Kindle 3

 

SUMMARY

Pros: Thinner, scaled-down design compared to the prior Kindles; enhanced display with greater contrast in addition to quicker page turns; native PDF support; significant collection of e-books, newsprint, publications, and blogs by way of Amazon’s well known webstore.

There is wireless entry to Amazon’s website and also a  key pad for annotations and notes.  The Kindle 3 also comes with 4 Gigabytes of of memory space,  which is ideal for holding 3,500 ebooks.  Also, there are eight different fonts that are offered, as well as a couple of  extra-large sizes for easy reading.  The outstanding battery life is great and the device also shows picture files, and runs MP3 and AAC audio files.

Cons: There is no expansion slot for upgrading more memory. Plus there is no support for EPUB book files.  There isn’t a protective travel case included.  The battery pack is enclosed in the Kindle and is not removable by users..

Overview: The  Kindle 3′s successful mixture of significant improvements: an enhanced display, greater life of the battery, lighter in weight, and reduced price raises the kindle to the top of the e-book readers that are available out there.

DETAILS

Size
Amazon’s Kindle is slimmer and more compact than the previous design.  I didn’t mind the size of the Kindle 2 at all, but  some people always feel that smaller is better.  I believe comfort and not smaller size is necessary for a successful product.  If it gets to small, there is a chance that will affect durability and even mess with ergonomics.  But the Kindle fits perfectly in my hands.

Screen
Amazon has been touting a higher contrast on the kindle 3 and it really shows.  I cannot confirm the 50% more than they claim but there is a large enough a difference to mention.  In low light and bright light conditions the kindle is very easy to read as compared to its predecessor. There was no glare issues in bright lighting conditions either.

Speed
The Kindle is quite a bit faster compared to the other eReaders on the market. When I say faster I mean turning the pages and the refresh is much faster than previous generations and also competition that I have looked at. Cursor response in selecting new titles was also a delight.  I mean we’re not talking blazing speeds but something where the lag is not noticeable.

Storage
4GB of storage space will allow Kindler users to hold over 3500 books onboard.  I may read 3-5 books a month so I think that is sufficient for most fanatics.  You can even store images and music files though that would eat quite a bit into the memory.  But for whatever reason Amazon does not provide EPUB support and neither does it allow for memory expansion with some sort of slot allowing for memory cards.  A basic expansion slot would help for the other media that users might want to keep separate from books in the storage space.

Battery life
Battery life is improved over something that I already thought was great.  I think I get about 2 weeks between charges and that is with the wifi on constantly.  I could see me getting about 3 weeks with the wifi turned off, but I like shopping for new titles so its always on.

A problem I have is that the batteries are not replaceable in the kindle.  I think you have to ship them your kindle and wait for them to resend you a new one.  Why Amazon doesn’t just let us change out our own batteries is beyond me. I have yet to use this one to the end of battery life but if I were to pass this down to my kids the battery would have to be replaced, and I just would not be able to do it.

Weight
The kindle is lighter than its competitors.  I don’t get the arm fatigue that is present with some heavier competitors like the iPad. I only mention this for those that may have disabilities like arthritis.  Cases all seem to add unnecessary weight to ereaders but even with my light weight case I thought this Kindle 3 was enjoyably light.

KINDLE SPECIFICATIONS

    Manufacturer: Amazon

General
Built-in devices Display,Speaker(s), Keyboard
Dimensions (W x D x H) 4.8 in x 0.335 in x 7.5 in
Weight 8.7 oz
Features Text-to-speech, Paper-like display, Built-in dictionary, Glare-free screen,
Packaged contents Power adapter, USB 2.0 cable

Display
Display Type 6 in,
Monochrome E Ink
Resolution 600 x 800
Color Depth 4-bit (16 gray levels)

Memory
Flash Memory 4 GB Integrated
Total User Available Memory 3 GB

Communications
Wireless Broadband (WWAN) 3G
WWAN Protocols EDGE, GPRS, HSDPA
Wireless Connectivity 802.11b/g

Multimedia Functionality
Audio speaker(s)
Supported Digital Audio Formats MP3

EBook Reader
Supported Text Formats AZW, HTML, PRC (Mobipocket), PDF, DOC, TXT
Supported Still Image Formats PNG, JPEG, BMP, GIF
Features Text-To-Speech capability

Power
Voltage Required AC 120/230 V
Recharge Time 4.5 hour(s)
Power supply device Power adapter

Input Device
Type Keyboard,
5-way navigation button

Expansion / Connectivity
Interfaces 1 x Hi-Speed USB,
1 x Headphones – Output – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm

Manufacturer Warranty
Service & Support 1 year warranty