Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Customers like the performance, weight, readability, battery life, and size of the Kindle. They mention that it works very well, is light, and is easy to carry anywhere. They also appreciate the adjustable font size.
Customers find the Amazon Kindle easy to use. They mention that its sleek and cool, with many intuitive features. The learning curve is all but negligible, and the device itself is very handsome in appearance. The page turn on the Kindle is definitely faster, and creating a collection is simple. The contrast is fantastic, and keeping books organized and easily accessible.
"...Indeed, with the 3G WiFi, you can access the internet almost anywhere & anytime: it has truly revolutionized reading for me...." Read more
"...So, it is very easy to get it into alpha order! I probably should have posted that in a forum instead.Other great feature is search...." Read more
"...I find the experience to be like reading any other book, but more seamless and the unit is easier to hold...." Read more
"...It works, and looks beautiful.The controls are intuitive enough, particularly navigation while reading and in menus...." Read more
Customers find the readability of the Kindle to be excellent. They appreciate the screen that reads like a book, the battery life, and the ability to read, highlight, and annotate PDFs. They also mention that the e-reader is much easier to read than a paperback, and that the text is crisp and clear. The clarity of the screen is unsurpassed, and there is zero eye strain in good light. The feature reads out loud with outstanding quality is good enough for casual readers, but if you need to cite the page, it may not be the best option. Overall, customers are happy with the read-ability of this product and recommend it to others.
"...With the 3G, keyboard, huge selection of reading material, experimental internet options plus all of the above, I feel Amazon has put together an..." Read more
"...It is much easier to read than a paperback, much lighter, easier to turn pages, find where you left off (it does it for you in each book you start)..." Read more
"...and weighs even less than most paperbacks, yet the reading screen is the perfect size and it is easier to hold than most books...." Read more
"...I think the screen contrast is great and the graphite does not distract me at all..." Read more
Customers like the performance of the Amazon Kindle Fire. For example, they say it works very well, is not only functional, and beautiful. Customers are also impressed with the device's ability to annotate PDFs and do a great job for blogs and news pages that do not rely on color. They say that the device worked right out of the box and shows no signs of failure.
"...Its tremendous - you do not need to make a note to look it up later - you can do it NOW...." Read more
"...I also LOVE the experimental browser, as I like to look up authors (& other stuff!)..." Read more
"...I think the screen contrast is great and the graphite does not distract me at all..." Read more
9,338 customers mention9,084 positive254 negative
Customers like the weight of the Kindle. They say it's light and easy to carry anywhere. The smaller physical form makes it ideal to have it in their jacket pocket. Some say that the e-reader is thin enough to hold for extended periods of time.
"...Portability. Its remarkably lightweight - think of it - a whole library, 100's of books, weighing just over a 1/2 pound plus in a package smaller..." Read more
"...It is much easier to read than a paperback, much lighter, easier to turn pages, find where you left off (it does it for you in each book you start)..." Read more
"...It is the size of an ordinary paperback and weighs even less than most paperbacks, yet the reading screen is the perfect size and it is easier to..." Read more
"...love the speed, love the addition of Wi-Fi and of course the smaller size...." Read more
Customers like the quality of the Amazon Kindle. They mention that it has a great selection of books, and it is easy to read. They also appreciate the built-in dictionary and the access to more books than can be read in a single sitting. Overall, customers are satisfied with the quality and functionality of the product.
"...You might think this was more for non-fiction books; but, it works for fiction as well where I like to verify historical references or the quotes so..." Read more
"...The Kindle is so perfect - it is the first product that completely does what it is supposed to do, not spreading mediocre functionality to do..." Read more
"...I like that you can change the text-to-voice option to male or female...." Read more
"...It's light, compact, easy to read, and I've been able to find the books I want...." Read more
5,574 customers mention4,826 positive748 negative
Customers like the value of the Amazon Kindle. They mention that e-books are often cheaper than physical books, and there are tons of free books to download. Some reviewers also mention that there are no additional data fees.
