Inspired by a suggestion by my dear friend Sorshanik (and her review) I am here to review my own experiences with the Kindle Touch. So let's look at the Kindle Touch, and get my thoughts on it. Some of this I actually touched on a bit in my last post, but lets get to it.
First off, when I opened the box I wasn't at home. My aunt doesn't have internet--at all! It's odd, and a little refreshing being somewhere where there are no computers, etc, but I digress--so all I could really do was play around with the Oxford English Dictionary that was already installed. I was thrilled to have a copy of the OED! One of the most amazing books I have ever read was The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary, so I was excited to have access to the OED!
While the dictionary is a great feature, I wanted to get home so I could download the books! The downloading speed was amazing. I was frightened at the prospect of having to download all of the 80-something free books I decided on when I learned that my Kindle was coming. However, when I turned it on and synced it, the downloading process was fast and pretty smooth. I think I said it took a half hour or so. It may have, or it may have just been me being too excited to wait.
The touch-screen interface is incredibly simple to use. The on-screen keyboard is nice, and responsive. You can drag your finger upward or downward to scroll through the pages on the home screen. For turning pages within one of the books, a tap anywhere beyond a quarter of the screen on the left side (imagine the screen divided into four vertical strips) advances the book by a page. A tap in that left-hand quarter of the screen reverses the book by a page. If you tap the top right corner, the page dog-ears (which I NEVER do in a real book). A tap at the very top of the screen brings up the menu, if you need help.
You can also put your finger on a word you might not know, and hold it there. This will bring up the Oxford English Dictionary's definition! Or you can just drag your finger over a passage to highlight it--you can share it with Facebook and Twitter, too! I find this very interesting, but have yet to use it. I imagine, if I left Wi-Fi on (which I do not, to conserve battery life) I would be sharing passages left and right.
As for battery life, the Kindle Touch arrived with about half power. The downloading process drained it a bit, but I did have quite a few books to download. It's still, more or less, on that same half charge that it had when I opened it up. It doesn't seem to be draining at all. I know the battery-life (with Wi-Fi off) is two months. I am going to see how long it takes for this to get low enough to where I have to charge it!
I know I have mentioned everything but how it is to read it. Well, honestly, it's just like looking at a page in a book. The plus side to the Kindle (and the touch, in this case) is not having to turn pages/lose your place in a book. You can hold it with one hand and read without issue. It's incredibly light, and some hardcover books (I am looking at you A Song of Ice and Fire) are damned heavy. All-in-all I am incredibly pleased with it!
I keep saying it in reference to my Kindle Touch. It is most decidedly a he. And he has a name now. I know it's strange to name one's electronics, but I don't think it's any different than someone naming a car. I don't have names for all my electronics, though. My TV doesn't have a name... Nor does my DVD player. I named my Nintendo DSi (his name is Sir Basil Ravensdale III and he has a grey mustache!), and I have named my Kindle. The Kindle's name is Fitzwilliam, after Mr.Darcy from Pride and Prejudice.
Ooooooo!! Fitzwilliam!!!! I'm so excited. Constance is so happy to hear there's a name to your new electronic play toy...ok, she's not but I am. LOL I named my first flat screen LCD in our livingroom (Buck), my iPod Nano (Little Boy Blue), my last laptop (Roja) and now my new laptop (Dom). But that's it. I feel some things call out for a name. I hope you and Fitzwillian enjoy years of happiness in the literary sense.
ReplyDeleteI agree that once you play around with your Touch a bit, it's all very simple to manage. Have you downloaded from your Touch AND from Amazon "One Click" download? If so, which do you prefer and why? If not, try both and let me know. I was impresed how fast it was from the Touch, but admit I do most of my downloading from Amazon.com on Dom.
Also reading from it is awesome, I agree. Like reading from a page in a book, but a book that is light as can be and not cumbersome like some large books I own (Hardback anthologies are HARSH on my wrists!). I LOVE LOVE LOVE the dog ear ability. I found it by mistake and have enjoyed it since then. Especially since everyone wants to check Constance out to see if they want a Touch. It saves my spot when she's being felt up. I appreciate that.
We shall pick a classic book at some point and read it together. Perhaps every few months, like quarterly. You will be able to do that once you are out of college! We can invite @Kang72 to join...she has a Kindle Keyboard and loves classics. ;-)
I really haven't named anything else because I cannot think of names. I need to name my MP3 player, though. It's a Sandisk Sansa, and I will NOT have it named after Sansa Stark! ;P I have yet to download anything from Fitzwilliam himself. I will have to try it out and see how quick it is! YES! We should definitely do that. After graduation I have a couple books I want to read (that I own)then we can move on to the Kindle Book Club! :D
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