Amazon Kindle 2 Review

Posted by Jennifer Wang On March - 7 - 2009 5 COMMENTS

The Kindle 2 was released by Amazon on Feb 23, 2024 and has many improvements over the original Kindle.Amazon Kindle 2

These improvements include:

  • Better battery life
  • 20% faster page refresh speed
  • Text-to-speech
  • Thickness reduced from 0.8 to 0.36 inches
  • Storage; can hold 1500 books compared to 200

Details:

Type Candybar e-book reader
Capacity 2 GB
CPU 532 MHz
Display
6″ diagonal
Weight
289 g
File Formats Kindle (AZW), TXT, AAX, MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC, PDF, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP

The Kindle 2 would be suitable for you, if:

  1. You commute to work on a train or bus and enjoy spending time reading
  2. You travel a lot and are fed up with having to purchase printed books at the airport (not to mention how much space they take up)
  3. You just plain read a lot of books!
  4. You’re a student and want to save money on textbooks (who wouldn’t? )

Various opinions from Amazon users:

Ben C. Hobson - I love reading the newspaper every day, but reporters love to push the boundaries of our vocabularies, but the Kindle 2 dictionary is right there to keep us reading, and make sure we know exactly what we are reading so we don’t misinterpret anything. The improved dictionary lookup is amazing.

Gadget Queen - I have a tremendous volume of Kindle content (public domain and Amazon). I discovered that I could not directly transfer from my computer backup for Kindle 1 to the new K2 (why my backup is on the computer is addressed later in this review). All my content had to be reformatted by Amazon and re-downloaded from their site specifically for and to the Kindle 2 (I am NOT in a Whispernet area). Major pain. Major time-investment. Major inconvenience. Major turn-off.

Kacheek - Sleeker look and feel (it feels solid in your hands), sharper screen, no longer accidentally depressing the next page button by accident and having to find your place in the book again…you can read about these from various sources)
- Page loads are much faster. I can feel that the delay between pages is much less. Only issue is I need to recalibrate now-in general, I try to anticipate how much time it will take the next page to load, and when I’m two lines from the bottom, I would hit the next page button. Now I need to push the button later.
- Dictionary is improved. Now you can highlight a word and it automatically gives you a definition at the bottom of the screen.

I hope this review was helpful! I personally like reading as many reviews as I can before purchasing a product, so I’d recommend you find out more by reading Kindle 2 reviews at Amazon.

Rating:
1 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 101 vote, average: 8.00 out of 10 (1 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)
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Popularity: 22% [?]

Foxit eSlick Review

Posted by Jennifer Wang On January - 13 - 2009 1 COMMENT

Who the heck is Foxit, you may ask? Well, to those in the PDF world, they’re known as an Adobe competitor, having developed a lightweight PDF reader in 2007 which had a great reception and is still used by many. So they definitely have some “cred” when it comes to the ebooks arena.

Their first portable ebook reader is known as the Foxit eSlick and could be considered an entry level device due to its very affordable pricetag ($289), yet it still manages to offer users a great set of features.

Features of the eSlick

Design

  • e-Ink screen - Nothing unusual, pretty much every ebook reader uses this technology
  • Thin profile - A svelte 0.4 inches…nice!
  • Lightweight - 6.4 ounces (think 2 average sized cell phones)
  • Long battery life - A single charge lasts up to 8000 page turns (wow!)
  • Quick recharge - The battery can be recharged in only 3-4 hours
  • Internal memory - Only 128 mb, fairly weak compared to competitors (some offer > 2 GB)
  • External memory - An SD slot is available, so this gives you the option of adding up to 8 GB of dat
  • Colors - Available in white, grey, or black

Audio

  • Built in MP3 Player - You can transfer music to the eSlick via a USB port and listen while you read.

PDF

  • Create - The eSlick of course uses Foxit’s great PDF generation technology (their PDF Creator software is included) so you can convert and download many file formats
  • Zoom - You can easily zoom between 50-400%
  • Reflow - The font size can be controlled and text is automatically resized for optimal viewing

Price

  • Price - Hold the phone!! $289? No way! This is the cheapest ebook reader we’ve seen so far!

Summary

The Foxit eSlick is a very affordable ebook reader that offers all the bare essentials one would need to read electronic books. If you need all the fancy bells and whistles, such as Wi-Fi, a web browser, or “Read-To-Me”, the eSlick is likely not for you. But if you’re looking for a cheap (pricewise, not design!) electronic reading device that does everything most people require, or if you just want to dip your toes in the ebook reader pool…you should be quite content with the Foxit eSlick.

Rating:
1 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 101 vote, average: 7.00 out of 10 (1 votes, average: 7.00 out of 10)
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Popularity: 18% [?]

Sony Reader PRS-505 Review

Posted by Jim Swanson On October - 18 - 2008 ADD COMMENTS

SonyPRS505The Sony Reader PRS-505 was released by Sony on Oct 2, 2007. It has been a big success since, primarily because there hasn’t been a whole lot of competition.

Specs

  • Weight - 9 oz (250 g)
  • Thickness - 0.3″
  • Size – 6.9″ x 4.8″
  • Screen Size - 6″
  • Battery Life - 7500 page turns
  • Storage – 256 MB internal + MMC/SD/SDHC/Memory Stick Pro Duo expansion slots
  • Price - $250

The screen on the PRS-505 is very easy on the eyes. This is likely due to a 20% improvement in contrast from the last Reader (the 505).

Sony also made improvements to the controls, which have been rearranged to that the menu list is aligned with the buttons. This definitely improves the usability of the PRS-505.

Direct page access is now possible simply by pushing a number button. The numbers cycle around the three digits shown on the screen, so if you accidentally select the wrong button just keep pushing the page number. Again, this a noticeable improvemnet over the previous general Reader.

Here’s a few more features that Sony added new to the PRS-505:

  • USB mass storage - The internal memory can be accessed just like any mass storage device.
  • Menu power off - You can now turn the device completely off simply by using the menus.
  • Updated design - Comparing the 505 and 500 side by side, it’s obvious that the 505 looks like a newer, more attractive design.

Summary

The PRS-505 is a huge improvement over its older sibling. The better contrast ratio, the improved button design, and the addition of USB are a few changes that make a large difference in user experience and enjoyment. You’d be hard pressed to find a better portable ebook reader for the price.

Editor’s Note - [June 2009] The rating of the PRS-505 has been updated to reflect its comparison against current ebook readers.

Rating:
1 vote, average: 6.00 out of 101 vote, average: 6.00 out of 101 vote, average: 6.00 out of 101 vote, average: 6.00 out of 101 vote, average: 6.00 out of 101 vote, average: 6.00 out of 101 vote, average: 6.00 out of 101 vote, average: 6.00 out of 101 vote, average: 6.00 out of 101 vote, average: 6.00 out of 10 (1 votes, average: 6.00 out of 10)
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Popularity: 10% [?]

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