The Amazon Kindle

Staff member Katie Salley tested the Amazon Kindle for a week. Here is her review of the device! Please comment with questions. Katie is always very happy to talk about the Kindle!
-Cari D., Reference Librarian

Katie's Review

Likes:
1. The dictionary feature - it's nice to be able to look up words that are unfamiliar with ease.
2. The ease with which you can browse the Amazon store - it's really cool that you are able to read reviews and browse chapters before you buy a book. The ability is also there to write reviews while on your Kindle, but I am not all that comfortable with using the tiny keyboard so I would still prefer to do this on a normal computer.
3. The speed at which files are downloaded to your device - once we purchased a book, it was on the Kindle in less than 30 seconds. By the time I realized that it was downloading my book, it was already done!
4. The e-ink technology - it's nice to be able to read the text, no matter at what angle I view it. Yes, you need a light to read (there is no backlight, which gives for great battery life) but you need a light to read a book, so I don't see the merit in other people’s complaints of this feature.
5. Ability to change font size - while reading, I love that I can change the font size to be either bigger or smaller. When my eyes get tired and have a hard time focusing, it will be nice that I can make the font bigger to make reading easier.
6. Because text is only on one side of the “book”, I am able to stay in the same comfortable position for longer. When laying in bed and reading a normal book, I have to resituate myself every time I turn the page. This is alleviated with the Kindle.
7. I was able to upload a text file with my class notes onto the Kindle. I then took the Kindle to class with me to study before a final. Since I was so infatuated with the Kindle (it was like a new toy to me!) I was able to study longer and better. And my eyes didn’t get as tired.
8. Battery life is fantastic. I browsed the Kindle store, surfed the internet, read an entire book, studied for an exam, and the battery still lasted 6 days. I was incredibly impressed! However, I did have the wireless option turned off more often that I had it on, so that definitely helped prolong the battery life.

Dislikes:
1. Too easy to hit the "next page" button; there's no good way to hold it without the case without hitting buttons. This became less of an issue once I used the case it came with. Also, once I got used to the buttons, I was less likely to hit them just from normal handling. I also found out that you can lock the keys (by hitting Alt+aA, which is the alt key and the key to change fonts). This is handy when you are just setting the Kindle down for a short time, but do not want to turn it off completely.
2. Initial cost - it's $400, enough said. Although, I looked at the cost of the Sony Reader, and it’s $300 (and their books cost more and they don’t use Whispernet, which wirelessly downloads the books within seconds). With the Kindle, you also have free internet wherever you go, so I think that the Kindle is a better deal than the other e-book readers out there, as long as the internet stays free. That being said, I am a poor college student, so I will be waiting until the price drops before purchasing one.
3. The keypad worked a little slow for my liking. I’m a fairly fast typist, even on this smaller keyboard and it bothered me that the letters didn’t show up immediately. It’s not a huge deal but it was enough to make me frustrated every now and then.
Not sure if I like or dislike:
1. It plays audio books as well. Now, the Kindle is great as an e-book reader, but I don't think it was necessary to make it work for audio books as well. There are far better devices out there that would work with audio books, and this device is too clunky to be using it for audio books on a daily basis. One idea that would be neat would be to play the book while you read it, but unfortunately, you cannot multitask while listening to an audio book.
2. It plays MP3s. I'm tempted to put this one under the "dislike" column. It's an e-book reader. It should stick to what it's good for. There is no way to organize songs (which is fine by me) and there's no way to skip tracks (also fine by me). I know that some people will complain about this feature, but if you want something that plays MP3s in that way, get an ipod.

Places to download eBooks for free:
http://manybooks.net/
http://www.feedbooks.com/discover/index
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
From what I have used these sites, I actually do not like the Project Gutenberg site all that well. The PG site makes formatting strange when you change fonts or even use the default font on the Kindle. Feedbooks was by far my favorite. Once you download a book for the Kindle, you get a short biography of the author and a list of some of their other works. From that list, you can wirelessly download more books by that author (very handy!). You can also download a guide to all the books they have and keep that guide on the Kindle. Through this guide, you are also able to download the books with just a few clicks of a button!