Some numpty questions to follow!
I am looking at treating myself to a kindle - have looked at the three Tesco have to offer. Won't need the £149 3G one as it will all be done at home. As for the other two - one at £89 and one at £109. I see the obvious differences as one is smaller and lighter and has about half the capacity of the other, also battery life. Both are wifi. One has a keyboard and the other has a on screen keyboard. I won't be annotating so a keyboard is probably not needed except in rare circumstances. I don't need text to speak (?)
What I would like to know is are there any other main differences or can the cheaper one do anything else the other one can do? I see you can browse certain websites though I appreciate this isn't perfect and is slow. I also see you can put personal documents on them. Are there any other benefits to having a keyboard? Anything else? I have googled these things and looked at some online manuals but they all seem to be for different models and quite honestly I am confused! Any advice would be appreciated.

I have recently purchased the £89 version. I, like you won't be using the keyboard often and never saw the point in it been there making the kindle look ugly. when I'm reading I don't want a keyboard distracting me and this was my main reason for getting the £89 version.

The difference in storage is never going to be an issue for my, the smaller 389 version can still hold 1,000+ books, I can't see myself ever needing that many in one place at one time. Especially when downloading from Amazon is so easy. Battery life, I can't comment on, I've had mine for 1 1/2 weeks and got about 3/4 battery life left after reading 1 and a bit books on it.
The only thing I would point out which you haven't mentioned is there seems to be some debate about the quality of the cheaper Kindles screen, with many people saying the older keyboard version had a better screen, this been my first ereader I can't say, but I like the screen and can't complain.

Personally I'm very happy with mine, and would highly recommend the £89 version to anyone who doesn't make notes and understands that the web browser is so bad it's not something you'd want to use.

For me the main benefit of the keyboard is for searching, which I do quite a lot.

In any book you can just type something and press find, and it will give you all the occurrences of that word in the book. Obviously you can then jump straight to the page containing the text if you want. This goes some way to getting around the big problem of e-readers in general, which is that it isn't so easy to quickly flip back through the pages of a book to look something up.

Also another big plus of the Kindle is the built-in dictionary, and the keyboard is very useful for searching through that.

If you get a kindle consider buying from Currys

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/Christm...istmas_voucher

A £10 voucher redeemable from 10/11 to 8/12 and can be used for anything instore.

Myself I would go for the non keyboard if you are not going to use it hardly ever as the smaller size feels nice in the hand.

I think the older keyboard Kindle has better battery life. Other than that I don't think there's much in it.

Amazon do refurbished WiFi keyboard Kindles now for £79.99

I have the 3G keyboard Kindle, if I was replacing it tomorrow I'd buy the new £89 one.

I've used 3G once, don't use the web browser and have yet to use the keyboard.

Thanks everyone for your help. I think I will go for the cheaper one then as I will just be using it for reading mainly. I quite like the idea of having access to all the free books you can get on Amazon - the older ones which you wouldn't necessarily buy but may still be interesting.
Big_Ted - thanks for the heads up on Currys - I will certainly have a look there as well.

I originally pre-ordered the new Kindle but changed my mind when i saw that Amazon had refurbished WiFi KKs available for £79. Bought one of those instead and have been more than happy with it.

Some people might be concerned with buying refurbished stuff, but i've never had a problem with it and the chance to save another £10 was not to be sniffed at. The Kindle i received looked brand new.

The only thing i was disappointed about was the lack of a cover (my Sony eReader from a couple of years ago came with one; though it cost twice as much), but none of the Kindles come with one so that's not a lack specific to the reburbs. I just bought one of these covers to go with it.

I was also a bit confused as to which Kindle to get, the new one at £89 or the one with the keyboard which is more expensive.
I read the MSE tips on Kindle's and found Amazon Warehouse so I ordered a refurbed keyboard kindle, the main reason is that I'm an avid reader and battery life is better on that one. I paid £79.99 for the refurbed one. I haven't got it yet, it should arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday but I can't wait to get started.

Currently holding onto the new Kindle Wi-fi as a gift for a relative, but couldn't resist opening it and seeing how it fares with the older Kindles - I have the KK3G version.

Whilst it is undoubtedly lighter, build quality on the new model is I feel much cheaper and I actually think the weight distribution and therefore holding position with the keyboard versions, is much much better.