"...less than a dozen new hardbacks, 20 paperbacks; in other words, very reasonable...." Read more
"...YES, it is easy to use**. YES, it is worth every little dime...." Read more
"...There are hundreds of thousands of free books available, particularly in the classic and out-of-print titles and the list grows daily...." Read more
"...The choices available now are quite good, and prices are better than ever...." Read more
4,258 customers mention3,484 positive774 negative
Customers like the battery life of the Amazon Kindle. They mention that the battery-life is stellar, the capacity is great, and the E Ink screen uses so little battery that if you keep Wi-Fi turned off all the time, it lasts forever. They also like the user-replaceable battery and compatibility with ePub format.
"YES, the battery lasts*. YES, it is easy to use**. YES, it is worth every little dime...." Read more
"...Battery life is outstanding... wifi will drain it quicker, but you'll still probably get more than a week's use out of it - with moderate reading -..." Read more
"...We like the nook's user-replaceable battery, compatibility with ePub format, and in-store experience...." Read more
3,548 customers mention2,732 positive816 negative
Customers like the size of the Kindle. They mention that they love the adjustable font size, which allows them to read without glasses. They appreciate the multiple font sizes and types, and the ability to increase the font size. The 6" screen is a good size, and customers find it to fit in nicely.
"...The adjustable font is a handy thing if I have forgotten my reading glasses...as I often do...." Read more
"...My eyesight isn't the greatest and I like being able to increase the font size and read without glasses...." Read more
"...the praises of the e-Ink paper like screen, and the adjustable font sizes and line spacing, not only from my friends but also from the hundreds of..." Read more
"...So, while we now have page numbers, they are not perfect for everyone. Not only that, but not all books have page numbers so far...." Read more
I had a very good relationship with my Kindle 1 and was unsure if a newer generation Kindle would ever win me over. Sure the K1 had its quirks but the thing had stolen my heart so much so that its grievances hardly bothered me. It was not until I realized how many hoops the Amazon team jumped through to get the K3 ready for the dog and pony show that I was convinced. I then did the very hard thing of looking at my K1 with a critical eye and recognizing the innovations that had been made on its new cousin. Below is a summary of the highlights and the lowlights of Amazon's efforts with the K3...(To skip to the main points, simply read the headers of each section.)THE GOODS:Text as Crisp and Pristine as Ever-Book readers and K1 veterans alike will notice the sharpness of the K3's text. One side effect of the K1 text was the fact that the edges of letters had a slight fuzziness to them and were a little on the skinny side. This is certainly not the case with the K3's text...its big, its bold, and its beautiful. Funny enough, I even encounter the mythical "read faster" effect on the K3 because the font is so easy on the eyes.Ferrari Page Turn and Interface Speeds-The K1's speed could be best compared to that of turning a page on an actual book. Sure that may be decent but it is only natural to expect our technology to be more responsive than their real life counterparts. The duration of the classic e-reader flash is incredibly short on the K3 and should jar those who disliked it on the K1 much less. However, the star of the speed category should not only be awarded to the page turns, but the interface speed itself. I hardly notice any delay when moving the cursor around or using the menus on the K3.From a Respectable Middleweight to a Light as Air Featherweight-The K1 was hardly a brick in the hand even after outfitting it with a cover. However, the minute you popped the thing in your pack you would feel that you added on some undesired weight. The K3 has gone on quite the diet and rests like a feather on the hand. Covered or uncovered, you will not notice it at all in your carrying case. I swear one of these days I'll have forgotten which bag I put it in heh...Still the Same Great Selection-The Amazon store always manages to stock any book I'm looking for. While there will be a few select instances where one obscure novel or another has not had the Kindle treatment, pretty much any mainstream book in existence is still 60 seconds away. Also the great thing to keep in mind is all the free books at your finger tips. You're guaranteed to find almost any 100 year old public domain classic either within the Amazon catalogue or other great sources. The only irksome quality about the store itself is that it only sells the Kindle proprietary format, as that is the only type of ebook that can be read by the Kindle...I will cover more on this later.Wonderful Wi-Fi-While I did chuck up the extra dough to get the free 3G coverage, I knew I would primarily start utilizing the Wi-Fi feature. Hooking up to the home wireless was a breeze and many out there who settled for the $139 Wi-Fi only Kindle will not be disappointed. So far it doesn't seem to suck up the battery like the 3G might and the connection