Wednesday 17 November 2010

Gadget of the Week

This week....my Kindle!



I've now had it for about a month and I love, love, love it. I can't believe I actually had to think twice about buying it. I have been so interested in reading from it that I haven't even finished Birds Without Wings, which I have been reading since August and was just in a can't-put-it-down phase with.



This is what the print looks like. It's a bit blurry because I took the picture without a flash to try and make it more true-to-life. It actually doesn't look like a real screen, it is so close to text. I don't really understand how it works, but it is really easy to read and the lack of backlight makes it comfortable on the eye as well. And, if I'm ever in a dark place where I need a backlit screen in order to be able to read, I can pick up where I left off on my phone, having installed Kindle for Android. AND IT KNOWS WHERE I STOPPED READING. Amazing.

The display is so clear that when Mr Z unpacked it from the box, he thought there was a printed sticker on the front. The picture of Mark Twain you see in the first shot is one of the screen-savers that cycle round when it is turned off. It doesn't actually turn off properly, and unless I manually disconnect it from wireless/3G, it will download in the background anytime. I bought that Obama biography before it was delivered, and it was waiting for me on the Kindle when it arrived.

The other thing I like about it is that I can buy a subcription to a newspaper on it. Now, I get most of my news online or via Jon Snow on C4, but when I am abroad - like in Malaysia next week, for example - news sources are thin on the ground and I don't like not knowing what's happening. Thanks to the 3G on Kindle, though, I can have a British newspaper delivered to me everyday while I am abroad (as long as their 3G coverage is as extensive as they claim).

Other positives - it is light enough to hold in one hand for lying-down reading, and it has a great battery life on it. I've only needed to charge it once so far. I haven't even figured out how to add notes to it yet, but I have just bought a new History text book on it so will be learning that on the plane, I should think.



Kindle hanging out with my HTC. I bought this new cover for it so it matches the one Mr Z bought for my Kindle. It also (not by accident) matches my Hobbs dress, which is part of my "I'm very professional" outfit.

I have used it to access Google Reader but it doesn't like it very much because of the pictures; however, I don't see how I can complain when the 3G is free. It's worth noting, though, that once a wireless connection is set up, it will automatically connect to that instead of the 3G unless you're out of range.

But, I have no complaints. This may do what sheer force of will has failed to achieve: it may actually get me reading again. And for that alone, it was worth buying.

1 comment:

Burhan Ali said...

Love my Kindle. I spent an age trying to work out whether it was worth buying. Definitely worth it. I don't regret it at all.