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Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device | 
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| Brand: Amazon
Category: Amazon Devices
Buy New: $359.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  4197 reviews
Sales Rank: 1
Color: Bisque
Media: Electronics
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.7
UPC: 892685001003
EAN: 0892685001003
ASIN: B000FI73MA
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Revolutionary electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper. | | • | Simple to use: no computer, no cables, no syncing. | | • | Wireless connectivity enables you to find, buy, and read instantly—whether you’re in the back of a taxi, at the airport, or in bed. | | • | Shop the Kindle Store directly from your Kindle. | | • | Buy a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute. |
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| Accessories:
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| Customer Reviews:
Others need to come into the new age! August 20, 2008
I was very anxious after I ordered my kindle. I ordered it on a Friday and selected two day shipping so it could arrive on Tuesday. I told myself that it was only 4 days away. What I didn't expect to happen was for me to actually be excited and impatient for the wait. I've tried the Sony e-reader and I didn't get nearly as excited after I had purchased that.
From the outside, it's appearance may be appaling at first. Don't let that hinder your thoughts on purchasing one though. It has a very nice feel in your hands once you figure out how to hold the thing without turning the pages. There are two design flaws that I see that I hope are improved up in the infamous second edition that will not be out for at least a few years. They could round out the corners so it doesn't eat a dimple into your palms while reading. Secondly, they could rethink the position of the page turners. I do like that they are on both sides, but maybe place them so you could actually grab the sides without screwing up your place. I think that with the second versions of anything, they are a welcomed upgrade. The placing of the SD card is problematic when you want to change them or actually put one in, but in relooking at it's placement, there really isn't a better place for it.
So enough with the specs. With that being my only area for complaint, being the design flaws, reading on this is actually more enjoyable than a paper back for me. I don't have to fidget around to find an uncomfortable position for me that supports the book without turning any of it's pages. With the Kindle...I sit in any position I want, not what the book wants. Turning the pages is flawless...albeit slow, but after reading a few pages, you slowly adjust to the fact of it taking time. And after a few chapters, you don't even notice that anymore. The saving the page you left off on feature is awesome as I frequently am doing ten billion things at once and then end up reading the same passage at least 5 times before I realize that I need to stop coming to this page after coming back. And the built in dictionary is awesome as I am hard of hearing and often times do not fully understand what all english words mean even though I speak perfect english. It's awesome that it's right at my fingertips and I don't even leave my page or lose my place.
When I took mine out of the well designed box, it started up and I didn't need any time to aquire a tasting for it. I knew exactly how to run it being the techie that I am. I learned how to use all the specs in under ten minutes after just fiddling with it. If you aren't good with technology, I highly suggest reading the on-board user's guide as it explains how to do everything.
I took it over to a friend of mine, I am 21 and her and her husband are well into their 50's. They had no problems after changing the font size as I read at the level one. They used setting 3 and 4 and were very impressed. My grandma fell in love with the size 6 font. No longer needing to hunt for the large print books, she is purchasing hers soon. All three of them got aquainted quite quickly with it after a few intructions from me.
I have had no problems ordering books and having them delivered right to me in under a minute. I bought 20 books the first day I owned it...and three days later I am finished with 4 of them...still going on my first charge. I did turn my wireless internet off to make the battery last longer.
The only reason I hesitate to give it five stars is the design flaws. If you can get past your palms having permanent dimples :-) this is the perfect device for you. I live in a small apartment and face arguments with my boyfriend over space and my love of books. Problem is solved now. So if you are an avid booklover with no space in your house or apartment, this is a very practical solution. You look at the price and think it's a bit much, but think of the money you save on books. With my initial 20 book purchase, I saved almost $200...half of my kindle was paid for right then and there and my boyfriend isn't complaining about space for those 20 books either. I no longer have to justify my must-have book choices. Wish this would have come out about 7 years ago when I started my library!
