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May 9, 2009
Amazon's Kindle EBook Reader
Do you buy and read quite a few books? If so the Kindle 2, the second generation electronic reading device from Amazon might be the ticket for you.
The Kindle 2 is compact - about 8" x 5.3" x .36" and only weighs 10.2 ounces. It can stores up to 1500 books, the original Kindle could stores about 200. And is has a purpose built 6" screen that Amazon calls 'electronic paper'.
You load books, magazines and newspapers through Amazon's Whispernet, which uses Sprints 3G network. When you make a purchase it is downloaded through this network, the cost is part of the book purchase, no additional monthly fees or data plans. Books usually download in less than a minute.
Extra features include:
- a dictionary,
- a 'read to me' feature that converts text to speech, letting you listen instead of read. This feature is disabled on some books,
- and you can increase or decrease the size of the text.
OK, how well does it work. I received a review sample a couple of weeks ago. I downloaded a few books from the over 230,000 that are available. Most new releases are $9.99, and older books can be a buck or less.
I kicked back and started to read. It took a little while to get used to not holding a regular book, but it soon felt natural. The page turns are fast and the controls quickly become intuitive. The quality of the black text on the white screen is very good. I really like the ability to change the size of the text. I am at the age when I need to use reading glasses occasionally. I don't need them with the Kindle 2, just increase the text size and I can easily read without the dreaded 'readers'.
The Kindle 2 costs $359.00. If you don't read many books or usually get most of your books from the public library, the Kindle 2 is probably not for you. But if you are like me and buy quite a few books, often new releases that cost $25 or more, the Kindle 2 could actually save you some money over time.
Beside price the only real downside that I have with the Kindle 2 is that I had to send the review sample back after 15 days. For more information please go to Amazon Kindle 2.
Posted by Bob Gatton at 4:06 PM | Comments (3)
