3G

Wifi

Kelly’s Review

 
The new Kindle touch, the eBook Reader, unlike the Fire, this uses digital Ink technology, so while on a tablet you’re reading from a light screen. An eReader is similar to a book. You can read it in bright light, or for a long time without eye strain that comes with using a monitor.
 
The Touch is now the Kindle flagship model, which has divided the line into 3 different products. This, with Touch, then a Base model with only a directional pad and a Keyboard model that has, of course a Keyboard and is very similar to last year’s model, the Kindle 3.
 
What’s the Difference?
 
The Touch is of course, a touch screen, and is the most expensive model, at $149. If you’re familiar with the Kindles, this model, for the most part does a lot of natural upgrades, a bit smaller, faster, more memory etc. Just that naturally improves as times goes on. The big different is the touch screen.
 
Using digital Ink, the biggest disadvantage is that it just doesn’t update fast, so scrolling and typing, anything with movement, is annoying, it feels very laggy. Now, scrolling through a menu is eliminated, you just touch the option you want. Before you had certain spots/buttons to go to the next or previous page, now it’s anywhere on the screen, meaning you can hold the device in one hand easier.
 
What Version to Get?
 
When I first started this site, I don’t think many people knew what eBook Readers even wear, and tablets didn’t really exist, or they did, but it was pre iPad. Now, I feel like people get what eReaders and tablets are. In short, if you are looking to mainly read books, novels, etc, get an eReader, if you want lots of multimedia, get a tablet. I think many people will own both, especially since the Kindle Fire Tablet is only $199!
 
But with Kindle eReader to get? Easy. The Touch is the easiest to use, the keyboard is the best for typing, but is bigger with less screen size (because of the space of the keyboard), so if you type a lot (take notes, use for email) go keyboard, even though it’s now brand new and super cool, it’s the best for someone who finds they are doing typing activities. Don’t like a touch screen, think buttons are fine and won’t want to do any typing at all, just want something that does the basic functions (reading a book) then the Kindle Base is best.
 
Wifi or Wifi and 3G
 
I fell strongly that the 3G is pretty much always worth the extra money. It’s crazy, you get free internet anywhere in the world for free. Los Angeles, Tokyo, Paris. Your house, your office, the coffe shop. If you have your Kindle with you, you can get connected no matter where you are. That’s a service that is worth way more than the extra money they charge.
 
Of course, all Kindles come with WiFi, so if you have a setup where you’d always be near Wifi when you need it, and don’t plan on taking it out of the house or something, then in those cases only, would I say stick with just the WiFi model.
 
Conclusion
 
The Kindles are dominating the eReader market for a reason, great prices, exclusive access to the worlds biggest book store. The crazy free 3G system, and the Kindles are high build quality and easy to use for everyone. I used to review different eReaders, but I don’t bother with the rest anymore because for now the Kindles are head and shoulders above the rest.
 
NOTE – Kindles aren’t shipping until November 15th, so get your pre-order in soon to get it before Christmas, new Kindle releases often have way more orders then they can handle.
 

3G

Wifi

 
List Price: $79.00 Wifi

Kelly’s Review

 
The new Kindle touch, the eBook Reader, unlike the Fire, this uses digital Ink technology, so while on a tablet you’re reading from a light screen. An eReader is similar to a book. You can read it in bright light, or for a long time without eye strain that comes with using a monitor.
 
The Touch is now the Kindle flagship model, which has divided the line into 3 different products. This, with Touch, then a Base model with only a directional pad and a Keyboard model that has, of course a Keyboard and is very similar to last year’s model, the Kindle 3.
 
What’s the Difference?
 
The Touch is of course, a touch screen, and is the most expensive model, at $149. If you’re familiar with the Kindles, this model, for the most part does a lot of natural upgrades, a bit smaller, faster, more memory etc. Just that naturally improves as times goes on. The big different is the touch screen.
 
Using digital Ink, the biggest disadvantage is that it just doesn’t update fast, so scrolling and typing, anything with movement, is annoying, it feels very laggy. Now, scrolling through a menu is eliminated, you just touch the option you want. Before you had certain spots/buttons to go to the next or previous page, now it’s anywhere on the screen, meaning you can hold the device in one hand easier.
 
What Version to Get?
 
When I first started this site, I don’t think many people knew what eBook Readers even wear, and tablets didn’t really exist, or they did, but it was pre iPad. Now, I feel like people get what eReaders and tablets are. In short, if you are looking to mainly read books, novels, etc, get an eReader, if you want lots of multimedia, get a tablet. I think many people will own both, especially since the Kindle Fire Tablet is only $199!
 
