Kindle Advice?

[Kev]

Some great advice Bilbo, much appreciated.

While watching tv last night the Ipad2 advert came on and the person using it was reading a book using it, I mentioned to her, that looks cool, trying to get a respose for the Kindle, she only turns round and says, "well thats pointless, I would much prefer to read the book itself, it takes away the pleasure of reading, the smell of the book, the turning of the page"

So im now in two minds about the Kindle

Trust me, everyone says that before using one. 10 minutes with one though and she will be completely converted. If you have Wi Fi at home I wouldn't bother with the 3G version and instead spend the extra money on a lighted leather cover. They are a bit pricey at £49 but they complete the effect and feel of it, and make it feel like a luxurious, leather hardback book.

The inside of the cover is a soft, carpeted material that feels really nice in the hand. I love lying on my sofa and reading. It's better than reading a book. You will soon notive several things you didn't realise annoyed about books that when you back to them will actually irritate you(or your gf).

Big books are heavy and cumbersome to lie down and hold. The pages curving is off putting a bit, once you get used to a static page on a kindle, and not having to manually turn the page each time.

If you don't like the font, or text size used you can change it with a couple of clicks, brilliant if you want larger text, or really small. If you don't understand the meaning of a word just move the cursor over it and the dictionary definition will come up automatcially. If you want to highlight a passage or make notes you can do that too.

The kindle remembers where you are in the book so you can switch between books and never lose your place.

It has a cool search function so if you are reading a novel and a character gets introduced that you know was mentioned earlier but want to refresh your memory just search for their name and you can go back and reread those bits, and then just go right back to where you were, as the Kindle will never lose your place.

It's like the difference between using a word processor vs an old typewriter, it's great.

Real books will still always have their place. Any lavishly illustrated, or coffee table type books I'd always rather have the real thing and I still buy such books. But for paperback novels and books that are soley text, the reading experience is far superior on the Kindle.

You aren't losing anything, and with the cover on it still feels like a book, and a really luxurious one at that. The kindle on it's own feels a little clipboardish but with a nice case it really is the shit.