual page number, regardless of what zoom setting you have it on. This is a big improvement for me, especially after I realized how difficult it is for them to be able to do this. This does not work on every book, but most of the popular books I have checked it with have it.

Book Lending – This is another huge improvement and just another reason to make the jump from regular books to a Kindle. You can finally lend your books to other people with Kindles. You can lend a book only once, and only for 14 days. I am okay with that because I understand the need to curb piracy. My only problem is that the book has to be eligible for this option and so far, most of the books in my collection aren’t.

Display – Same as before on the K3, with a few improvements. The short flash that you get when turning the page (although I never really notice it) while the Kindle loads up the next page, occurs less frequently. This makes the Touch feel a lot more like a real book. Even though the display is monochrome, the KT delivers very crisp black and white images, and renders photos and images very well. I have tried out the Kindle Fire as well, but I still prefer the Kindle Touch due to E-Ink, which I think looks much better than backlit text, especially since I like to read for 4-5 hours at a time. Reading in the sunlight with E-Ink compared to a backlit screen is no contest. It is the difference between night and day (pun intended). Newspapers, magazines, and PDFs all look better on the Fire though (although with some limitations as you can see in my review for that product). If…

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By 

J. Anderson (Austin, TX) –

  

I have used family members’ e-readers and even gifted a couple Kindles in the past couple years. But I could never justify plunking down for an e-reader for myself until now. The reasons are many, including convenience. But the biggest probably was the savings factor, when I learned about the new Amazon Prime program. Below is a summary of the decision points I considered. Hope it is helpful to you in your decision:

Cheaper than Paper – When you consider that Kindle-edition books are often the least expensive format on Amazon, even for new releases, if you read regularly it’s a no-brainer. But that’s the simple math. There are lots of low cost or free books available. And most impressive is the new Prime Lending program. With a Prime membership, one can borrow relatively new best sellers for free (up to 1 per month). Figuring one does this six times a year at $9.99 each, that alone covers the cost of the device over a 2-3 year life. Throw in library borrowing, which varies by area but is fairly broadly available, plus friend book lending for up to 14 days, and there are even more cost saving options.

Convenience – When traveling with paper books, I always fretting bringing along a book I was close to finishing as then I would need a second as well. With the Kindle, I always have all my books in one place. I also find myself reading in places I otherwise wouldn’t: At doctor appointments, having my car serviced, waiting in the car for someone. The Kindle is so easy to bring with me that I nearly always have it.

3G or WiFi – This was a tough decision for me as I don’t travel enough to alone justify the 3G $50 upcharge. But when I considered the convenience of being able to buy/borrow books anywhere in the world, it became tempting. Add in the new Prime Lending program, where one can’t have more than one at a time, and it made even more sense. I hope that Amazon Kindle newspaper and magazine subscriptions become more affordably priced. One other benefit to 3G is being able to wiki (works great with new X-ray functionality) or otherwise lookup anything on the go, as well as keeping Whispersync updated. One change, as noted by others, is that this latest generation of Kindles does not allow for web browsing on the 3G conneciton (WiFi only). Not a huge deal for me since the web browser is so rudimentary, but it would be nice to have basic functionality when traveling abroad. For me it was worth the $50 one-time payment for the convenience.

Special offers – Because the special offers are limited to when the Kindle is turned off and the menu screen, it’s not very intrusive. Also, I don’t mind getting good deal offers right to the Kindle. Again, the 3G is nice here because I can act on it right then and there rather than waiting until I have a wifi connection. I figure I’m bombarded with ads on my TV, the Internet, and everywhere in between. So if it’s something I don’t care about, I just tune it out.

Touch – Based on my experience using family members Kindle 3s, it is a big improvement over the joystick if you do any text entry and nicer in general for navigation. It also just makes basic reading enjoyable and brings Kindle back up to the competitive landscape (B&N, Sony, etc all offer touch). The dual touch, not on the competition yet, enables pinch to zoom, very nice for PDFs and other documents. You can also tap on a word for the xray feature and look it up instantly. Plus that saved physical keyboard space results in a smaller device. One feature on the competition (rhymes with Book) is the physical page turn buttons as a non-touch option. I think this would be a nice add to the Kindle Touch so that one has the option to turn pages either through touch or side buttons.

Tablet or e-reader – I debated this long and hard. In the end I wanted the long battery life and ease on the eyes of the e-reader. The much lighter weight and size makes the Kindle practical for long reading periods (try that on an iPad or Galaxy). The lower cost and tight Amazon integration were also top of mind. I will take the plunge on a tablet over the next year but plan to use it more for media consumption and internet browsing. And for games for the kids. I like the fact that I can give it to my young daughter to read books in bed without worrying that she’s playing games or watching videos. Plus, at this price point and per my notes above, the Kindle pays for itself so it’s not an “either or” decision.

Case or Sleeve – The Kindle Touch has a wonderful feel to it naked in hand, so I choose not to get an attached cover and instead get the Built neoprene sleeve. As a side note, the Built sleeve is terrific, albeit a bit overpriced for what it is. I’m fairly careful with my electronics and also do not put my smartphone under a cover. For gifts to more accident-prone members of my family, I opted to get them the cover. I’ve…

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