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| Brand: Amazon
Used (42) Refurbished (1) from $125.00
Rating:  17377 reviews
Sales Rank: 16
Media: Electronics
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 0.4
Model: D00701
UPC: 892685001218
EAN: 0892685001218
Release Date: October 19, 2009
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 4971-4975 of 4995
 Disappointed February 22, 2010
Nora H.
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Got my Kindle 2 yesterday. I really enjoy it; however, the one I got has some issues, and Amazon cannot resolve them!
1. After I pressed "enter" to read more explaination in the dictionary, I can't go back to the page of the book I was reading with "BACK". I can only press "HOME" and select the book again to read.
2. I cannot close the notes tab or press "BACK" to go back to the page directly. I also had to go to HOME first then re-select the book.
The issues don't happen all the time. After I turned it off and then on again, the issues would go away for a while until next time it happens again. It has already happened three time since yesterday after I got it.
I called the Kindle Support and was told that they have never heard these problems.
They just asked me to reboot, and nothing else can be done.
Feeling pretty disappointed now...:(
 Wonderful Product February 22, 2010
Jerry M. Thomas (Katy, TX)
I purchased the Kindle for my wife, who is an avid reader. She loves the e-book and is totally impressed with how user-friendly it is. Coming from my wife, who is electronically challenged, to put it mildly, that's quite a compliment and endorsement. The only negative that I have heard was that she wished the screen was back-lit for night reading.
 where is the light? February 22, 2010
Dr. W. T. Richardson (Miami, FL USA)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
i'm in love with my kindle except for the fact that the keyboard cannot be lighted. i trust that the new edition will feature the option to light the keyboard from an internal source rather than an external source. charge extra, and most of us will pay for that feature. allow those of us who want the "light" feature to trade our used kindles in for the newer lighted kindles. looking forward!
And One eBook Reader to Rule Them All February 21, 2010
Allan Wong (Las Vegas, NV, US)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I am an avid reader. On the average, I consume at least one book a week. If I am on a business trip, I usually finish a book on the flight out, one on the way back, and at least one more while I am away. My interest in books spreads amongst history, science, military, politics and fiction. My wife has been wondering for years how I am capable of reading three or four books "simultaneously" throughout the week without losing track. So, I am read-aholic.
I started observing the ereader market when the first Kindle was launched. Since I was the first person I know that owned MP3 players when everybody else was still lugging CD players around, I was frankly surprised that I was still holding paper-based books in the year 2009.
DRM (Digital Rights Management) was the cause of my hesitation.
I am no fan of the iPod. Above the hype, the marketing, the less than ideal sound quality and the lack of technological breakthrough, it is the iTune DRM that really turns me off. Since my music taste straddles between classical and "oldies" - mostly songs written and recorded in the last century - I buy classical CDs when the mood hits me, and grab oldie MP3 singles from friends and family when the opportunity presents itself. As such, I am not acquainted with iTune and won't be anytime soon. I prefer non-iPod MP3 players because I can load anything I want into them without dealing with Big Brother.
However, I do buy a ton of books from bookstores. In fact, despite my diligent culling (prompted by the logistical reality of running out of shelf space and my wife's insistent urging), my ever-growing book collection is still too massive. The idea of switching to the digital medium just seems like a no-brainer.
What finally swayed me to Kindle was NOT the device itself. It was the entire business model behind it - how the content is purchased, delivered and consumed - that convinced me the Amazon/Kindle combination is the right choice for me.
Form Factor
Seeing a picture of the Kindle on-line is very different from holding one in your hand. The device simply has the right feel to it. It is the right size and the right heft to hold in one hand. The smooth edges and rounded corners add to the overall sleekness of the unit. The metal back cover gives it sturdiness but the unit is by no means rugged at all. Without a silicon skin case or carrying pouch, the unit feels vulnerable and it may slip out of your hand.
My unit wears a silicon skin case at all times, and it goes into a carrying case when I take it on the road with me. Speaking of traveling with the Kindle, I need to point out how Kindle simplifies the packing process. I no longer need to tuck books and paperbacks into my suitcase and bags - one slim Kindle is all I need. In these days of heightened restrictions on carry-on luggage, the Kindle can easily become a traveler's great companion.
The Screen
I did my research before settling for the Kindle. I checked out the Sony reader, as well as generic readers available at local computer stores. I think the screen on Kindle is noticeably better. The E-Ink screen is sharp and clear, and it looks like paper. The Kindle is a joy to read in direct sunlight even while I am wearing polarized sunglasses. Because it is not back lit like a PDA or iPod/iPad, reading a book on the Kindle is just as easy on the eyes as a regular paper-based book. There is none of the normal eyestrain that comes with using a LCD screen.
