I was somewhat cautious about investing in a Kindle, as someone who enjoys the experience of reading an actual book, but after finally caving and asking for one for my birthday I was very pleasantly surprised!

First and foremost, I travel a lot, mainly between university and home, and since having the Kindle I have found that my bag certainly weighs a lot less! It is extremely compact, making it much easier to handle than a regular book.

Another thing I have found is that it is extremely easy to use, even for the technophobes out there (my Grandma included!). Buttons and ports are kept to a minimum, and there is even a handy users guide included on the device, should someone become stuck or confused.

I would also complement the Amazon Kindle Store, it has a fantastic range of books, and goes as far as to recommend new novels to you. If a book you would like is not available as an e-book, there is even an option to notify the publisher that you would like to see it converted.

With regards to the screen / display, it being magnetic ink does have it's advantages. For example, it is so easy to read in sunlight, there is almost no glare from the screen, in fact, I would say there is less from the Kindle than there is from the page of a book!

However, there are a couple of issues with the display being magnetic ink - one of which is very minor - that I know others have experienced with their devices as well. The minor issue is that 'ghosting' can occur if full page refresh is not switched on to occur after every page. This simply means that there may sometimes be faint remnants of the previous page on your display; something that is annoying, but can be rectified with a simple settings change.

The more major issue occurred after I dropped my Kindle for the first time (while in a protective case) whilst on holiday. I picked it up, only to discover that half the screen was stuck on a book I had been reading, while the other half performed as normal. Not helpful, particularly while on holiday with no other books! However. Here is where Amazons fantastic customer service comes into play. After performing a full reset to no avail, I rang the Kindle helpline, where I spoke to an extremely friendly CA, who proceeded to send me a new Kindle, to where I was on holiday, on the proviso that I send the damaged device back within 30 days. Now THAT is customer service at it's finest.

I really could not recommend this device enough, it definitely exceeded my expectations, and I personally am more than willing to overlook a durability fault if it is easily solved!