So what are you waiting for? Go buy one! Obviously if you are reading all the reviews you can get your hands on, you know you want one! Just do it! You only live once and regrets will not follow this purchase! You'll thank us all later when you have your own and you can inspire others!
 luv it, luv it, luv it... August 20, 2008
Well, I bought this for my hubby cuz now he walks to work and is a software engineer.... so I knew he'd be reading a lot of big ol' manuals. Now he can just download it and read them anywhere and not look like a Jr High School grrl with a backpack full of bad history books... I'm just sayin...
Great device August 20, 2008
I debated and researched quite a bit before asking for this for my birthday, but I'm very happy I did. I've added quite a variety of purchased and free books to keep me occupied while waiting in different places, and for travel. I have not found the 'blacking out' while page turning distracting, and I'm very happy with the product.
Very Happy With My Kindle August 20, 2008
So I've had my Kindle for a couple weeks and I thought I've used it enough to give an educated review.
My main motivation for buying the Kindle was for travel. I travel a lot and the idea of being able to carry all my books and magazines with me was a huge selling factor. The Kindle is ideal for that. The storage capacity is great - around 200 books with the built in memory and maybe 2000 with a $12 2 GB memory card. (You can get large memory cards, but I figured that was enough for me.)
I was concerned that it might take getting used to for reading. I don't read sitting at a table with a book laying flat. I read on my couch with the book over my head or any number of other ridiculous positions. That hasn't been a problem at all. I find it as easy, if not easier, to hold and read than a paperback book.
One thing I never expected is that I actually read faster with the Kindle. I have no idea why that is, but I've noticed it and others have confirmed that thay also seem to read faster with the Kindle over traditional books.
There are a few things to be aware of. This is fairly new technology, so there are things that could be improved, but nothing that would keep me from buying the Kindle.
First, there are a lot of books available (150,000+ on Amazon and maybe a million elsewhere), but if you are looking for a particular author you should probably check before you buy. Don't assume that just because it's a popular series or author it will be in eBook format. Of course, more are being added daily and as the technology grows more will be open to it going forward.
Second, there are some trade-offs. Some things that we take for granted in paper format is not easy in eBook. For example, the lack of page numbers. Instead of page numbers, the Kindle uses location numbers, so you will be at location 500 out of 10000 or something. This gives you a rough idea of how far into the book you are, but is a little awkward.
Other little things that you lose are things like being able to flip to the end of the chapter to see how many pages you have left to read. You can do this, but it's 1 page at a time, so not really efficient. Graphics are simplistic, so maps and other images can be difficult to read.
Overall, great product that has some room for improvements. I recommend it, but just do your research and make sure it's right for you and the books that you would like to read are available.
Excellent device, but not without its flaws August 20, 2008
These guys are a bit pricey ($359.99 for the basic system), but not
inordinately so. I've seen a few on e-bay, but decided to get mine fro
Amazon. Kindles ship 2d business day, so it wasn't a long wait.
The unit came in a box which was designed to resemble a book. Amazon
probably could have saved some bucks there since you'll likely not use
that box again. Included in the box were the kindle, the notebook-like
cover, AC Power supply/charger, and the USB cable
When the unit ships, it is registered to you and your Kindle account (with
e-mail addresses) is set up.
Pull the plastic strip which masks the battery, plug it in to charge
and wait a couple of hours. Two hours does a full charge and that's
good for 7 days without Whispernet or 2 days with. I think the best
bet is to leave the WiFi interface off except when you need it.
I also ordered accessories for my Kindle. First was an 8 gb SD card.
Amazon says the unit handles 4 gb cards, but my 8gb card works fine and
there are folks who report that 16 gb works fine. The other accessory
was a clip on LED reading light. The Kindle is *not* backlit, so the
light could come in handy.
Reading the Kindle is pretty much like reading a book, except that the
Kindle is lighter. There are two buttons for next Page and one for
previous page. You select the item to read or a navigation menu using
a scroll button just below the window. When you re-open a document,
the Kindle returns to the place at which you stopped reading.
