Kindle 4

• Light and portable – less than 6 ounces in weight.
  
  
• Size – 6.5 X 4.5 X .34 inches.
  
  
• Advanced e-ink technology display. It’s like reading text on paper.
  
  
• Download books in 60 seconds using the built in Wi-Fi.
  
  
• Choose from Amazon’s massive selection of books – over 800,000 at less than $ 9.99.
  
  
• 1.8 million out-of-copyright books are available free.
  
  
• Borrow Kindle books from your public lending library.
  

Is The Kindle 4 A Good Choice For You?

If you're looking for an ebook reader which you will use mainly to read books, as opposed to surfing the web or sending e-mails for example, then the new entry level Kindle 4 could be the ideal reader for you.

Don't be misled in any way by either the "entry level" tag or the low $ 79 selling price. The Kindle 4 is a fully fledged ebook reader which has exactly the same great Pearl e-ink technology display as the other Kindle readers in the range. It's virtually indistinguishable from reading text printed on paper.

You'll get full access to Amazon's huge collection of Kindle books. There are over 1,000,000 to choose from at the time of writing. 800,000 of those cost $ 9.99 or less - and don't forget, there are a further 1.8 million out-of-copyright books available which can be downloaded free of charge right from the Amazon website.

How Can Amazon Keep The Price So Low?

There's not much doubt that Amazon has designed and built the new Kindle 4 to a price - and it has done a great job of this. The Kindle 4 is great value for money, but just so that you know exactly what you're getting, let's have a look at some of the ways that Amazon has driven the cost down:

Virtual Keyboard

The Kindle 4 has neither a physical QWERTY keyboard or touch screen controls. When you want to input text, this is done using a virtual keyboard which is called up by pressing one of the buttons near the bottom of the reader. You can then input text using the 5-way toggle switch.

This may be a little less convenient than a proper keyboard or a touch screen - but if your main activity is reading, then you probably won't have to do it so very often. In all probability, you will only need to do this when you're browsing the Amazon Kindle store for a new book to download. Even then, Amazon uses predictive text, so it's not as big a chore as you might imagine.

Of course, you can always do what I do (more often than not) and just select your books from your PC or notebook and have them sent to your Kindle.

Unless you are in the habit of taking notes whilst reading, or unless you want to surf the web, I do not believe that the lack of a keyboard is a major drawback.

2GB Memory

The Kindle Keyboard and the Kindle Touch both have 4GB memory. The Kindle 4, on the other hand, has 2GB of memory, of which 1.25GB is user accessible. Whilst that may be half of what the other readers have, it's still sufficient for 1,400 Kindle books - which should be ample for most people.

In the unlikely event that you do run out of memory space on your reader, don't forget that you have free unlimited cloud storage on Amazon for all your Amazon reading material.

No Audio Facility

Unlike the Kindle Touch and the Kindle Keyboard, the Kindle 4 has no audio facility. That means that you won't be able to use the "read-to-me" function (where it has been activated by the publisher), listen to mp3 files or use audio books on your Kindle 4.

Whether that's a big deal or not is something that only you can decide. It's probably worth mentioning that the Touch and the Keyboard are currently the only ebook readers which have an audio facility - so it's probably more correct to look on it as a bonus feature in those readers rather than something lacking in the Kindle 4.

Special Offers

One of the ways that Amazon is able to keep the cost of the Kindle 4 down is by the use of "Special Offers" - adverts in other words. These appear only on the screensaver and main menu pages - so they won't interfere with your reading.

However, if your Kindle has been idle long enough for the screensaver to activate, an advert will be the first thing that you see when you pick it up again.

Some people seem to object to adverts on their ebook reader - almost as a matter of principle it seems. Other Kindle owners will tell you that they have recovered the cost of their reader by taking advantage of the deals on offer. Here are a few of the special offer deals that have run in the past:

• $ 500 off selected HDTVs.
• Kindle books for $ 1 - thousands to choose from.
• One month of unlimited yoga classes in your city for $ 30 - $ 119 value.
• $ 30 worth of groceries at your local store for $ 15.

Whether or not any of those appeal to you, it does seem as if there are some real money saving deals on offer.

If you're uncertain as to whether or not you would mind special offers on your Kindle, you could go ahead and order it with special offers. If you find that you really don't like them, they can be turned off by visiting the "manager my kindle" page on Amazon and paying an additional $ 30. Note - it's not possible to do this the other way round - you can't turn special offers on if you have bought a Kindle without them.

Kindle 4 - Overall Verdict

If you're looking for a reader mainly to read books, and you don't expect to spend too much time typing, the Kindle 4 is a solid, fully functional reader at a bargain basement price. It will probably do you very well and, in our opinion, the ads are not a major distraction. It's a lot of ebook reader for the price. 

Find out more about the Kindle 4 on Amazon ...