My parents got me a Kindle 6″. I’m a previous sometimes user of the original first-generation Kindle, and I found it to be a great purchase.

First of all, I bought the cheapest, simplest Kindle, and wasn’t at all interested in the Fire or anything fancy. I already have an iPad and use that for all of my consumer needs sans reading. I love the e-ink feature that the simple Kindle has, and is the main reason for buying it. My father has twice reported that he thought the contrast wasn’t enough, so it might be worth having a look before buying, but I for one love how it’s off-white like paper.

The best part about it is that you can hold it and turn pages with one hand. This feature is great for reading because it means you can do so many other things with it as well. Do some reading during commercials or those in-between times you have. I gave my wife a massage while reading. If you have your iPhone with you, you can read on-the-go as well, due to its automatic read-syncing feature. The buttons are particularly well placed to make for easy turning.

The worst part about it though is that it’s essentially an advertising device. The upshot is that’s why it’s so cheap, because Amazon is selling them to sell more content. Which is a fair enough tactic and completely understandable, especially since this device is essentially an extension of your Amazon account. (To think otherwise is folly.) However, I still have to take it down a few points of my imaginary scale (out of 50 for no reason) for the advertisements on the home screen. I mean, I get the commercials on the screen saver bit, but on the home screen. Even, the same advertisement that I get on the home screen? C’mon?

So, it get my “highly recommended” (45 out of 50!) assuming that you already have an Amazon account, and are prepared to spend a bit more money on content.