My Kindle 2 arrived today. I'm off from the Evil Day Job this week, and since I wasn't sure whether or not I'd have to sign for the package, I got up early so I could shower and get dressed before the UPS guy came. The earliest I've known them to drop anything off was 11:45, so I figured 9:15 was safe enough to be brushing my teeth. Unfortunately, that's when I heard the doorbell ring.
I rinsed fast and ran for the door, but the UPS guy was quick and he was gone already. Luckily, my package was sitting next to my door and I welcomed the Kindle 2 into my home.
So what are my impressions? The first thing that struck me after taking it out of the box was how thin it was. This made me nervous every time I handled it because it feels fragile and I'm afraid to press the buttons too hard. I'm sure this will pass once I get used to it. I'm also sure it will help once I have a case for it. The K2 comes naked. I ordered the hot pink M-Edge case, the one that stands up on it's own, but it won't arrive for a couple of weeks. (I linked to the case because I had a lot of Googlers found my blog by searching for a hot pink Kindle case. Good to have you here.)
Until the case arrives, I'm thinking of carting it around in the box it came in. Some people have posted that they carry it without a case, but I just can't do that.
The Whispernet function is nice. I ordered a copy of Virgil's Aeneid (yes, I am a geek) and I had it in less than a minute! Too cool. There were also free books available in the Kindle store as Harlequin celebrates their anniversary, so I had those delivered as well. These, however, I'd ordered online before my K2 arrived and when I synced, there they were. Cool!
Typing on the keyboard was easy and comfortable, something I didn't expect since the keys are so tiny. I liked being able to adjust font size. I think I got spoiled by the computer and all the comfort settings I use because of the time I spend writing.
Minuses. As someone on Twitter pointed out, file management is an issue. It is. Even with the few books I have on there now, it's a pain in the butt to page through them. It would definitely be nice to be able to put them into folders, like Research, Fiction, Classics and whatever.
I also would have liked the screen to be a little brighter. Maybe it seemed dim because it was cloudy here today and there's no back light on the K2. In sunshine, it might be better or I might have to buy a light for it. Of course, if I was spending a lot of hours reading on it, I might like that grayness.
There were also "ghosts" of previous pages on the screen while I waited for the next one to come up. I don't know if that's normal or not since I've never used a screen like this before.
These are very general first impressions. I have a book due March 1, so I haven't had time to play with my new toy much. I will be posting more thoughts when I do get my hands on it.
