recently I became the proud owner of a kindle touch. Yay! I have wanted a kindle for years but something else always took priority. Its not as if I neeeeded it or anything but with the recent price cuts I decided it was time to treat myself.
Since there are so many kindles out it took me a while to decide which one I wanted. I am usually a fan of a keyboard, (still love my blackberry with keyboard) so I had planned on getting a kindle keyboard 3g until I read a review that included a comparison of a kindle keyboard and a kindle touch. I also went to target where they had both and played with them a little. To be honest, I don’t really remember why I decided to go with the kindle touch, but there were reasons! If you are also in a quandry on which to purchase, I advise you to check out the amazon reviews.
I went with the model that has wi-fi and special offers. I decided to go with wi-fi since in the above mentioned reviews, it was mentioned that the only thing you can use the 3g for is going to amazon and the kindle store. On previous versions you could use the free 3g to go on a slow-but-in-desperate-times-better-than-nothing, browser. I always wanted that but really I have my phone for that and i don’t travel much…sadly… Along with this feature, the 3g also adds weight. Not much but its enough for something I probably wouldn’t ever use.
I should say that holding the kindle touch is nice. it is lighter than an average paperback. This is nice for someone who mostly reads in bed. I cannot tell you how many times I have been rudely awakened by a book falling onto my chest/face. Not the most pleasant way of being woken up.
I wasn’t going to get the kindle with special offers either until I read about them in the same reviews. I had not previously realized that the ads, which are really just stationary coupons as they do not flash or move, are not visible when you read. There is a small ad on the bottom of the “home” screen and then if you want to view the rest of the offers, which you will, you click on menu and then go to special offers.
I am now quite addicted to looking at the special offers. I have woken up and noticed my kindle and turned it on to see if there were new offers. They automatically download to the kindle when it is connected to wifi. Some of the offers I’ve seen in the month since I’ve owned it are:
a mystery book from a selection of about 100 books for $1
a free audiobook of Rob Lowe’s autobiography (Who doesn’t like Rob Lowe?)
Some groupon type deals on hotels, giftbaskets, etc.
Ads for movies
Amazon coupons for things unrelated to books
Also, a big decision for me in purchasing the special offers kindle was that if you decide you no longer want the special offers, you can pay $40 and “upgrade” to the ad-free version. This is the same amount you would have paid to have the ads free version in the first place. So why not try it, eh?
When I was purchasing my kindle an offer popped up from audible.com stating you could get the kindle touch for free if you signed up for their gold program for 1 year. I believe this program was 15 bucks a month. I did the math and finally decided not to sign up for this program. I think that with this program you were able to get one “free” audio book per month, and really I get all my audiobooks free from the library anyway, and there hasn’t been one yet that I’ve been compelled to listen to again so why would I need to own them? However, if you are thinking of buying a kindle and do purchase audiobooks this might be a good deal for you.
Lastly, a little bit about amazon. I am addicted. Whatever. I am a Prime, student, member although i am currently receiving a free 1 month real deal prime membership since I also purchased a kindle fire for my son for Christmas. Theres some free streaming movies and you can borrow one kindle book a month with the real prime membership versus my freebie prime student membership but I haven’t used any of these benefits.
I did almost all of my Christmas shopping on Amazon this year. I ordered a few things from best buy online for store pickup since I am cheap and refuse to pay for shipping except in dire circumstances. But really other than that and some things I picked up at Target while I was doing my normal shopping, it was amazon all the way. I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to shop this way. it is cheaper and you get this lovely pile of brown packages* delivered to your doorstep, for free!
*My dog often wonders why I don’t feel the same excitement for the presents he leaves but we are working on this.
A Runaway Tale 