Kindle Keyboard
Kindle With Special Offers Wi-Fi $114
Kindle With Special Offers Wi-Fi plus 3G $164
You will often hear reference to the “Kindle family”, which is hardly surprising as there are now a variety of different Kindles for you to choose from. They are split into two main types – the 6″ display Kindle 3 and the 9.7″ display Kindle DX. However, there are now a variety of different types of Kindle 3 which feature different connectivity options. You also have the option to get a discount by accepting adverts and special offers on your Kindle screen saver pages if you wish.
There’s a comparison chart for all of the different Kindle models further down the page.
How Does The Kindle Compare To A “Real” Book?
There are plenty of reviews of ebook readers on the internet and many of these will compare the relative technical merits and demerits of one reader against another – which is fair enough. These are personal electronics gadgets after all. However, many people will be more interested to know how a reader compares with reading a “real” book – one with paper and printed text. The type that we all grew up with and were taught to treat with respect.
That’s especially true for anyone who might be considering getting their first ebook reader. It’s only natural to wonder if you will miss the feel of a traditional book in your hands. So, before we get too technical, let’s take a look at the salient features of reading on the Kindle.
And if you really can’t wait to see all of the technical details, just scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will find a handy comparison chart of the different Kindle models.
The Kindle Display Screen
Like most modern ebook readers, the Kindle uses an e-ink technology display. This is very different from reading on a back-lit computer screen. As a matter of fact, it’s as close to reading text printed on paper that you probably won’t notice the difference. After you’ve been using your Kindle for an hour or so, you will be totally unaware that you’re reading on an electronic gadget instead of leafing through the pages of a book (as long as it’s a good book at least).
The images below, reproduced from the Amazon.com website, show the difference between an e-ink display and an LCD computer screen magnified. As you can see, the e-ink display is pretty much like looking at a magnified printed page.
Page turns are something which people seem to be concerned about. These are very much faster these days and again, in my opinion at least, you won’t notice them after you’ve been using your Kindle for just a short time. The screen does go totally black for an instant when you turn the page, but it’s very fast. The only way I can explain it is that it’s a little like blinking when you turn the page of a conventional book.
The contrast on the latest “Pearl Technology” Kindle e-ink display is very good. The screen is noticeably brighter, and the contrast noticeably sharper, than even the earlier Kindle 2.0 version. It really is very good to read on. As well as being better to read on than a computer screen, the e-ink display doesn’t suffer from screen glare in the way that many other electronic devices do. You can read in bright sunlight or under strip lighting perfectly well.
It’s probably worth mentioning that the e-ink technology display only draws power when the page is being turned. That’s why the time between battery charges is so long.
Kindle Battery Life
If you read for an average of thirty minutes a day, you can expect to get two months operation out of your Kindle between battery charges. If you read for an hour a day, then a month between charges should be easily achievable.
In practical terms, what that means is that you won’t run out of juice on a long haul flight. Neither will you need to pack your power cable for short business trips or weekends away.
Choice Of Kindle Books
The selection of books available for the Kindle is massive. There are over 950,000 books to choose from at the time of writing. Of these, around 600,000 cost $9.99 or less. The first chapter of all Kindle books is available as a free download – so that you can “try before you buy” and make sure that you actually like the book before you part with your hard earned cash.
As if that wasn’t good enough, there are a further 1.8 million out-of-copyright books which you can download for free right from the Amazon website. Classics by the likes of Jules Verne, Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Shakespeare, Homer, Virgil etc. could be yours totally free of charge. You could, quite conceivably, make your Kindle pay for itself.
As well as classics, from time to time, publishers may make works by modern authors available either free or at heavily discounted prices. This might just be an author that they are trying to promote – or it may be that the first volume in a series is made available free in order to whet your appetite for further works. What it means is that there are bargains to be had, and you can save money on your book purchases in future.
Portability Of Kindle Books
If you’re worried about losing access to your Kindle books – maybe if you were to lose your Kindle perhaps – then there’s absolutely no need to be. Amazon has released a whole collection of free “apps” which allow you to read Kindle books on different devices. In fact, you could download an app for whatever device you prefer and read Kindle books without the need for a Kindle reader at all.
Alternatively, if you want to keep up with your reading, but you don’t want to carry your Kindle with you, you could read your Kindle book on your computer or phone and the clever app will even keep your place in the book when you go back to read it on your Kindle later. Pretty nifty huh?
At this time, there are free Kindle apps available for the following devices:
- Windows PC
- Apple Mac
- Apple iPod
- Apple iPad
- Blackberry smart phone
- Windows phone
- Any device which runs the Google Android operating system
Onboard Memory
The Kindle does not have the facility for the use of an SD memory card. However, bearing in mind that there is now enough memory for you to store 3,500 books in the Kindle’s onboard memory, that’s not something that is likely to be problematic for you. You will be able to carry your own mini-library with you wherever you go.
Ease Of Use
The buttons are well laid out and the toggle switch is very easy to navigate with. It’s easy to operate the Kindle with one hand, in fact it’s probably easier to read on the Kindle than it is to read a large hardback or chunky paperback book. You’ll find it very easy to read on your Kindle whether you are propped up in bed, lounging on your sofa or on a busy bus or train.
Other Facilities
You can lend Kindle books to friends and family if you like. However, this requires that the publisher has enabled this facility.
Likewise, you can have your Kindle read to you. Once again, this facility needs to be enabled by the publisher. You can see if “read-to-me” is enabled on the book details before you buy.
Later this year, Amazon will make the facility to borrow library books available on the Kindle.
The Big Question – Will You Miss The Feel Of A “Real” Book?
Only you can answer that – but in my opinion, the answer is no. A recent survey, conducted among ebook reader owners in the USA, found that 80% of them actually preferred to use their reader than to read a traditional book. After you’ve used an ebook reader for a while, printed books will feel heavy, clumsy and annoying to handle.
As an illustration, about four weeks after I got my first Kindle I was surprised to see a book from Amazon delivered by mail. I didn’t remember having ordered it – it turned out that it was a new release by one of my favorite authors that I had pre-ordered some time earlier and then forgotten about. It had been sent out to me automatically by Amazon on the release date.
Although it was a book that I had been looking forward to, otherwise I wouldn’t have pre-ordered it, I must admit that I was just a little disappointed that I was going to have to read it in the traditional format. It was a fairly hefty tome and, after having used my Kindle for just a few weeks, a big novel definitely felt a little unwieldy in my hands.
Kindle Comparison Table
 |
 |
 |
|
| Display Size |
6” diagonal |
6” diagonal |
9.7” diagonal |
| Display Type |
E-ink Pearl |
E-ink Pearl |
E-ink Pearl |
| Size |
7.5″ x 4.8″ x 0.335″ |
7.5″ x 4.8″ x 0.335″ |
10.4″ x 7.2″ x 0.38″ |
| Weight |
8.5 ounces |
8.7 ounces |
18.9 ounces |
| Storage |
3,500 books |
3,500 books |
3,500 books |
| Battery Life (Wireless Off) |
2 months |
2 months |
2 – 3 weeks |
| Battery Life (wireless on) |
3 weeks |
10 days |
7 days |
| Books in 60 seconds |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Free 3G Wireless |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| Global Wireless Coverage |
No |
100 countries & territories |
100 countries & territories |
| Wi-Fi |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Native PDF Support |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Whispersync |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Worry Free Archive |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Text-To-Speech |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Price |
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