If your significant other is a book geek, a GREAT gift idea would be an e-book reader.
In my case, I’ve been drooling over a Kindle for weeks.
So you can’t imagine how ecstatic I was when the Hubby gave me a Kindle for my birthday!
Sheer happiness!
The Un-Boxing – Kindle Wi-Fi
Best birthday gift ever! ;) I tried unwrapping it carefully but once I saw the trademark Kindle box, I just tore thru the wrappings!
Ooooooh. Preciousssss….!
I love their packaging! :) This “pull to open” thing made me feel like I was opening a box of cereal.
B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. I wanted the white one tho, but it was more expensive.
The Kindle Wi-Fi
The Kindle package: the e-book reader, USB cable and a quick start guide. The full manual is in the Kindle itself.
I really like that the USB cable came with its own plug so you can charge via a socket, unlike Apple products like the iPhone or iPods.
Firing it up! ;)
And for my first books, I uploaded the ‘A Song of Fire and Ice’ series by George R.R. Martin :)
Kindle Features
- New, High-Contrast E Ink Screen with Pearl Technology – 50% better contrast. The clearest text and sharpest images with latest E Ink Pearl display.
- Read in Bright Sunlight - Unlike LCD screens, Kindle’s screen reads like real paper, with no glare. Read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room.
- Lighter Than a Paperback – At only 8.5 ounces and 1/3 of an inch thin, Kindle is lighter than a paperback and thinner than a magazine.
- Holds 3,500 Books
- Battery Life of Up to Two Months – A single charge lasts up to two months with wireless off based upon a half-hour of daily reading time. If you read for one hour a day, you will get battery life of up to one month.
- Built-In Wi-Fi -Connect to Wi-Fi hotspots at home or on the road. Includes free Wi-Fi access at AT&T hotspots across the U.S.
- Quieter Page Turn Buttons – Quieter page turning means you won’t disturb your partner when you want to read all night.
- Share meaningful passages with friends and family with built-in Twitter and Facebook integration.
- Read-to-Me – With Text-to-Speech, Kindle can read English-language content out loud to you.
Kindle Accessories
The hubby got me a cover for the Kindle, too! He wanted to get me the cover with the built-in reading light. Well, he thought he did but apparently, he made a mistake and mis-clicked while he was ordering. He ended up getting me the basic cover without the reading light.
But it’s okay though, because if I were going to order the cover myself, I would have gotten the one without the reading light. I would rather get an external, separate reading light because I don’t want to stress over looking for a replacement for the built-in reading light of the Kindle cover when it burns out.
At least with an external reading light, I can just buy a new one.
Hot pink! Good choice! ;)
The Verdict
There are a number of e-book readers out there in the market. But I like the Kindle for the following reasons:
1. It’s affordable at a low price of $114. ($139 if you’re going to have it shipped straight to the Philippines, as the $114 version is only for US bought Kindles)
2. There are a lot more Kindle accessories to choose from.
3. Most of my friends are Kindle owners. I have an instant support group if I need to ask for Kindle tips.
It’s so easy for me to read my e-books now. I used to read e-books on my laptop. But that limits me to sitting down in front of my desk. I would occasionally read on my iPod Touch with the iBook app, but with the tiny screen and even tinier fonts, my eyes would end up hurting after reading for a long period of time.
Now with the Kindle, I can read in bed (everywhere, actually!)… for hours, without my eyes hurting!
It takes a while to get used to the Kindle though if you’re used to using a tablet or any touchscreen gadget. It felt a little disorienting using buttons to navigate through the kindle. Once or twice, I actually tried to ‘swipe’ the screen to turn a page, hehe.
But other than that, I am immensely enjoying my Kindle! :) It’s turning out to be one of my favorite gadgets. A gadget I would always carry around ;)
I can’t say the same for the Hubby and Nachos, though! ;)
For those wanting to buy a Kindle, you don’t have to worry about how you’re going to buy it from the U.S. since they ship directly to the Philippines! :)
Link: Buy a Kindle
Congrats on the new toy, Lia.
I’ve been eyeing on one too, vs the iPad. Hehe. How annoying is the sponsored screen saver?
Hey Mark! ;)
I haven’t seen a single ad actually. I think it only comes up when you go online on your Kindle via Wi Fi. I haven’t used the Wi-Fi feature yet and I don’t think I have any plans to. I use an app on my Mac to convert and upload my ebooks to the Kindle :D
That’s good. Do share how annoying it is when you encounter it – If it’s worth the $25 difference. Haha! :)
They do have sponsored ads for discounted Amazon gift cards. Might be worth the savings. Hehe. Damn, why didn’t this come out when I bought mine?!
Hey Haze! I thought you got the same one? :)
Naw, bought mine in December, before they came out with the ad-sponsored Kindle. :)
hahaha ang kulit ng itsura ni nachos. can you really upload your pirated ebooks there? just convert them to amz format? i really am contemplating with an ebook reader pero with an ipad and an ipod touch. parang too much na.
Calvs, yup you can! :) There are a number of apps out there that can covert e-books into any format and upload it to your device :)
I use Calibre :)
Hmmm, if you have an iPad parang redundant nga :P
i tried going to the amazon website, ang sabi yung $139 na kindle lang ang ni-ship to the philippines.
Hi Emelye, thanks for the heads up!
My hubby had my Kindle hand carried home by my Tita so he was able to have it delivered to a US address. You can do the same if you know anyone coming home from the States :)
Additional $25 isn’t so bad though :) I was willing to pay that when I thought I was going to buy the Kindle for myself :)
Actually, Apple products come with their own socket too. At least the iPhone and iPad do. It’s only for the iPod where you have to buy a separate socket.
Oh, so this is the one with ads/special offers? I am gonna get myself a Kindle too but I still am on the fence about whether to get the one with special offers or pay the extra (so to speak) for the ad-free one. But seeing from your review that the ads seem not a bother at all, I may just go for the one with the special offers and save myself a thousand bucks in the process. I am getting a Kindle from a reseller though, not directly from Amazon.
Hi Nathalie! As long as you don’t activate the ads (by making an Amazon account and connecting via WiFi), you won’t see them at all. In any case, you can always hack it :)
I just got my Kindle, and contrary to your advice I did register it with Amazon. Haha. Actually the ads are not a bother at all, I hardly notice them. As for the special offers screen savers, I think they actually are quite interesting and don’t look too bad either. =)
Hi. Did your husband pay any custom dutirs when your kindle was shipped here? Thanks!
I meant custom duties. Thanks again.
Hi Lethel, my husband had my kindle brought home by a relative. But I have friends who ordered straight from Amazon and they didn’t have to pay extra for customs. The shipping fee they paid for was all in already, and it’s going to be delivered straight to your door step. If you’re iffy about it, you can try checking out sulit.com.ph for local Kindle resellers :)