The Big e-Reader Decision :: New Amazon Kindles

Amazon just released it's new line of Kindles today! I have been anxiously awaiting this announcement for months now because I think the Kindle is the e-Reader I'd like to purchase. Plus, this would mean that I could finally the galleys that I get from NetGalley directly instead of on my computer.

An exciting piece of news is that you can borrow books from your public library directly onto your Kindle now! As long as it is a U.S. library that offers digital services from OverDrive, you can borrow books right onto your Kindle. Yay! You can read more about it here.

Please check out Amazon's website for all the quick tour videos. If you pre-order it now, it will start shipping in November. Right in time for Christmas! :)

Disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert BY ANY MEANS about e-Readers, especially considering how indecisive I've been about it for over a year now. These are just my thoughts and the information that I've gathered from digging through Amazon's website.

Here are some of the interesting features about the new Kindles:

Kindle e-Reader with Wi-Fi, 6"display

 

This model looks like Amazon's response to Barnes and Nobles' latest NOOK because it has very similar specs - 6 inches and e-ink screen. Amazon is touting is as the smallest, lightest Kindle ever. With special offers (aka ads) it is $79 and without it, it is $109.

• Battery life: 1 month
• On-device storage: 2 GB storage space for 1,400 books
• Cloud storage: Unlimited for Amazon content (free!)
• Interface: 5-way controller 

My opinion: I like the idea of have a really small e-Reader because of the convenience of being able to carry it around and the really low price tag makes it quite enticing, but I think I'd like a bigger e-Reader. (Especially since I always carry around a huge purse full of random stuff anyway.)

Kindle Touchscreen e-Reader with Wi-Fi / 3G, 6" E-Ink Display

Touchscreen! YAY! Everything is touchscreen nowadays and every time I've had the Kindle in my hands before, I would find myself poking at the screen even though it wouldn't do anything. I'm so used to using my iPhone that it's hard to have a huge screen that you can't poke around at. :)

• Wi-Fi: With special offers, this one costs $99 and without, $139
• 3G: With special offers, $149 and without, $189. (No monthly fees!)
• Battery life: 2 months
• On-device storage: 4 GB storage space for 3,000 books
• Cloud storage: Unlimited for Amazon content (free)
• Interface: multi-touch

My opinion: The Wi-Fi one would probably be the right one for me because I don't travel very often and don't really need the 3G capabilities. I'm a mama of a young little girl, so we stick closer to home nowadays. The size would be closer to the size of an actual book and I think that would suit me very well.
 

Kindle Fire

THIS is the tablet that everyone has been speculating about for a long, long time. The only thing that Barnes and Noble and Apple had on top of Amazon was the color tablet. Well, it looks like Amazon has their response! Amazon is raving about it's ultra-fast web browsing capabilities via Amazon Silk because of it's fast, dual-core processor. And unfortunately for Apple, Amazon Silk supports Adobe's Flash Player. Apple and Adobe need to make up already! This one costs way less than the Apple iPad and the NOOKColor at $199.

• Battery life: 8 hours continuous reading, 7.5 hours video playback
• On-device storage: 8 GB storage space for 80 apps, 10 movies, 800 songs or 6,000 books
• Cloud storage: Unlimited for Amazon content (free)
  
• Interface: multi-touch

My opinion: I can't seem to escape the lure of the color tablets. I mean, who wouldn't want all those capabilities between their fingers to play with? You could read, listen to music, play games, check your email, flip through full-color magazines, browse the web, and/or watch a TV show or movie! The lure is very, very powerful. My hubby keeps telling me that if I had a tablet, I wouldn't read on it. I hate to say it, but he's right. I'd probably be busy late at night playing Angry Birds instead of reading because I often find myself doing that with my iPhone already. (Even though in my defense, the iPhone is way too small to read on. hehe) I'm hoping that if I had an e-Reader that could only be used to read books, then I'd just be able to read and not be lured away by the games and movies. I do think it'd be cool to be able to read the full-color magazines though. Indecision at it's best (worst)!


Overall, this new line of Kindles is very exciting for Amazon and the e-Reading world. I think I can finally tell the hubby what I want for Christmas. Hopefully I won't change my mind between now and then! :)