Amazon's New Kindle eReader Review

The Kindle is back with an even more affordable price! With built-in Wi-Fi and the highest contrast E Ink screen around, this new version if 30% lighter and 18% smaller than earlier versions. Kevin Pereira and Jessica Chobot take a look at the $79 eReader from Amazon.

What You Need To Know

• Amazon announced its newest line of eReaders at the end of September and this Kindle is the first one to hit the market.
• The screen size is unchanged from the Kindle 3 but that's about the only thing the two models have in common.
• Instead of a QWERTY keyboard, this Kindle comes with four function keys and a D-pad.
• The physical keyboard gone, making the device feel much more balanced.
• The Kindle weighs a little under 6 ounces.
• Physically, the page turning buttons are harder to press, which is grate because it cuts down on accidentally skipping a page.
• The back has an ever so slightly textured back, which helps with grip.
• The screen is essentially the same in previous models but reading on this one was a pleasure.
• The screen has this black beveled border around it, which makes the page pop.
• E Ink doesn't render new pages as slowly, which is due to a faster processor.
• You'll notice that the screen doesn't go black before changing every page; it only does this for every 5 or 6 pages.
• Moving the cursor up and down and highlighting words/phrases is where you really start to see how much they've been able to speed up the screen.
• The base model shows "special offers" which is the Amazon code word for "ads."
• You can have the ads removed for an extra $30.
• The ads aren't all that intrusive because they just show up on the home screen and when the device is asleep.
• However, we did notice that with Wi-fi on and ads being pushed to the device, the battery life was seriously hindered.
• The solution would be to keep Wi-fi off when you can and it shouldn't be a big deal.
• If there was 3G connectivity, you might be tempted to browse the Internet on the Kindle but it's just not that fun on this device.
• The Kindle comes with 2 GB of internal storage, which is good enough for 1,500 books.

Price

• $79.00

Rating

• 5 Seals of Approval out of 5. (How do we rate gadgets?)
• This is the lightest Kindle yet.
• Without a keyboard, the device feels very balanced.
• From a reader's standpoint, reading on this was a pleasure.
• We wish it had audio support, though.
• If you've been waiting to dip your toes into the eReader market, you can't go wrong with the $79 Kindle.

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