Saving space and weight is critical when you own a small RV and that’s why I bought the Kindle ebook reader. I found myself collecting so many travel books and general reading materials for the road and was shocked to discover how much I was carrying around in my little RV. Not good, especially since a lot of them were in the overhead cabinets.
EBook Readers are Perfect for the Road
I started looking for a way to cut out the book clutter, and became intrigued by the Kindle when it first came out. The second generation was worth waiting for though as they added missing features that had been a show stopper for me on the first round. One day at lunch I was telling a friend about the Kindle 2 and how excited I was to get one, she looked at me with a blank expression…of course I assumed she just didn’t get my enthusiasm and so I started explaining all the benefits:
- No matter where I am, I can pick up my current book – or books – at exactly where I left off because Kindle remembers
- I can be in practically any campground in the US, and if I want to browse through the online store for a new book…I can
- If I find one I like, say another travel book, I download it…in seconds!
- I can increase the font size with a click of a button until I can actually read the type – yeah!
- I can read it outside, or in brightly lit areas, and read it as though it were ink on a book or newspaper
- The battery lasts for days, which is perfect for my life and RVing
- I can ditch physical books from the RV, saving valuable weight and space
When I finally gave her a chance to respond, it was to tell me that the woman sitting beside me at the next table appeared to be reading from a Kindle! Turns out my friend was dumbfounded at the coincidence. Well sure enough, the woman was reading a ‘book’ on her lunch break. I asked her how she liked it, and she said she loved it! She likes to have several books going at once, and used to have trouble deciding which book to bring to work each morning – how was she to know what she’d feel like reading by the time lunch rolled around?
The woman now has her books with her all the time and can read whatever she feels like. She went on to say that she’s actually reading more these days, which is something she’d always longed to do. Before shutting down the ebook, she quickly highlights a key phrase that will jog her memory the next time. Kindle brings her right back where she left off and she doesn’t miss a beat. This small time saver helps to create a more even ‘flow’ in the reading process, which makes for a better overall experience. Now she’s more likely to finish a book instead of losing interest with all the starts and stops. Finally, she also recommended getting the Kindle cover, which I’d also heard from others.
The Good and the Bad
That coincidental encounter sealed the deal for me and as you can see, I became the proud owner of the Kindle 2. It is exactly what I hoped it would be and really makes a difference when traveling. I have yet to use the many subscription features to blogs and newspapers, but that has nothing to do with the Kindle. If I did read the New York Times I think it would be pretty cool to wake up, roll over, and grab my Kindle to find the paper already delivered.
My biggest complaint about the device is that there is a weird sort of refresh that occurs when a page loads up – so every time you turn the page, it has the slightest delay in loading that page. That’s not a deal breaker, but it’s distracting at first. I’ve looked at a Sony ebook reader and it did the same thing, so I think it has to do with the e-ink technology. I’ve seen the Nook from Barnes and Noble, but have not tried turning pages, so I can’t speak to that as a comparison. Like I said, it’s not a deal breaker.
The other complaint that I hear from others is the fact that it does not have backlighting so at night you need a light to read. I personally think of this as a trade-off and not a downfall because the whole point is that it’s an electronic book reader, not a computer screen. A computer type screen would make it impossible to use properly outdoors and is not as easy on my eyes as ink on paper, which the Kindle is emulating. I use the Mighty Light that fits perfectly onto it and bends readily where I want the light. It runs on a small battery, which has yet to run down, and is lightweight so reading at night in bed is easy.
Latest Kindle Generation
So now the latest Kindle is out and they’ve dropped the price to an astonishing $139! Well that’s the WiFi only version, without the 3G. I love the 3G capability because too often WiFi isn’t available or perhaps it costs extra. The WiFi + 3G version is $189 and you should have a good idea on which one would serve your travel style. The same 6” screen is now in a slimmed down – by a crazy 21% – sleek body, and there is a larger 9” screen version that might appeal to some. As cool as the latest generation is, I’m perfectly happy with my Kindle 2 and don’t feel any regret or need to upgrade.
Ultimate Space Saving Gadget
If you’re looking to save weight and space and you want 10’s of thousands of books available at your fingertips while sitting at your campsite, then head over to Amazon to get your own Kindle and see what all the fuss is about. You can now pack 3,500 books into this one little ebook reader, and I’m not sure that 3,500 actual books would fit into my entire Sprinter RV. So check it out for yourself to see how it can fit into your travel plans.
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