Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Pearl Display

First the Kindle, second the audio
 
The Kindle is great if you like to read. It looks like a read piece of paper in front of you while also not being a book. I use mine to read translated Light Novels and Manga.
You can place PDF or use the converter Calibre to convert PDF over to the Epub and the kindle can use it's full features. The features include: It reads to you, size font and size of text area, motion the text side to side and note and bookmarks for later. PDF can't do as much and I was lacking this.
To read manga on a kindle, you use Mangle (oooooo, the name) to put the manga .jpg into a imag book form so the kindle can read. Nice feature but best on the DX kindle.
 
The UI is trash, but much more usable then the Cowon's UI. Buttons are shallow and hard. I'd like to see touchscreen sometime in Kindle 4. The battery is at the top so top heavy and it's too thin to take out of the expensive kindle case. But the case is nice. MAKE SURE TO BUY THE KINDLE FLIP OVE CASE MADE FOR THE KINDLE. not a slip over, it makes a difference.
 
Audio is subpar. The feature was a throw in. I loaded up a couple low quality albums to save space and I play when I don't have music already going.(quite rare). On board power if more then a NDS but less then a Sansa. Cna push my HD598 well but not loudly. The speakers are nice though. Coming from extra flat low power speakers, they give a soundstage and some bass impact loose while also letting the treble play clearly and some mids separation. Grain of salt here.
 
Overall: Great to read and to get free classics and whatnot online to put on. Not very good to buy a book every now and then. If you do read, it will be a lot better then to buy a collection. But you also lose the library you wanted to grow. Otherwise saves money they also. Buy this for the reading and also check out the audio, not the other way around. 

I was a bit surprised when I discovered that a 3rd generation Kindle could in fact play mp3's.  In the spirit of head-fi I decided to review this rather nifty addition to the kindle.  Keep in mind that I'm only review the audio portion of this device and not the device itself.  To start out the music player feature on the kindle is "experimental" meaning that it is a feature that might be fully implemented on later kindles.  The actual loading of the music onto the player is simply a matter of click and drag into the folders.  Too bad there are only about 4 gigs of space on the reader, but keep in mind that books tend to take up less space.   The biggest flaw in the kindle besides its inherent purpose of being a visual rather than audio device is the interface.  Much like the original iPod shuffle, the built in player does not display track, length, or even shows any signs that it is in fact playing any music at all.  The actual interface only allows for the music to be stopped, or skip ahead to the next track.  The built in speakers are not much to write about, but the sound quality was a pleasant experience considered my actual expectations.  They were able to drive my Sennheiser HD598s to a satisfying degree.  
 
Wrap up: Yes this was a rather whimsical review, but written with a totally straight face.  Overall the built in player on for the Kindle is a pleasant surprise mainly for it's sound quality, though the actual interface is minimal to a flaw.  Will this replace any other source? No.  Can it be used as a substitute if you ever forget your music player?  Sure... why not. 
 
Value: It's a free extra with the reader.
Audio Quality: Decent considering the actual purpose of the device. 
Design: Clever kindle design... No audio interface on keyboard.
Battery Life: Haven't tried to listen till battery death, but should last a time.
User Interface: Minimal to a fault.