One thing nobody has mentioned here is the cracked-screen problem. The screen on the standard black-and-white Kindle has a tendency to crack for no obvious reason. This makes it instantly unusable.It has happened in my family three times, and if you Google 'Kindle cracked screen' you will see how extensive the problem is. Amazon will replace the damaged unit but it's a nuisance. The new Kindle Fire, which operates in colour, may have soved the problem but it's not yet available outside the US. For anyone thinking about buying the standard Kindle my advice would be to hang on for a while.

I was dead against Kindles, as I thought I preferred real books - however I am now converted, the search facility (useful for looking up obscure characters the author expects you to remember) and to have a dictionary all in the same piece of kit is great.

wait for the kindle fire that should be out in a few months... or buy one from the US. www.amazon.com/Kindle-Color-Mult ... 685&sr=8-1

wait for the kindle fire that should be out in a few months... or buy one from the US. www.amazon.com/Kindle-Color-Mult ... 685&sr=8-1

"wait for the kindle fire that should be out in a few months... or buy one from the US."

Be careful about buying the Kindle Fire from the US. You will not be able to access the full range of Kindle Fire content from a UK IP address. You may be able to get around this by using a proxy server but that gets a bit messy for most people. Better to wait until it is officially released.

good point