is as reliable as the Wi-Fi on my laptops. Enjoying Wi-Fi on your K3 may take a bit of tech-savviness though, especially if someone other than you set up your router and put a password on your network. Other than that, you should be hooked up fairly quickly after a simple brushing up on the basics of wireless connectivity.THE BADS:Memory Card Slot Axed-Some ebook/media hoarders will be angry that the memory card slot was axed. 3,500 books is more than enough for me but I can certainly understand that my needs do not reflect everyone else's needs. Memory cards also serve as a nice physical backup of content as well. I even know of some folks who categorized their K1 books via memory card to compensate for the lack of the K2/K3 collections feature. While those who took the plunge to purchase the K2 got over the demolition of this nice feature, I still believe in the future Kindle generations to come, a memory card slot should return.Lackluster Web Browser-The web browser on the K3 is still on the sluggish side unlike the other speedy interfaces on the device. I never bought the K3 thinking I'd use it for web browsing but several people still desire a Swiss Army knife quality to their gadgets. Those who are picturing their decent Blackberry browsers, neat Iphone/Ipad browsers, or similar things will probably be disappointed upon looking at this. As I said earlier though, this was never a biggie to me and at the end of the day the most use the browser on the K3 will get from me is for emergency internet access.PDF Viewing Still Leaves Alot to Be Desired-While I do appreciate Amazon's efforts to correct PDF viewing on the Kindle, its still not simple and snappy enough to leave me satisfied. The zoom feature is utterly essential and does great in a pinch but the fact still remains, that if a PDF is not properly formatted for the Kindle, it will look terrible. Thankfully I am aware of the techniques to easily accomplish this task or if I'm lazy can email a file to Amazon to let them have a go at it. However, many out there who simply want a device where they can pop a file on it and be done with it, will be quite disappointed. Another grievance regarding PDF viewing is that auto-rotation, while present on the Kindle DX, is not included on the K3...meaning that you have to open up another menu when you want to view something in landscape.Still No ePub Support-Though there are several programs which can correct the pitfall of no ePub support on Kindles (Calibre or Mobipocket Creator for example), the fact still remains that there is no native support for ePub. Even with software solutions, DRMs can get in the way in which case there is no chance at all for you to convert your favorite ebook to Kindle format (legally that is). However, it may not be fair to point the finger at Amazon regarding this issue. Most of the e-readers on the market are limiting the format of books they can recognize to their own proprietary formats. At the end of the day, this "bad" can pretty much apply to most of the e-readers on the market in general.Unfortunately there is only so much that can be covered in a review and the K3 bears other numerous improvements that I did not mention (TTS integration, quieter page turns, longer battery life, etc.) At the end of the day, the breakdown above should generally give you an idea of what was done successfully or unsuccessfully on Amazon's newest Kindle. Whether you are still an eternal lover of the printed page or a K1 oldie hesitant to give up on a good thing, the K3 will improve your reading experience and then some.
I am reviewing the Kindle with keyboard & 3 G WiFi. I now have two of these devices & although the 2nd one does not seem to have as capable a 3G WiFi connectivity as my 1st one, I find these readers to be excellent.
Start-up is a cinch - just follow the easy instructions - its almost "out-of-the-box". If you get a second device, ALL your previous content is there; albeit in the archives.
Readability is another great aspect as you can set the font, size, spacing to suit yourself. I'm sure having a lighted cover is a bonus; but I've wracked up over 2,000 hours on my Kindles without one. And there is no glare - you have no problem on the beach or in your favourite backyard lounge.
Cover: I would strongly suggest a cover for your Kindle, if like me, you use it a lot &/or take it everywhere - cafes, the beach, your backyard. Protection from the elements as well as spills & minor drops. Oops...
Special Offers: My 1st Kindle came with the Special Offers; which, means I saved $50 & in sleep mode the face displays various ads for different products. These do not pop-up while reading & in no way interfer with your reading pleasure. Now my second one does not have Special Offers & in consequence, cost me more & comes with a variety of very attractive pictures (mostly authors) when my Kindle is in the sleep mode. In summary, I say save your money - you can buy books with the $50 & have the pleasure of them for naught.
Portability. Its remarkably lightweight - think of it - a whole library, 100's of books, weighing just over a 1/2 pound plus in a package smaller than a single paperback... At no other time has the world been able to access so much information & reading pleasure in such a small package.
