Kindle (From Tami this time)

[Perry] Ereader Advice Art! Dinocookie and Mousie

Kindle (From Tami this time)

So I WAAAAS going to wait a bit to blog about this, but Perry tipped my hand.

DIRTY, NO GOOD, HAND-TIPPER!

ahem.

Upgrade

I recently upgraded my kindle from the first generation kindle touch to a kindle fire HD 7″ (the new one) (also, seriously, they need to get a better naming system because that is not just ridonk, it’s confusing when buying cases and covers).

Old Kindle

My old kindle still works just fine. Grayscale screen, a couple scuffs and scratches to the plastic body, but nothing wrong with the screen or innards. Battery lasted FOREVER. Good stuff.

You know, until I was trying to read in less-than-ideal situations, with dim lights late at night. I didn’t really feel like leaving the room and sitting alone in a different room with bright lights — I wanted to still be present with the other people … I just wanted to be reading while I was there. Pop in an out of the book to chat a bit or watch a good part of the movie, then go back to it.

I resisted getting a kindle fire for a long time because my friend who has one (HI ANGIE) mentioned that they’re kind of garbage for reading in direct sunlight.

Devices

But? I started paying attention to my device-usage through the house. (Welcome to first world problems, people).

Technically, I have an ipad. Realistically, STEVEN has an iPad.

I have a laptop, but the battery on it is getting old and ever since I upgraded to Mavericks, it’s been trying really really hard to convince me that it’s a brick. This pisses me off more than a tiny bit and combined with other more recent Apple shenanigans, one could say the rose-colored glasses are coming off. My apple fangirl days are behind me.

Regardless, I want to keep the laptop in my writing area anyway, so when I was downstairs and feeling the itch to check on my dragons or see what email or tumblr was up to, I was using my phone.

And let me just say? The iPhone has the WORST viewing area for most of that. And the keyboard really sucks for any kind of actual typing.

Decision

So I was at least pseudo-in-the-market for a tablet. Combine that with pseudo-in-the-market for an eReader upgrade, and the new Kindle fire seemed like a good combo.

Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have gotten anything without BOTH those things being true. Or at the very least, I’d have gotten the Kindle Paperwhite with the backlit screen.

Even being a pretty cheap introduction to the tablet market, upgrading wasn’t an easy decision.

Delight

I am SO glad I did.

Let’s assume you know that being able to call up the internet and tap away at a larger-than-phone keyboard are all good things.

Let me tell you the thing that surprised me the most.

BOOK COVERS.

Shiny, glossy, gloriously colored book covers.

On Yola (my Kindle Touch), every book was indicated by a title and author. Gray text on a light gray background. YAWN CITY

On Ruby (my Kindle Fire), (almost) every book BEGS to be read! I can guess the seriousness of the book based on the cover. I can guess if it’s sci-fi or fantasy. It’s like … it’s like even the books that I’ve already read on Yola look MORE FUN than they did before.

I honestly wasn’t expecting that. My visceral reaction to book covers is MUCH stronger than I’d anticipated, considering myself to be an educated reader.

Remember Tunnel 17

Also? I finally (finally FINALLY GLEEEE) got to read my Digger Omnibus — a comic book that started as a webcomic many moons ago. I kickstartered that project waaaaay back when (and if you’ve known me long, you probably know how much I love all things Ursula Vernon) and got a pdf out of the deal, but it was pretty much illegible on Yola. RUBY, however? Ruby loved it. And so did I.

Cover

Final nail in the coffin? I got a fake leather old-style book cover for Ruby, so she looks fanTAStic, and I keep running my hands over the outside for the tactile feel of it. Got it on Ebay for a song (well, $20. But I sang a little as I purchased it.)

Final

So that’s me and my new tablet-ereader combo. I’m still trying to get a few things working properly — I need to hook it up with netflix and figure out how to get Overdrive working for library books, and the Silk browser doesn’t seem to save passwords for me.

Overall? I am very very pleased with my choice.

Anyone else have any similar experiences with devices or ereaders?