My Kindle Stuff

Well, it was a few days late, but I finally got my Kindle today.  As I knew I would be, I love the updated screen, the new button placement and smaller form factor.  Looking at the Kindle 2 and Kindle 3 side-by-side shows off my new Kindle to advantage.

There are a plethora of positive reviews, comparison videos and comparison reviews out there so I won’t go into any of those details.  You can google for those, or if you want a really thorough video comparison, Len Edgerly of The Kindle Chronicles has a great one.  Unfortunately, I am going to talk about the features that I don’t feel are an improvement, and a couple of items that I think should be changed right away.

Number Keys

(Edit:  I’ve been advised to hold down the ALT key to do the below, but I’m still not happy with the removal of the numbered row)

At first, I was resigned to accessing numbers via the SYM key.  It would be a little inconvenient, but I was willing to overlook it to have the smaller size. Not any longer.  The lack of a row for the numbers means that if you plan on storing more than a couple of pages of content, you are almost forced to use collections and it is an example of bad design.

Example:

On the Kindle 2, if you have a lot of pages, you can use the number keys to enter the number, and click to go to that page.

On the Kindle 3, you have to enter a letter, click the DEL key to remove it and then use the SYM key to enter the page number.  If Amazon has a UI expert, that one definitely slipped thru the cracks, but I’m pretty sure this can be solved with a software update adding the Go To item to the Home menu.

Wi-Fi/3G

There is no way to turn either off separate from the other.  Turning off wireless means both get turned off.  This is a pretty minor issue, but without an explanation of how/when 3G and/or Wi-Fi are accessed by the device, I’m left wondering how either setting on is affecting battery life.

Headphone/Speaker jack

Why, oh why is this on the bottom of the device?  If my device is on a stand or in my lap, that means that I’m going to have to bend the cord at an angle that will eventually break the wire.  It belongs back on the top or even on the side of the Kindle.

Volume bar

See above reaction.  This too should be moved back to the side of the device or up on top.  My vote is the side, but I’ll be happy with either.

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Okay–done with the griping.  On to the things that I love.

Font Settings

Yay for the sans serif font!  I won’t need to use the font hack any longer. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for those awful topaz formatted books, but we can’t have everything.

Weight

I know that some of the reviews stated that you can’t tell the difference in weight between the Kindle 2 and Kindle 3, but I can.  And I know that anyone with weight sensitive hands and/or wrists will appreciate the marked (to me, anyway) difference in weight.

Top Bar

When you 0pen a book, you can see the Title, Time and wireless status on the top bar, but as soon as you turn the page, they disappear to make more room for the text of the book.  At first, I didn’t like it , but as I’ve been reading, I appreciate the extra text. I wish it worked the same on waking the device up.  If you read more than one book at a time, you won’t know (without skimming the page) which book you are in.

Contrast

This has been said over and over, but it is so improved that it can’t be overstated.  The Kindle 3 screen is very crisp; I can’t get over how good it looks.

All in all, I am very happy and satisfied with the Kindle 3.  Amazon did a lot of small improvements that really add up to a big improvement overall.  Well that’s it for me, its back to reading on Mr. Slate.  He’s naked now, but I’m expecting the Amazon cover tomorrow.

Update – The update is for all Kindle 2 users and can be updated manually from Amazon by downloading here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200324680

1. Wireless battery extended
2. PDF support added
3. Page orientation added (manual)

Amazon must want to save on wireless delivery of the update as it has gotten to the update page much quicker than has been usual for either the Kindle 1 or the Kindle 2.

Update 2 – If you update, you will NOT be able to use the Font or Screensaver hacks any more, but you’ll get:
Two new screensavers – Ralph Ellison, some fish similar to the birds on twigs.  Also the Kindle screensaver w/ definition is now the guy under the tree

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I was going thru my Kindle books online when I noticed a new Users Guide (4th Ed).  I downloaded to my PC and was skimming thru it when I noticed that it mentioned native PDF support and portrait orientation..WHAT?  I quickly went to my account to see if I had inadvertently ordered a DX or if there was something screwy with my account.  No DX order, no new Kindle order….so I went back to the user guide for more info.  There it was clear as day in the technical specifications–6″ model.

THen I went to the Amazon Kindle Support page and found nothing!  I figured they were consolidating user guides or something and thought no more of it.  I had started an email to Len Edgerly of the Kindle Chronicles, but felt so dumb that I deleted it an continued on with my day.  Now I feel silly for NOT sending it because a couple of hours later, here comes a press release from Amazon:

Kindle Now Lasts up to Seven Days on a Single Charge with Wireless on, up from Four Days, and Displays Native PDFs in Their Original Form

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov. 24, 2009– Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced two new enhancements to the latest generation Kindle—85 percent more battery life and a native PDF reader. Kindle now has battery life of up to seven days even with wireless turned on, a significant improvement from the previous battery life of four days. Battery life with wireless turned off remains at the previous level of up to two weeks. Battery power management for portable wireless devices is a complex technical area, and the battery life improvement announced today is the result of a six month firmware improvement and testing program.

