Hands-On With the Amazon Kindle 2
Critical design changes make the Amazon Kindle 2 more appealing than the preceding model--but while Amazon has succeeded in enhancing its e-book reader, it has done little to advance the device to the next stage.
The first-generation Kindle weighed 10.3 ounces and offered a paperlike E-Ink display that keeps eyestrain at bay (as compared with the backlit displays of cell phones and other mobile devices). The first Kindle was readable in sunlight; it also offered long battery life and allowed you to look up words on the fly, as well as to take notes and highlight passages at will.
The Kindle 2 retains all of those capabilities, in a slimmer form (it's 0.36 inch thin). I appreciated the thinner profile: The new device felt better in my hands, and I could see that it would be easier to pack alongside the other devices in my gear bag. At just 10.2 ounces, the device's weight is virtually the same as before.
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