I bought a Kindle about a year ago and though I thought I'd miss the feel of paper and ink, I haven't found much need to buy a book (for myself, that is) from the bookstore since. Here are the highs and lows of Kindle as an e-book reader for mommies:
1 - Great battery life. It takes weeks before I need to recharge it and I read morning, noon, and night.
2 - Lightweight and thin. Perfect for tossing in my purse when I'm on the go. Especially great for keeping me company while in the waiting area of my tot's school.
3 - Surprisingly sturdy despite the light frame. I've dropped it so many times and it's still functional (knock wood).
4 - No glare! The screen and text are easy on the eyes. Note that no glare and reads just like a book should be taken literally. It's not an LCD screen; it's meant to emulate paper and ink. If you want to read at night you have to have the lights on, just like an actual printed book.
5 - The page up and down buttons are available on both the left and right hand sides. This is a plus for mommies as you never know which arm/hand is available at any given time and which one your child has decided to use as a pillow or monkey bar.
6 - If you like to go back or jump to a specific page in a book, it's a bit unwieldy due to the lack of a numeric keypad (you'd think this would be an obvious inclusion for an ebook reader :P). You have to open a Symbol menu to get the numbers out. The search functionality for keywords is a bit faulty also. If you read books from start to finish then it's not a problem. The Kindle remembers where you last viewed the book and will start from there when you open it, even if you're reading multiple books at the same time.
7 - There are extra costs if you choose to buy books online or through the Amazon site. First you have to pay for the book, and then there's an additional fee for downloading. One of my friends also said there are books that can't be downloaded if you're overseas.
8 - Although the Kindle supports HTML, DOC, PDF, etc, you'll find that these formats don't fit the screen well (i.e., text too big and you have to scroll to the right instead of just going up and down). There are converters available to change these formats to PRC (Kindle native), though it's a bit of a chore. Also, you might want to check the availability of your fave authors and titles first.
9 - Adding files (once you have the right format) is as simple as a USB cable and drag drop. There's a delete functionality on the Kindle menu itself for removing files.
10 - While I enjoy the random pictures being displayed while the Kindle is off, I must admit the haunting picture of Emily Dickenson has scared me more than once. It has an odd habit of popping up late at night or in the wee hours of the morning.
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