After a
huge long post in GD about thinking of getting a kindle (almost a month ago...) I finally got my Kindle 3 today.
I've read quite a lot on both the previous Kindles (thanks in no small part to my college library), and I thought that this price point and tech are mature enough for me to dive right in.
Also, thanks to my library, I can say that I feel qualified to write a mini-review on this device and compare it to its' predecessors. Since I've been switching using a K1 and a K2, expect me to refer quite frequently to a Kindle 1 where I think it has an advantage over the others.
I got as Amazon likes to call it,
Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 6" Display, Graphite, 3G Works Globally - Latest Generation or as we over here call it, Kindle 3 Graphite 3G.
I'll skip going over the usual stuff that is covered in professional reviews, since this is meant to be a guide/info from the point of view of a 'user' reading on his device and not a paid 'tech' reviewing it like another electronic device.
Comparing the screen with the first two, (I just returned my K1 yesterday) this screen is white! I mean it's like totally whitish. Many of you might nitpick that it
isnt really white but on a black coloured device this screen background is pretty white to me. The text is conversely, dark! Almost as black as my laptop but not there yet. In short, it's a really dark version of grey. Overall, I believe that this is the perfect contrast needed to read. The black casing might have some role in this, although I am not qualified enough to comment on that.
Next comes the interface. I found it annoying that the number pad has gone. Equally annoying was the '@' key missing as well. (It was there on the K1). On the navigation front, I'd say Amazon shot themselves in the foot by replacing the 5-way joystick with a Nokia-style D-Pad. I don't consider myself to have large fingers (shoe size american 9, if that helps you get an idea how large my fingers might be) but I accidently hit the wrong buttons quite a few times in the 4-5 hours I've had this device. The page turn buttons are now way quieter as compared to the Kindle 2. They wrap around the edge of the device and have a 'hinge' kind of way of activating. I still liked the Kindle 1's right side full length next page button, although K3 has a layout quite similar to the Nook ie it's symmetric now.
The usual page turns are pretty fast. I made a remark earlier this evening stating page turn times reducing from say, 0.80 seconds to 0.71 seconds is hardly going to be noticeable. It's not a bad thing though. Basically, unless you're from a Kindle 1 the pageturns are
not noticeably faster.
The web browser is pretty beefed up, but you're still best off using it for basic referencing/light news reading.
I think that brings my thoughts to a full circle, and oh yes there is just one minor niggle that crossed my mind
right when I opened the box. The graphite kindle still comes with the same old boring white charger which frankly in my opinion as an overall package looks not well thought. I mean, it's not a big deal, but when you open a package this just slightly breaks the 'magical' experience.