I got this thing as a refurb and it's basically brand new. I can see nothing that would suggest much use for sure. No problems with the screen as of now and the touch mechanism to me is working perfectly. Updating the thing was a breeze. So let's get into detail on the device...
The normal Kindle I suppose is the poor man's e-reader at this point in Amazon's lineup. But I am waiting until the 16nm tablet revolution to get one of their high-end tablets. I didn't want to pay more than I needed for something that I just read text on, and the paperwhite seems to have its fair share of screen problems. This one was only 64 dollars base price. I got a used case to go along with it.
For that price the device is positively charming. It's my first Kindle and I really could not ask for more. Amazon's software if very mature at this point, so you have a variety of fonts, readability settings, and core attributes to modify to your liking. After a couple minor fixes for my own personal use I was off downloading my entire Kindle on PC library. Easy. Fast. I could not ask for anything easier. The experimental browser also gets the job done. Bookmarks and decent website compatibility as long as it doesn't use too much Flash or Java. The device works perfectly for a college accessory and textbook device when needed.
Not all textbooks are compatible with the lower end devices though. That was the only downside to the cheapest one in the lineup. My Glossary of Literary Terms was sadly not okay with this e-reader.
Navigating and using features like highlights, x-ray, dictionaries, and the page functions took about 20 minutes for me to get the hang of it all. Again, everything is set up to help the customer get up and running very easily. The various swipes are easy to remember and incredibly intuitive at this point. I can flip, preview, cancel, and just all around enjoy the book I am reading without hardly any hassle at all. I for one did not think the page turning was too sensitive on mine. Seems about right for such a device. Amazon clearly has some very mature software here that complements the Kindle hardware in synergistic fashion.
I don't use too many of the community features like Goodreads, but that is there for you too if you want to be involved in the gigantic Kindle community. Other great community functions that are less pervasive include notes on what people highlighted in the book, which I found to be a nice feature. And then you have other functions like about the book, which gives you some really nice info about what you are reading the first time.
The one thing some people are going to not like is probably the storage. 4GBs is not really what I call enough space for the future. Luckily, I do have a lot of Delphi collections and my books fit on here nicely at this point. I have about 2.3GBs left after DL'ing 70 or so products. Amazon itself has its own helpful user guide for you to DL right off the bat, so if you do ever get lost that thing should save you a lot of time.
The resolution of the display seems fine to me and very close to what you would get in a normal sized book. The somewhat dim display works very well for and is basically about the brightness of a normal literature page. I was comparing it to a bunch of my books and came away quite pleased with what they have here. Of course a bit more resolution would be nice, but for what is here you can still get fairly small fonts and good detail. This is not a reader for the dark, obviously.
Anyway, I don't think there is too much else to say. I'll update the review as I go along, and take a note on battery life, but for now this thing is a great little device. Cheap, fast, easy to use, and all around a nice product to own with good and simple build quality. It sync'd up with my Amazon account right away and there was absolutely zero trouble getting this thing to work correctly. Highly recommended to those on a budget or to those that do not have any need for the higher-end tablets and readers. Unlike some of the other products, this one doesn't have any inherent screen issues, either.
There is a newer version of this item:
Kindle E-reader (Previous Generation - 8th) - Black, 6" Display, Wi-Fi, Built-In Audible - Includes Special Offers
$41.52
(15,500)
Only 4 left in stock - order soon.
$41.52
(15,500)
Only 4 left in stock - order soon.
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Kindle HD 6 and HD 7 hands-on
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Kindle 6
It still works and has loads of room for more. I wanted to upgrade to the scribe but I enjoy keeping this task separate, reading solely opposed to the added business with the scribe. I'm still fond of the scribe option but, I'm willing to wait a bit longer before I transition. I have the app on all my devices but it gets busy there on that side of town. I'll stay here where it's safer to just read.
