OK, seriously, I had been looking for weeks for a practical, reasonably priced Kindle 3 cover that I could read from with ease and has a nice enough appearance and this finally appeared. I am on a very strict budget and thought that if it did its job, even if it didn't turn out so great, it wouldn't be a big deal and it would hold me over until I found something I liked better. I was going crazy having to leave my Kindle at home because I was not risking injury by taking it out with me without a case! This came in yesterday and I couldn't be more pleased! It looks and feels nice, it is very well constructed and my Kindle fits perfectly. I even shook it over a soft surface to give it a test run and it held up perfectly. I can fold back to front cover to read with one hand without damaging the material and the front pocket can hold a little notepad for those of us who prefer taking hand written notes. I highly recommend this to EVERYONE who is appalled at the unreasonably priced Kindle holders that are on the market right now. If you are concerned about style, I'm sure some fabric stickers would pimp this out very nicely ;)
I DID want a cover that I could read out of with one hand, hold a note pad AND zipped completely closed for ultimate protection, but no such thing exists right now for the K3. The screen protector will give added protection, and I'm sure you can buy/make a simple sleeve that this case could fit into if you do extensive traveling or are just very cautious.
VERY happy! :D And BTW, for those of you as thorough as I am, this IS for the Latest (3rd) Generation Kindle. CrazyOnDigital Kindle 3G 3rd Generation Leather Case with Screen Protector
If you can give up on leather and fancy-attached lights, buy this cover!
Cover
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Fit:
Fits my Kindle 3G perfectly enough to not give room to shift. The listing photos do a great job of showing off how this is constructed, with two non-stretchy strips supporting the Kindle on the bottom corners, and two snappy elastic bands to keep the reader snug. Once secure, there's about 1/8" extra cover all around the Kindle, which should provide a little protection against scratching the corners and sides or against dropping the thing. I wondered if I could slip a silicone sleeve around the Kindle body, to protect the sides, and then tuck them into the cover, but I'm not sure there's enough room.
The Kindle keeps in place even if I hold from the cover at any angle and shake. I can't say the same for my Kindle 1 original cover, which did the job fine but barely clipped onto unit and left a lot of room for the Kindle to flap about. In contrast, I was confident from the first few seconds tucking my Kindle 3 into this cover that the reader will be held securely in place, no slipping, sliding, or tipping out.
I have not seen the official Kindle 3 cover in action, but I'm leery of the cover only hooking onto the plastic side of the reader (at only 2 points), then folding the front cover back like a paperback, which I'd be afraid would snap either the cover hooks or the Kindle hook-holes.
Another reviewer noted that the bottom strips holding the Kindle 3 down obstruct the "shift", "back", and "directional" buttons. The pictures show this pretty accurately even if they're hard to see, so while the buttons aren't actually covered, the strips do slow down button presses just a bit. The shift and back keys aren't use very often, though, so that's not an issue. The directional button is still usable with thumb presses, and even without the cover I preferred to use my nails for the direction button anyway, a method which is little affected by the cover. If the negligible effect on the buttons is still too much to bear, the straw hack given by the other reviewer seems easy to do, and given the sensibility of the design, there's about 1/8" to lift the Kindle up and away from the bottom strips affecting the buttons.
Feel:
The cover basically doubles or triples the thickness of the Kindle, which actually makes the thin reader much easier to hold. Since the magnetic closure just flaps around when it is open, I clip it to the front cover when it is folded back, even though it does make the right side 6x thicker than the Kindle. The upside is the front cover doesn't flap around, making for a solid thing to hold. And even with this, holding with either or both hands is still very comfortable.
The total weight with Kindle and cover feels like a thin hardcover novel, although, in the shape and size of a thin softcover novel folded back, it's still very nice to hold. If I'm lying down, I can still get a usable hold, with access to page turn buttons: I make the shape of a "W" with my index fingers up and thumbs touching, then rest the bottom of the Kindle against my palms, have my thumbs centered just under the display, and index fingers centered on either side of the display. The rest of my fingers press against the back. In that way I can balance the Kindle without tiring out my thumbs.
Materials:
The cover is made of leatherette material, although it still looks classy even up close. The material is comfortable to hold and textured to give decent grip as long as your hands aren't too moist. I can't say how it will hold up to normal wear and tear, stretching, rubbing, and scraping, but this may be the only real difference between these value cases and most of the $40+ cases using real leather. CrazyOnDigital "branded" their logo on the back bottom spine corner, but it's not very visible (say, 0.3" by 1"). There is no weird chemical smell or anything, which I've gotten from some fake leather.
The inner lining is some kind of cheap-ish fake suede, but it's still comfortable to run my hand against. Plus, there's only a small area where my hand is in contact with it, because of the front cover inner pocket which is covered in the same leatherette material as the cover.
