Kindle 101 (I)

Filed under Kindle , Opinion , Guide

For some months now I’m the happy owner of a Kindle DX. Although my first reader was a Grammata Papyre, I decided to try out a Kindle 2 and since then my test and trial days with readers are over: I was in love. 

I’m aware, however, that this is a reader seemingly complicated to the Spanish market: it can only be bought online at Amazon, no spanish support, and no native support for one of the most extended ebook formats, EPUB. But I believe it’d be a mistake to let this easily overcomable difficulties to stop you from considering a Kindle, because I believe it is, right now and for many motives, to be the best reader avaliable in the market.

In this post and in some future ones I want to help the potential Kindle buyer, speaking about the different versions, buying options, day to day and care, where and how to get books for the Kindle, software and hardware complements, and so on.

Models and prices

Right now there are two Kindle models to choose from: Kindle and Kindle DX. The main difference between them is their size: Kindle has a 6 inches display while DX is 9.7 inches. Prices for both devices depend on the exact purchasing option we choose, as of this table:

First choice: Kindle DX or Kindle 3? It all depends on the use you’re planning for your device: if you’re going to read books where text is predominant (novels, essays, self-help books, and so on) you’re good to go with a Kindle 3. But if you intend to read books with a lot of graphics, tables where the layout is important, you need a DX. DX’s 9.7’’ display is perfect for reading PDFs without having to redistribute a PDG page in several reader screens, without zooming and without hassle: each screen of your reader is a full PDF page, and easily read. Besides, even being bigger is not much heavier than the Kindle 3, and you can grab it and read easily with just the one hand.

If we choose a Kindle 3, we’ve got three more options: WiFi + 3G, just WiFi and just WiFi with ads, or Special Offers as Amazon calls them, the most recent and cheaper option. Once again, knowing beforehand our intented use of the reader makes the choice easier: the main differential factor here is 3G. We use a 3G connection on the Kindle mainly to browse Amazon’s Kindle store on the go: from the device itself we can browse, buy and download books in seconds, and we can browse the web with certain limitations. 

(Let me be clear from the start: Amazon, unlike other companies, offers the 3G connection to the Kindle completely for free, one of the factors that make this option even more attractive, not only because of the savings but also because of the comfort it provides: you don’t have to choose a providing company, select a data plan or configure anything; you just fire up your Kindle, connect to the Web and you’re ready to go. Browsing and buying books from the bus, or in a park, at a whim is a real pleasure.)

So, if we want to be able to browse the Internet on the go we need the 3G; if not with the WiFi option it’ll be enough. Lastly, ads or no ads?

The Special Offers model is Amazon’s more recent idea to make their reader even more universal and accesible: at 76€ on exchange, I believe it is right now the cheapest ebook reader in the market by far. Every Kindle has a screensaver feature automatically activated when the reader is idle for an amount of time. Normal Kindle readers display images related to literature on their screensavers, authors and the like. Kindles with ads display, well, ads. In fact, the ads only show themselves when you’re not really using your Kindle, either on full screen mode when the reader is on screensaver, or on a bottom bar when we are on the Home screen, similar to the ads on smartphone apps. Unlike them, though, the ads are never shown when we are actually reading a book. This tasteful and undisruptive use of ads make it a very attractive option.