About 7 weeks ago I bought e-reader Kindle Touch from the Amazon.
I think it was right move, and I want to share my impressions.
Kindle Touch has 6" multi-touch E-Ink screen in 6.8" x 4.7" body.
There is only one button (let's name it "Home"), all other interactions through the touch screen.
Screen size (6") is large enough for comfortable reading.
Body size (6.8" x 4.7") is small enough to comfortably hold device in one hand or keep device in a large pocket. Very convenient to use in the bus, airplane and train.
E-Ink screen is black-white only and works more like paper (light reflects from the screen) rather than like computer/tablet screens (screen is a source of light itself). This means you see all colors as different grades of gray (more about this below), and you need external light for reading (same as for paper book).
Besides those inconveniences, I think E-Ink screen is more comfortable for the eyes when you read considerable amount of text.
Battery life is amazing (thanks to E-Ink screen).
I've spent whole vacation on one battery charge, including two long (about 20 hours) flights with a lot of reading and more reading between long flights (10 days).
Downloading
Kindle doesn't have Internet cable connection, only Wifi (and 3G if you want to pay extra).
I have Wifi version and no Wifi at home, so question was how to register Kindle and how to download books.
Coffee shop nearby helped with registration (must be done through Wifi) :-) , and Amazon helped with download :-).
Amazon provides Kindle application for every kind of device (PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad , Android), so book could be downloaded to any device with cable connection and copied to Kindle via usb cable (PC -> Kindle in my case). Amazon keeps everything on cloud, so you can download same book as many times as you need.
Dealing with colors
You can read books on any device (Kindle app provides this), and for me it resolves "color problem".
As I mentioned above, E-Ink screen is black-white only - not so good for magazines and books with color illustrations.
So, I used PC to look through the only book (so far) with colors, and technically it was after reading this book in the airplane from cover to cover on my Kindle (content was way more important than colors). Such "process" worked good enough for me.
E-reader actually promote reading
Kindle Touch has 4GB of memory for downloaded materials, and according to Amazon it's enough for 3,500 books. Even if it is less than 3500, it's enough for me to have on Kindle all books I want to have access to at the same time.
Currently I have about 10 books downloaded, and I read three of them - which one particularly depends on my mood at the time :-). Without e-reader it wouldn't be possible.
All books I downloaded so far were either free or within $1.99 (only one was $4.99). However, I feel like my books expenses are going to increase.
What Kindle Touch doesn't do (or does not so well).
Internet access: I wouldn't consider "Experimental Browser" as something serious. It doesn't work well, and I don't use it.
Applications: Amazon has apps for Kindle, but all of them either for Kindle Fire or for Kindle models which have "physical" keyboard. I haven't find apps for Kindle Touch (I looked for notes taking apps, something like Notepad).
Movies - no way.
Why not Kindle Fire?
Kindle Fire is much less expensive than tablets, and it provides way more functionality than Kindle Touch (and other Kindle models).
With Kindle Fire you have screen with vibrant colors, you can browse Internet, download movies and games, use applications, etc.
However, I decided to get Kindle Touch instead.
Kindle Fire costs $199 vs $99 Kindle Touch, but cost wasn't defining point.
There were other reasons.
- I need device to read. Reading books was the main reason to get e-reader.
- My reading amount is considerable (at least in my scale), and bright vibrant screens at some point start to irritate my eyes. Black-white E-ink screen is better for the reading.
- Kindle Fire has only 8 hours of battery life (with Wifi turned off), which makes it much less useful for me (see above about Kindle Touch battery, travel, etc.).
- I think it would be better to invest in full scale tablet functionality rather than in very limited (compare to tablets) Kindle Fire functionality.
