Kindle Voyage

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Amazon refreshed its lineup of Kindles last night, pushing the Kindle Fire for less than $100, where it's easily the best fit for people wanting a good-enough tablet on a budget. But the most interesting thing for me is the latest e-ink model, the Kindle Voyage, which will get much less attention.

The fact that it's a $200 monochrome tablet means that you pay twice the price, get none of the color, and have to put up with the slow refresh-rate of an e-ink display. But for people who read a lot and read at length, e-ink is still easier on the eyes, and these are now extremely refined, precisely-aimed gadgets, with a 300ppi display, thinner and lighter than any liquid-crystal tablet, and batteries that last for weeks on a charge.

Most interesting is the new textured-glass layer on top of the display, said to make it look and feel more like real paper, while reducing glare. I'm looking forward to seeing if this is all it's cracked up to be, or just something that's liable to crack.

I'll be upgrading, but at this price range they should just sell the ad-free model at the higher price. The difference in pricing is so small that defaulting to the advertising-loaded model feels almost like a dark pattern.

Kindle Voyage [Amazon]