3G WiFi: Well, I live in a remote area where regualr WiFi & cell phones have constant problems: days can pass where the connectivity is non-existent to sporadic. I can honestly say, that save for one or two very stormy days, I had no problem with my Kindle, either in downloading or using the Experimental option for Wikipedia & Google. And as I travel, I find it very convenient.
Travel: And yes, you can travel with your own personal library, anywhere in the world. I am a senior with terrible arthritis; ergo, I spend my winters far away from North American's cold, snow & ice: with 3G, I can access the Kindle store, Wikipedia and Google anywhere I choose to go: Europe, USA, Mexico. Previous to owning a Kindle, I had to pack books for my winter sojourn - at least 1/3 of my luggage was paperback books - I'm an avid reader & consequently was in constant search of places that carried, sold or exchanged novels to meet my reading needs. Now my Kindle has over 400 books on it & I'm never without a good read.
Cost. The initial cost is less than a dozen new hardbacks, 20 paperbacks; in other words, very reasonable. And the cost of adding books is up to you; I personally avail myself of the older books in the public domain that Amazon delivers to your Kindle at no cost. From this free selection, I have enjoyed such books as Arnold Bennett's "Anna with the High Hand", several cozy mysteries by Mary Rhinehart, G.K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie & Sir A. Conan Doyle as well as such unlikely reading as old-time camping guides, memoirs of homesteaders & cookbooks from bygone eras - so fascinating for anyone interested in human nature or for a self-proclaimed history buff. For a dollar or two, the list is unlimited: true some of these are self-published & one might wish the writer had done a better job at editing; but the looney bin includes such books as "The Stone Arrow", several George Orwells as well as Virginia Wolfe. Plus the treasures available for under $5 include: "1929", "Prodigal Summer", "The Maltese Falcon" & "Testimony". Some of these are classics, some written by well-known 21st century authors: all are great reads.
Research: And with 3G WiFi connectivity it gets even more impressive. It allows the questioning mind, the "Doubting Thomas" to do instant on-line searches and checks. For me, this is a great feature - I used to check encyclopedias, then I progressed to on-line searches & now, NOW its all-in-one. Its Kindle. Kindle allows you to order a book, read it, make notes, share your thoughts AND if the author mentions another book, article or idea, you can check it out immediately, either in ebooks, in Wikipedia or GOOGLE. Its tremendous - you do not need to make a note to look it up later - you can do it NOW.
This truly enhances the reading experience for me. You might think this was more for non-fiction books; but, it works for fiction as well where I like to verify historical references or the quotes so many authors like to place at the start of a chapter. Finish a book, want to check out further offerings from the same author, or genre - its easy with the drop-down menu to search & shop. Indeed, with the 3G WiFi, you can access the internet almost anywhere & anytime: it has truly revolutionized reading for me. As an example, I read NMO by A. Wieshaupt: in it there are references to the holy grail of King Authur lore as well as the travels & ideas of Helena Blavatsky. With my Kindle, I was able to download & read "King Arthur & His Knights" by M. R. Warren as well as relevant pieces by H. P. Blavatsky. Basically, without leaving my armchair, I accomplished in minutes what it would have taken hours, if not days, of library research. Of course, it took me a little over 3 hours to read the selected texts; but, what it added to my understanding, not to say my appreciation, of the text I was reading, was remarkable.
Battery Life: A quick word on battery-life: I generally re-charge my Kindle every other day & in my 15 month ownership & travels with my original Kindle, this has proved to be no problem as recharging takes 3 hours or less, & is usually accomplished while I sleep. I've bought foreign adaptors from Amazon & at airports; so again, no problem. (If you pre-plan, CTC sells adaptors for most countries at a great price.) And my original Kindle still takes & holds a charge after over 2,000 hours of usage.
Nook vs Kindle vs iPod: I have to say I liked the fact that Nook puts out their books with pages as opposed to percentage read, a very clumsy mode for this function. But, I am a Canadian & several months ago, B&N said they no longer processed out-of-country accounts - so there went that option. As to iPod, I do not have one, and I can only retell my brother's experience: not happy with the iPod's performance, he's going to buy a Kindle.
With the 3G, keyboard, huge selection of reading material, experimental internet options plus all of the above, I feel Amazon has put together an excellent package with its Kindle product.
Amazon: And finally, thanks Amazon for a great product as well as great books.
