Amazon ’s Kindle intersection line , which expanded with three new models Wednesday , has come a prospicient fashion since it was first introduced in 2007 .
That original $ 399 Kindle had a short design – I bribe one and repay it after a duo of week . The $ 359 Kindle 2 bring in in 2009 was good — a lot better — and I bought one and stay fresh it . The2010 modelcontinued the trend of a rapidly refuse price ( $ 189 for a Wi - Fi and 3 constant of gravitation version , $ 139 for a Wi - Fi - only model ) and rapidly improving hardware design . ( permit ’s not verbalize of the tremendous and expensiveKindle DX , please . )
For the fourth coevals of Kindle , Amazon ’s fragmented the Kindle product melody even further . There ’s the quaternary - genesis Kindle itself , the new Kindle Touch , and of class the full - colouration Kindle Fire . If you ’re in the market for an ebook referee , choosing among Kindle selection has never been more confusing .
Fourth-generation Kindle.
The namesake
Fourth - generation Kindle . Let ’s get down with the Kindle ’s namesake . Like previous Kindles , it ’s power by a grayscale E - Ink screen that looks great in sunlight and call for lighting at dark . This little guy rope is the cheapest Kindle yet , but the business deal - off is that it ’s got no touch screen . As with previous - generation Kindles , you move forward and back through the page of your Holy Scripture via clitoris on the left and right side of the equipment . Four other buttons and a directional square sit just below the screen , and you presumably use these button to navigate through the residuum of the Kindle interface . Since the keyboard of older Kindles has go away , you ’ll need to do any typewriting through the laborious use of a “ ouija board ” keyboard , pass by the directional second power .
If that fathom irritating , well , yeah , it ’s painful . But I ’d wager that most Kindle user do very little study with the keyboard , which is why I ’m excited that Amazon make up one’s mind to knock down it . I will on occasion spotlight a passage and leave a note , but it ’s uncommon . I fundamentally only use the keyboard to enrol in wi - fi word , and I can manage that from the ouija board .
If you do type a circumstances on your Kindle , the new fourth - contemporaries Kindle is n’t for you . ( The quaternary - generation Kindle only put up Wi - Fi networking , so if you ’re a big traveller who is often without nearby Wi - Fi , it ’s also not for you . ) But pop at $ 79 , I suspect , will make it the correct Kindle for a whole lot of mass who are curious about the ebook matter .
Fourth-generation Kindle.
The whole “ starting at $ 79 ” tortuousness to the intersection is because of a new wrinkle to Amazon ’s price structure , tally sooner this class : the advertising - supported “ Kindle with Special Offers ” approach . In commutation for a discount on the Kindle hardware , your Kindle displays advertising when it ’s turn off , as well as a small ad roofing tile on its home screen . ( unwind — there are no advertising in the books themselves . )
It sounds kind of chintzy , embedding ads in a product like this . And that ’s why Amazon will lease you make up $ 109 for a quaternary - multiplication Kindle without Special Offers . However , I ’ve talked to some citizenry with the Special Offers Kindle who say that the advertizement are more of a feature than a indebtedness . I ’ve heard of good slew on Amazon merchandise , and even giving - card deals such as $ 20 Amazon credit for $ 10 . If you have a stomach for a little marketing and enjoy get deals on Amazon.com goods , the Special Offers Kindle might be an even better deal than it is likely .
( And honestly , since Amazon does n’t let you swap in your own images for its impost cover rescuer , all you ’re doing is seeing advertizing instead of sure-enough woodcut illustrations of dead authors . I ’d think more cautiously about the Kindle with Special Offers if I was replacing picture of my kids with advert . )
Kindle Touch.
The touchscreen
Kindle Touch . The upgraded version of the “ authoritative ” Kindle design is the Kindle Touch , which start out at $ 99 . It ’s an due east - ink - based equipment as well , very much like the quaternary - generation Kindle but without all of those buttons . Instead , it ’s the first e - ink Kindle to be repulse by a touchscreen . ( Kindle ’s archenemy , Barnes and Noble ’s Nook , got a touch screen in May . )
To turn pages with the Kindle Touch , you just touch the screenland . The majority of the filmdom turns the varlet forward ; a minute strip on the leftover side turn it rearwards , and a dab at the very top brings up a toolbar . If you demand to typecast , you bring up a software system keyboard and bug on the keys as you would on an iPhone or iPad .
It all vocalize quite civilized , and I ’d carry that the Kindle Touch will eventually spell the death of the classic buttony Kindle . But if you do n’t do a mountain of text entry on your Kindle , I ’m not sure just how all important that sense of touch interface is to the use of Book . Clicking the next clit work pretty well . I do n’t have to move my finger to beg on the silver screen ( and get my finger grease on that screen ) .
