The newest e-reader has hit the market with Amazon.com officially releasing the Kindle 2 one day earlier then expected.  The Kindle 2 has been selling very well and even as I write this I can see auctions on Ebay where the bid is higher then the Kindle 2’s actual price of $359.  What are the responses to the new release?  I’ve been reading and reading and reading some more some of the product reviews for the Amazon Kindle 2 to get the scoop and I’m going to sum up the common topics about the pro’s and con’s that people who have just purchased the Kindle 2 are saying:

One common comment in most reviews about the new Kindle is that Amazon made the product more user friendly.  The buttons to change the pages have been changed to prevent accidental page flipping.  There were some menus that were hard to use/understand that Amazon has revised to be more user friendly.  The Kindle 2 is almost much thinner then the original Kindle to the point where it is noticably thinner by all reviewers.

People have commented that this can now easily fit into your briefcase, pocketbook, or backpack without taking up a significant amount of space.  Amazon also changed the battery door which had caused some users a hassle when they tried to open it.  Well, in a manner of speaking, Amazon completely eliminated that battery door!  The text to speech feature is great for people who want to listen to a book as they drive to work in the morning.

Some of the cons I am seeing people talking about is that they want the Kindle to have a color display, not black and white…  I would agree that this would be an awesome feature but from articles I read this would also be very expensive and I think more people would complain about a higher price.  Another common con is that there is no SD card input meaning you cannot expand the memory that is available within the Kindle 2.  I’ve read the Kindle 2 holds 1,500 books… so I’m not sure how many people will feel the impact of not being able to hold more then that.  And another complaint is about the back light or lack thereof.  Many people have commented that the Sony Reader has a nice back light option built in that the Kindle 2 should have replicated but didn’t.

Currently, out of 80 ratings on Amazon.com the average user gives the Kindle 2 a 4 out of 5 stars.  You can check out their ratings and comments here.  I’m going to be getting my hands on this by the end of the week and I’ll give my personal Amazon Kindle 2 product review at that time.  My gut feelings based on reading hours of peoples’ reviews is that the average person will be happy with the Kindle 2 and the electronics geek with high expectations may be feeling a little let down… we’ll see what I think in a few days!!!