Navigation for the Kindle is handled mostly by the Home, Alt, and TextSize buttons on the keypad along with a scroll wheel on the right side above the keypad. As shown in Figure 11, the  scroll wheel controls a vertical cursor bar that runs along the right side of the Kindle’s screen. As you move the wheel, a small silver bar moves up and down the cursor bar. You simply move the silver bar up or down to your choice and press down on the scroll wheel to select that option.

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Figure 11: Scroll wheel and choice bar

As noted earlier, reading on the Kindle is pleasant and easy on the eyes. There is a slight flash as the screen redraws when turning a page.  Although this is a bit startling at first, it is easy to get used to and causes no real problem.

The Kindle offers numerous advantages. By using the keypad you can add annotations and notes just as you would write in the margins of a book. You can also edit, delete, and export your notes. Without carrying a highlighting pen, you can highlight any areas of the book. You can also clip passages to keep for use later and you can easily bookmark pages you might want to return to later. You never have to bookmark your place in a book, since the Kindle will automatically take you back to where you left off, even if you are reading several books at one time.

The Kindle has a built-in dictionary so you can easily look up the meaning of words without lugging around a dictionary. You can also easily access Wikipedia to get more information on anything you are reading.  Searching the Kindle is also a very power feature. You can search the Kindle Store, or any of the reading material on your Kindle. You can even search for a certain word and find every instance in the books and magazines on your Kindle. Amazon keeps a copy of all of your purchases, so if your Kindle breaks or you decide to purchase a new one, you can have Amazon transfer your books to your new Kindle.

The Kindle has a headphone port and volume control on the bottom, as shown in Figure 12. You can add your own music to the Kindle and it will play in a random order through the built-in speakers or any headphones that are plugged in. You can also listen to audio books on the Kindle. However, our experience with this feature varied. Several books we downloaded from Audible played quite well. However, not all audio books are created equal in the eyes of the Kindle. One of those we downloaded from our local library played, but was quite uncontrollable. At one point we had to reset the Kindle to get it to stop playing. This was done by removing the back of the Kindle and sticking a paper clip into the reset button.

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Figure 12: The bottom of the Kindle.

You can put e-books and other documents on the Kindle by email toYourKindleName@kindle.com. The document is then converted to the Kindle format. If you want the document  sent directly to your Kindle.  There is a $.10 charge per document. You can, however, have it emailed to the email address that you have attached to your Amazon account at no charge. You can then download it to your Kindle through your PC’s USB connection.

The Kindle has a lot of undocumented features. For instance, the game Minesweeper is available if you press and hold the ALT and Shift keys and press the M button. If you take the time to search, you will undoubtedly find many more.