Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

There are sadly a lot of negative reviews on here, so I though I would add my positive one. I had a second-generation Kindle many years ago, and it has since stopped working. I finally decided to buy a new one. I chose the basic Kindle because that's exactly what I wanted -- a bare-bones e-reader. I have no need for a tablet or anything of the sort. This Kindle delivers on that front in every way possible. At first, I thought I would miss the page turn buttons, and dislike the touch screen. However, I have been delightfully surprised. Tapping the edge of the screen to turn the page is incredibly easy and less intrusive than pushing a button, which was always a nice little jarring reminder that I wasn't, in fact, reading a paperback. The small, quick tap of my thumb on the edge of the screen has become almost like a reflex and I don't notice it anymore; it feels natural. I do slightly miss the metal backing of the older Kindles; it made them feel a bit sturdier, whereas this basic Kindle is just hard plastic. However, I suspect that using a metal casing would up the price considerably, and I feel that the cheaper price of this basic Kindle far outweighs that slight drawback. I bit the bullet and bought one without the special offers. I do not want ads intruding my Kindle experience, even if they only show as the screensaver or on a bar across the bottom of the Home screen. It is just distasteful to me, and the extra 30$ was worth it to me to avoid the ads. I do not need or want a case for my Kindle. I do not like to read with a case on, and it would be cumbersome to remove my Kindle from its case every time I want to read. That being said, this version of Kindle does seem quite fragile, as mentioned before, so when I carry it with me in my purse, I am covering it with a knit beanie hat for now. Eventually I will buy a small soft pouch to store it in; I have seen them for sale here on Amazon. Even though the Kindle seems fragile, the size and weight of the device is a definite advantage while reading. It is so comfortable to hold that it just disappears in your hand and you forget that you are reading from an electronic device. It really is a cool experience. As to the complaints of the screen being dim--it is no dimmer than previous generation Kindles. No, there is no back light. It looks just like a printed page, and can be read easily in all lighting conditions -- whether by lamp or by sunlight. If you find that you are straining your eyes, you can simply adjust the size, font, and spacing of the text to something that better fits your eyes. I personally do not read in bed with the lights off -- I fall asleep while reading like that. However if you are a frequent bed-time reader, you will want to get the Paperwhite, Voyager, or Oasis models. If you've never had a Kindle before, why should you get one? Simple...anyone who loves to read should get one. Now, which model is your personal choice; I have already explained why I love this one. Amazon has millions upon millions of books that are able to be purchased and downloaded to the device. A good fourth of those available are free, and another good chunk are $2 or less. So if the price of the device itself makes you hesitate, it can easily end up paying for itself if you read a lot of free or cheap titles. More and more titles become available for Kindle every day -- when I got my original 2nd Gen Kindle nine years ago, the Harry Potter series was unavailable to Kindle. Now with my new device, it is. The Half-Blood Prince is the first book I downloaded for my new Kindle, since that is where I am at in the series right now, and I could not be happier. They even preserved the chapter illustrations for the e-reader format. Kindle has the ability to store thousands of books, so you shouldn't have to worry about running out of storage. If you do, however, the overflow can be stored on Amazon's Cloud service, so you never have to worry about giving up any of your old favorites. Kindle also gives you the ability to highlight passages, make notes, and bookmark pages. Your Kindle will also always remember what page you left off at, in every book that you have stored on it. Kindle also has the ability to look up words in the dictionary or thesaurus. It really brings reading to a whole new level. Well, that about sums up my review of this model of Kindle, and Kindles in general. To put it simply, this Kindle does what it is advertised to do, and does it, in my opinion, flawlessly. If you want a tablet or a reader with a back light, stay away. If you are new to Kindle and/or want something basic, this is a great device to start with.