| Amazon Kindle review by hoylemj, May 31
(I'll try to add a video review sometime.)
Contents:
Physicality
Features and Software
eBook Formats, etc
Accessories
Summary
This review is for anyone interested in buying an e-reader. I only have hands-on experience with the Kindle. There are a few sites (http://www.the-ebook-reader.com/ for one) and video reviews you can find on Youtube that compare other options.
My main concerns in buying one were:
1) the price [is it worth it?] and
2) will I get the features I need [is it compatible with the e-books I have, etc]
The price of the Kindle has dropped quite a bit over the last couple of years. The standard Kindle costs about $140 [EDIT: was $165], but now you can also get a $25 discount if you buy one that includes "special offers" (built-in, non-removable advertisements).
I typically do all I can to get around advertisements so I was a bit hesitant to jump at even a $25 coupon, but these ads are only in the form of screensavers and a bar at the bottom of the main menu. I hardly even notice them, they are not placed in view of any reading material and when the screen/power saver is on you can just cover it up. If you don't mind the $140 tag, the Kindle is well worth that, but the difference in the "special offer" version is really just in the price tag.
Hands-on The Kindle:
physicality
The Kindle is very light (weighs a few ounces) and the screen is roughly 6".
There are > and < page turn buttons on both sides of the screen. This is good in case you are reading with one hand, even for a moment.
The keyboard has been shrunk from previous versions to save space (I have no trouble typing on it and I have relatively large hands.] You also have navigational arrows in the form of a box and inside the box is a select button. This was designed very well for moving around the main menu and sub-menus. Number buttons were taken off the keyboard and replaced by a symbol button which brings up a menu in which you can navigate to various numbers and symbols. I personally don't think you need to type in numbers that often (I do so mainly in naming files and folders/'collections' since you never really search for page numbers [bookmarks instead]) so I like the idea of using the 'Sym' key to type in numbers as opposed to physical keys on the keyboard.
The Kindle has speakers at the top of it's back (podcasts, audio books, mp3s, text-to-speech). That's the only thing on the backside.
On the bottom it has a USB/power port, a regular 3.5mm headphone jack, a -/+ volume bar, and a switch that lets you put the Kindle in screensaver mode.
All in all, it's amazingly tiny and light. It doesn't have a removable battery/power source, and charges up via USB like an i-pod or via a wall outlet converter (these come with it). The battery lasts a long time. I've read that if you were only using the Kindle to read e-books it would last up to a month (WiFi off, etc).
Features and software
First, let me say, the e-ink technology in these e-readers is unbelievably cool. It's the main reason you would buy a stand alone e-book reader as opposed to using a tablet, i-pad, or laptop. The screen really does look like a paper page plus this technology is what allows the readers to use up such little amounts of battery power over time. If I didn't know that I had an e-reader in my hand I would think it was a static, cardboard page - but, at the click of a button, almost instantaneously, we are on another page. And there is no glare in the sun as is much advertised so you can read it outside the same as in any other light source.
Compared to ipads, etc, the software on the Kindle is very basic.
At the home menu you select how you want to organize the your files. The options are 'Most Recent First', 'Title', 'Author', 'Collections.'
In my opinion this is where the Kindle is the weakest and thus has most room for improvement (I'm pretty sure they can do this in software updates for existing Kindle owners). You don't really have a lot of power in customizing and organizing how your files are stored and accessed. This was a bit awkward for me since I am so used to the common file explorer/windows structure (that allows you to create folders with-in folders ad infinitum), but there are ways to work with or around it.
Personally, I like to browse my e-books by categories/genres and subcategories (folders within folders). This also works well for storing books on DVDs and moving them to my computer and to my Kindle, back and forth.
On the Kindle, you can have only 1 level of folders called Collections. Then in each of those of course, you have your books with no sub-collection folders. This is not a terrible drawback, but it does limit accessibility.
Right now I have 3 pages of collections on my main menu. For each collection, you are given its name and in parantheses, at the end of the collection name, the number of books in that collection. When you click on the collection, you move down 1 level into that folder where all the books in it are sorted either by 'Most Recent First', 'Title', and 'Author.'
For each book you view, the Kindle will remember the last page you were on. You can also place bookmarks in each book.
The worst feature of the Kindle is that you can't load new books directly into their corresponding collections. Every time I load books onto the device, I either have to select each book and manually click around to 'Add to Collection' and then create a collection or move it to one already created, or I have to do the same thing (only much quicker) with free software named Calibre.
Within Calibre you can choose to create collections based on those you have created and organized in Calibre (it keeps up with the library of books on your computer) or you can access the Kindle and manually setup which books are in which collection, rather laboriously within the software (still faster than doing it within the Kindle itself).
