"Jon Anderson" wrote in message
...
My interest in the Amazon Kindle went up greatly when I read it will hold
up to 3500 ebooks. Now I'm not sure yet how many it'll hold in PDF format,
but dang, to have a few hundred technical reference books available in a
heartbeat...


There is a catch, however, and that is that the interface when reading PDF
files is clumsy and slow. One page per screen (small screen) is way too
small, so you have to enlarge it into four windows which don't scroll.
It -works- (after a fashion) and is infinitely better than
not-having-the-manual-at-all, but it is a frustrating interface if you're
used to using a PC or an iPad.

Saw one at Staples the other day, and it was so thin, I thought at first
it was a cardboard facsimile until I noticed the power cord. Really a
slick looking unit. I've put it at the top of my wish list for
Christmas...

As light as cardboard, too...

....and hats off, too, to Amazon's very sensisble approach to repairs under
warranty. I dropped mine and broke the screen. My fault entirely. They
replaced it, free of charge, *almost* no-questions-asked, within a week (to
*Australia*!) I'm now using the new one, and am just about to post the
broken one back to them. (Note the order of operations.)

Obviously the sale of ebooks is more important to them than the hardware -
and good thing too.

Another thing - the Kindle screen is drop-dead gorgeous. It really looks
like printed paper. I have the small Kindle (for portability) and will
definitely be getting a big one (for reading convenience). I love my iPad,
too, but the Kindle wins hands-down for reading clarity and portability (not
to mention $$$).

Oh - the user interface (including "go-to") is utter crap, but I spend most
of the time reading and turning pages, not flicking and re-sizing and
browsing.

--
Jeff R.




Jon