does the keyboard irritate you?

[Jcas]

I have the K3 and the DXG and i use the keyboard on both, i think a cover that hid it would be a pain, i'm sure your Mum will learn to love the Kindle, i am in my 60's, hubby is in his 70's and we love ours, IMO they are a fantastic reader for all ages.

[Barty]

It only irritates me when I need to use it. I try not to too often.

[speedlever]

Originally Posted by tao

I also find this quite annoying. The cursor should be able to loop back from the other side. Instead, it reaches the ceiling or bottom, then stop there. Quite annoying indeed.

Relatively minor nit to me.. the fix is to just hold the down arrow bar and it gets to the bottom in a hurry!

Maybe Amazon will fix that in a future firmware update.

[wvcherrybomb]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

How about this? Get your mom a K3 and see how she likes it. If she doesn't like it because of the keyboard, you can return it to Amazon within 30 days and then go buy her a Sony Reader PRS-650 instead.

I agree to the trial since Amazon gives you 30 days to try. But you're being a big bossy telling her specifially what to buy in it's place. There are many readers out there and I would suggest taking her to a store like Best Buy so she can get hands on and decide for herself what she likes.

[CWatkinsNash]

I never notice the keyboard except when I need to use it, and when I do use it, it's more than adequate for the task. It doesn't feel "in the way" or obtrusive at all when I'm reading. I'm not sure that would be the case if it was the white model, but I have the graphite and the whole thing just seems to fade away, leaving nothing but the book I'm reading.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I don't notice the keyboard. Really one is concentrated on the screen while reading. And the way you hold the ereader, especially with a cover, is biased towards the page turn and navigation buttons so the keyboard doesn't really get in the way awkwardly. Amazon has a great return policy so I would encourage your mom to try it and see if she likes it.

The next most popular option in the UK is probably Sony. They are more expensive, however. I don't think there is anywhere that you can see a Kindle on display. However, Waterstones and WH Smith have Sony demo units. Is your mom in Southampton too? I'm pretty sure I saw a display at Waterstones at WestQuay Shopping Centre last time I was there. Otherwise, maybe there is an electronics store in Southampton or Portsmouth that has ereader brands on display? I would probably telephone someplace like Currys or Argos and ask.

I helped a friend in Cowes research ereaders. The Hampshire County Library has an excellent selection of ebooks. You might want to check out their website. Library ebooks work with the Sony but not the Kindle. It would however require some technical knowledge to download the books and transfer them to the ereader. Just something else to consider. My friend ultimately went with the Kindle because it was the lowest price and most trouble-free experience.

If your mom really isn't tech savvy at all, then I think the Kindle is the best choice. But if you are willing to help her and she learns easily and she just can't stop obsessing on the keyboard, then at least you know that there are other options. Good luck!

[bookoffers]

The Kindle's designed to be held like a paperback book, with your thumb near the bottom of the device. People usually grip PDAs and iPods by the edges; on the Kindle, this presses the Next Page or Previous Page buttons. Note that you can press the keyboard buttons while reading a book and they'll do absolutely nothing.

[HarryT]

I make extensive use of the annotation capabilities of the K3 when I'm proof-reading books, and find the keyboard to be very good. The only thing about it that annoys me is that the 5-way nav control is a little too small for my fingers. If they could make that one control 50% larger it would be a lot easier to use.

Overall, though, the keyboard is a definite "plus" for the Kindle.

[leaston]

Originally Posted by speedlever

Ditto here. I much prefer the physical KB over a virtual KB on a touchscreen device. There's no guessing whether you pressed the button or not and if the machine is processing your request or if it didn't recognize the keypress.

I'll bet you've never used an Android device then. I can comfortably type 30 words per minute, reasonably accurately on my HTC Desire. Along with on-screen indicators, you receive haptic feedback with each keypress. I much prefer touch screen on a mobile device than physical keyboard.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by leaston

I'll bet you've never used an Android device then. I can comfortably type 30 words per minute, reasonably accurately on my HTC Desire. Along with on-screen indicators, you receive haptic feedback with each keypress. I much prefer touch screen on a mobile device than physical keyboard.

What's "haptic feedback"? That's a term I've not come across before.

[NoWorthWhile]

@HarryT, "haptic feedback" implies that each time you press the screen, the device vibrates slightly to let you know that you've pressed a key.

[loopeylisie]

Originally Posted by TheKindleWorm

I think your Mum should give it a whirl especially if she's already familar with Amazon and how that works. Really the Kindle is a good device for non-techy users - the way it is all set up with the Amazon bookstore makes it pretty easy to get and read books.

thats exactly what I thought - and why i think the kindle is such a good match for her!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by NoWorthWhile

@HarryT, "haptic feedback" implies that each time you press the screen, the device vibrates slightly to let you know that you've pressed a key.

Thanks - that's a new one on me! I see from the dictionary that "haptic" means "related to the sense of touch". I hadn't come across that word before.

[loopeylisie]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

How about this? Get your mom a K3 and see how she likes it. If she doesn't like it because of the keyboard, you can return it to Amazon within 30 days and then go buy her a Sony Reader PRS-650 instead.

Problem solved.

this is my feeling about it, but she is being stubborn. I should've just bought her it as I was sure she'd love it, but now she's uhmming and ahhing and I don't want to her to feel I'm taking her choices away from her.

[loopeylisie]

Originally Posted by malliemcg

From your post I assume that she's worried she'll find the existence of the keyboard irritating? To be honest, you forget it's there after a very short period of time, I've had my kindle 3 now for 10 days and while the use of the keyboard can be annoying (letters not showing up all that quickly or mistyping) it's not that big of a deal. Once you're in reading a book, the only buttons are next and back.

I have more problems hitting the forward/back buttons when picking it up after having placed it down to do something not worth switching it off.

My annoyances around the kindle are some software design decisions (not being able to hit up up up to get the to the bottom few options in menus and having to use down down down down down down down to get to the same place), regional restrictions on eBooks and poorly converted books that seem to have been scanned, run through an OCR, a speelcheeker and charged out at $8 complete with some glaring mistakes that take you out of the book. Only one of those Amazon can do anything about. The device itself I love over a physical book, and is so easy to use, and when my eyes are getting tired, I can make the words bigger, can't do that w/ a pbook

yes, she's worried that the keyboard would impact on her reading enjoyment - that she won't be able to tune its presence out. Although the consensus seems to be that most people do ignore it and it doesn't interfere.