The Bottom Line
The basic Amazon Kindle is my go-to eReader. It's small, it's as light as they get, it works internationally (very, very nice for business travelers), and the price and selection of books, periodicals, blogs and more is top-notch. If you don't mind the extra weight, larger size, or added expense, the Amazon Kindle DX is even better. I prefer the Kindle over the Sony Reader.
Pros
- International wireless coverage allows you to download almost anywhere, books are delivered fast
- Great selection of books, magazines, blogs and more
- Built-in PDF reader
- Free book samples allow you to test drive books
- Simple, easy-to-use interface and elegant design
Cons
- It would be nice if the screen were 1 or 2 inches bigger
- Would love a little more control over text formatting (for example, give me paragraph spacing)
Description
- Thin and lightweight. 10.2 ounces and 1/3 inch thick. Feels great in your hand.
- 6 inch E Ink display great for reading outside, or inside (you'll need a nightlight to read in the dark) (same size as Nook)
- Non-expandable, but relatively large storage holds up to 1,500 books
- Long battery life—up to 1 week with wireless on, more with wireless off Synchs across iPod, other Kindles or computers
- Manual screen rotation
- Native PDF support
Guide Review - Review of the Amazon Kindle
The Amazon Kindle is the original, mass-market eReader. Amazon updated it a while ago, so the current version is clean, slim, light and fast. The unit feels great in your hands, has a usable keyboard for notes and searching, and is very well thought through. Business travelers will love it because it's a pleasure to use, easy to carry, light to pack, and holds a massive number of books. They'll also love the international (works in roughly 100 countries) automatic wireless connection for buying books or having your hometown newspaper downloaded each day.
I loved the free book samples and ability to download the first chapter of books. So far, I've purchased a number of the ones I've downloaded, and identified others that I simply would rather have in print form. I've learned from experience that there are some books that I'd rather read, or rather read with more screen real estate. I've found that the best books for reading on the smaller Kindle (or Nook or any other 6-inch eReader) are books with smaller paragraphs (more white space makes easier reading). I also prefer books with lighter, fast-moving topics when I'm reading on the Kindle.
From my experience, battery life with the Kindle is excellent. I can easily get close to two weeks of use when the wireless connectivity is turned off. You really only need the wireless connectivity turned on when you're purchasing books or if you're downloading blogs or periodicals. I frequently don't even bring the (small) power supply on shorter trips.
The Kindle is fast. Barnes & Noble's Nook is slower, even with the new upgrade. The original Nook took roughly twice as along as the Kindle to turn pages. Of course, even the Kindle could be faster. I'm a person that doesn't like to wait for electronic devices to their thing. The iPad wins in the speed arena (although it's definitely not a great screen to read a long book from).
All-in-all, the Kindle with the 6-inch screen my favorite eReader for traveling. The Nook from Barnes & Noble is (very) close behind. The Sony Reader is also built well, and has a bigger screen, but doesn't have international support. I'd love to love the iPad. It's a beautiful device and will be really successful. It's just so darn heavy, power consuming, and non-optimized for reading that I can't endorse it as my eReader choice.
