Wondering how the new Kindle 3 handles various types of PDF files? Well, you’re in luck. I just finished up the Kindle 3 PDF review, so take a look.

There’s several huge pictures and a video too. In fact, here’s the Kindle 3 PDF video in case you have trouble loading the review page because of all the large images . . .

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I went ahead and did a second Kindle 3 video review because the first one using the Kindle’s text to speech feature as a narrator didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped. I had to use a second Kindle to read the text document that I had typed and the sound quality didn’t turn out very good on the video and the constant reading speed was hard to keep up with.

If you visit the main Kindle 3 review page you’ll now find the new video. You can still watch the old video with the text to speech narrator on The eBook Reader YouTube channel.

So here’s the new Kindle 3 video review . . .

New Kindle 3 Video Review

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Just finished up the first stage of the Kindle 3 review. Here’s the link to the full Kindle WiFi review and video review, but you might want to start with this shorter Kindle 3 review for an overview of all its features and a list of weaknesses.

The video review is a bit . . . different. So check it out.

Stay tuned for more Kindle reviews; I’ll be posting a PDF review with another video in the next couple of days.

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With the official release of Amazon’s new Kindle 3, there’s suddenly a slew of Kindle 3 reviews cropping up from various website’s around the web.

You can find my hands-on Kindle 3 review and video reviews posted on the Kindle 3 review page.

Then take a look below at what some of the other reviewers have said about the new Kindle below.

Kindle 3 Review – What the Reviewers are Saying

CNet

The Kindle 3 review at CNet gets 4 out of 5 stars, noting that the Kindle’s numerous upgrades vaults it to the top of the ebook reader market, but the lack of expansion slots and EPUB support, among other things, keeps it from getting a five star rating. Check out their video below.

The CNet review also mentions the new Kindle 3 cover with a built in reading light that draws a charge from the Kindle and doesn’t require batteries. This is what they say:

At night, however, you have to have a light source to use the Kindle, which is part of the reason why Amazon has designed an optional protective cover (none ships with the unit) that includes a retracting LED light that’s brilliantly designed. The slim light draws power from the Kindle and tucks away into the case (at first glance, you don’t even know it’s there). The only downside is it’s expensive at $59.99, but we have to say, we really liked it.

CNet’s Kindle 3 Video Review

Wired

Wired’s review gives the Kindle 3 a 9 out of 10, saying that “the denser e-ink on the new Kindle is going to make a lot of previous Kindle owners jealous,” and that “Battery life is long enough for space shuttle missions”.

What they don’t like is Amazon’s DRM, the lack of a touchscreen, and they say that the interface for newspapers and magazines could use improving. They also mention that the new button layout makes it hard not to accidentally hit the back and menu buttons when moving the cursor up and down.

Teleread

Stephen Windwalker gives a very positive and extensive review of the new Kindle 3 and lighted cover over on Teleread. A quote:

This Kindle 3 is a Triple Wow. Five Stars. Two Thumbs Up. And, because Amazon stays true to its core vision of catalog, convenience and connectivity for the Kindle, it is by far the best ebook reader ever made. For now, and probably for the rest of 2010, at the least. Naturally, as with any other kind of technology, there will be serious people who want no part of it.

PC Mag

The Kindle 3 review at PC Mag gets a 4 out of 5 stars. They too like the new higher contrast screen and upgraded features, but really have a problem with Amazon’s locked-in format and lack of EPUB support.

PC Mag’s Kindle 3 conclusion:

With its retail support, custom content, wider file support, and color display, the Barnes and Noble Nook remains a tough contender. But overall, with a lower price, a slimmer, lighter design, higher-contrast screen, and other improvements, the Kindle remains our Editors’ Choice for ebook readers.

PC World

The Kindle 3 review at PC World is titled “Amazon Kindle 3: The Best Kindle Yet”. While that much would be expected with a next generation device, the reviewer points out that the new trimmed-down design is extremely comfortable to hold for long periods of time and that the new Kindle 3 delivers a more pleasing reading experience than earlier models.

The main drawbacks this review mentions is there’s no re-flow mode for PDFs and the bookstore speed was slow in loading book covers and refreshing pages—perhaps a poor 3G connection.

Len Edgerly’s Kindle 3 Video Review

Kindle 3 Reviews Conclusion

From reading all the reviews so far, the Kindle 3 appears to be a hit. All the reviewers like the new added features and the general consensus seems to place the Kindle 3 at the top of the ebook reader list (for now), despite its lack of EPUB support, etc.

The biggest selling point seems to be the new low price. You can get a Kindle 3 with free 3G for $189, which is $110 cheaper than the Kindle 2 when it first launched last year, or a Kindle WiFi for $139.

Or you can do what I did and get an additional $30 off by signing up for and charging the purchase to an Amazon.com credit card. Here’s the blog post explaining it. I ended up getting a Kindle WiFi for just $109 total.

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This Kindle 3 review lists all the new features and details about the new Kindle 3, along with what’s best about the Kindle and what its weaknesses are.

First off, the only difference between the two Kindle 3 models is one comes with free 3G wireless from AT&T. Both come with WiFi, and the WiFi only model, since it doesn’t have a wireless modem, weighs 0.2 ounces less that the 3G model.

Additionally, the Kindle 3G comes in both black (graphite, as Amazon calls it) and white, whereas the Kindle WiFi comes in just black at the moment. Other than that, the two units are identical.

After reading this post, make sure to check the full Kindle 3 Review for a hands-on video review, several pictures and screenshots, and a closer look at the new Kindle’s features.

