Thursday, July 14, 2011

Kindle 3

I've always loved books ever since college. Before that, I was just any normal teenager who would read teen novels like Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley series. When I was in high school I always wondered what it's like to hangout in the library. I think I tried once or twice but got intimidated by the studious people there. I knew I wasn't one of them and don't want to be thought as one. How small my world is back then. It's those times I just wanted to be invisible. In college I moved and boarded in Manila, became a little independent... and lonely as well. I guess that's when I found books to be a good and patient friend, always there waiting to entertain when you find yourself in between classes with nothing to do or when your roommates went home to their provinces during the weekends. Of course I was eager to read novels than to study my texts back then. I even went to this cute little place in the mall. It's like a library but you have to pay for your membership and you can hangout there and drink coffee and tea. I love that little place and would go there during my free hours to read and to borrow books. When I started working that's when I started to buy books. It was a bit of a drag because most books aren't available in our country and you have to pre-order and wait for months. By this time the internet was already at full bloom so I know what are available in the market. Over the years I have come to buy less than five books a year because it was expensive. Of course I like watching movies as well and going out with friends so paying a small fortune for books is not a priority for me. And ebooks online doesn't interest me at all. I work on a PC all day and tire my eyes out so I don't want to spend my leisure reading time there as well. Until the Kindle came.

I was already hearing about e-readers but I thought they were the same as the tablets out there (iPad, Galaxy). Knowing that it's just a mini PC didn't entice me at all since it will hurt my eyes. It's only recently that a friend introduced me to the third generation Kindle. She told me it uses electronic ink so it won't hurt my eyes and will be like a real book. It also has Wi-Fi capabilities. I got interested but I didn't think of buying it at first. Then I realized I need something that has Wi-Fi so I can monitor my work wherever I go. I didn't want another cell phone. I still love my old pink one. The tablets are way expensive and useless for me. The Kindle was perfect. It's cheap, has Wi-Fi, it's an e-book reader and it's good looking. So, I bought my very first e-book reader. Now I have access to millions and millions of e-books now and they are so much cheaper than real books. I'm so happy!

So here's my Kindle 3. It's been with me for more than a month now and there's not a night I haven't slept without picking it up first to read. It's been a good companion and I don't have any reason to be bored anymore. I love its style and sleekness. I love the screensavers. I love the page turning buttons. I love the screen. It's any book lovers dream.

The Amazon Kindle box that was delivered to me

Opening the box. I already took out the Kindle and this is what's underneath
USB cable and electrical plug

The Kindle Third Generation

The current screensaver is the Hercules constellation

It's very light

Longer than a pen...

...but thinner than a pen

I've also ordered the Amazon Kindle Lighted Leather Cover as well. It's a bit expensive but it will be useful when I put my Kindle inside my bag for protection. The light inside the cover is so cute. It's very useful when there's a power outage or if you don't want to disturb your partner during his/her sleep.

Amazon Kindle Lighted Leather Cover box

Simple but tough

When you first open it there's an instruction booklet inside

Fitting my kindle in the cover using the metal hinges

My kindle with the leather cover

Leather cover with the light pulled out

When you wake up the Kindle you turn on the light as well

The light is pretty bright even on daylight

There's three LED light bulbs in there


I've also bought a silicon case to use when I'm at home only. It's great protection for your Kindle. I'm sure it'll absorb shock when you drop it. So far I haven't had an accident to test it yet and will not likely to do it on purpose. I tried putting an anti-glare screen protector as well but there were bubbles on it so I had to take it off. You cannot read with even the smallest bubbles. Many people say they like using the Kindle naked anyway since the screen is pretty tough and scratch resistant and putting screen protectors just add glare. The following pictures will show the silicone case as well as what the Kindle looks like when in use.

Kindle with silicone case

Kindle at Home screen showing my book collections

Kindle at Home screen

Kindle while reading a book

Kindle while reading

The Kindle I bought is the one with special offers. It's cheaper but it will have ads on the screensaver and home screen when you register your Kindle at Amazon. The previous pics shows that I haven't registered yet and the pictures below will show what the ads look like after registration. The advertisements only shows in the screensaver and the home screen only and will not pop up while you're reading. I wouldn't mind the advertisements at all if only they were more artistic like the screensavers before registering. But I am interested in downloading the latest ads. I'm hoping they would make it prettier and more Kindle appropriate though. I think if they just put some classic art on it and put a text somewhere about their product I would love them (the sponsors) more for it.

Home screen with ads

Screensaver with ad

Screensaver with another ad

Screensaver with an automobile ad

Home screen with the automobile ad

Kindle with browsing capability

2 comments:

maishee said...

I badly need one too! I'll spend my hard earned savings on this.

marichan said...

I'm sure every cent is worth it :). I'm so happy with it and the thought of saving space and helping the trees is an added bonus.