Review of Kindle Touch 3G - Usage in India

Being the lazy me, I was looking for some kind of a device which I can use to read books comfortably... I wanted a device which is not big nor heavy and which I can lie down and still easily hold

iPad 2 was on my cards but I felt it would be heavier if I was to hold it for a long period. I decided to wait it out till iPad 3, hoping it would be lighter, that was when I stumbled upon Amazon's Kindle

What attracted me to Kindle was its light weight, easy to carry and especially the e-Ink display. When one is in a profession like mine, where one is always staring at a monitor either at office or at home, you would want to avoid excessively straining your eyes

The reviews of the e-Ink display enamored me, especially since Kindle does not have a backlight, it is easy on the eyes and it gives the same feeling as reading a newspaper. I must admit, the free 3G was another feature that attracted me. So after research I decided to go for Kindle Touch 3G with Special Offers

The Basic Kindle version starts at $109. All the Kindle's version has inbuilt Wi-Fi capability. Amazon offers kindle with "With Special Offers" and "Without Special Offers". "With Special Offers" implies there would be an advertisement at the bottom of the home screen and also when the screen saver is on. However, not to worry, the adverts will not display when you are reading a book. The Kindle's with the special offers (advertisement) comes to you cheaper than the one without (Duh... pretty obvious!!!)

After research I decided to buy Kindle Touch 3G. As I was about to check-out in Amazon, I got an error message mentioning this version of Kindle cannot be shipped to India... what a bummer... I contacted their Customer Service through email, chat, etc but no one could help me. Amazon could only ship me the older generation of Kindle!

The best way to buy Kindle, is of course directly from US if someone can hand it over in person, else one has to pay heavy import duty if they are shipping to India. I Googled and came across many websites which promised delivery to India including e-bay, however I found only Grabmore to have priced it competitively and it was Cash On Delivery, so I decided to settle with Grabmore and I ordered for one (I'm satisfied with  Grabmore's service & updates on the shipment)

Overall I am happy with my purchase. The e-Ink display is beautiful and easy on the eyes. The device is not heavy and you can put in a lot of reading hours with it, without fatigue

Kindle Touch 3G Pro's
 + Easy on the eyes coz of e-Ink Display
 + Not too big nor too small. Just right and comfortable
 + You get discounts for kindle version books on Amazon, compared to paper backs. Sometimes as much as 60%. There are also lot of free kindle version books for download
 + Free 3G to browse Amazon website (if you opt for the 3G version - yes it works in India too)
 + The Touch interface makes navigation easier compared to the earlier Kindle versions
 + All the books that you buy are digitally stored in the cloud across all your devices and automatically synced to where you last left it off (the books also doesn't get old :P)
 + Good battery life (as there is no backlight)
 + One can highlight sentences, use the integrated dictionary, add note, view other's highlighted sentences and share passages to Twitter and Facebook
 + You have "Text to Speech" feature if the e-book supports it
 + You can transfer books from your computer to Kindle through a cable and also freely convert other formats to kindle format through Amazon

Kindle Touch 3G Con's
 - PDFs are not very well supported. However you can mail the PDF to "yourusername"@free.kindle.com and Amazon will freely convert PDF to the Kindle's native format. It does a decent job for most PDFs but some can be a disaster
 - For Indian Customers, the Excise duty of Indian Government is as high as around $15~$25, if you are shipping it to India
 - For some books it maybe wiser to buy cheaper Indian editions rather than online (unless you want to save trees)
 - Free 3G is only for browsing Amazon website (obviously!)
 - The GUI is very basic, nothing fancy. This is only an e-reader, don't expect it to be like iPad or any other tablets... its purely for reading purpose (though Amazon has given some experimental features such as music player, browser, etc but they are all basic)

Who should buy Kindle... Go ahead & buy, if  any of the below criteria matches
 + If you are an avid reader & need to get the latest books (and possible a huge load of free books)
 + You are a traveler who also love reading & want to travel light
 + If you want to save trees
 + You love technology & want to see how it feels to read in a e-reader with no LCD backlight
 + You have lots of money and feel like splurging