Where to Purchase a Kindle and Cheaper Models with Advertising, Yea or Nay?

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Where to Purchase a Kindle and Cheaper Models with Advertising, Yea or Nay?

This morning someone asked me where she could purchase a Kindle and, with a somewhat blank look, I said, "At Amazon of course."

But she wanted to know where she could pick one up and play with it and buy it in person. So I peeked around, and here are a few stores that carry the Kindle:

Best Buy
Target
Staples

That said, you don't have to pay tax or shipping (if you select the slower shipping option) if you order online through Amazon. Also your device will come already registered to your Amazon account.

The customer service is good if you order online, and there are no lines to stand in for returns or problems. When I ordered my Kindle, it came DOA, so I called Amazon up, and they shipped a new one out pronto (it came about two days later).

Which Kindle should you buy?

As I write this blog post, you have three options (five if you include the cheaper with-advertising models) The most popular Kindles are the 6-inch-screen wifi model and the 6-inch-screen 3G model (which includes wifi). I have the latter model myself. At first, I wasn't sure if I'd ever use the 3G feature (meaning you can download books and get on the Kindle's internet browser anywhere that you can get on a cell phone), but I can't count the number of times I've downloaded new books from places without wifi. Road trips (don't worry, if I'm reading in the car, I'm the passenger, not the driver!) are the main spot.

If you prefer a larger, tablet-sized model with a bigger screen (9.7″ display), you can get the Kindle DX; it also comes with wifi and 3G capabilities. It costs quite a bit more, though, and I personally think the screen on the 6″-model is fine. I'm a glasses-wearing geek, and I just increase the font size if I want to read without my glasses on.

Right now, the 6-inch wifi Kindle is the cheapest option at $139, and the 3G model is $189. The DX is a hefty $379.

Ah, but wait. What about those with-advertising models I mentioned?

Yes, you can get cheaper Kindles if you're willing to put up with ads. You can save $50 and get the Kindle 3G that includes "Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers" for $139 ($50 off). The cheapest option altogether is the Kindle Wi-Fi with "Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers". That one comes in at $114, thus saving you $25.

I haven't seen one of the Kindles with ads personally, but here's a blurb on what all that entails:

"Special offers and sponsored screensavers display on the Kindle screensaver and on the bottom of the home screen—they don't interrupt reading…" They send coupons related to Amazon products and ebooks, and they say, "Our goal is to display sponsored screensavers that you want to see." You can vote on prospective screensavers via the Amazon AdMash Kindle app (though the app itself doesn't seem to be a big hit with owners).

The models with advertising weren't around when I bought my Kindle, but I'm sure I would have avoided them. It doesn't seem like much of a discount for something you'll use every day and have for years, but the people who have purchased the cheaper Kindles don't seem to mind the ads.

Here are a few comments from a forum post at Amazon where someone was asking owners to chime in on whether the ads were a pain or not:

"You see the special offers as a screen saver when you put your Kindle to sleep. You also see them at the bottom of the home page where all of your book titles are listed. They never appear while you are reading. That is, they are NOT popup ads. I feel that they are not a problem at all. To me it was well worth the $50 savings."

"I have a K3 G3 SO and a K3 WiFi and I much prefer the ads on the So than the Dead Authors on WiFi. Same price $139."

"I actually really like the offers because they have some great savings on things from amazon.com and even some good deals for e-books! I think it is definitely worth saving the $50!"

"I jumped on the humor book for $1, if the ads continue to offer great things like that then I'll be thrilled I picked this version. I chose it initially because I'm a broke med school student, now I'm thinking the benefit will be greater than the $50 I saved."

What are your thoughts, Kindle-owning readers? Did you buy a model with ads, or did you choose to spend more to avoid that feature?