I've only had the Kindle for a week so maybe I will find a better way to organize my ebooks in time. These sites have been helpful so far:
http://www.kindleboards.com/
http://calibre-ebook.com/help
Moving on...
Pressing the Menu button while on the Home menu brings up a drop-down with these options:
-Turn Wireless On/Off
-Shop in Kindle Store
In the Kindle store you can download and read the 1st chapter of any book for free.
-View Archived Items
-Search
-Create New Collection
-Sync & Check for Items
-Settings
(Registration, Device Name, Wi-Fi Settings(available networks), Device Info)
-View Special Offers
-Experimental
(Web Browser [basic web browsing, no flash], Play mp3s [put music on the Kindle and control the player with the keyboard], Text-to-Speech [can activate at anytime with keyboard shortcuts])
The drop-down menu in the Settings screen includes the additional options:
-Change Primary Dictionary
(You can look up words as you read)
-Update Your Kindle
-Restart
-Reset to Factory Defaults
-Sync and Check for Items
When you access any dropdown menu, the top bar changes to show the time and amount of free space.
eBook formats, etc
The Kindle only supports internal memory - up to 4GB. It will directly read *.Mobi files and Amazon store files (*.Azw or something like that) and PDFs. *.Epub files can be converted to Mobi or PDF format via Calibre. Mobi and Amazon book files are very small (< 1 MB), look best within the kindle, and allow you to use basically all of the Kindle's features ("Go to...","Search", more font size options, better visibility, etc). PDFs are much larger can be more a bit more difficult to read. For instance, with a Mobi or Azw file, you can change the font size similar to how HTML font changes (big, bigger, bigger, bigger, etc) and all the font will adjust to fit the screen. The only difference of course is that you will have more page numbers. Since PDFs are just image files of pages, the only way to increase the font size (which is almost always required) is to select '100%', '150%', '200%', 'fit to page', or 'actual size.' Basically the read will zoom in the same as Adobe Reader, but you are left having to scroll back and forth to get through a single page.
There is a 'Aa' button on the Kindle keyboard that brings up these compatibility options. The options are "font size (Zoom % for PDF), Typeface, Line Spacing, Words per Line, Contrast, Text to Speech, Screen Rotation/Orientation."
With the last option, Screen Rotation, you can often adjust even a zoomed-in PDF so that you can move around comfortably enough using the page turn buttons.
I prefer finding a file in a format other than PDF because of the extra hassle in navigating them, but PDFs are a bit ubiquitous and as I stated, the hassle isn't too bad (as I feared before buying a Kindle).
Accessories
There are no aps for the Kindle. You can purchase reading lights ($20ish), carrying cases ($8-$100), customizable Gelaskins ($20), screen protectors ($5), car charger, and such.
You can also download/access newspapers, blogs, and magazines at Amazon.com for small fees. I've read reviews on these and it seems that people who are used to the print versions are not very happy with these services (namely the magazines).
I haven't bought any of these but within Calibre you have an option to "Fetch news" or set up a schedule for downloading news from quite a few optional sources (under English there are 342 ranging from Accountancy Age to Al Jazeera to Fox News to National Geographic to the NY times).
I just DL'ed Newsweek and the NY Times moments ago and am pretty damn impressed. Included was all sections and all articles with some pictures. This was free so I imagine it is a more limited version than you'd get normally.
Summary:
e-Readers are worth the price to pay for the advantages of a dedicated reader (namely e-ink technology). The cheapest one available at the moment, The Kindle (3rd generation) is even cheaper if you get the $25 discounted, 'special offers' version (has built-in ads that are not a problem even if you are an anti-ad type of person.)
Pros: Lightweight, Ultra thin, Lots of accessories, $115 with a few ads, Plays audio files, E-ink is as easy on your eyes as a paper page, Very long battery life, Charges via USB/outlet/(other common methods), Hunderds of books on a device that is as small as a paperback, Text-to-speech, Wi-Fi with basic browsing, Good free 3rd party software (Calibre) to help manage and convert files (ePubs), Built-in dictionaries, supports MOBI and Amzn files which are tiny, can read PDF, Free news sources, Very mobile and noninvasive (read practically anywhere), Ebooks are cheap, Can DL and read the 1st chapter of any ebook available at Amzn.
Cons: File organizing and browsing is not as efficient as it could be (By far. Most eReaders have a similar problem though from what I hear the Sony eReader is more like windows explorer), Too damn much info to read.
(As of Jun 01 prices are now: regular/special offers version 3G: $190/$165 Wi-fi: $140/$115)
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