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Hi there!  Libby here on this lovely October day bringing you today’s installment of 365 Days of Bliss!  I had originally planned to talk about a different topic in this blog post, but after Amazon rocked my world this week by releasing 4 new Kindles,  I quickly changed my mind.

I’ve wanted an e-reader since they first came out, but I just could not justify the price.  When they came out with library lending recently, I was tempted, but the price still held me back just a bit.  After Amazon’s big announcement this week though, I couldn’t hold out any longer.  I wavered just briefly before my husband put his foot down and insisted that I order one.  And really, being the loving obedient wife that I am, who am I to undermine his authority? (*giggle*)  So before I tell you which one I went with, I thought I’d share my research and give you a rundown of the new toys!

• Kindle with special offers – This is the bare bones Kindle.  It retails for $79 and is a nice basic e-ink reader without all the bells and whistles.  It’s smaller than the older models (6.5″ x 4.5″ x 0.34″ and weighing 5.98oz), but the screen size remains the same.  Amazon touts that it’ll fit in your pocket… I can’t imagine!  Some of the features:  Built-in Wi-Fi, 2GB on-device storage holds up to 1400 books, 1 month battery life, e-ink display reads like paper.  This model no longer has the keyboard that the older models have.  Instead, it uses a 5-way navigation controller. The “special offers” version has ads for deals on various products.  From what I’ve read, they aren’t intrusive at all.  They appear almost like a screensaver and do not interrupt your reading.   This version is available now with free shipping.
• Kindle without special offers – This is the same as the model above with the exception of the removal of the special offers.  This one retails for $109 and is also available now with free shipping.
• Kindle Touch Wi-Fi with special offers – This is another new addition to the Kindle family line-up.  The Kindle Touch retails for $99.  The big feature of this one over the $79 model is that Touch features  touch screen navigation.  With Amazon’s new “EasyReach” technology, turning pages has never been easier, so it’s perfect for 1-handed reading.  It’s slightly larger than the bare bones model at 6.8″ x 4.7″ x 0.40″ and weighing 7.5oz.  In addition to the touch screen, the other notable differences are the larger storage space (4GB holds up to 3000 books) and longer battery life (2 months).  The touch also has built-in speakers and an audio jack for audio books and the “read to me” technology.  Like the cheaper model, the Touch also uses e-ink display, has built-in Wi-Fi,  and comes with special offers. This model is available for pre-order now and will begin shipping on Nov 21 on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Kindle Touch Wi-Fi without special offers – This is the same as the model above with the exception of the removal of the special offers.  This one retails for $139 and is available for pre-order with a ship date of Nov 21.
• Kindle Touch 3G with special offers – This model is almost identical to the Kindle Touch Wi-Fi with the exception of the 3G capabilities.  Like your cell phone, the Touch 3G offers access to 3G wireless but without the annual contract or fees.  If you feel like you’ll be doing a lot of reading on the go and want to have the ability to download new books anywhere at any time, this is the model for you.  The Touch 3G retails for $149 and is available for pre-order now.  It will begin shipping on Nov 21 on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Kindle Touch 3G without special offers –  This is the same as the model above with the exception of the removal of the special offers. This one retails for $189 and is available for pre-order with a ship date of Nov 21.
• Kindle Fire – This is the “big daddy” of the Kindles and has received the most hype this week from what I can tell.  This is basically Amazon’s answer to Apple’s iPad, and it retails for $199.  There are major differences between this and the other Kindle models.  Most notably, this is not just an e-reader.  The Fire has the capability to watch movies, listen to music, download apps & play games, browse the web, AND read books & magazines. It’s slightly larger than the other models at 7.5″ x 4.7″ x 0.45″ and weighing 14.6oz. This touch-screen model features 8GB of on-device storage meaning it will hold up to 80 apps plus either 10 movies, 800 songs, or 6,000 books. The battery life will power up to 8 hrs of continuous reading or 7.5 hours of video-playback.  It’s important to note that the Fire does NOT use the e-ink display that the other models use.  This means it is back-lit and does not read like a paper book.  The Fire has built-in Wi-Fi but is not 3G.  So, you’ll have to connect via your wireless network in order to download to the device or to use the web-browsing features.    The Kindle Fire is available for pre-order with a ship date of Nov 15.

So, you can see that I had a lot to think about when choosing my new toy!  I immediately ruled out the Fire because I knew I didn’t need all the apps and movie-watching capabilities.  Plus, I really wanted the e-ink display (and I’m cheap!).  I also ruled out the Touch 3G because I’m not “on the go” enough to really need that feature.  It won’t be a big deal for me to download my books via Wi-Fi.  It was also easy for me mark the “without special offers” editions off my list because I really don’t mind ads.  For me, that wasn’t worth an extra $30 or $40.

That left me with the cheaper $79 basic model or the $99 Kindle Touch.  I really went back and forth a lot on this one.  On one hand, I really didn’t need the touch-screen navigation, and the cheaper price along with the fact that the basic model is available NOW made it hard to resist.  On the other hand, the increased storage space, longer battery life, and audio options made the Touch seem like a pretty sweet choice, too… even if it meant waiting 2 months to get it in my hot little hands.  In the end, after talking to Jeff, I ended up pre-ordering the Touch Wi-Fi with special offers for $99.  I love my touch-screen phone, so I don’t expect that I’ll have any problem getting used to the navigation.  Sure, I’m a little bummed that I can’t have it NOW, but I do have a stack of paper books that I want to get through before my new toy arrives.  More than anything, I’m just excited to finally have one on order!  I just know it’ll be worth the wait!

So, have you put any thought into the new Kindles?  Are you looking at one of these?  Which model are you leaning toward and why?