Kindle (4th Gen) 6" Wi-Fi E-Reader

This is my first Kindle and probably the last E Ink reader because lighted screens look better to my eyes, but let me tell you everything in more detail. First impression: the Kindle box is beautifully designed inside and out. The first time I saw the Kindle itself I was really impressed with it as well. When I put it out of the box I thought of how light it was. For instance, when I handled the first generation iPad I thought the opposite because it looked lighter than it felt in my hands. In addition to its super light weight I loved how its surface felt. It had a very nice matte back and polished top. Even the Kindle logo looked so good one could instantly want to show it off. No doubt it's one of the most beautiful and slick gadgets I've ever had and handled. Also I was immediately amazed by what an E Ink screen can do because it had a picture on it (prompting to plug the Kindle in) even though the device was turned off. Second impression: protective screen was stuck pretty hard to the Kindle but I peeled it off with zero glue residue left. I easily connected the gadget to my Wi-Fi network and noticed it had been pre-registered. Such a tiny yet cool and impressive feature I didn't know it would have. Once again, I would like to emphasize that setting the Kindle up is a very intuitive and simple task. For example, one would do way more clicks and fine tuning to connect a Windows based PC to a wireless network. I have a protected hidden home network and all I had to do was to type in my network name and password. When the Kindle fully started up I read the manual on the device and loaded some books in it, which is another easy task whether you do it wiressly or through a USB connection. Third impression: the back is unsteady at places and the screen is not as amazing and out of this world as it is advertised. "Kindle's E Ink screen reads like real paper, with no glare". Yes it does read like real paper but it doesn't look like one because it's not nearly as white as average book paper. But the ink itself is dark and sharp enough which is good. As of "no glare" - not true comparing to real paper. It glares a lot less than a glossy LCD screen but still it's not paper. Fourth impression a.k.a. "ghosting": the almost mythical E Ink trait some deny and some accept but you never read of in any promotional material. Sadly enough, it's not a myth and Kindle 4 has the issue. Especially you can see it on pictures or ghosts of pictures on text pages (example: [...]). I'd say it has something to do with buggy software, not the screen, since the ghosting isn't consistent. Also it doesn't distract you from reading. Nevertheless, I've read a lot of comments on the issue and decided to contact Amazon Kindle Customer Service myself which leads to the... Fifth Impression a.k.a. Outsdanding Customer Serivice: I've been an Amazon customer since June 2003 (.com and .co.uk) and there wasn't a single time the customer service failed to solve a problem. So I was sure they would come up with a valid reply to the "ghosting" one. At first, I emailed them telling the problem and asking if it's OK to have some ghosting. Seriously, I would be satisfied to hear it's an E Ink characteristic if they told me so. But they promptly replied and said it's not normal and asked me to chat with them live. During that conversation they repeated it's not OK; they said they didn't want Kindle Customers to have any issues and they wanted to send me a replacement. I was hesitant, at first, because I didn't want extra hassle, but they assured me the device would have zero faults and nothing bad would happen again. So I decided to go with it. In a couple of days I received another Kindle and the issue was almost the same. There seemed to be a little less ghosting but there still was some. So I contacted Customer Service once more. To make the long story short - they apologized again, offered me to get another replacement plus a compensation, since they couldn't tell for sure whether it would be a new or refurbished Kindle. Just like the first time they insisted that it would be tested and it would work at its best. I decided to go with it again! In a couple of days, I received the 3rd Kindle. And... you guessed it right - it had ghosting! And it was the worst case I had, to the point it started to look ugly at times. I contacted them once again and they confirmed what I thought they would two Kindles ago - "it's OK for E Ink readers to have a certain amount of ghosting" and they offered me to return it if I wanted to for a full refund. Now, how many other brands out there care about their reputation and customer experience that much? All this replacements were free of charge, with free overnight shipping and free return postage. Free for me not for Amazon. They could easily say, as pretty much any other brand would, that it is as it is right in the beginning, but Amazon has a very high standard of treating their customers. You are never left alone. It's remarkable! In the end I would like to add that I kept the Kindle number 2 with its mild ghosting and returned the third one as it was obviously worse. For $79 dollars it's a very amazing (or should I say AMAZONg) deal. Oh, and some notes on special offers a.k.a. ads. They are really handy! I don't know why one would like to get rid of them by paying for that because: 1) they are integrated very well and don't distract you from anything 2) there are lots of really great deals! Some people search on-line for coupons and bargains but when they are given exclusive special offers they choose to turn them down. Why? I have no idea and I love the ads. P.S. - did you know you can load games in this kind of Kindle? I didn't, but turned out there are plenty of games, free and paid, on Amazon.com!