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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Lighter, smaller and looks great











The most helpful favourable review                                             The most helpful critical review


3,053 of 3,106 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent slimmed-down version
On the latest Kindle the screen remains unchanged and is excellent, most significantly in sunlight. The most striking difference is the size of the Kindle - significantly smaller than the keyboard version and now looking more like the Sony eReader range. I don't need a keyboard - although you have access to a virtual one on the Kindle screen but only can only slooooowly...
Published 3 months ago by Paul S. Ell

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versus
109 of 120 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Very Good But......
I have a 4G kindle and it is excellent. This model may at first glance be an improvement but be warned it has no Text-to-Speech and no headphone socket. If this is important to you, do not buy this model. Amazon are not telling you about this distinction.
Published 3 months ago by Mr. E. Bull

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By. D. Jones (UK) 
This review is from: Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Display (Electronics)

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Length:: 8:50 MinsI already have the original Kindle with the keyboard and have been extremely pleased with it. As soon as I saw this smaller, lighter version of the Kindle I thought I would get it to carry around with me when I go to work and in my handbag.

It has the same functionality that is available on the original Kindle, it just doesn't have a physical keyboard. If like me you didn't use the keyboard much then it is worth losing it to gain a smaller reading device. There is an on-screen keyboard available for inputting data which is controlled by the four way selector button. It is more time consuming to use than the physical keyboard but I didn't find it to be too much of an issue.

This Kindle is significantly smaller in size and lighter in weight than the older version. This means that it is much more comfortable to hold for long periods of time without making your wrists ache from holding it. Despite being lighter it still feels sturdy, solid and well made.

The front of the Kindle has the four way controller button which is used for much of the functionality and making selections. There is still a home button which takes you as you would expect, back to the home page of the Kindle. This is where your downloaded books and collections are stored. There is a keyboard button that brings up the onscreen keyboard and a back button that takes you back to the previous screen. The final button is the menu button that contains most of the functionality and options you will need to manage your Kindle.

On the right and left hand side of the Kindle you have the forward and backward buttons that allow you to change pages. By being on both sides of the device it means that you can use your preferred hand to turn the pages. The buttons are less prominent than on the original device but they seem just as easy to access and turn pages with.

The Kindle comes with a USB charger which will enable you to charge it directly from a computer, laptop, netbook etc. Note that this Kindle does NOT come with the plug adaptor for mains charging - this option needs to be purchased separately.

After charging and switching the Kindle on the screen and e-ink looked sharp, it was easy to read the words on the screen - a good contrast between them. Also, your eyes won't get as tired if you read for long periods of time as there is no backlight - something many other e-reader devices use.

This newer Kindle has less storage space than the original one, you can store around 1,000 books instead of 3,000 but this isn't a problem as you can remove books after reading them. Amazon store all the books that you have purchased and you can redownload any book you have removed within a few seconds.

The battery life is also lower than the original Kindle. I normally had to charge my original device up once a month - it seemed to go on forever. So even if this one needs charging every three weeks, so what? You can extend your battery life by turning off the wireless option once you have downloaded your books.

As someone who had virtually stopped reading books before purchasing a Kindle it has made a huge difference to me. I am never without my device and generally get through a book every one to two days. If you enjoy reading books and you haven't already bought yourself a Kindle then I would highly recommend treating yourself to one.

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