Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am a PC technician by trade, so I like to think my technical level is pretty high. But this unit was just so annoying I couldn't stand it any longer. The software seems very beta and unfinished, just like a first model year car that needs to mature before it can realize it's full potential. I usually don't write reviews, but in the case of the Kindle Touch I am making an exception to hopefully help others know what they are getting into with this unit. I used to read like a fiend when I was younger and have lost my passion over the past 15 years or so due to increased book prices, making time to get to the library, and just everyday life eating up my time. The kids have gotten older, the job has settled down, and I decided I wanted to get my passion back for spending time with a good book. I've always had a "book is better than electronics" attitude, but when the new Kindles were announced recently I finally broke down and bought a Kindle 4 non-touch. I fell in love with it immediately and read 3 books in the first month of ownership. My daughter is a steady reader, so knowing how much I loved this device, I thought I would order her a step up and get the Kindle Touch for her Christmas. Surely since it was the next up in the line it would be a better product with more memory, better battery and a touch screen. When it arrived, she found out about it (thanks for the naked packaging with the name of the product on the box Amazon!) so I fessed up and told her she could have it early. She played with it for about 2 minutes and said "Dad, I like your Kindle (model 4, $79) better. Can I have that one? I asked why, and she said it just felt better reading on it. So off she goes with the Kindle 4, and I am thinking "Cool, she is happy and I get the next model up in the lineup. Boy was I wrong; she got the better of the deal! My complaints are primarily the same one's other's have mentioned. Pros: * Touch concept is a great idea for an e-reader * Nice size and weight * Good looking sharp fonts * On screen keyboard is a nice idea to eliminate the physical keyboard Cons: * Touch interface is sluggish and unpredictable and others have said * Screen shows ghosting even with every page refresh turned on * Reboots randomly when it doesn't like something I did * When adding to a collection, the screen would blank out in the middle where the pop up window was at, and not display any text until I went back to home * Page turns are at least twice as slow as both the Kindle 4 and Kindle Keyboard * Page turns sometimes do not register at all * On screen keyboard is very sluggish to react * Collection structure changed so it can no longer be managed by Calibre book management software (I know Amazon doesn't support it, but it works on other Kindles and the change Amazon made caused this to happen) FWIW, I did reset the unit several times during my 3 weeks of ownership hoping that a clean start would help it out. It never got any better. The Nook Touch is not an option for me since their home page is a constant advertisement (which is funny since they claim to show no ads, but the bottom half of the home page is all sales pitches) and they do not support a Collection structure to organize larger libraries. I do think Amazon could learn something from the Nook Touch which is to put page turn buttons on the sides of the Touch. IMO that is the only benefit of the Nook over the Kindle. Overall, I just cannot recommend this unit to anyone, and have persuaded some other people I know to get a different Kindle. I used the unit for about 3 weeks, before finally conceding my frustration and returning it. I now have a Kindle Keyboard and really like it, but cannot recommend the Touch at all. I am sure they will make improvements over time and it will be a great unit. But for now, I am not paying $99 to beta test it for them.