A weekend comparison of the Kindle 2 to the Kindle 1

First of all, I must confess I am an absolutely avid reader and a huge Kindle fan. I’ve had my Kindle 1 for more than a year, and for a first generation device I can't say enough good things about it. When I travel, I like to read a couple of books at the same time (usually something fun as well as something educational). And because I read so much, and rather fast, I like to bring several backup books with me. Because of the Kindle’s built in ability to keep many books in it's memory I have the luxury of loading several series in their entirety on it, as well as storing books I like to go back and reread with regularity (Frank Herbert's Dune series!). My Kindle currently has about 240 books loaded on it, and my back is eternally grateful that it doesn't have to bear that kind of weight!

About two weeks ago my Kindle 2 arrived. Nothing is wrong with my Kindle 1, but being the tech geek that I am, I just couldn't resist getting my hands on the next generation of the device I have enjoyed so much. This weekend was the first chance I've really had to do more than play around with it, and I thought I would share some of my impressions.

Size:

Right away, the first thing you notice about the Kindle 2 is the size. The screen is pretty much the same, but because of the button and keypad redesign there seems to be a lot more white space. It is definitely thinner which is nice, but it is also a little taller than the original.


This is totally subjective, but to me it feels less like an actual book, and a bit more like the electronic screen that it is. It will be interesting to see if this impression fades with additional usage.

New Case Design:

One of the absolute worst things about the Kindle 1 was when it would fall out of the Amazon provided case and hit the floor. Once you either figured out the secret (that little plastic tab on the case is really important - use your fingernails to pull it out some and your Kindle will rarely escape again!), modified the included case (Velcro anyone?), or replaced the case altogether it became a non-issue for most folks. But after you've invested the kind of money Amazon gets for the Kindle, all those drops really leave you with a number of scares or a bad overall impression.


Fortunately Amazon addressed this issue by including two spots on the side of the Kindle 2 for thin metal tabs to slide. One slides in at an angle, and the other has a hook on it to hold it fast. Almost no amount of shaking could get my Kindle loose from the new case design. In fact, I discovered that I was much more likely to fling the entire apparatus, case and Kindle both, across the room when trying to demonstrate how difficult it was for the Kindle to come out of the case. My testing of this feature ended promptly after that.


Unfortunately, Amazon no longer includes a case with the Kindle 2. Though I understand the reasoning, I think this is a mistake. I like being able to choose a case to fit my own personality (I went with the suggested simple leather binder to start; it is small, light and very functional), and I appreciate Amazon not charging me extra for something I was likely to replace soon. But carrying a Kindle around anywhere without a case is a really bad idea. Throw it in a bag or a backpack and you may well have a scratched screen the next time you pull it out.


At this price point I definitely think there should be a simple utilitarian case to tide people over.

5 Way Controller:

Gone are the cool looking but sometimes enigmatic silver bar and roller ball used for nearly everything but page turning on the Kindle 1. Amazon replaced them with a spiffy new 5 way controller that gives a lot of new options and flexibility to navigating on the Kindle 2.

Chapter Navigation:

Easily one of my favorite new features is the ability to go back or forward a full chapter in the book by bumping the 5 way to the left or to the right when you are on a chapter’s first page. This is very helpful when going back to reread something you didn't bookmark, or just for finding your place again. It also makes reading magazines, blogs, or newspapers significantly simpler and more indicative of the way we would browse through a paper copy by skimming the headlines, reading the first couple of lines, and then moving on if we weren’t interested.


Of course this feature only works with content bought through the Kindle store. You are on your own for PDF's or other ebook formats.

Easier Library Management:

For someone who has as many books as I do, and who still likes to keep things cleaned up, the ability to delete a file you are done with is much easier. On the Kindle 1 you had to go into the "Content Manager", find the book you wanted to remove, use the wheel to scroll to it, push the wheel/button down to put a check in the box next to the book, then scroll to the menu tab and push the wheel down again, scroll to the 'remove selected items' option, then return to the home screen. With the Kindle 2, right from the home screen, you highlight the book you are done with, bump the 5 way to the left, and then push it in to confirm the deletion of the file. Almost too easy!


Still missing is the often requested ability to "group" or "file" books. I'd love to have the ability to put all of the books in a series into their own category. Yes, you can sort by 'Most Recent', Title' or 'Author' but considering subscriptions already go into their own folders, this doesn't seem like too much to ask.