But with Kindle eReader to get? Easy. The Touch is the easiest to use, the keyboard is the best for typing, but is bigger with less screen size (because of the space of the keyboard), so if you type a lot (take notes, use for email) go keyboard, even though it’s now brand new and super cool, it’s the best for someone who finds they are doing typing activities. Don’t like a touch screen, think buttons are fine and won’t want to do any typing at all, just want something that does the basic functions (reading a book) then the Kindle Base is best.
 
Wifi or Wifi and 3G
 
I fell strongly that the 3G is pretty much always worth the extra money. It’s crazy, you get free internet anywhere in the world for free. Los Angeles, Tokyo, Paris. Your house, your office, the coffe shop. If you have your Kindle with you, you can get connected no matter where you are. That’s a service that is worth way more than the extra money they charge.
 
Of course, all Kindles come with WiFi, so if you have a setup where you’d always be near Wifi when you need it, and don’t plan on taking it out of the house or something, then in those cases only, would I say stick with just the WiFi model.
 
Conclusion
 
The Kindles are dominating the eReader market for a reason, great prices, exclusive access to the worlds biggest book store. The crazy free 3G system, and the Kindles are high build quality and easy to use for everyone. I used to review different eReaders, but I don’t bother with the rest anymore because for now the Kindles are head and shoulders above the rest.
 
NOTE – Kindles aren’t shipping until November 15th, so get your pre-order in soon to get it before Christmas, new Kindle releases often have way more orders then they can handle.
 

Wifi

3G

Wifi

Kelly’s Review

 
The new Kindle touch, the eBook Reader, unlike the Fire, this uses digital Ink technology, so while on a tablet you’re reading from a light screen. An eReader is similar to a book. You can read it in bright light, or for a long time without eye strain that comes with using a monitor.
 
The Touch is now the Kindle flagship model, which has divided the line into 3 different products. This, with Touch, then a Base model with only a directional pad and a Keyboard model that has, of course a Keyboard and is very similar to last year’s model, the Kindle 3.
 
One big difference is that these Kindles are actually really nice looking, I found the first 3 functional, leaning towards ugly, Amazon has never had Apple’s aesthetic touch. But that’s changing, the new models are really nice, with the keyboard gone the color, and the lines just look really nice.
What’s the Difference?
 
The Touch is of course, a touch screen, and is the most expensive model, at $149. If you’re familiar with the Kindles, this model, for the most part does a lot of natural upgrades, a bit smaller, faster, more memory etc. Just that naturally improves as times goes on. The big different is the touch screen.
 
Using digital Ink, the biggest disadvantage is that it just doesn’t update fast, so scrolling and typing, anything with movement, is annoying, it feels very laggy. Now, scrolling through a menu is eliminated, you just touch the option you want. Before you had certain spots/buttons to go to the next or previous page, now it’s anywhere on the screen, meaning you can hold the device in one hand easier.
 
What Version to Get?
 
When I first started this site, I don’t think many people knew what eBook Readers even wear, and tablets didn’t really exist, or they did, but it was pre iPad. Now, I feel like people get what eReaders and tablets are. In short, if you are looking to mainly read books, novels, etc, get an eReader, if you want lots of multimedia, get a tablet. I think many people will own both, especially since the Kindle Fire Tablet is only $199!
 
But with Kindle eReader to get? Easy. The Touch is the easiest to use, the keyboard is the best for typing, but is bigger with less screen size (because of the space of the keyboard), so if you type a lot (take notes, use for email) go keyboard, even though it’s now brand new and super cool, it’s the best for someone who finds they are doing typing activities. Don’t like a touch screen, think buttons are fine and won’t want to do any typing at all, just want something that does the basic functions (reading a book) then the Kindle Base is best.
 
Wifi or Wifi and 3G
 
I fell strongly that the 3G is pretty much always worth the extra money. It’s crazy, you get free internet anywhere in the world for free. Los Angeles, Tokyo, Paris. Your house, your office, the coffe shop. If you have your Kindle with you, you can get connected no matter where you are. That’s a service that is worth way more than the extra money they charge.
 
Of course, all Kindles come with WiFi, so if you have a setup where you’d always be near Wifi when you need it, and don’t plan on taking it out of the house or something, then in those cases only, would I say stick with just the WiFi model.
 
Conclusion
 
The Kindles are dominating the eReader market for a reason, great prices, exclusive access to the worlds biggest book store. The crazy free 3G system, and the Kindles are high build quality and easy to use for everyone. I used to review different eReaders, but I don’t bother with the rest anymore because for now the Kindles are head and shoulders above the rest.
 
