If you've always wanted a Kindle, Amazon's ebook reader, here's some good news. Amazon just annouced 5 new Kindles: 4 with "e-ink" displays and one with an LCD. The new low-end Kindle is now available for $79, a subsidized price for a unit which displays innocuous ads on the home screen. Unsubsidized versions of this model are $99. The device is very light weight, important for reading.

You need "wi-fi" for these models. If you don't have wi-fi at home, you'll probably want a "3G" model which uses the cell-phone network at Amazon's expense. It costs about $30 more.

Other new models include touch screen versions of the above.

Also new is a full color 7" LCD Android tablet for $199, available in November. Like all LCD tablets, it's pretty heavy for holding for a long time while reading. But it's a full-fledged computer, capable of web-surfing, viewing your photos and movies, handling e-mail, and so forth.

E-ink displays are "always on," and use no battery power except to turn the page. As a result, the battery charge can last for days or weeks, depending on your usage, and cannot be read in the dark. An LCD display uses an actual light behind the screen, which draws a lot of battery juice, and so the battery charge lasts just hours, but can be read in the dark.

All Kindles (and most other e-readers) can borrow books from friends or the library.  The Hernando County Library has thousands of e-books available to lend. Most classics, whose copyright has expired, are available for free.

The beauty of e-readers, for me anyway, is that you can increase the type size of any book so old eyes can read again. 

If you want more info, use this link or the link at the middle right side of the front page.