Converting books into a digital format that can be read on a small hand held device, or reader, is something that’s been around for a few years and it’s a concept that’s really starting to take off. When it comes to choosing a digital reader many people turn to the Amazon kindle, but is it really the best one available,
I’ve compiled a list of some of the features of the Amazon Kindle that make it one of your best choices when buying a Kindle.
1.Size. The Kindle2 has a weight of around 10 ounces which is average and on par with it’s competitors. The dimensions are 5.3″x7.5″ which is slightly bigger than some of the competition.
2. Display screen. This is an important feature since you obviously want to be able to easily read whatever book you’ve downloaded. The Kindle 2 measures 6″ diagonally, which again is a pretty common size.
The Kindle 2 has an E-Ink paper display which makes it look like you’re reading right off of a piece of paper. This technology is found in most book readers.
Where the Kindle 2 really excels is the 16 level gray scale, the next closest competitor has a 8 level gray scale.
3. Wireless network. The Kindle has a built in network called Whispernet which enables it’s users to access any wireless connection using the Sprint network anywhere in the country where the network is available. So you have a very large coverage area. You don’t need to sign up with Sprint, or any other carrier, this capability comes standard on all Kindle 2 units.
4.There are now over 200,000 titles available for download on the Kindle 2. You will also be able to access thousands of blogs, newspapers and magazines, all right from your portable reader.
Most competitors only offer about half of the number of titles to download and fewer blogs with no papers or magazines.
5. Available storage. The Kindle 2 can hold about 1,500 books and comes with an internal 2GB memory. There is no external memory.
One of the next closest competitors has the ability to store over 300 titles with an internal 256mb memory and can support up to 16GB memory cards.
6. Battery life with the Kindle 2 is approximately two weeks with a full charge when wireless is turned off. If wireless feature is on battery life is around 4 days. It takes about 4 hours to recharge the battery.
This is similar to the storage life of the competition.
One of the closest competitors to the Kindle 2 is the Sony PRS 700. Both of these are the next generation in electronic readers. Both are available at Amazon.com and both are in very high demand. No matter which one you choose you probably shouldn’t wait til the last minute to try and order yours.
If you do a little digging you will find a lot more information not just on the Kindle 2 but on other brands of book readers. Take some time and compare features and you can decide for yourself whether or not you think the Amazon Kindle is the best choice for you and your reading style.
