The plain Kindle is my first Kindle and my first ereader. I chose a Kindle ereader because I received a coupon (rewards, actually) and the Kindle happened to be on sale. The thing with ereaders is that they are simple and inexpensive devices, comparable to portable MP3 players. Ereaders are priced above their actual cost because of the option to purchase ebooks directly via the device, which, in turn, requires wifi and/or 3G or 4G and that’s not free.

The second reason why I chose the Plain Kindle ereader is that it does not have 3G or 4G and instead has the option to turn off the wifi connection by placing it in ‘airplane mode’. Initially, I wanted an ereader without wifi because when I’m reading a book I am not doing anything else and when I’m working I am using a computer.

The plain Kindle ereader has the perfect size and weight and the screen is just right. At first I thought: “Oh, no. A gray screen. How depressing!”. The alternative, however, is to have the equivalent of a computer screen which doesn’t work too well in direct sunlight and then there’s the glare and eyestrain, which made the gray screen look really good. After having read a couple of ebooks on the Kindle, including one that took about 14 hours to read, I can see that the product works for me and I’m looking forward to reading the next ebook on my (plain) Kindle.

One of the cons is that unlike the ease with which I can transfer songs and podcasts from my PC to my MP3 player via USB cable, Amazon has made it rather complicated to transfer ebooks from the Kindle App on my PC to the Kindle ereader via cable. In fact, I still have to figure out how that works. I tried and didn’t get anywhere.

The second con is that when reading an ebook, each time I click for the page to turn, the screen goes from black font on a light gray background to the reverse, light gray font on a black background. I immediately noticed that this irritates my eyes, so I made it a point to close my eyes each time I click to turn the page. It takes some getting used to, but it works.

The third con is that the plain Kindle doesn’t have text to speech (TTS). Amazon’s TTS is excellent, but I don’t want an ereader with 3G/4G and I don’t want Kindle Paperwhite, and I don’t want to surf the net or watch movies on a tiny screen (Kindle Fire). So for TTS I am going to have to find either a plain Kindle with TTS or find an ereader with actual high quality TTS. On that subject, many a TTS software comes with claims of being high quality but isn’t.

The fourth and last con is that when selecting an ebook the page opens to show the beginning of the first chapter (or the second page) and not the cover. I don’t like that. When I take a look at a book, regardless of whether it is a physical or a digital copy, I want to see the cover first, followed by the table of contents. Having to maneuver to the table of contents via tiny buttons and a tiny onscreen keyboard is far from ideal. The whole point of a portable library is choice: being able to pick an ebook based on what I feel like reading or how much time I have to read it.

Kindle Ereader Review – Update
Katarina Nolte ¦ 11/17/2014

Just as I was reading a book on my plain Kindle, I thought that the perfect Kindle would be smaller, thinner and lighter; somewhere between the size of the average smartphone and the average tablet, and slightly larger than the average MP3 player. Perhaps even something that would fit into a wallet.

Amazon just came out with a couple of new Kindle devices, the Kindle Voyage, 6″ High-Resolution Display (300 ppi) with Adaptive Built-in Light, PagePress Sensors, Wi-Fi – Includes Special Offers, an upgraded version of Kindle Paperwhite ($199), and the Kindle Fire HD 6, 6″ HD Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB – Includes Special Offers, Black ($99).

So how about a $60 mini Kindle with a 3 inch screen?

Katarina Nolte, author of "So Long Constipation, Part 1", "100 Steps to a Lean Body", "The Natural Path to Hormonal Wellness, Part 1", "49 Gluten-free Recipes", "50 Gluten-free Recipes" and "51 Gluten-free Recipes". Follow.

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