The unit can hold quite a bit of material. I can put my 1300 volume e-
library on my Kindle and still have 7 gb to spare. You can also store
MP3 files in the music folder and play them as you read. Generally, I
move my books to a network drive at home and mainly keep music in that
8gb SD card. When I read, I plug in the headphones and press Alt-P to
start the music.
A few Pros and Cons:
Pro - holds lots of material, more than you want to store on it.
Con - the home menu shows *all* of the books on the unit which are in
Kindle (.azw), mobi (.prc) and Text (.txt) format. Well, those which
have those extensions. If you have a large number of texts stored on
the Kindle, it is cumbersome to manage. The display ignores
directory/folder organization and just shows all the appropriate files.
Pro - plays MP3 files. Using a headphone, the sound is pretty clear.
With the 8gb card in place, I have 400 songs sitting in place.
Con - Through the built in speaker, the sound quality is not so good.
Con - The headphone jack is at the bottom of the unit, next to the
power and usb ports. If you are laid back a bit and are holding the
kindle on your body rather than holding it up, the headphone jack is in
the wrong place and the plug is going to see unnecessary wear and tear.
Con - No play lists and no way to skip or select a song. The unit
simply plays the songs at random.
Con - Why didn't Amazon list the keyboard shortcut to play music (Alt-P)
or the shortcut to skip a song (Alt-T)?
Pro - paging through a document is convenient with buttons on both sides
Con - The right side button is too easy to accidentally trigger.
Con - rapidly moving through a text without a bookmark can be a nuisance.
Pro - the notebook-like cover protects the Kindle and contains a tab
which latches the Kindle in place.
Con - the on/off switches for WiFi and Power are on the back of the
unit. You have to put your hand between the cover and the Kindle to
operate those switches. This can cause the unit to pop loose from the
cover. Then, when you're putting the unit back in place (really a
simple operation) that right-side "next page" button is exactly where
you need to grab the Kindle. You can move quite a few pages before you
realize you did that. I've found the placement of the on/off switches to
be a real irritant.
Pro - the screen is easy to read with black text on a light, almost
white background. You can vary text size for easier reading or, if you
wish, more text on the page.
Pro/con depending on the user - the screen flashes a bit when you flip
pages. It was annoying at first, until I realized that it was a good
thing to have a visual cue that the page had changed.
Pro - Easy file conversion.
Con - Content Manager is a little cumbersome - no surprise on such a unit.
To really move files about easily, hook up the Kindle to your PC and use
the PC's file management utilities to move and delete files.
Pro - Although this is not documented, you can get a sort-of GPS when using
Google Maps. It seems to be based on cell towers rather than the real GPS
system, so don't expect pinpoint accuracy - especially if there are tall
buildings around.
Pro/Con - Although you can load pictures and even do a slide show, that ability
is undocumented. Basically, you dump the files into a folder, do an Alt-Z,
and then open the folder as you would a book. Rendering of photos is pretty
much the quality you would expect of a low-res B/W screen.
There are quite a few texts out there (Amazon says more than 140,000 in
Kindle format). You usually pay $9.99 for a book at Amazon. This can
be a deal if the alternative is the hardback (29.95) version of the
book. You also get immediate delivery. Some individual stories are
listed - usually for a dollar or so. I suspect that the number of
individual stories inflates the total count of titles. You can read a
sample of the book without obligation to buy and then buy with a quick
click if you like what you saw.
There are some free e-text sites, such as University of Pennsylvania,
U of Virginia, Baen Books, Gutenberg, and Gutenberg Australia. Orwell
fans can get all of his books at Gutenberg.au. Quite a few of those
books on the "must read" lists are available at free sites.
Now, having said all that, I guess I should answer the question, "was
it a good value and would you buy it if you knew then what you know
now?" Yes, in a heartbeat. I think it's a big plus for me. I've
replaced several hundred dead tree editions with e-books - saving space,
and getting money for the books at the local used book store and found
the Kindle pretty easy to use and convenient to tote about.
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