Kindle 3 Review: New Features

In addition to selling the new Kindles for less than similar ebook readers, Amazon added some shiny new features to the Kindle 3 to make it even more appealing . . .

• New Pearl Screen Equals 50% Better Contrast – The Kindle 3 and Kindle DX are the first two ebook readers to have the new screens from E Ink. In reviewing both new Kindles, the new screens are a definite upgrade and are highly recommended over the old.

• Built-in WiFi – The Kindle 3 can be connected to home and public WiFi networks, and comes with free WiFi access at all AT&T WiFi hotspots in the U.S.

• Improved Web Browser with Article Mode – Instead of the basic web browser of old, the Kindle 3 uses a new faster web browser that is based on the industry-leading open source web browser engine, WebKit. One of the features of the WebKit browser is an “article mode” that optimizes pages to be viewed as plain text for reading, focusing on the content in the main article body and removing some ads and extra columns. Surprisingly, the web browser works pretty good as far as ereaders go.

• Double the Battery Life – The Kindle 3 can last for up to 1 month on a single charge with the wireless turned off and up to 10 days with it on. Will update this section after a couple of months of use.

• New Fonts – The new Kindle now has three different font choices, the standard Caecilia font, a condensed version of Caecilia, and a sans serif option. The new Kindle also supports Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Cyrillic characters, as well as Latin and Greek scripts. Cyrillic is used in Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukrainian, and several other languages.

• Improved PDF Capabilities – The new Kindle got some much-need improvements for PDF files. Notes, highlights, and the dictionary now work for PDFs, and support for password protected PDFs has been added. PDFs can be viewed in landscape mode, and can be zoomed in up to 300%. A cool feature with the Kindle 3 is that it can darken the text on PDFs.

• New Streamlined Appearance and New Buttons – The Kindle 3 is smaller and lighter than the Kindle 2 and has new, quieter page-turn buttons and a new button layout and navigation pad. The new Kindle feels good to hold one-handed.

• Voice Guide – This feature has been added to the Kindle 3 to make it easier for vision impaired people to navigate the menus using text-to-speech.

• 20% Faster Page Turns – Along with the screen improvements, the new Kindle got a boost in page-turning speed.

• More Memory – While the Kindle 3 still doesn’t have any memory card slots, it now comes with 4 GB of internal memory, twice as much as the Kindle 2. That’s enough storage for about 3500 books and documents.

Kindle 3 Review: Standard Features

Aside from the new features added to the Kindle 3, there a lot of main features that remain the same.

• Free Global Wireless – The Kindle 3G model replaces the Kindle 2 as the International wireless Kindle, with access to free wireless in over 100 countries around the globe.

• eBooks and Content Aplenty – Amazon has over 630,000 total ebooks available in the Kindle ebook store, 135 newspapers, 65 magazines, and nearly 10,000 blogs and news feeds to subscribe to.

• Text To Speech – Kindle devices can read aloud ebooks. There’s a male and female voice with 3 adjustable speed settings. This feature does not work on all ebooks; it’s up to the publishers and authors to allow it or not.

• Folders – Amazon recently added folder support to all the Kindles, called collections. The feature could use some work, but gets the job done. It takes a while to set up if you have large collections.

• Popular Highlights and Social Networking – You can share passages from ebooks with friends and family using social networks like Facebook and Twitter by posting the passage directly from a Kindle. And popular highlighting shows what other people are highlighting, along with the total number of people who’ve highlighted it.

• Reading Kindle Books on Other Platforms – In recent months Amazon has released several new Kindle apps for reading and syncing ebooks across multiple platforms and devices, including Android devices, Apple’s iProducts, Blackberry, PC, and Mac computers.

• Kindle 3 Supported Formats – AZW, PDF, TXT, MOBI, PRC, AAX, AA, MP3; HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion. Kindle Format Conversion Guide.

Kindle 3 Review: Cons

While the Kindle 3 is the most affordable ebook reader with its feature set, there are still some things that keep it from being the King (or Queen) of ebook readers.

• No EPUB support – EPUB is the open standard format for ebook readers, one of the most widely used formats, and the Amazon Kindle cannot display any EPUB ebook.

• No Support for Library eBooks – Format-wise, Amazon’s biggest rival is Adobe, and since most library ebooks are in Adobe EPUB and PDF format, the Kindles naturally don’t support that format and can’t display free ebooks from libraries. A few libraries have ebooks with Mobipocket DRM but the Kindle does not support that either, despite the fact that it supports the MOBI format.

• No Memory Cards – While the new Kindle comes with 4 GB of internal memory, it still does not have any expansion slots. Everything has to be transferred via internet or PC with the USB cable.

• Still No Color or Touchscreen – We all expected Amazon to be releasing a color Kindle by the end of the year, or at least one with a touchscreen, but with the Kindle 3 arriving instead, a color Kindle with a touchscreen won’t likely be seen for at least another 6-12 months.

• Limited Customizable Options – Once you’ve had your hands on ebook readers like the Pocketbook ereaders where you can change themes and the appearance of ebooks and menus, edit book information, change dictionaries, and specify what each and every button does, it’s hard not to want those types of features on a Kindle as well.

• Cover Not Included – One way that Amazon manages to get the price so low is that a cover is not included with the purchase of a Kindle 3, and one is really needed to keep the screen protected. Amazon just introduced a really cool new cover for the Kindle 3 that has a built-in reading light that recharges using the Kindle’s battery. Unfortunately the cover costs $59, almost 45% the total cost of a Kindle WiFi.

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