GADGETS | REVIEWS
AMAZON KINDLE
£149 with 3G www.amazon.co.uk
ACONFIRMED fan of Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader, I was lucky enough to be given the latest model to play with in advance. If you’ve seen the ads on the Tube and wondered whether to join the e-book revolution, the new Kindle is unlikely to disappoint.
This is the second Kindle available in the UK. The previous model was slim and Apple-pretty, but many important features were disabled outside the US. The new Kindle has been properly integrated with Amazon’s UK services. It has also been significantly improved.
A 3G Kindle now weighs just 247 grams, comparing favourably to 730 grams for a 3G iPad. There is much better contrast on the e-ink screen, and the Kindle’s battery can now go 10 days between charges with 3G on.
You will, incidentally, want to pay £40 extra for 3G. Free global 3G is a bargain, even if the Kindle’s web browser is fairly limited. Having 3G also makes it easier to subscribe to blogs that update through the day, or even share your favourite passages as you read on Twitter and Facebook.
The Kindle’s light weight and a storage capacity of up to 3,500 books make it an ideal solution for global travellers and commuters looking to keep up with their reading on the move, although I find it less handy for reading downloaded pdfs and work documents.