Amazon also announced today that the 6-inch Kindle now has a built-in native PDF reader that enables Kindle customers to read professional and personal documents in their original PDF format without conversion. Kindle is in stock and available for immediate shipment today at www.amazon.com/kindle.

“Kindle, already the #1 bestselling, most wished for, and most gifted product on all of Amazon.com, is now even better—with 85 percent more battery life and a built-in PDF reader,” said Ian Freed, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “These two significant enhancements are available now.”

To read their personal or professional documents, Kindle customers simply email PDFs to their Kindle email address or move them over using a USB connection. Customers that prefer to have their PDF documents converted to the Kindle format simply type “Convert” in the subject of the e-mail when sending documents to their “@kindle.com” address.

Amazon also announced today that previous purchasers of the new Kindle will also receive the 85 percent battery life improvements with wireless on, and native PDF support via a firmware update automatically delivered via Whispernet wireless. Native PDF support will also be available for some earlier versions of Kindle via an automatic Whispernet wireless firmware update.

Well, I’m getting rid of my screensaver hack to see if  ’new Kindle’ only means the International version or if it will apply to the original Kindle 2 owners.

Update – Non-U.S. user from KindleKorner notices that the Gift Certificate workaround traditionally used by international customers no longer works.

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For those of you waiting for a Kindle that can travel with you outside of the U.S., your time has come. I’m happy for our overseas friends and kindlers in the U.S. that struggle with how to download their books outside of the U.S. I only have two complaints on this so far – no coverage for US Military servicemen in Iraq and Canada got the shaft (again!). Check the International Coverage guides and country specific information on the Amazon site. See this page on my site as well.  I’m keeping an update of # of books and whether wireless and browser features are available.

Other than that, there are a few caveats that you’ll need to remember and updates to look for in the future.

BOTTOM LINE -Even though this Kindle gets wireless outside of the U.S., if you live in the U.S. save yourself some money and get the U.S. only version.

The specifics on the 3 Kindle models can be seen here.

General -

Books, Subscriptions and Personal Documents -

• It looks like the bestsellers are $11.99 compared to the U.S. $9.99
• Blogs are NOT available to Non-U.S. Customers and some content from newspapers/magazines may be missing. Not sure what here, nor why.
• U.S. Customers will incur a hefty $1.99 fee for each book  downloaded from Archived Items or individual newspapers/magazine downloads and $4.99 per week for subscription content (this looks like a bulk thing, not $4.99 per subscription) downloaded abroad.
• The personal document charge increases to $.99 when overseas.
• The fine print here is that if you have a subscription attached to your Kindle, you’d better keep the wireless OFF. Otherwise you’ll face that charge everytime your latest newspaper/magazine is uploaded to your device.

All, in all, a good move for Amazon ahead of the Sony wireless eReader release.  A few missing details has me wondering whether this Kindle release was pushed a bit.  I’m sure the complaints will start coming fast and furious, but I’m pretty happy with the overall job that Amazon is doing with the Kindle (still waiting for folders though!). I also hope that non-English books will become available for any Kindle version.  I don’t see a true international Kindle version with non-English menus and keyboard anytime soon, but there’s always hope.

Considering the clamor for Kindles overseas, I’d pre-order now cause I’m betting they’ll sell out for the holiday season.

Kindle DX – $489

Kindle 2 – $259

Kindle 2i (International) – $279 

Refurbished Kindle DX – $399

Refurbished Kindle 2 – $219 (Good price as still under Amazon warranty)

Refurbished Kindle 1 – $149

Those of you that love those luscious, beautiful skins from GelaSkins Inc., but were waiting for them to cover the front of the device–your wait is over.  Gelaskins has finally opted to cover the front of the Kindles.  While I’d be happier if they also just had cut-outs for the individual keys–I’m looking forward to getting the Bookshelf skin.  Yes, they’re a little pricey, but I can’t pass that one up and I already shelled out the bucks for my laptop, so they might as well match.  I also checked out their skins on the Amazon site, and it does NOT look like they’ve been updated and the price is cheaper so I suspect Amazon will be getting all the old stock while the Gelaskins site sells the new stuff.  They are also offering a new service where you can design your own skins.

I'll be getting the Bookshelf skin