I Got My Kindle!

Yay! I ordered my Kindle 3 (Graphite, Wifi only) from Amazon October 1st and I received it October 14th. Pretty fast huh? It was even out of stock when I ordered it. It made me so happy when DHL delivered it to my house.

See?

I’m a self-confessed bookworm and Kindle 3 is my first ever dedicated eBook reader. I used to read on my iPod touch, but it really strains my eyes. This is the main reason I bought Kindle in the first place. I can’t stand the glare from my iPod. And Kindle’s Pearl eInk Screen is the best. The contrast is great. It really looks like paper. Kindle doesn’t have a backlight so it won’t strain your eyes. It’s like reading a book. Kindle 3 also boasts of faster page turns although I can’t really comment on that because as I said, it’s my first reader.

Looks like paper, eh?

Screenshot 1: Currently reading Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl Who Played with Fire”.

Screenshot 2: CNN news which I got from Calibre.

I love a lot of things about my Kindle 3. One of them is that it is light. It weighs only 8.5 ounces. The problem is that I bought Amazon’s Lighted Book Cover and it significantly adds to the weight. It really doesn’t bother me, but I can see how it could be a problem to others. Anyway, more on the cover later. The storage is also good enough for me. It has 4G internal memory. One small problem is that it doesn’t support expandable memory. But I think I can manage. The QWERTY keypad is nice. I don’t even care that it doesn’t have number keys. I also love the built-in Oxford Dictionary. Kindle’s software is pretty intuitive. I also haven’t experienced any crashes yet so that’s a good thing.

There are also some things that I don’t like about it. My biggest gripe is that it doesn’t support ePub, which is my favorite eBook format. I had to convert my eBooks to MOBI so I’ll be able to transfer them to my Kindle. I also didn’t like using its experimental internet browser, but it’s okay with me because I got my laptop and my iPod. I haven’t tried loading a PDF file yet, but I read a lot of reviews saying that Amazon Kindle doesn’t handle it very well. Let me make it clear that I don’t really mind these gripes that much.

The cover that I bought is the Lighted Book Cover which is also made by Amazon. As I mentioned earlier, it’s pretty heavy, but it’s okay with me. The cover is sturdy and it really protects my Kindle. I chose Steel Blue and the color wasn’t as bright as I thought. I really love the built-in retractable light which draws its power from the Kindle itself although I probably won’t be able to use it all the time because I have a bedside lamp (I do my reading before going to sleep). The  cover is expensive, it costs $59.99, but I guess it’s worth it.

 

Now let me talk about the shipping process. I live in the Philippines so I was a bit hesitant to have it delivered to me. Good thing I found this forum thread which convinced me to buy my own Kindle 3. Amazon notified me thru email once they shipped the package. They gave me a DHL tracking number so I was able to track it. You can also track the package in Amazon’s site once you log in. They shipped the package October 11th and DHL delivered it to my house October 14th. The experience was convenient because you just have to sit and wait. Waiting is hard though.

Kindle 3 is probably the best and cheapest eBook reader (only $139) out there. I’m very happy and satisfied with it. I’m so glad I bought it!

PS. I named my Kindle “Matthew”. Got it from Van She’s bassist.