NOTE – Kindles aren’t shipping until November 15th, so get your pre-order in soon to get it before Christmas, new Kindle releases often have way more orders then they can handle.
 

3G

Wifi

 
Price: $199.00 – Starts shipping November 15th. Pre-order ASAP as it’s first ordered, first delivered. Kindles routinely have waiting lists on release and can be difficult to get before Christmas

Kelly’s Review

 
In a way, it’s really easy to decide whether you want a Kindle or something else, and that’s this. It’s only $200. That’s very cheap. It’s a big deal how cheap that is. And it’s that cheap because Amazon’s business model is to sell Kindle hardware at a loss, it costs more than $200 to make, so they will quickly gain traction and market share. Amazon knows that at $200, $300 cheaper than the cheaper iPad, but with about the same features, it’s a great deal and people should jump on it. Should you? Read on to find out.
 
It’s simple, Apple sells iPads for $500 or more and makes a profit on them, and they also have additional costs of owning stores or selling them through places like Best buy, so they have to charge quite a bit to make up for their overhead, meanwhile Amazon has no physical stores, doesn’t have to split profits with Best Buy and is not making a profit on the devices at all. It’s conceivable that both devices cost about the same to make, but you pay $200 for one and $500 for the other. It’s a huge deal.
 
First thing: The Kindle is a fully featured tablet, it’s not exactly the same as an iPad but very close, here’s the big things it’s missing: No 3G (which costs more, but is available from the iPad line), Smaller Size (around 7 inches to around 10, though smaler may be preferable to many people), and that’s basically it.
 
Otherwise, The iPad has a nicer screen and more memory, a built in camera and microphone (so you can’t use your Fire for things like Skype) and probably is a bit more powerful, but I really don’t think anyone is paying 1.5 times extra just for a flashier screen.
 
One final point for the iPad is the more mature app Store, Apple has a ton of apps, so if you want something really specific it may only be available to Apple Users, but the Kindle/Android app market is catching up. So, if you have specific apps in mind before you buy a tablet, check out both stores for selection.
 
What’s exciting/interesting about the Fire as a tablet? It’s not trying to change the tablet game. It seems like the goal is to put out something like the iPad but for way less, to undercut them. The one thing I see Amazon doing is using cloud based computing (cloud is when your data is stored somewhere else, not on your computer) and you will have some storage that you can access your files with internet access, but more interesting is the browser, called Amazon Silk.
 
The Silk browser uses the cloud to load up webpages faster, so webpages that have lots of fancy crap on them should load faster, but honestly I don’t think web browsing speed is limited by computer speed anymore, is it? It’s usually your internet connection that determines how fast you can go. So, it’s an interesting idea, not sure how much use it will be.
 
Conclusion
I could break down all the stats and features of the Fire, but really, there’s no point. You see those tablets for $300 and up in stores? The Kindle is similar to those, but $200, and you’ll get access to Amazon’s private store to rent/buy movies, TV shows, books, magazines, any kind of media, as Amazon has a lot of media.
 
So, if you are in the market for a new tablet, and you don’t insist on having a 10 inch screen and/or 3G, go with the Kindle Fire, it’s a great deal at this price point, because I don’t think the next version (when Amazon isn’t as determined to grab market share as quickly) will be as cheap. NOTE: It won’t come out to November 15th, but the sooner you order, the sooner you’ll get one as they are going to be VERY popular.

Kelly’s Review

 
The Kindle DX is the kind of deluxe Kindle reader. It’s screen size is huge at 9.7″, the whole thing is a bit bigger than a sheet of paper, but less than a third of an inch thick.
 
The Kindle is like the iPod, on paper it’s specs seem similar to it’s competition, but using the device, everything just feels so polished, so smooth, so intuitive. It’s got fast load times, buying and then viewing books couldn’t be faster or easier. It also has a text-to-speech feature that will turn any book, magazine or article into an audio recording.
 
Kindles offer 3G internet, meaning you get internet anywhere you can get internet on your cell phone, not just places where you can get a wifi signal for say a laptop, and this isn’t a monthly subscription, this is free wireless internet that you can use to read Wikipedia and browse blogs and read them online, pretty much anywhere in the whole developed world, from America to China.
 
They also now offer native pdf support, so getting any content you own, whether it be a public domain book, some school assignment, whatever, you can easily convert most of these documents to pdf (if aren’t already) and load them onto your Kindle the same way you’d load songs onto an iPod.Another feature that I have listed in the features below, but should mention is the text to speech feature, I don’t really use it, so that’s why I overlooked it here, but it’s a key feature. Simply put you grab some headphones and any book you have becomes a book on tape as the Kindle will read it back to you.
 
