My shiny, new and ooooh so pretty toy–the KINDLE 2.0.

Now given that I'm a romance author, that could have a whole host of connotations but I assure you this post is strictly G-rated.

What I am so unabashedly going on about is the wonderful gift that my husband gave me this weekend — it was half Mama's Day gift/half "Congrats on the debut release" gift all rolled into one.  And boy was it worth it! 

 Ladies *drum roll please* , please meet Kindle! 

This thing is my new best friend (not that I'm giving up my current one — no worries, Ri!) and not only because it means that I can purchase ebooks to my heart's content finally but because of the fascinating feature that allows me to download my OWN work, as well.  

Already, this weekend I've used it to read through my last few chapters, download two books from author friends, read through a chapter of a critique partner and even make a few notes. I LOVE this technology!

It's portable, easy to read and it doesn't bother me. I had no problems getting into the stories just like with a physical book in my hand.  (And a plus: no finger cramping from holding the pages open. *grin*)

I'll share more as I learn more goodies (and things to consider), but in the meantime here are some things I didn't know prior to getting one:

The wireless coverage is limited. 

This is difficult for this tech geek to admit, but I sat in my bed for a good twenty minutes trying to get my Kindle to connect to its Whispernet (wireless connection to Amazon) to no avail.  I was trying to register the Kindle and had no luck.  So I finally went to my computer, looked it up and discovered that the Kindle coverage area doesn't extend to my entire town. In fact, I could walk about fifteen minutes to the outskirts and be just fine.  But here in my house? Nope, not a blink of a bar.

It's pretty spotty in some places, so if this is important to you, you should know about it first.  Here's a link: http://www.showmycoverage.com/mycoverage.jsp?id=A102ZON

You can download via USB

Even if you don't have coverage, you can plug into your computer with the provided USB/power code and it will open a window just like any other device.  Then just copy over the files you want to move -in the proper formats of course, the Kindle won't recognize others. I know, I tried.

You can have your documents converted for FREE and resent to your email.

If you like the convenience of direct-to-Kindle delivery of your converted documents, they'll charge per MB.  When you register your device, set up the email address to use that. 

However, you can get these converted for free.  Take your Kindle address and add free to it like this: username@free.kindle.com and send an email with your doc attached. In minutes, it comes back in a  kindle ready format.  I did this with all of my personal writings and my CPs chapters to keep with me. 

VERY easy and I love that I'm not tied to my computer to read these.

The Wireless function being on seriously affects your battery life.

I noticed that my battery life was going low pretty darn quick — in one day.  That seems odd, I would imagine the battery to last longer.  I googled and discovered that keeping the wireless function on uses more battery. Without it turned on, you could last up to a week without recharging.  I plan to test that immediately since, hey, no wireless connection at my house.

Overall…I'm thrilled and LOVE it.

I can see the room for improvement on this still, but for it's basic purpose — reading books, it's terrific.  The screen quality is easy on the eyes and reads well. 

I'm dying to take this with me when I travel to DC for the RWA National Conference in July. How terrific that I can take all my favorite books to read without actually lugging a bunch of books? This will come in very, very handy. 

I will share more as I use it more. Right now, I'm waiting on my Kindle case so I can take it for a walk.  Such a pretty gift! 

Any Kindle coveters out there? Anyone have one? Want to share your likes and dislikes?