Battery Life:

My Kindle 1 was good for about a week of modest reading if I left the Wireless turned off, or for about two days with it on. I suppose it says an awful lot about the Kindle 2's battery life that I forgot to turn off the wireless, read on it most of the weekend, and it's battery indicator barely showed a dent. I am going to have to try a lot harder, and for longer than a weekend, to drain the battery down on this new model.


USB Charger:

One of the reasons I got my Kindle was to lighten my load. And the new streamlined USB travel charger makes it even easier! A standard USB Cable (one is provided, but it is a little bulky) plugs into a small and elegantly simple wall adapter.

Screen:

Going from 4 shades of grey to 16 shades of grey certainly makes even the black and white only pictures seem richer and more detailed.

Text Quality:

The additional greyscales are generally nice to look at, but they also have the effect of softening everything on the screen. Text looks more rounded and a little less precise. Overall the print doesn't quite seem as sharp and the contrast seems a little less. In less than bright light, the Kindle 2 is definitely a little harder to read than the Kindle 1.


Refresh Rate:

The Kindle 2's page refresh is noticeably faster, but the old one never really bothered me. I'd get into a rhythm and could easily anticipate reading the last couple of words, bump the button, and never skip a beat.

One of the most irritating things I have experienced so far is the "ghosting" of prior images. This especially happens after I wake it from it's screen saver mode, and it totally pulls me out of the reading experience when I get down to the bottom of the page and see the instructions for waking up the Kindle 2 still displayed. Though it can usually be solved by hitting the 'Menu' button, I dislike having to take the extra step when the e-ink display should completely refresh with every page turn.

Button Redesign:

Maybe it is because I was so used to the first version, but I actually find the buttons to change pages much less convenient. Like a paper book, I have to reposition my hold on the device, even though it is fairly slight, to change to the next page. There is still no comparison to struggling to get comfortable while reading a hard cover book or even a paperback, but it was one of my favorite things on the Kindle 1 and now the overall reading experience seems somewhat diminished. First time Kindle owners probably won't notice.

I am not totally sold on the need for a big 'Home' button on the right side of the device either. Most of the time, I stay in the book I am reading so I don't use that button for much. I would have rather had another 'Prev Page' button in such a prominent spot.


Wireless is now controlled by the menu option only, which doesn't really make an impression on me either way. I normally left the wireless off in order to extend the battery life, so unless I had something specific I wanted to download or look for online it remained in the off position.

I really do like the new power switch on the top left of the device. It is much easier to switch into and out of the screen saver mode than the old two key press combination of Alt plus Font. And it's a lot more conveniently placed than on the back of the Kindle 1 because you'd inevitably have to take it out of the case to turn off wireless or the device power.

Missing SD Card Slot:

I was so surprised that they were taking out the SD Card slot, that I almost didn't order a Kindle 2 at all. I really liked being able to pop out the card to transfer books over from my computer. And I liked feeling that I had unlimited space for more books going forward.

The reality though is that even with 240+ books loaded on my Kindle 1, I was using less than 10% of my 2GB SD Card. I am sure I could fill it up, but I certainly wouldn't have time to read any of the books I was loading if I tried. And since the Kindle 2 has almost 2GB of built in memory available, I figure that I will have long since upgraded before I need that much space.


And the USB Transfer process is super smooth and simple. Plug one end of the USB cable into the computer and the other end into the Kindle, and it will install itself and show up as a new drive a few seconds later. Considering on the Kindle 1 I had to remove it from the case, power down, remove the cover, remove the card, and finally plug the card into the SD Reader on my computer, this is considerably faster and easier. Kudos to Amazon for saving me from myself!


Text-to-Speech:

For good or bad this is easily the most talked about feature of the Kindle 2. While most of the uproar about it replacing Audio Books is completely overblown - there is no way anyone can compare the quality of listening to a professionally produced audio book - it is a lot better than I thought it would be. I didn't think I would ever use this feature, but after hearing it, I can think of a few rare instances where it might come in handy.

Overall Impression:

If you don't already have an Amazon Kindle, the second generation device makes it an even easier and more attractive option to give up your paper books, but if you do already have the first generation Kindle, I'd suggest waiting until the next version (already rumored here) comes out.