When I received the Amazon Kindle as I gift I was dying to get stuck in. The packaging was very minimal, which is great for the environment.

It was very easy to set up. There is a small sliding on/off switch on the bottom, and in a few minutes the Kindle initialised. It was very simple to connect to my home wireless and was already registered to my Amazon account.

Next of course - to add some books! Searching through the Amazon website was quick and easy, and I soon found some free classics to download. Books bought on my PC automatically download to the Kindle as well.

Reading on the Kindle is a wonderful experience. It is light, thin and the screen is a good size. I have tiny hands and find it hard to hold in one hand and reach the page turn buttons, so some experimentation is required to find a position that suits you.

The e-ink screen has very good contrast. The background is a little greyer than I would like, so requires good lighting. There is a little glare if you're reading with a light source over your shoulder, which requires holding the device at the correct angle, but nowhere near as much as if it was a glass screen. The screen does flash black when you turn a page, but I was amazed at how quick it is - the time it takes to turn the page is less than the time it takes to move your eyes to the top of the next page.

The Kindle also plays audio books and mp3s, which I haven't felt the need for, I would use my iPod for that. I tried the text-to-speech feature once, but it is pretty awful. There is a male and female voice to choose from, but both have American accents and are very bad at pronunciation. Better to stick with a proper audio book by a professional actor.

The battery lasts an incredible amount of time, around 3 weeks for me, but of course it depends on how much you read. I've managed to take it on several camping holidays without worrying about charging, and most importantly, without having to carry a pile of heavy books.