Finally, both Kindles includes image and music support, so you can load picture to view (which are greyscale or play music while you read your book, so it can double as an ipod, though the store is much smaller, I usually keep a few of my favorite albums on it just in case I feel like some music.
 
The main, and obvious, difference is screen area, which is 2.5 times bigger, while it’s not a big deal for a standard novel, as you simply have less text on the page, which leads to more page turns, which isn’t so terrible. However, I’ve found using pdf textbooks (which are fairly common) with diagrams or any newspaper or blog with images, basically as soon as you get away from pure text, the DX screen size becomes a huge advantage, as you can still read a page like it would look in a textbook, or line, because the screen itself is bigger than most textbooks.
 
The keyboard on the DX is also a bit easier to work with, the layout is just better, I found myself making less mistakes and typing with greater ease.
 
Other than that the two are the same in terms of functionality and performance.
 
If you’re looking for the best ereader around and have the money, you must get the Kindle DX.
 

Amazon Kindle DX Stats

• Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines
• Carry Your Library: Holds up to 3,500 books, periodicals, and documents
• Beautiful Large Display: 9.7″ diagonal e-ink screen reads like real paper; boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and sharp images
• Auto-Rotating Screen: Display auto-rotates from portrait to landscape as you turn the device so you can view full-width maps, graphs, tables, and Web pages
• Built-In PDF Reader: Native PDF support allows you to carry and read all of your personal and professional documents on the go
• Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle DX, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, no annual contracts, and no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots
• Books In Under 60 Seconds: You get free wireless delivery of books in less than 60 seconds; no PC required
• Long Battery Life: Read for days without recharging
• Read-to-Me: With the text-to-speech feature, Kindle DX can read newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud to you, unless the book’s rights holder made the feature unavailable
• Big Selection, Low Prices: Over 360,000 books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs; New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases are only $9.99, unless marked otherwise
• More Than Books: U.S. and international newspapers including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, magazines including The New Yorker and Time, plus popular blogs, all auto-delivered wirelessly

 
List Price: $189.00 – 3G, $139.00 Wifi

Kelly’s Review

 
I bought the Kindle 3 and have had a chance to play around with it, my verdict is pretty straightforward, it’s a very nice upgrade to the previous Kindle. The main differences are that it’s smaller, the buttons don’t clickity-clack like a mouse every time you change pages, disturbing loves ones, or total strangers that sit next to you on a bus.
 
There’s two colors now, so you get a bit of say in the color.
 
The other nice changes are the internet and pdf usage is improved and the screen quality is supposedly better, but I don’t really notice a big difference, if I really look I can see how it’s sharper, the words stand out a bit more, but the Kindle 2 was just fine for reading in any condition so it’s not really that big of a deal.
 
What else? More storage, though I don’t know how you could even fill out the original 2 Gigs of just books, and I don’t know why you’d store a lot of music or picture on it, because it’s very awkward to use the device for those.
 
In short, the Kindle has dropped the price point, while adding features. It’s still designed to do one thing – be a portable e-reader and it’s still the best at that. It is also a handy (and FREE) internet access tool for mainly text based internet browsing, more for emergencies or looking things up on the fly, not any good for any sustained usage, and finally it can play music, show pictures, read books back to you, but all those features are still rather clunky and not really useful.
 
What Version to Get?
 
Amazon offers two versions, the basic one is Wifi internet access, for $139 and the upgraded model has 3G, for the technophobes, 3G is cell phone style internet, so you can get it anywhere, WiFi you need an access point from a wireless router or something similar. The great part about 3G is that it is free to use, so you can get free wireless internet anywhere you go on your Kindle. It’s a great deal, and I think that lone is worth the extra money, but if you really don’t ever plan on leaving your house, or using it on the go, and you have a wireless connection, then it would be a waste of money, or if you simply won’t use the internet features or have an iPhone or other smart phone with a data plan that you take with you as well, then the Kindle internet is inferior so you wouldn’t use it.
 
I think the Kindle is still the best ebook reader available, and now it’s actually an even better value because they’ve really marked down that price point.
 
Should you upgrade from the Kindle 2?
 
To be honest I don’t think it’s necessary, I probably wouldn’t have if I didn’t have this website, there are some nice new things but nothing groundbreakingly different, but it’s nothing so important, the 2’s are better than most ereaders out there.
 
This review is basically a continuation of my Kindle 2 Review, read that here for the full context and if you are totally lost on ereaders.
 

3G

Wifi