Review: Amazon Kindle (3rd Generation)

My first review is for a product I hold near and dear to my heart. The Amazon Kindle (3rd Generation). You may not know this but Amazon.com is the largest book retailer in the world. They know the book business and more importantly, they know book readers and it shows in many of the features the kindle provides.

I think there are some common features that everyone already knows about but I will breeze over them quickly and get to the good stuff;

• Storage - Stores about 3500 books
• Online Bookstore - Connects to your Amazon.com account and allows you to browse, purchase and download books within minutes.
• Book Backups - Your books can be stored in at least three places - your Kindle (or Kindles, if you have more than one), on your computer and with Amazon. Once you purchase the book from Amazon you can download it to any Kindle registered to you as many times as you want.

The biggest concern raised when I recommend the Kindle to my family and friends is that they feel a connection with books and doubt the Kindle can achieve that same connection. Books are intimate things, the feel of the pages, the smell of the binding glue, they are warm and comforting. Kindle critics, mostly those that haven't actually held the Kindle in their hands, think e-readers in general are impersonal and cold. They don't picture themselves curling up on the couch with a cold, flat computer tablet and drinking a glass of wine (or coffee, or cocoa). I had this concern as well but I gave the Kindle a chance and am very glad I did.

~ The first thing I recognized when I held the kindle in my hand was that I only needed one. I could comfortable hold the kindle in one hand and turn pages. That left another hand to hold a beer, pet the dog, water the lawn, flush the toilet. I am not going to get into details but let me just say, the Kindle brings bathroom reading to a whole new level. I even started bringing the Kindle to the gym with me on cardio day.

~ I could hold it in one hand while I was on a stationary bike or set it on the front console of the treadmill, elliptical or  stair-stepper. Many of those exercise machines have TVs built in these days and I have tried listening to music but I can't help but sub-consciously mark time with those two distractions. I know the average length of a TV show or song. When I was reading 45 minutes would fly by and I would hardly notice.

~ The second most common concern is that the e-reader would be hard on the eyes like looking at a computer screen. Definitely an understandable concern, especially if you have tried using any of the e-reading apps on your smart phone, computer or I-Pad. The difference is that all of those other devices are actively beaming light into your eye. The Kindle uses a technology they call e-ink. It really is know more irritating on the eye than a regular book page. In fact, you can adjust the font size so that you can continue reading without reading glasses, which just magnify the text anyway.

~ The price of both the Kindle and the books are always the next questions I get asked. Currently the Kindle will run you between $114 and $189 depending on the model you get. The books generally cost between Free - $14.99. Most f the books are in the $6.99 - $9.99 range. There are a lot of websites dedicated to finding free or reduced price kindle books and informing readers. There is a lot of classic content that is now public domain and can be downloaded for free such as many Sherlock Holmes books, Mary Shelley's Frankenstien, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and more.

~ Amazon has the largest selection of e-books on the planet currently. I have heard people say that the books they like are not in kindle format but I have only run into that problem once. Amazon does have a cool feature on its website that allows you to request any book in Kindle format if it is not already. I have used this and a month after I requested the book in Kindle format I received an email indicating a release date for that e-book. I am not certain but I expect Amazon waits for enough people to request the book for it to be profitable to convert it.
 
~ Textbooks are more expensive but I don't recommend the Kindle for textbooks with some exceptions. The Kindle is not very good at browsing a book. Page flipping is a little to slow for that since you can't really jump around quickly. Although the search feature would probably help out in this department. The fact that the Kindle is only black and white (and 32 shades of grey) mean that charts and graphs aren't rendered that well.

~ Additional Features of Note

• Search - The Kindle could be very useful if one were to download a medical dictionary due to its search feature. You can search the entire text looking for a term or word group in a matter of seconds.
• Dictionary - The Kindle features a built in dictionary. You just scroll over a word and the definition pops up along the bottom of the page.
• Notes and Bookmarks - You can highlight passages in any book, make notes or dog ear a page electronically without degrading the value of your book.
• Text to Speech - The Kindle will actually read to you. The voice is somewhat robotic but the feature works well enough. It is great for long road trips. 
• Great Battery Life - I am an avid reader and I only charge my Kindle about once a month.
• Library Checkout - You can actually check books out from your local library with your Kindle. This is a newer feature and is not available at all libraries but that will change over time.

There are four models of the most recent version of the Kindle available at different prices but it only amount to two questions;

Do you want a 3G network in addition to the Wi-fi that comes standard with the Kindle?

• The 3G network allows you to access the online book store and using a cellular network the same way your cell phone does without paying a monthly subscription for the service. This is handy in airports that charge for Wi-Fi but not really a necessity.  

Do you want to see screen-savers or advertisements when you power down your Kindle?

• Amazon will give you a discount if you allow them to show advertisements on your Kindle instead of screensavers. Some of the advertisements give you a discount on purchasing Amazon products and gift cards. You do not see these advertisements when reading at all.

Scroll over the links below to check out the current prices or if you feel inclined, purchase a Kindle.

Kindle 3G, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 3G Works Globally, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology With 3G, No Ads

Kindle 3G, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 3G Works Globally, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology - includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers With 3G, With Ads

Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Pearl Display No 3G, No Ads

Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Pearl Display - includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers No 3G, With Ads