The post you are reporting:
Well my new toy arrived, my Kindle and given all the discussion on another thread as to iPad/iPhone versus Kindle I thought I would review it.
First of all it was well packed in recyclable packaging and on opening I was immediately impressed by its build quality. There was the Kindle itself, a getting started booklet and a USB cable with mains plug adapter for recharging.
I was also impressed by the screen. It does indeed have the look of printed paper and is very easy on the eye. The definition is excellent and it responds fast to the controls.
It is very intuitive and in just a few minutes I had it connected to my wi-fi system and charging from the mains.
The unit was already synchronised to my Amazon account when it arrived. As soon as the wi-fi was connected, a book I had already bought, was downloaded automatically to the unit in a matter of seconds.
In fact in just 10 minutes I had gone into the Kindle Store on Amazon via the unit and bought a total of 11 books for under £28. For that money I bought one book that was only just release on hardback at £3 less than the hardback price. Among them were also 8 books that are out of print and cost less than £1.50 each.
However good all that is what is important is what the reading experience is like with a Kindle. Well with nothing worth watching on tv I had an early night with my Kindle to read....
Lying down in bed the unit fit snugly into one hand with my thumb poised conveniently by the page turning button. Weighing the same as my paperback the Kindle was better balanced in my hand and therefore a lot easier to hold. I never realised before just how disruptive to the flow of a book turning a page was, not with a Kindle though. As my eye reached the bottom line I pressed the page turner and when my eye got back to the top the next page was there - smooth, very smooth. The clear screen was easy to read and being able to customise the font further enhanced the reading experience. The size of the screen ideal for paperback fiction and its paper like quality really made it feel as if I was reading a book.
Tired, well just flick the switch at the bottom and a classy 'book cover page' appears on screen of which there are many that change every time. When you flick that switch again the Kindle opens the book on the page where you stopped reading. Exit that book to sample another, no problems because when you re-open a book it takes you right to the page where you left it. Cool.
Being able to accommodate around 3,500 books an good system to categorise and manage books is essential and the Kindle works well enabling me to open files or 'collections' such as 'Lee Child' or 'Unread'.
I bought the 3G version because that means I can download books anywhere there is a mobile phone signal with no extra costs for doing so. Browsing books in WHS? See something you like? Take your Kindle from your jacket pocket, log into the Kindle Store and in seconds you have downloaded that book to your Kindle at a fraction of the cost of the print version.
Yes the 3G version works abroad too, again with no network costs.
OK so is it worth the £109 for wireless only or £149 for wireless and 3G?
After all you could download, for free, the Kindle App to your iPhone, iPad or Netbook. Then you would have access to all these cheap and even free books available on the Kindle.
The iPad is bigger and heavier (as are Netbooks) and there is no way that with one of these you can lay in bed, holding it up, in one hand, reading for 3 solid hours like I did, quite comfortably, with my Kindle last night.
There is no way, with iPad, iPhone or Netbook that you could read all day without recharging. In fact the Kindle battery lasts a whole month without recharging.
As for the shiny screens, out in the sun I know what I would want to read with.
I won't bother to mention the small screen of the iPhone - it just cannot compare with the book like screen of the Kindle.
So what about books v Kindle?
Yes, there is something about the feel and smell of a book that a Kindle cannot replicate. After all some people still prefer their music on vinyl to an iPod....Some people will never be reconciled with technology. As the iPod wins people over with its sheer practicality and versatility so the Kindle is the way to go with reading....Yes, the reading experience is better and easier than a book.