I love my Kindle

I waited almost 2 years to buy a Kindle.

But every time I tried to think of something I wanted more, I couldn't. Finally, with gift money I recieved from family for finishing my doctorate, I gave in and bought a 2nd generation Kindle with 3G access. I loved it so much and began plowing through book after book (I've read 30 or so in the last 8 months--much of it public domain material that cost me nada, zero, zilch, $0) that my wife bought a 3rd generation and we gave our freshman daughter one for Christmas. Our daughter's is a wi-fi version and I would recommend sticking with the more expensive 3G models.

I have always said, you get what you pay for and the 3G model is no exception. You can turn it off to save battery when you don't need to buy books. Turn it on when you want it. You don't have to hook it up via USB to a pc or find a McDonalds or Starbucks to get online to set it up or buy stuff you want.

Why the Kindle instead of the Nook? Amazon invented this type of eReader. I'm not saying the Nook isn't good, but they are touting their color version and you just don't need it. If you are strictly wanting to read text, the e-ink of the Kindle is unbelievable. It creates absolutely no eye strain whatsoever. The commercials that show you reading on the beach are a bit of a stretch...you can do it, but the "no glare" is true if you hold the Kindle at an angle from the sun. The screen is a matte plastic covering so you get a slight glare until you angle it. However, the iPad and the Nook have gloss plastic or glass screens, so glare is unavoidable. I'm not saying those are not good devices for those of you about to get offended...I am just saying that the Kindle is the best option if you strictly want 1,500 volumes of text available at your fingertips.

You can also register several Kindles in your name so they all contain the same books. If we'd have known this, I would have bought the other two Kindles under my account so we all had the same library. Oh well, hindsight and all. They simply would have been registered as Kevin's Kindle 1, Kevin's Kindle 2, and Kevin's Kindle 3. No biggie. But you can lend books under a limited basis. I think this will get better as the demand grows. The Nook might even be ahead in this area.

If you buy a Kindle, order a top quality cover at the same time to protect it. Our daughter sat on hers the 3rd day she had it. Cracked the screen and it was shot. Amazon offers a one-time replacement for half price during the 1st year. So, our daughter had to save her money up and replace it herself. I wasn't buying her another one. But we did buy her a cover. And we bought one for my wife and I too. Mine is a nice, black leather one that fold back nicely so I can still read with one hand.

I switch back and forth between my right and left hands. The reader is easily light enough to hold while using your thumb the navigate forward and backward in the book. It has a small joystick or arrow pad that lets you move a cursor around the screen. When it stops on a word, you get an instant definition of the word. You can add your own highlighters and notes as well.

Finally, you can send other ebooks to your Kindle through publishers like Smashwords just by sending them to your own Kindle email address that is created when you buy one. This is by far my favorite purchase for myself in years and years. I even started publishing my own series of short episodes for 7 to 14 year old kids called "Adam Powerhouse" on the free Kindle Direct Publishing platform just for kicks and grins.

Treat yourself and get a Kindle. Your brain deserves one.