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mrfearless47 · 12-21-2007, 11:18 AM

I haven't had enough experience with it to have too many observations. I ordered a bunch of content from Amazon so that I'd have it with me when I go to our vacation home over Christmas. The content was already on the Kindle when it arrived. The Kindle was fully charged. The wireless works spectacularly well, even connecting to non-Amazon sites. I was able to check Google mail with no difficulty. I wouldn't want to spend too much time with the quirky keyboard though.

The screen is a perfect size for reading - about the same size as a paperback book. For those with aging eyes, the text can be enlarged. One curious thing about commercial content that I've noticed is that there are no page numbers. I suppose this doesn't matter since you can enlarge the text and really mess with the pagination. On the other hand, it kind of makes an index superfluous. The screen is visible in all lighting conditions I've tried. I haven't tried it in pitch dark to determine whether there is backlighting so I could read in bed after my wife turns off her light. That's on my "to check" list.

The Kindle case just plain sucks. To get the Kindle into the case correctly, you practically take off the battery cover. The battery cover comes off easily enough (too easy in my opinion) that you have to be careful not to knock it off inadvertently and then lose it. I wouldn't want the electronics exposed for longer than absolutely necessary.

The Kindle only comes with 256 MB of RAM. While it will hold "a lot", my 15 - 17 books have already reduced memory by half. Hard for me to see how a stock Kindle could hold 200 books, as advertised. I just stuck in a 4GB SD card so I don't have to worry about the issue of capacity.

I don't dislike the Kindle's shape, size, or looks. It certainly is primitive compared to a sleek iPod or iPhone or even the Sony eReader, but if you believe what others have written, you'd think it was designed by a Neanderthal. It looks like what almost any other model 1, revision 1 device looks like. I expect later models will look better, although I doubt that there is much internal revision required. It is a little clumsy to hold without a case, and I anxiously await for the first batch of after-market cases to come out. Several are in the works and due out in January. That will make a world of difference in overall user experience. The device is clumsy because there is no easy way to hold it (without a case) without inadvertently hitting a page turning, or content changing button. They are on the sides (where they should be), but the odd button sizing makes a mis-hit almost a guarantee.

I'm enjoying reading with the device. If I get bored reading one thing, I just bookmark the page I'm on and switch to other content. When I'm ready to return to the previous content, I just call it up from the master menu, pull up the bookmark and I'm returned to the page I left. (One future revision would be to be able to delete the bookmarks without having to hit so many buttons).

One final comment. Amazon offers subscriptions to major daily newspapers. Unless you are really patient, I find the Amazon formatting quite difficult. You don't see the newspaper in its regular format. You'll get the front page article listing and then you have to scroll through page after page of other articles to get through the front section. You want business? Same mechanism. No pictures, no graphics (but also no ads). I'd rather read the newspapers on my computer where I can get the entire shebang and it looks like a newspaper.

One other issue with blogs, periodicals, and newspapers. They will just accumulate unless you are scrupulous about deleting content. Amazon keeps all your electronic content online for you so you can redownload it if you want. But the mechanism for deleting content off the Kindle is clumsy at best. Moreover, you sometimes have to try really hard to get something deleted.

That's my first take. If you like to read, it is a good, albeit expensive, device. I expect that it will undergo some significant revisions in the next year and by next Xmas Amazon will be up to revision 3. If you order now, expect to wait several months to receive one. They've been very popular and mine took 6 weeks to arrive.

12-21-2007, 11:18 AM	#4
mrfearless47 Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle	I haven't had enough experience with it to have too many observations. I ordered a bunch of content from Amazon so that I'd have it with me when I go to our vacation home over Christmas. The content was already on the Kindle when it arrived. The Kindle was fully charged. The wireless works spectacularly well, even connecting to non-Amazon sites. I was able to check Google mail with no difficulty. I wouldn't want to spend too much time with the quirky keyboard though. The screen is a perfect size for reading - about the same size as a paperback book. For those with aging eyes, the text can be enlarged. One curious thing about commercial content that I've noticed is that there are no page numbers. I suppose this doesn't matter since you can enlarge the text and really mess with the pagination. On the other hand, it kind of makes an index superfluous. The screen is visible in all lighting conditions I've tried. I haven't tried it in pitch dark to determine whether there is backlighting so I could read in bed after my wife turns off her light. That's on my "to check" list. The Kindle case just plain sucks. To get the Kindle into the case correctly, you practically take off the battery cover. The battery cover comes off easily enough (too easy in my opinion) that you have to be careful not to knock it off inadvertently and then lose it. I wouldn't want the electronics exposed for longer than absolutely necessary. The Kindle only comes with 256 MB of RAM. While it will hold "a lot", my 15 - 17 books have already reduced memory by half. Hard for me to see how a stock Kindle could hold 200 books, as advertised. I just stuck in a 4GB SD card so I don't have to worry about the issue of capacity. I don't dislike the Kindle's shape, size, or looks. It certainly is primitive compared to a sleek iPod or iPhone or even the Sony eReader, but if you believe what others have written, you'd think it was designed by a Neanderthal. It looks like what almost any other model 1, revision 1 device looks like. I expect later models will look better, although I doubt that there is much internal revision required. It is a little clumsy to hold without a case, and I anxiously await for the first batch of after-market cases to come out. Several are in the works and due out in January. That will make a world of difference in overall user experience. The device is clumsy because there is no easy way to hold it (without a case) without inadvertently hitting a page turning, or content changing button. They are on the sides (where they should be), but the odd button sizing makes a mis-hit almost a guarantee. I'm enjoying reading with the device. If I get bored reading one thing, I just bookmark the page I'm on and switch to other content. When I'm ready to return to the previous content, I just call it up from the master menu, pull up the bookmark and I'm returned to the page I left. (One future revision would be to be able to delete the bookmarks without having to hit so many buttons). One final comment. Amazon offers subscriptions to major daily newspapers. Unless you are really patient, I find the Amazon formatting quite difficult. You don't see the newspaper in its regular format. You'll get the front page article listing and then you have to scroll through page after page of other articles to get through the front section. You want business? Same mechanism. No pictures, no graphics (but also no ads). I'd rather read the newspapers on my computer where I can get the entire shebang and it looks like a newspaper. One other issue with blogs, periodicals, and newspapers. They will just accumulate unless you are scrupulous about deleting content. Amazon keeps all your electronic content online for you so you can redownload it if you want. But the mechanism for deleting content off the Kindle is clumsy at best. Moreover, you sometimes have to try really hard to get something deleted. That's my first take. If you like to read, it is a good, albeit expensive, device. I expect that it will undergo some significant revisions in the next year and by next Xmas Amazon will be up to revision 3. If you order now, expect to wait several months to receive one. They've been very popular and mine took 6 weeks to arrive.