I wanted to finish reading my first book before I wrote a review of my 4th generation Kindle (basic edition). I read Max Barry’s Machine Man (review is on this blog). I really love my Kindle!

I’ve been an Apple guy since 1986. I love my iPad but I was intrigued by the Kindle’s tiny size and weight, especially when holding an eBook for a long time. I wanted to give it a try and for $79, it seemed like a good deal. If I bought some books and didn’t like the Kindle, I could still keep and read them on my iPad using the free Kindle app. All I’d be out was the $79.

Yes, I bought the one with Special Offers, i.e. ads. When in standby mode or on the home page, an ad is shown (full screen in standby, small banner on home page). Since e-ink requires ultra low power, these ads do not impact the battery life significantly. There are no ads while reading books. If you don’t want ads, you can pay $30, which is the price difference between the Special Offers Kindle and the unsubsidized one. It’s a Kindle menu option and the fee will be charged to your Amazon account. Note, there’s no physical difference in hardware or what’s on the Kindle’s exterior to say that it’s Special Offers or not. I don’t mind the ads right now, especially since I put my Kindle in a sleeve when I’m not using it. Maybe I’ll get rid of them, but for now, that $30 can be put toward new books to read.

I have read 13 books on my iPad, five of which were fiction. I used the iBooks app. I take many notes when reading nonfiction and I really enjoy the iPad’s interface to create them. I don’t take many notes with fiction … unless it’s Steinbeck. I mostly limit myself to highlighting sections that I found fun or want to remember.

Since I bought the basic edition Kindle, the only keyboard is one that you have to use a five-position button to select each letter. Thus, there is no easy note typing or searching. However, the highlighting on the Kindle is cleaner than on the iPad, in both highlighting and reviewing later. On the iPad, I find it hard sometimes to set the start and end of the highlight. It’s almost impossible if the highlight extends to the next (not visible) page. On the Kindle, you click twice and then use the button to select words or lines of text. It inverts the text as you go, so you can see your progress. Click twice to end the highlight, and you’re done.

I love the display’s Pearl E-Ink. It’s weird not having a backlit screen but the clarity of the print is amazing. You need light to read a Kindle, so reading in bed without any lights won’t work anymore. But, the eye strain is less with reflected light. I even took out a magnifying glass to check out the text and it was beautiful, no pixelation, crisp and clear like it came off a press.

The Kindle’s size made for easy reading. It was light, worked in either hand or on my lap and didn’t cause much fatigue. I did injure my middle finger once due to how I gripped the device. In order to use just one hand to do page turns and hold the device, I held the Kindle with my middle finger hyperextended away from my thumb. That strain caused me a little discomfort for a day or two, but it went away once I changed how I held and used the device. Important safety tip, thanks Egon.

Overall, I really like the Kindle as an e-Reader. I will qualify that by saying the Kindle is best served for my reading fiction. I will stick with the iPad for nonfiction as I require a better interface for taking notes. The other Kindles (Touch and Fire) are such poor imitations of Apple’s iPad that I would never consider nor recommend getting one of those. If you want a small, portable reader (yeah, even I tried putting it in my jeans pocket and it fit!), you can’t lose with a basic Kindle.