Also, the screen is definitely (in my eyes anyway), not as solid as the KK versions. With the refresh being staggered every 5/6 pages, the ink does appear to fade before a full refresh is done. I've read that a firmware update is available, to make this a user preference. As it stands, it's off-putting, particularly if reading in a lower light environment. The 'ghosting' effect of the words as they disappear when you turn pages, is more a distraction then the full black-to-white-to-black refresh of each page, in the keyboard range. It's not just my eyes that's noticed it, as family members have agreed.

I also find the reduced border around the frame too thin and to get a good grip on it, means touching the actual screen. It's very possible that the new Kindle, used in conjunction with the official cases that fold back, provided a better ergonomic grip.

However, if you're are a first time Kindle user, you probably won't be any the wiser and will be more than delighted with your purchase. However, if you get the opportunity to see both side-by-side, a refurb Kindle (I suspect these are just items the original owner returned as they couldn't get the wi-fi to connect...), is a better proposition, if you can stand the marginal weight difference and the inclusion of the keyboard.

Thanks for all that - very sound! I will do as you suggest and take a look at both together. I think if I can handle them both physically it will give me a better idea and after all one is only £20 more than the other! Just remains to decide if I should take up the extra warranty they are bound to offer me!!

Can I ask, those of you who have a refurbished Kindle, would you know it's refurbished if you hadn't bought it as such? My mum is wanting a Kindle for Christmas, and she said she'd rather have a keyboard one, but I'd rather not pay an extra £70 for 3G she wouldn't use.

My OH and I got new Kindles, my son bought a refurbished one - you couldn't tell them apart.

I've got both . I've had a keyboard Kindle for a couple of years, and bought the new lighter one to carry around in my handbag. Can't praise the Kindle enough, I've rediscovered my love of reading - it's like giving myself a present every time I start a new book!

Just a little Kindle 'tip' - which is what I do.

I made a collection called 'read' and when I've finished a book I move it to there, it tells you how many books are in each collection, so far I've read 139 books on the Kindle.

Forget the extra warranty and get a 3G Kindle.

What benefit would I get from a 3G one?

I tend to just delete it when i'm finished, no good reason for it still to be on there as I can re-download it in seconds if I ever wanted to read again.

I own both the Kindle 3 and Kindle 4 and find the Kindle 4 to be the best. it's more portable, lighter to hold and has faster page turns.

Simply the convenience of downloading books instantly from wherever you are, as well as the ability to do some basic internet surfing. The 3G also removes any potential problems you might encounter with the wi-fi set up, as you can use the 3G signal to deliver content in just as quick a time as you would via wi-fi.

Read the small print re the ability to surf and download in countries around the world. As many 3G users have reported, it's better to use the free 3G option to access the internet / basic facebook / check the news than get stung with hefty data usage charges on your smartphone while abroad.

Save any money you would have considered on the warranty (fairly pointless), add a few quid more and should you decide on a keyboard model, get the 3G version. You won't regret it.

Exactly. Better to have 3G and not need it than the other way round. Like Immodium.

Now there is another advantage of a paper book over an electronic gadget.

When we went on holiday, the OH and I used to take at least eight books between us - now we've got room for more clothes!

Do you have another folder of books you've not yet read called 'read' too

IIRC one thing to remember with the £89 kindle is that it doesn't come with a charger, yes a suitable charger is only a fiver, but that eats into the saving.

Personally I'd go with the keyboard wifi kindle, as that to me seems the best of the current kindles, and i'm quite impressed with it for the price (I've had a Sony 505 for about 3 years and love it to bits, but the kindle keyboard would probably be my choice for a replacement at the moment as it seems the best value of the Amazon models).

That's why Stephanie Meyer sells so many books.

My Kindle 3 3G (now keyboard) did not come with a charger either, but it was on offer as a combination with the device. Anyway, many people will have an USB charger that came with their mobile phone and that one will do for the Kindle nicely.

The "problem" with the new cheap Kindle is the keyboard is on-screen and any typing means navigating through it with a 5-way controller. If you do not intend purchase the books from the device very often you'll be fine. Doing it regularly can be a PITA. No text-to-speech, no MP3 playback, not that I ever used this feature.

I made a good use of the keyboard and 3G on my Kindle. I do not plan what I want to read, but I always have 10 or so free samples and decide on impulse what I want to read next, so for me both keyboard and 3G make sense.

Given the choice I would still go for the Kindle keyboard 3G given my expectations, but even the cheap one will do the reading a book part very well. It's the same e-Ink screen after all.