Amazon Kindle

Product Survey: E-Book Readers

The Amazon Kindle has reached our shores under a full head of steam - plenty of buzz and articles all over the press. It's the market leader in the USA, with a market share of more than 65% (ahead of Sony's Reader). Amazon's version of the e-book is certainly full of good ideas - after three weeks of use, here's what we feel are the pros and cons of the Kindle. The Kindle looks fairly unassuming. Its white and brushed-aluminum finish is more rudimentary than the first Sony Reader. Nevertheless, the finish is good and inspires confidence. If the Kindle wants to be the book-world equivalent of the iPod however, it still needs that extra little design fillip to get consumers to choose it over another model. The Kindle comes with a black cover, which adds a little to its total weight of 450 grams. The Kindle is recharged directly from the mains – watch out however as some are delivered without the local adaptor. If you don't have a travel adaptor, you can always recharge it via a USB port on your computer. Navigation is sometimes a little illogical and could use some simplification. The plethora of physical buttons around the screen only contributes to this impression. The latest Sony Reader is much more pared-down.