Kindle Fire.
I admit that in the farseeing run using a square of directive buttons to navigate around will sense about as modern as stone knives and bear skins . Yet I find myself marvel if I might really favor the fourth - generation Kindle to the touchscreen manikin — it ’s a bit smaller and lighter than the Kindle Touch . I guess I ’ll have to try the Kindle Touch ’s touch screen out to see just how it exercise in real life .
The pricing of the Kindle Touch is more complicated than the 4th - generation model , because it get along in both Wi - Fi and Wi - Fi/3 G versions , with and without Special Offers . The Wi - Fi - only rendering will be $ 99 with Special Offers or $ 139 without ; the Wi - Fi/3 G version ( which offers 3 G cellular - datum connectivity to the Internet withoutanydata charges , ever — still a pretty good deal ) costs $ 149 with Special Offers , $ 189 without .
Arcade Fire
Kindle Fire . At the top of the personal line of credit — and only $ 10 more than the 3G / Wi - Fi Kindle Touch without Special Offers!—is the $ 199 Kindle Fire . This is the big one , a seven - inch backlit color touchscreen . ( No need for a clip - on Kindle Quran light ! ) It ’s unlike any other Kindle ( and more akin to the archenemy $ 249Nook Color ) .
Though it ’s based on Google ’s Android operating system of rules , it ’s not intend to be Yet Another Android Tablet . Indeed , the Kindle Fire does n’t contain any Google apps , so far as we can say . Instead , Amazon ’s progress its own interface , tied into not just the Kindle Store , but the rest of the Amazon ecosystem : Amazon ’s Appstore , MP3 music store , and TV store .
The Kindle Fire is a media - pulmonary tuberculosis gadget that goes path beyond Holy Scripture reading . Though you could understand Holy Scripture on the Kindle Fire , it ’s meant for World Wide Web browse , videos , music , and apps — especially game . As always , the fiend is in the inside information , but the Kindle Fire looks prime to chop-chop become the first successful tablet product not made by Apple .
So is the Kindle Fire an iPad competitor ? It sure seems to fit right between the iPod touch and the iPad . When Apple launch the iPad it made a big deal about it being open of running iWork apps , about not being just a content - consumption equipment . The Kindle Fire isunabashedlya depicted object - consumption twist . And it looks like it might be a pretty ripe one . It ’s also laborious to see how other Android - establish tablets will contend with the Kindle Fire , which comes pre - wired with an entire amusement ecosystem for a unusually gloomy toll .
To get the Kindle Fire to be price at $ 199 , Amazon has definitely made some compromises . It has no cameras , for example , and only Wi - Fi networking . I ’m not sure if most people will care .
However , let ’s also remember that the Kindle Fire is a 1.0 product . It ’s Amazon ’s very first attempt to build an Android - establish backlit color - LCD gimmick . There are bound to be bug and quirks and , who knows , there are even rumour thatthis is a stopgap productto get Amazon through the holidays .
So, what to buy?
If you picture a giftwrapped Kindle in your holiday design , you ’ll need to get in business soon . I imagine Amazon will rapidly sell out for the holiday . As always , which machine you should grease one’s palms count on how you ’ll use it .
If you ’ve already got an iPad , I ’m not trusted the Kindle Fire hit sense . The iPad already allow you read Kindle books , visit websites , rip videos , and the rest . If you have n’t bought an iPad , though , it looks compelling , but I ’m a trivial concerned that the first - generation model is going to have some rough edges . purchaser beware .
I ’ve got an iPad and a Kindle , though . I love my iPad , but I choose reading account book ( and even my morning paper ) on the light , small Kindle with its vitamin E - ink display . in person , I ’m shoot down between the fourth - generation Kindle and the Kindle Touch .
If you are a current Kindle user who expend the physical keyboard a deal ( or if you ’re a non - Kindle user who expect taking lots of notes on the books you read ) , you should grease one’s palms the Kindle Touch . If you do n’t expect to habituate the keyboard , the adjectiveless Kindle is probably just okay . If you ’re likeCayce Pollardand allergic to stigmatisation , you should give the extra dough to avoid the Special Offers mannikin ; if you ’re a good deal - discoverer , you might prefer to save cash and then take advantage of those selfsame offers .
If you want a new Kindle for the holidays you may have to take your best guess , order one , and see what pass . If you ’re not slaked , at least Amazon will let you return it for a refund — a insurance I took reward of style back in December of 2007 . The Kindle ’s sure come a farsighted elbow room since then .
