The new Amazon Kindle 2 is a cool tool as well as a powerful electronic reader. With that sentiment out of the way, let's move on to the features and benefits of having this really cool, new gadget. It had to happen; books, newspapers, blogs and audio books were due for an upgrade. In line with that idea, Amazon, one of the largest booksellers and now sellers of just about anything else that can be shipped, took on the task of making a sleeker, smaller, more portable version of the book, newspaper et. Al.

Enter a book reader. Now, book readers are not new. There have been a plethora of book readers on the market for years starting with the Franklin eBookMan in 1999. What makes the e-reader such a nice thing to have is its size. It can hold a lot of books, doesn't weigh much and reads just like a book. E Ink Technologies developed a 166 resolution, simulated book paper that looks so much like the average book that it is hard to tell the difference. Amazon took it t the next level.

The original Kindle holds up to 200 books, while when you buy Kindel 2, there is room for over 1500 books. You may wonder why you'd ever need over 1500 books; however, the point may be that you can carry your entire library in a device that weighs only 10.2 ounces which is lighter than your standard paperback book and is just over 1/3 of an inch which is as thin as most magazines.

There have been some other improvements when you buy Kindel 2 over the original Kindle. There is an improvement in the display, and it now reads more like real paper with 16 shades of grey for even crisper images and clearer text. The batter life has been extended by 25%, and page turning is now 20% faster. It also allows you to adjust the text size to where it is comfortable for your vision needs.

One of the newest, novel features of the kindle is that it now has a text-to-speech function so that if you want, you can have your magazines and newspapers read to you. This makes a wonderful companion as you drive or do other work, which requires your hands and vision to be focused elsewhere.

When you buy ebook readers, there are some things that separate the standard models from the swanky, high-class cousins. Amazon's new Kindle 2 is coupled with the Amazon bookstore where you can download over 250,000 books plus a wide assortment of U.S. and international magazines, newspapers and blogs. You can also download books at a much-reduced price, including the New York Times bestsellers and new book releases at $9.99 unless marked otherwise.

When watching television, for instance, and you see a book that interests you on a talk show, you can instantly purchase and download that book to your Kindle library through their proprietary broadband network called Whispernet. You can also surf the Internet and even read your email online. With all of the new features that the Kindle 2 provides, you might want to ask instead why not buy Kindel 2 and take advantage of all the benefits it has to offer.