YES, the battery lasts*. YES, it is easy to use**. YES, it is worth every little dime.
I have laptops, have had Kindle for PC for a while, and am getting a 7" tablet for watching videos, and other color stuff - but for a book, I want as close to a book as I can get, (color/videos drain battery down to 2 hrs, iPad notwithstanding). I read too much, hours at a time and I need battery that lasts and lasts! On my laptops-- the backlights not only hurt your eyes, but damage them if you read as much as I do. The Kindle is so perfect - it is the first product that completely does what it is supposed to do, not spreading mediocre functionality to do everything, and does it top-notch.
I not only travel, but live in a small space. I no longer had room to store books, and the trouble of dropping them off, or going to library, and then when I would want to re-read a book later down the road, well, I had to stop my avid reading tendencies.
This solves all that for me, and much more I found! It is much easier to read than a paperback, much lighter, easier to turn pages, find where you left off (it does it for you in each book you start), and organizes them with Categories (called Collections**). Plus, I can search for words, look words up, and even make notes! All without paper, space, or extra effort of any kind. I can go to the doctor and bring all of my books, magazines, - it's worth it just for that convenience. When I read a series, if I'm missing one, I just buy it or re-download it from my Amazon storage, wow.
*To make the battery last: keep wifi off unless you are downloading. Also, it indexes EVERY word in books/mags you download for searching purposes, so when I can - if I order a new book, or even add one from my previous e-book collection - I generally leave the usb charger in while it is indexing new books. Indexing and wifi use the battery heavily of course. They say to not let this type of battery go much below 25%, btw.
**To make Collections Alphabetical, (I see this comment often) - do this: use Symbols. Then sort by TITLE. I switch to sort by Most Recent when I want to get back to the book I was reading. When finished, I keep sorted by Title so that I can go down my categories to pick my next read.
Certain symbols stay on top of others, for example, my Category is (note the symbol in front, 1st one stays on top of the other types of Symbols) Order is ~(tilda), "(quote), (-paren, then [(whatever), and {, then <, then >.
~Personal Docs ~Reference ~Subscriptions " - I reserved, don't use yet ( - likewise, don't use yet, but know they go on top of the following if I need another TOP collection. [Biography & People [Classics [Mystery & Thrillers -I keep those that aren't in series yet, or fav author-I categorize them below. [Non-Fiction, Business {Alphabet Series, Sue Grafton (18) (using {for fav series am reading, it tells you how #) {Cat Who Series, Braun {Womens Murder Club, Patterson <Agatha Christie (<for authors by alpha order) <Lillian Braun (except Cat Who) <Sue Grafton (except Alphabet Series) So, it is very easy to get it into alpha order! I probably should have posted that in a forum instead.
Other great feature is search. Just start typing and it brings up in relevant order, so you can quickly find what you are looking for if, like me, you already have almost 1,000 books in your new kindle; not all of them in Collections yet!!!
Also - was able to convert (or even with mobi, just slide into my kindle), all my previous e-book collections I had on my laptop. Well, not done yet, I have over 3,000 books. And I've purchased some new bestsellers that downloaded so quickly, I'm afraid I'll be buying more books now that I can get the next in a series immediately like this.
I will now only have books for coffee table, huge picture reference books. I can read anything on the kindle that I was reading before, and can save 1,000's of trees. Paperbacks can be for kindling :)
It is truly is so very lightweight, I can read with either hand, lay it down to do something and keep reading, and I'm so thankful that Amazon put their focus 100% on a "reader".
I also LOVE the experimental browser, as I like to look up authors (& other stuff!) on Wikipedia, make a quick check of my gmail & yahoo mail accounts, or google maps on occasion. I also read blogs and other web pages on it with some minor learning to work things without a mouse.
I had no idea how much I would like it until I got it last week for my birthday, have wanted it for 3 years. I have friends that have previous version, they love, but this one was worth waiting for in my opinion. I don't care how much they add to future models, this is exactly what I wanted and needed, couldn't ask for more. And at this price, I'm buying one for several family members for Christmas. If you are a reader, I think you'll be thrilled with this product, even over the couple others (Nook). But do like I did, and read every single thing you can get your hands on about them before you make your decision! I read about every e-reader, every 7" tablet for over 2 weeks hard work - then made the move to Kindle. I do not regret it one tiny little bit.