Neesha the Necro wrote:
be honest, is the Kindle any good?
It's the best thing I own, I adore it.
But I'm not an 'average' user. The average user tends to be an older person who enjoys picking up the latest books/paperbacks and reads a lot.
I have an extensive library, so much so that it's caused some problems. So I'm converting most of my books. If I own the book, I generally do not pay to buy it again. If I get a copy of a book I do not own but enjoy, I will read it (much as I would at a library). If it's a book I wish to own (to reread at my leisure) I will then either buy a copy of it (if the book has a lot of typos and shit I'll often do that) or I'll buy a real copy of it and donate it.
That way the author is getting paid, and I'm not blowing cash rebuying a huge library, especially when I've got some books I've already purchased 2-10x (lost due to loan outs, or me leaving them somewhere).
The internet access w/ the kindle is
amazing as well. It's very enjoyable to be at a museum or historical site and be able to look up information immediately in my 'book'.
And if I REALLY want to read something that I can buy off Amazon, I can buy it and be reading it in under a minute.
I take it with me everywhere.
There's only two complaints I have, both minor.
First: When you turn the page there's a screen flash so that morons know the page was turned. This bugged the shit out of me. It's hackable/fixable, and I was going to do so...when after 3 days I noticed I never noticed it any more. So it's a very temporary problem that quickly becomes ignored. But for those three days it's REALLY annoying.
Second: When you're laying in bed, or rather when I am, I hold the book in a certain way where I cannot easily turn the page. I wish I could reprogram the button in the upper left to page forward during these times. But again it's just a personal pet peeve.
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The display is the same as reading a book, there's no annoying backlighting so you can use whatever reading light you want. Battery time is great, lasts forever offline, and online more than long enough to do whatever you need. You can check your email too.
I think it's Borders which has them for testing so I'd recommend checking it out there. Amazon is really good about refunds too, so if it's not working out, you can always get a refund on it.
The display doesn't scratch (I'm sure you could manage to gouge it, but it's super resistant) and it comes with a decent case.
I bought a $50 leather case for it, because it's a better case. And I'm completely happy with that.
Seriously best thing I own. I'd give up my cell phone AND computer before I'd give up my kindle.