Amazon Kindle Keyboard (Wi-Fi, graphite)

Pros: The good: Good battery life, more open to other formats (with Calibre program), good button layout

Cons: The bad: Cannot replace battery, cannot create subfolders in collections, Interface gets tricky with lots of books, PDF support very limited, Some publications more expensive than print versions

Summary: When I heard about the concept of an e-reader, I reacted like most people: what's wrong with a book? Then my friends and family started buying e-readers, and they all loved them. I reconsidered my stance on the e-readers, but then I had to decide which one to go with.

I did a lot of research to find out which one was the best. I read several reviews for each product (the Kindle 3, the Sony E-reader, and the Barnes & Noble Nook) and decided to buy the Kindle 3. Since Kindle 3 isn't the only game in town anymore, Amazon has opened up the Kindle to some other formats. You can upload your own books to the Kindle either through their email service or through your USB cord. Free software called Calibre can convert ePub files (actually just about any e-books) over to the MOBI format. The software is a little cumbersome, but it works well for most file formats. If you were to download ePub files from free sites you shouldn't have too much trouble uploading them to your Kindle through the USB cord and Calibre.

As far as the device itself, I personally did not want a huge screen. If you read up on typography studies you will find that the easiest reading for human eyes are texts that only have 6 to 8 words per line. Beyond that, it gets harder for the eyes to go down to the next line. The Kindle 3 lets you play with the text size, the line spacing, and the words per line. I believe this is the strongest argument for e-readers. I personally found some texts hard to read because the print size was so small or because there were simply too many words per line. Now, I can read late into the night even when I start getting tired (something that was more difficult before).

I am now a convert to the Kindle 3. I'm extremely happy that I went with the Kindle instead of one of the other brands. I find the device is very cleverly designed and that the Kindle probably as the best collection of ebooks offered by Amazon.com. Considering that with Calibre you can make use of the free e-book collections from online libraries (usually offered as ePubs), and the fact that Amazon itself offered many titles for free, I think that for nearly everyone, the Kindle 3 is the best choice at this time. But I won't go into all the specific details over all of the e-readers. What I will say, is that each one offers its own advantages and downsides. I believe the Kindle 3 is the most well-rounded. But if you're desperate for an e-reader that can handle PDFs, you probably want to steer clear of the Kindle.

The storage space is excellent. The Kindle 3 stores something like 3,500 titles. I have about 100 books on mine. I've noticed that the battery isn't lasting as long these days, but that could be because I'm using it a heck of a lot. I usually read for a couple of hours each day, and even so my Kindle still lasts a solid 2 weeks. I purchased the Kindle with only Wi-Fi support because it had a better price-point and I really didn't need the Whispernet support. I nearly always leave Wi-Fi off because it conserves battery power. I only turn it on when I need to get a book, and I nearly always use the Kindle within range of a Wi-Fi network. If you don't mind paying more for the 3G support, consider that you have to leave both on if you want to turn on wireless. 3G will drain the battery faster, so I elected to go without it.

Overall, I'm very happy with the Kindle 3. If you're leaning towards a different brand, strongly consider what you want from your e-reader. You're taking a risk if you go with a different device. They all have their pros and cons. Do a lot of research and read several reviews for each device before you make a decision. If you want my opinion (since you're reading my review), I believe the Kindle 3 is the best of its generation of e-readers.