 "Kindle user" | |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
| I received the Kindle as a gift after purchasing one for myself, so naturally, I returned the one I purchased and received a refund with no hassles and very quickly. I recently went on vacation and took my Kindle with me. What a pleasure reading and purchasing books! Also, not having to carry heavy additional books with me was definitely a plus. I would reccommend the Kindle to any avid reader. It has certainly simplified my life! |
| |
 "O modified rapture!" | |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
Have to admit, this is the best device ever for reading on the street car commute to and from work. And just before bed. And on Sunday afternoons. Okay, it's pretty great any time. Readable, lightweight, intuitive. Plenty of reading on a single charge, especially if you remember to switch off the wireless feature.
Drawbacks? It's not as easy as a book to leaf thru to find a specific passage. Since each page of a book can download as several pages in the Kindle, back-stepping even five or six pages worth of text can be tedious. Also, if for some reason the device doesn't synch to the last page you read in a book (this has happened once or twice for apparently random reasons), it's a bear to find your place if you don't (and who does?) remember your page number. Also, I'm spending much more than usual on books from Amazon (MUCH more) since it's ludicrously simple to buy anything and everything. And I'm not particularly interested in the gee whiz technology, so I haven't bothered to figure out if I can download books from anyplace in addition to Amazon. If not, Amazon should be giving the things away for free (read earlier comment about spending MUCH more on books.) which may be their secret, evil plan for all I know.
So a four-star review for the drawbacks, but a secret fifth star for making my commute much more entertaining. |
| |
| "Kindle Fan" | |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
| I love my Kindle. It is very very convenient when traveling. The books are reasonably priced and it couldn't be easier to purchase them. Being older and not quite as electronic savvy as younger people I found the instructions a little lacking. With time and a little trial and error, I am figuring out how to navigate through various things. Wish it had some kind of built in reading light but overall love it. I would recommend the Kindle to anyone who loves to read. |
| |
| "The best dedicated e-book reader just keeps getting better." | |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User from WY USA |
I received my Kindle in December 2009, just around the time the firmware was updated to 2.3.3 and native PDF support was added in addition to the Kindle's other formats. The latest firmware release 2.5.X adds further PDF control, (Panning and zooming) and makes reading complex PDF's a viable prospect, (especially magazine layouts). Also, with the latest update the fonts have being redesigned to be much darker, so the contrast between the text and the background is much better and clearer, (not that I had an issue before, but it does look noticeably better now.)
The Kindle is a truly fantastic ebook reader, and also displays pictures and photos remarkably well using the 16 greyscales. There is an absolutely almost limitless supply of free books and reading materials that Amazon either makes available on their site or is available elsewhere on the internet, (out of copyright works, publisher promos, etc.)
The interface is a breeze to use, and the new collections feature makes organizing your books simple. No more pages upon pages to trawl through!
There are hidden games built in to the Kindle, (press Ctrl-Shift-M from the homepage for Minesweeper and then you'll also see an option to play a Reversi/Othello type game too against the Kindle). There's also features that can be enabled to allow photo albums to be added and displayed on the Kindle - handy for carrying photos of your kids around!
Whispernet is a joy to use - having books within seconds is a big bonus - and free books are totally free - no delivery costs. Basic web browsing is also built in to the unit, again totally free to use - no phone bills or contracts. It is quite basic, but good enough to use when no computer is available - I use it for live sports updates when I'm out and about.
After having my Kindle for 8 months or so, I have to say I'm overjoyed with it. It's pretty much perfect for what I want. Granted I'd love a DX to be able to read PDF magazines without panning around the page, but not enough to pay the extra. Since I got my Kindle, the price of the K2 has fallen considerably, and now represents even better value for money.
To be perfectly honest, I don't really have a bad thing to say about the Kindle. Sure there are some gripes I have about the Kindle experience, but these aren't aimed at the Kindle or Amazon, but rather the publishers, (e.g. some books still have formatting/spelling issues but this isn't Amazon's fault, they are only selling the ebooks, not writing them - and to be fair Amazon do pull the books from sale if made aware of issues until the publisher makes corrections.) The only other gripe is that some bestsellers and new releases have crept up in price - but again, Amazon has fought this all the way, but it is the publishers that now set the price and Amazon can't control this aspect of ebook sales unlike more traditional dead tree books that they have more control over pricing with.)
A special mention has to be made with regard to Amazon's after sales and support. It's superb. Amazon really are quite apart from the competition when it comes to looking after their customers. When considering buying the other ebook readers out there, remember who you will have to deal with if things go wrong! |
| |
| "Fabulous kindle!" | |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User from WI |
| I received this as a gift and love it! I've read three free books (re-reading Jane Austen this summer) and ordered my new Mystery Book Club selection online. It was on my kindle in less than a minute! It's packable, portable, and easy to read while traveling. |
| |
| "Kindle = A+++++" | |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User from Glens Falls, NY, US |
| My husband bought me the kindle b/c i love to read and it is the best present ever! It was fast shipping and easy to set up, once we had it set up it was very easy to navigate to buy new books, and read them, change the font etc. I would recommend the kindle for anyone who loves to read, it is GREAT!!! |
| |
