Andrew Hyde lives in Boulder, Colorado and travels frequently.

Kindle 2 Review and Unboxing

So I won a Kindle 2 the other day from Yonkly (check them out, I owe them a big one).

I’ve used it for two weeks now, and I am just blown away by it.

First off, a good old fashion unboxing:

Alright, now the good.

  • Wisperlight network gives your internet access anywhere.
  • You can email .pdf’s to a special email and it will appear on your kindle
  • It can play music (great for reading)
  • The screen is awesome
  • Fun to read / can read at a good pace
  • Battery life is fantastic (first charge lasted 9 days of reading)
  • Screen saver is really quite cool
  • Amazing selection of books you can wirelessly buy

The bad:

  • Wisperlight charges for the .pdf conversion (not much, but it isn’t clear that it is going to charge you)
  • I don’t get charging for the blogs
  • The browser is a hybrid mobile / real and is something I can’t use very often
  • The keyboard isn’t for me, hard to type, not that you need to a lot

Amazon just dropped the price to $299, pick one up, I love mine!

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16 responses to “Kindle 2 Review and Unboxing”

  1. Showtunes Avatar
    Showtunes

    Hey Andrew,

    I purchased a Kindle 2 about 3 months ago and I too love it. When it comes right down to it though the Kindle 2 is great for one thing, reading. The other options including music, browser and typing are just not really that handy or easy. The one surprising useful feature is being able to make annotations while reading. And after purchasing my Kindle 2 Amazon added an automatic feature to send your annotations to Amazon for safe keeping and reference about a month ago.

    It sure would be nice after reading a book to be able to send it or at least a preview of the book to other friends from the Kindle 2. Not being able to share is a real drag.

    Have fun –

    Kevin
    @showtunes

  2. Showtunes Avatar
    Showtunes

    p.s. What are you using to film the unboxing?

  3. Joe Avatar
    Joe

    I have converted quite a few .pdf's and have never been charged. I almost wonder if they're waiting until I have something like $10 in charges to go ahead and charge me.

    For just plain reading books, I love my Kindle 1!

  4. andrewhyde Avatar
    andrewhyde

    I got an almost instant bill for $.60 the one time I did the conversion by email.

    There are free ways if you don't use their cell network.

  5. andrewhyde Avatar
    andrewhyde

    5d mark ii

  6. andrewhyde Avatar
    andrewhyde

    Yeah, I've been really impressed with how much I want to read now… very cool.

  7. Justin Thorp Avatar
    Justin Thorp

    Yeah dude, I love mine. Buy samples of books has saved me so much money. Where before I would have just bought the book and not read it. Now I just grab the sample.

  8. Joe Avatar
    Joe

    Hmm, odd. I wonder if it's a Kindle 2 thing versus a Kindle 1 thing. Or maybe I am just really fortunate? 😉 I can start charging $.05 for conversions and make a fortune!

  9. Andrys Avatar
    Andrys

    Hi, Andrew –

    You can send the pdfs or doc files to [you]@free.kindle.com instead and those will be free. That type goes as an attachment to your regular email that you use with Amazon.

    Then you download the attachment to your pc (or straight to the Kindle's 'documents' folder if you have attached the Kindle to your computer with the USB cable) and if you download it to your computer, you just move it over to the Kindle with the pc's Explorer or the Mac's Finder..

    That conversion and resend is done by Amazon at no charge.

    Otherwise if you instead have Amazon convert and send it direct to your Kindle, with the [you]@kindle.com address then you are charged 15c per file up to one megabyte and it costs another 15c for each additional megabyte, rounded up.

    Most non-illustrated books are under 1 meg though.

    Congratulations on the Kindle 2. I love mine too.

    – Andrys
    http://kindleworld.blogspot.com

  10. Andrys Avatar
    Andrys

    Andrew,
    Just wanted to add that I just watched your video, and it struck me that the unboxing ritual is fun because it reminds me of the anticipation at Xmas time when we were kids.

    Thanks,

    – Andrys

  11. Brennan Knotts Avatar
    Brennan Knotts

    Whenever I read a post about how much someone loves their Kindle, I'm always inclined to ask – have you tried reading on an iPhone or an iPod touch?

    Not only are you buying a device that's less expensive and more functional than a Kindle, but it turns out reading with one hand and reading in the dark are two features I never knew I always wanted. Plus, apps like Stanza offer more and better interactive features around search, word lookup, annotating, etc.

    eInk is cool, especially in direct sunlight, but it just isn't enough for me to believe that reading only devices are anything more than a necessary evil to get readers warmed up to digital books…

  12. andrewhyde Avatar
    andrewhyde

    I can read for about half an hour on my iphone, and three or four hours on my kindle.

    So much nicer on the eyes.

  13. Brennan Knotts Avatar
    Brennan Knotts

    I hear that response a lot, although I find it odd since I assume most people are like me and read hours upon hours a day on their computer screens, whether it's blogs, emails, word docs, etc.

  14. Brennan Knotts Avatar
    Brennan Knotts

    Whenever I read a post about how much someone loves their Kindle, I'm always inclined to ask – have you tried reading on an iPhone or an iPod touch?

    Not only are you buying a device that's less expensive and more functional than a Kindle, but it turns out reading with one hand and reading in the dark are two features I never knew I always wanted. Plus, apps like Stanza offer more and better interactive features around search, word lookup, annotating, etc.

    eInk is cool, especially in direct sunlight, but it just isn't enough for me to believe that reading only devices are anything more than a necessary evil to get readers warmed up to digital books…

  15. andrewhyde Avatar
    andrewhyde

    I can read for about half an hour on my iphone, and three or four hours on my kindle.

    So much nicer on the eyes.

  16. Brennan Knotts Avatar
    Brennan Knotts

    I hear that response a lot, although I find it odd since I assume most people are like me and read hours upon hours a day on their computer screens, whether it's blogs, emails, word docs, etc.

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