Testing the “new” Kindle 2

I spent the Halloween weekend hanging out with my mom who was is visiting from Hawaii. We drove for 6 hours to San Jose to visit my uncle (my mom’s brother) to celebrate his 60th birthday. Along the way, my mother talked about her new Kindle she got as a “Thank You” gift from some relatives and almost sounded  a little Techy about it as she described all the cool things this new toy of hers could do.


While my mom and uncle spent a lot of time talking and catching up, I sat on the couch for hours amazed at the fact that the Kindle had all the following cool features:

1. It was hooked up wirelessly to the cell phone 3g network FOR FREE and could access the Amazon database anywhere there was a 3g signal.
2. I could browse endless books on subjects I wanted to know about. Many of the books allowed me to “sample” them by giving the first pages or chapters free.
3. The screen is amazingly clear, and the memory (although not upgradable) was enough to hold over 1000 books.
4. It could play mp3’s while you read to block out outside noise, and could also read the text right off the screen. (i didn’t test these features, but saw where the menu allowed you to select them.
5. If I wanted a book, I could download them instantly at the click of a button.

These were just a few of the “cool” features I found in the Kindle. My sister (who is a HUGE fan of the Kindle) mentioned a lot of other features as well and explained how some of the “competitor” lines like the Sony and off-brand e-books could not compare.

I visited a Sony outlet store in Gilroy on our way home just to do a little research myself  and found the staff at the store I went to clueless about the device when it came to understanding the difference between their unit vs. the Kindle. They gave me a lot of “I think it does this, and I think it does that…” which I hate. I’d rather a salesperson tell me they DON”T KNOW and call someone who does know instead of letting me think it does something it may not.

I saw that Barnes and Nobles is coming out with their own e-book called the “Nook”. Haven’t had a chance to look at one physically, but I’m curious to try them side by side and then leap in  to get an e-book that I can feel confident has all the latest features and that I will use. I have a ton of books and like to write in them and take notes, but see the benefits of having a digital e-book so I can carry all my reference books around in one place.

The only I real downfall I found so far is the lack of backlighting on the Kindle. For the most part, the screen is so clear, back lighting was not necessary since I was testing it in places where if it was hard to read, it would’ve been hard to read a regular paper book as well. Amazon has affordable accessories to offset this issue like the following book lamp:


I’ve been told that the battery lasts a VERY long time on the Kindle, especially if you do not leave the 3g wireless card on. It can last almost a week under normal use when not connecting to the wireless. The main reason for this battery longevity seems to be because its using such a simple LCD monochrome (colorless) screen and no back light battery consumption is taking place. So there is definitely something to be said about have a separate light that has it’s own battery. If you are ever without your charger, not having a light feature can be beneficial indeed to keep you battery lasting longer. I am sure the complaints for Amazon’s Kindle designers would all be concentrated around battery life had they installed a back light feature from the start.