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Kindle: A review

The screen of my old kindle finally gave up after working brilliantly for past two years. It was my first Kindle so it was a bit sad to see its demise. Maybe the device had some more life left if I had not been so careless. I had the lazy habit of leaving the wallpaper on for days at a stretch. Now the wallpaper has burned into half of the screen and rendered the device useless. Lesson learned: Never leave Kindle with the wallpaper for a long duration.

Anyway, I promptly ordered a new Kindle which was delivered just before Christmas. I went through the usual gamut of emotions on receiving any new gadget. Excitement. Satisfaction. Happiness. I promptly loaded the device with few books and began reading.

The first thing I noticed about my new Kindle was its weight. It was noticeably heavier than my old device. It was also thicker in size. Heavier and bulkier. I did miss my old Kindle for first few days but gradually I adjusted to the new form factor. The touchscreen is convenient for some purposes but is slightly tedious for turning pages. I missed the buttons in the old Kindle which were placed just below my thumb. A light press by my thumb would take me to the next or the previous page. With the touchscreen, I have to move  my finger on the display to change the page. And as I usually hold the device with my left hand its even more inconvenient.

But that inconvenience is compensated by the ease of looking up words in the dictionary. Unlike the old Kindle, I don't have to drag the cursor all the way to the specific word to lookup its meaning. Just a touch of my finger and I can can access the dictionary. Superbly convenient for a lazy bone like me.

You can compare the length of your books by looking at the dots below the title of each book. The more the dots, the lengthier is your book. The dots were more dark and legible in the old Kindle. In this device I have to squint and look more carefully to make out the dots. I wish they had made the dots a bit more visible.

I can't comment too much on the battery life at this time but it is pretty much the same as the old Kindle. Keep the airplane mode on and your device will last longer.

Reading experience is pretty much the same. Though Amazon claims that the display is sharper I didn't notice much difference between the old and the new. Both are excellent and a pleasure to read.

So who should purchase a Kindle?

Anyone who loves to read. Get a Kindle if don't mind giving up on the physical presence of your book in your hands for ease of reading. 

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