At one point I really believed that the Kindle Keyboard or Kindle 3 e-ink reader would be discontinued at Amazon because the wifi-only version of this disappeared from sale and then the Keyboard version was never displayed in Amazon e-ink Kindle Ads showing
The Kindle Family.
However, I'm delighted that the 3G Kindle Keyboard is still available to buy AND that we now get a new (and decent) update for it too!
In case you want to know which Kindle device I'm referring to (yes it does get tricky these days with all the different Kindles!) there's a photo of my much loved device which I've been happily using since 2010 and here's the links to the product pages:
Despite buying and using other Kindle e-ink devices since the release of the Kindle Keyboard or KK as I fondly refer to it, I just haven't found another Amazon e-ink device that I like better. Note that I haven't tried the new yet-to-be-released Paperwhite devices yet so my opinion could change - although I think it will be unlikely. Be great if Amazon could convince me otherwise!
The Kindle Keyboard is still the premium Amazon e-ink reader for me, and here's why:
1) AUDIO CAPABILITIES: The Kindle Keyboard is now one of the few remaining Kindle e-ink devices that actually has audio output because the new Kindle Paperwhites don't have this and neither does the basic Kindle. So it seems that Amazon are moving away from e-ink being much more than just specialist book readers and encouraging shoppers to instead purchase a Kindle Fire device if they also want audio.
For many people this might not be a big deal. But I happen to like the audio capabilities (limited though they are in function) on my e-ink device. I can load up some .mp3 music to listen to either as backing music to what I'm reading or as a break from reading. More often I use it to listen to audiobooks from audible when my eyes are tired - and handy as I don't need to switch devices. And thirdly, I find the Text-To-Speech capability very handy when I want to carry on with a book but I really need to cook or carry out another task. The speakers are pretty good too - no having to use earphones which irritate my ears. Finding that Amazon have removed audio from the new e-ink Kindles was a pretty big blow.
2) BIGGEST E-INK ON-BOARD STORAGE: I was very surprised (and also disappointed) with the measly 2GB storage on the new Paperwhite Kindles compared with the 4GB KK. Just 2GB! That is so lame! OK so they got rid of the audio functionality but I was expecting at least 4GB for keeping a ton of ebooks and documents on-board. I get that by losing the audio, you don't require space to hold more storage-heavy music and audio files but to go backwards on the storage amount is not good at all. There are some people who want to store all their ebooks on their Kindle, and 2GB just won't cut it for some avid readers.
3) PHYSICAL PAGE TURN BUTTONS: physical page turn buttons are almost a must for me with a dedicated reading device - for lots of reasons. First, my small thumbs are not keen on stretching further over the bezel to navigate a touch-screen when turning pages. Tried that with the Kindle Touch and didn't find it particularly comfortable. Second, why obscure some of what you are reading by having to touch the screen to move backwards and forwards through a book? Third, I sometimes eat while reading so I don't want to be putting dirty digits on a screen - even if any thumbprints are hard to see.
Sorry Amazon but you really lost me there and I'm glad I'm not the only Kindle owner who seems fussy over this point. Reading the forums, I can see that there are a lot of people not delighted at the omission of any physical paging buttons on the new Paperwhite Kindles. You'd have thought Amazon would have taken on this feedback from the awful (IMO) Kindle Touch devices. It would make a lot more sense to spend just a wee bit more to incorporate some paging buttons and keep more hardcore e-ink customers happy. The KK page buttons are almost silent and very easy to press but not so easy that pages get turned accidentally.
4) BEST 3G ON AN E-INK KINDLE: the Kindle Keyboard is the only e-ink Kindle with unrestricted and free 3G. With the other eink Kindles such as the 3G Paperwhite and the 3G Kindle Touch, you're only able to access the Amazon Kindle store and Wikipedia while connected to 3G. Website browsing is unrestricted, however, with WiFi use which most people have at home these days and many hotels and eateries provide for free. I hate that there are some people who abuse the usage of the free 3G on the KK, which is probably why Amazon will never have it unrestricted like this again. It's a case of a minority spoiling things for everyone as usual.
Having the free 3G has been very useful at times when I've been away from a WiFi hotspot and wanted to check my email and also when we've had power cuts and the WiFi's been cut off - once for several days. It is a little awkward using the web browser on the Kindle Keyboard so I'm never tempted to use it for long. But it's been very useful when I've needed to make use of it - so still a handy feature.
5) PHYSICAL KEYBOARD: It adds a little more bulk and length to the Kindle Keyboard but if you make a lot of notes in your books or do a lot of searching then having a physical keyboard is very nice and so easy to use. I know that a lot of people are happy with the touch-screen keyboards on the Kindle Touch but I tend to miss a lot of the characters with that because they are so small and end up typing something completely unintended. The physical keys on the KK are raised so you can feel where they are. Makes for very easy and much more accurate typing.
Those are the main reasons that after 2 years, I'm still very happily using the Keyboard version. It's still a winner for me and made even better now with the new software upgrade it has just received with the update 3.4.
CLEARER FONT: This new update has tweaked the reading font so that it is clearer to read. I tested it side by side after the update with hubby's KK and it definitely is an improvement. The font appears to be crisper and darker.
PARENTAL CONTROLS: You've also now got parental controls which is handy for people who have given a KK to kids but don't want unexpected book purchases! After the update, go to Home / Menu / Settings then page 2 for Parental Controls.
Set passwords to restrict access to the Web Browser, the Kindle Store and your Archived Items or Books. All of these can be set individually as required. So no more accidental purchases of new books via the device itself! You can still buy Kindle books on other devices and send them to your Kindle - it simply locks using the store and buying books from the device itself.
By enabling the parental controls, the user will also be unable to derigister the device or set it back to the factory default. So no nasty surprises in store.
There are other new features too which you can read about on the update pages. You can wait for your KK to update over WiFi in due course. Or you can install the update manually and learn more about it on these pages:
