[mentalxfiction]

Originally Posted by JulieMack

While I did not check out the Sony, I seriously LOVE my Kindle, I looked at a few and wrote a review about it here.

What I think is the biggest benefit to the Kindle is the access to books at Amazon. Amazon is a HUGE online retailer and is not going away anytime soon. It is super simple to get books, etc. This is just my personal opinion. I don't regret my decision and I have the older version of the Kindle which was over $200. The latest Kindle is under $200 and probably has made improvements!

Also, as far as customer service, Amazon was great. I dropped my Kindle (only a couple feet) and the screen got messed up. I called them and since it was within a year, they overnighted me a new one (in one day) with a box to return my old one - EASY! So, there you go!

Hmm~ But you see I may encounter a problem where, from the UAE, I might only have access to a limited amount of books.

I have read a lot of reviews praising the customer service at Amazon which is definitely another plus for the Kindle. Though a lot of the reviewers complained about freezing which I'm actually overlooking but am skeptical about nonetheless.

Thanks a lot for the review though!

I've been eying the Sony PRS-350 though... it's a bit smaller and easier to carry around, and while I wasn't impressed with touchscreen e-ink displays before (too much lag, made the displays too glossy, and they used poor quality touchscreen hardware that felt mushy), Sony really knows what they are doing now. The touchscreen on the PRS-350 is great. It also has a better ecosystem for international users.

An eBook reader is something you do hold for extended periods of time, so my general advice to anyone is to hold one and play with it a bit before you decide if that's at all possible. The kindle is pretty nice, and while I hate how thin the kindle 3 is, some people like it

I really liked the touch screen features too, but again, it isn't something I'm necessarily looking for and adding another $40~$50 for it feels kind of like a waste to me.

I actually really like how thin the Kindle 3 is, and according to the specs, the PRS-350 is just as thin =P
Plus, I've borrowed my friend's Kindle a lot, and even though it's an older version, I really liked it. Except for the part that the white color is very blah.

So I guess I'm getting a Kindle then? (would be really funny if they end up not shipping here after all)