The stitching seems really good, it's really hard to see where the stitches meet, and they are spaced regularly and follow the curves of the cover pieces. Everything is securely stitched together, although the main one-piece leatherette of the cover halves is only stitched on the outside edges, so that the material puffs out a little in the process of folding the cover back. It's fine once it's done folding back, no kinks, pinching, or anything.
The stiff board in the cover (front and back) is probably cardboard similar to that used in medium-duty office/school ring binders, suitable for stability and protection, but I wouldn't bend it. The spine is flexible with no cardboard. Likewise, I wouldn't put too much pressure on the front cover centered over the display area (don't go poking things anywhere in the vicinity of the display). Good enough for a bag, possibly even full sandwiching, but no jabbing or bending.
The magnet clasp snaps definitively into place and is strong enough to pretty much require a direct lifting of the clasp to open it. It adds thickness a bit like a knob on a door, but it seems like a very good tradeoff for securing the cover without resorting to more expensive or clumsier designs.
Other:
All the fiddly bits like power control and USB port on the bottom of the Kindle is accessible without removing the Kindle.
This covers up the speakers on the back of the Kindle, but even leaving the factory packaging plastic on the back (why peel it off?) you still have a lot of slack to turn the volume control up. You could also use headphones, or, if you're like me, stick to using the Kindle for old-fashioned reading and leave the music and audiobooks to mp3 players.
I'm wondering why there's an inner pocket. It adds a bit of thickness, not to mention it makes the front cover a bit uneven. I understand doing leatherette instead of fake suede when folded back, but then why not make the whole inner front cover leatherette? I worried it would put some pressure on one side of the display, but as the pocket rests against the main Kindle body, I can ignore it. I just won't be putting anything in the pocket.
Mailing bag
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Not really a part of the listing, and may not be the case for everybody, but if it is, this is probably the next most useful thing to the cover in buying this listing. My cover was shipped in a tough, flexible, document mailing pouch, 8.5" x 11" sized and flat. It's disposable/recyclable #04 LDPE plastic, but I plan on reusing it instead!
It just so happens this bag fits the covered Kindle so that with one fold, the bag folds down to about 8.5" x 5.5" x 0.75" with little slack! With a little trimming and maybe modifying with glue or some small hardware, I plan on making a proper flap with an elastic loop or velcro to keep it shut. I might even have enough room to add some extra stiff plastic or cardboard inside the bag to add more protection for the display.
This way, I have a water-resistant and unassuming sleeve for the covered Kindle, and it'll even have my name and address to boot!
Screen protector
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I've used protectors before, and I know there are anti-glare (which is like the Kindle's finish, good at diffusing strong light sources so you're not blinded with spots) and clear (like your phone's screen, great for colors and clarity but very reflective). This comes with a clear protector, and since putting that on the Kindle will undo the anti-glare of the Kindle screen I decided to leave it off.
I'll keep the protector for other electronics, so it's still useful, but if I ever want to protect the screen from scratches and smudges, I have another place to buy anti-glare protectors.
Besides, I've had my Kindle 1 since release, and the worst its screen has gotten is dusty and occasionally smudged from brushing my fingers against it. A good cover, clasped shut, is still a very suitable way to protect the display when not in use!
Wrist band
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Pretty much the same ilk as the ol' Livestrong bands. Besides CrazyOnDigital branding, it says "Hope", "Faith", "Courage", "Strength", and is as lime-green as the photo. I have no idea what cause it'd be for, except to remind you that you may just be crazy on digital yourself. If it was stretchier, I'd be tempted to use this to wrap the mailing-bag-diy-sleeve.
Currently I am of the opinion that this is just a waste, a small blemish on an otherwise great package that might have otherwise been a few cents cheaper.
Final notes
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I believe this type of cover is among the best values for protecting the Kindle 3 short of buying water-resistant pouches or zippered cases. Personally I'd be most interested in a hard plastic slide-cover like those found on calculators, but I haven't seen any yet--feel free to steal the idea, for this or future Kindles/ereaders.
Particularly, this entire listing, with the screen protector and possibly useful mailing bag, is among the best prices I've seen. Amazon's other listings are for $30+ items, probably leather (if it's worth it to you). The popular e-auction site has this same-designed cover for a couple bucks less but comes only w/ the cover, although you can find it in other colors besides CrazyOnDigital's lovely black. I've also looked at auction photos of the slight variations on this type of cover, and the design that CrazyOnDigital sells seems the most sensibly secure, strong, and minimal/thin/compact.
Mine shipped from the San Francisco area to Southern California, and order to arrival was about 4 to 5 business days via USPS.'
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