Some reviewers complain about the refresh rate of the screen. From my perspective, since I use the Kindle to replace paper-based books, I gauge the screen refresh rate against the normal speed of a page-turn. Let's face it, the Kindle is not a multimedia viewer, it is a dedicated ebook reader, first and foremost. Complaining about the refresh rate being too slow on the Kindle is akin to griping about a Ferrari's poor all-terrain performance.
eBooks and Shopping Experience
At the time of writing, the Amazon infrastructure is light years ahead of its competition in terms of overall maturity and completeness. In fact, the minute I placed the order for my Kindle, Amazon sent me an email suggesting that I could purchase ebooks before my Kindle was delivered to me. I downloaded and installed Kindle for PC and I had 5 ebooks in my library in a matter of minutes. By the time I received my Kindle I already had a library of ebooks at Amazon ready to be downloaded into the unit. Shortly after registering my Kindle with Amazon, titles from my library started to appear in the unit.
The entire browsing and shopping process is slick and painless. Books get delivered in roughly 60 seconds through Whispernet from the time you hit "Buy". Amazon has a very sizable and broad selection of eBooks (over 400,000 titles at the time of writing and growing everyday).
The Kindle comes with 2GB of storage on board, and virtually unlimited storage in the virtual archive at Amazon. I no longer fret about the lack of shelf space at home for my books and I carry my entire digital library with me wherever I go.
The Reading Experience
As mentioned earlier, using the Kindle is just like reading a paper-based book. It is an experience of comfort and convenience without par. A few days after receiving my Kindle, I found myself reluctant to pick up a regular book. I still have a handful of paper-based books that I bought before getting the Kindle, and these books are now gathering dust on the shelves.
There are four large conformal buttons, 2 on each side of the Kindle. With them you can use either left or right hand to hold the unit and flip the page. Apple die hards may argue that a touch screen is a superior interface but I do not agree. Why make a simple page-turn exercise into a two-handed process? With the Kindle, I hold the book with one hand, and flip pages with the very same hand - JUST LIKE A REAL BOOK! Furthermore, who wants to leave smudges and fingerprints on that sharp and high contrast screen?
Peeves
The Kindle is a great platform but it is by no means perfect. Here is my list of improvements:
-Interface needs to be more intuitive
-It could offer a better way to organize and categorize all the titles in the library
-Battery is not user replaceable.
Summary
If you are a serious reader and you have access to a large number of ebooks (either through Amazon, its competitors or other sources) then you need a ebook reader. In my view, Kindle is just a purpose-built tool to read ebooks. As a stand-alone tool, it is not terribly remarkable. However, when it is connected to the Amazon.com fabric, the combination becomes a well-coordinated ecosystem, affording its user access to a vast library literally at their fingertips. Book lovers will find it easy to justify the $259 price tag and they will not regret that decision.
Kindle II excellent reliable device February 21, 2010
J. Sewell (Ottawa, Canada)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Being Canadian I followed the Kindle with interest. Once it was released internationally, and most importantly, in Canada, I picked one up. So far so good.
Positives:
-incredible battery life. I left it powered up on my (irronically) book shelf for a week and a half, and indicator had barely moved (note: with wireless off). have finished two largish books on a single charge including downloading and fiddling with preferences
-whispernet is reliable with coverage greater than that of my 3G Bell cell phone
-ability to turn wireless off through software
-6" screen sufficient for the font size I like to use
-absolutely love the e-ink, not backlit or bright so my eyes don't get "buggy" like when I'm at a computer screen for long periods of time
-cheap and plentiful periferals and accessories
-free content on the web for those technical enough to use converters (found free online)
-surprising picture rendering, but of course only in b&w
Negatives;
-limited font sizes, but sufficient in most cases
-.pdf legibility due to font size being very small, unable to adjust in most cases
-currently no Canadian content in the magazine and newspaper enrollments
-navigation in menus and preferences slightly clunky
-light and thin, but hand cramped often while holding it. alleviated the problem once I picked up a skin and even better once I got a case
-maybe not a neg, but no physical wireless switch/button (goes with clunky navigation)
-not really a neg, but need to read it in well lit area. ok at home but can be an issue if using it on the bus ride home after work.
Showing reviews 4971-4975 of 4995
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