I bought my DH a Kindle Touch WiFi, with ads, ran about $100. He uses it
all the time. I liked it so much I bought one for me and one for my mom.
Amazon has refurbished ones for $79. Same warranty as new.

Great blog for free books and specials:
http://blog.booksontheknob.org/

I have eye problems due to thyroid issues, and this is infinitely easier
to use for reading than my ipad. Not to mention that I can read sitting
outside, which is very difficult with the ipad (or kindle fire).

I also have the Kindle DX (larger model). I've pretty much switched to
using the Touch because it is much smaller and lighter.

Ads are not intrusive, and I've taken advantage of several.

It has basic web, so if you have one of the web based email accounts you
could use for email. I keep my ipad handy for email and web so I don't
use my kindle for that.

On 6/10/2012 3:41 PM, Joy wrote:
Although nothing will ever replace real books for me, it seems to me that an
e-reader would be the best bet for traveling, as opposed to taking a large
number of books along.

Since my kids are taking me to Australia in October, I'm seriously
considering getting an e-reader. So far I'm leaning toward a Kindle, but I
have lots of questions.

For one thing, they range from the bare bones to the Kindle Fire. I think
there's one even more expensive than the Fire, but that's definitely out of
my range. I'm looking hard at the Kindle Touch and the next one up, which
has 4G.

Does anybody here have a Kindle? If so, which model do you have? What are
its advantages and disadvantages? If you wish you'd gotten a different
model, which one and why?

I get the impression that one can send email, or at least texts, on some
models. Is this true? If so, which ones?

Apparently they can be read in full sunlight, like a real book. I assume
this means one would need a light to use them in dim light or the dark?

Any other suggestions or comments would be most welcome.