Pros & Cons of my new International Kindle – purchased in US, using it in the UK

Quick review of my International Kindle, in case someone else is looking to purchase a US version and import it over to another country.

Pros:

• I can actually use the wireless Whispernet service internationally…but if I want to wirelessly download books, it costs an extra $1.99/book…that’s not bad (BUT, see the cons below for using Whispernet for more regular updates for blogs, periodicals, etc)
• The Kindle is super lightweight & can’t wait to travel with it
• It’s pretty (see image at the bottom)
• I can purchase books online, and then synch it via USB to my Kindle, so I do not need to incur wireless charges (although the synching is not intuitive)

Cons:

Posted via email from busterbuster’s posterous

• If I want updated daily blogs & periodicals, there is a weekly $5.00 charge (that can get expensive over the course of a year!) – no Techcrunch for me I guess…
• The Kindle store on my Amazon account is not that intuitive
• Apparently when charging my Kindle through my computer using the USB, I cannot use the Kindle for reading…the error message makes no sense (will post a picture later)
• I had to switch my home country from the UK to the US on my Kindle Amazon settings to get a better catalog of books
• At first it was quite unclear how to get blogs & periodicals onto my Kindle – the User Interface is not that intuitive
• I would prefer a touch screen
• It would be nice to be able to adjust the contrast of the screen text (maybe there is a way?)
• Unclear how easy it is to damage the Kindle…if I drop it, am I out of luck?  Does the screen scratch?