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back to article Amazon Kindle Lighted Leather Cover

Yes, it's expensive, but Amazon's top-of-the-line Kindle 3 leather-covered folio-style case isn't just an overpriced luxury item. It also has practical value, thanks to a built-in, slide-out LED lamp. Amazon Kindle Lighted Cover The Cover is soberly good-looking, no arguing with that I sat up in bed with it one night, and …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Meh

    Heft

    I have one of these, bought from the US. It's quality, nicely finished, but it really adds to the weight of the Kindle. It is about the same weight as the Kindle alone, so you are doubling the weight of the Kindle with this attached.

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    For the veggies out here.

    When will they bring out a non-leather case with a light built in.

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    1. Helldesk Dogsbody
      Reply Icon
      Go

      PU Cases

      There are already a number out there, mine is a PU one from ForeFront - cost all of £10.49 with a light included. Over £50 for the real cow version seemed a touch steep to me!

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    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Joke

      You planet killer!!!!

      So rather than get rid of a methane producing thing you would rather drill into the plannet and process hideous chemicals!

      Save the planet, eat meat and wear leather!

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  3. James Hughes 1

    Kindle £111, Case £50

    Hmmm. £50 For a bit of leather and an LED, against a sophisticated electronic device with screen, batteries, keyboard, wifi etc at only just over twice the price.

    My case cost £10. Still a bit much for a bit of leather, and no LED, but I do have a bedside light, and the missus stays awake longer than I do anyway.

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  4. stuartnz

    Like my Kindle Case

    But am pleased I didn't get the lighted one. The leather cover is a nice addition and does make it feel more bookish, but I still don't see the extra baggage of the light adding anything to the experience for me.

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  5. Andrew Baines Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    Hope it's better than the one I looked at

    When is leather not leather - when it's a kindle case. Maybe it's real now, or maybe the one I looked at was really poor quality leather.

    Take a look at the nuevo cases - real good quality leather without the gimmicky hinge to hold the kindle in place.

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  6. Tegne
    Thumb Up

    The price is a bit of a mickey-take

    But compared to the other aftermarket Kindle cases with light this is by far the most practical and stylish. The wife can now sit outdoors into the night reading her books without having to mess about with the various external contraptions she needed when she was reading her paper books. Nice work I say.

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  7. Milkfloat

    How Much!

    At that price I think I will stick with my £2 neoprene cover from ebay.

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  8. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Quality isn't all that...

    My wife has had two of these so far, both have gone back after breaking. The problem is that the Kindle is held in the case by two small metal clips which slot in to the Kindle from the "spine" of the case. These have broken on both occasions. If the method of holding the kindle was more robust, I'd happily recommend this, however as it is, it's a serious waste of £50 imo.

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  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    worth half a kindle?

    Got a Kindle a couple of months back and started lookig at cases. Yes, this looks very nice and maybe the light might be useful occasionally but, as various reviews I read at the time said, when previous versions of Kindle were ~£300 then £30 on a case of £50 on a case with a light might just about make sense. But now, a case that is almost half the price of the device seems excessive.

    Anyway, I went for a no-name "leather" case for £8 which does the job fine ... ok, doesn't have a light but then again I've nevery spent much time reading in the dark!

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  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Massively, massively overpriced and

    .. also, a really poor implementation anyway. the position of the light is hilarious, rather than using a strip of LEDs down the spine. Personally, I bought a leather holder for £5 from ebay which is terrific quality.

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  11. Lee Dowling Silver badge

    Sorry

    There's nothing in the world worth £50 for a tiny piece of leather and a cheapy lamp, especially not against a device that, second-hand, goes for roughly the same price.

    My girlfriend keeps her Kindle in a pencil case that we bought from WHSmith. Cost all of £1.99 and fits perfectly, with decent protection, and looks better than most of the "official" covers that I see.

    Someone please explain the difference between the manufacturer of a sub-£1 leather-bound diary that I'm bought for Christmas each year and this tat-masquerading-as-quality? In manufacturing terms, there's NOTHING complicated about a Kindle cover and in a year I expect to see them in pound shops, if not before.

    Only an idiot would buy this, and I'm disappointed that The Reg didn't see fit to penalise it more in the review just on the basis of price alone. I can fill up my car for less than this cover costs. That's a scary thought.

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  12. JDX Gold badge

    Don't compare with un-lit options

    You can get nice cases for £5-10 which are custom made. But I couldn't find an un-official lit one which uses the Kindle battery.

    So it's a hard call... if the light is important, it might be worth £50 to "upgrade your Kindle to a lit screen".

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  13. Adrian Jones

    I splashed out £18

    On a hemp covered Econique case. Doesn't have a light, but then I don't usually want to read in the dark.

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  14. durandal
    Thumb Up

    My missus bought me

    one of the plain one's for chrimbo, which had the problem with the locking catches resetting the kindle.

    One phone call to amazon and they shipped one of the lit ones out as a replacement the next day. I like it - it's a little bit thicker than I'd like, but the light works and is great at not disturbing the other half. Ideal for long haul flights.

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  15. Monkey

    Had one bought as a present...

    ... and in hindsight I'd pay for it myself.

    I too baulked at the price and went for the hemp covered Econique case. Perfectly adequate I agree. But not a patch on this. I thought the light was a gimmick but it actually isn't.

    It's expensive yes, and I can't necessarily defend the whopping price tag, but it's fantastically good quality and offers a very good level of protection for the device.

    Yes I'd look about first for good alternatives if I were to be buying this again, but knowing what I do now I'd stretch to the price tag of this if it warranted it over the alternatives.

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  16. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    The other problem with these

    Is the two hooks which hold the kindle in place power it. Which is fine, a great idea. However, they also drain the battery when the kindle is turned off.

    How to test this? Charge your kindle. Turn it off. Leave it in the case turned off for a few weeks (i've no idea how long is necessary, this is what i've done twice though). Turn kindle back on. Read message saying battery is empty and needs charging.

    Remove kindle from case and charge, leave for few weeks. Turn kindle on. Notice battery the same as before.

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    1. Mark Aggleton
      Reply Icon
      Thumb Up

      Thanks for that

      I thought the battery life wasn't as advertised, I'll give it a go and just put it in the case when I'm reading and OH is asleep.

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  17. Kevin7
    FAIL

    Fifty quid?!

    Is Amazon the home of comedy these days?

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  18. Thom Sanders

    Light would be nice

    but a jiffy envelope robbed from the office stationery cupboard is working well for me as a case. Adds some bulk but no weight so useful for protecting the kindle if carrying it in a bag.

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  19. David 155

    design flaw with original case?

    When my girlfriend starting having problems with her kindle, Amazon gave her this case for free. They said her official non-lit case was causing the problem, somehow. Shes had no problems since using this case though!

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    1. Syd
      Reply Icon
      Boffin

      This is because...

      ... the unlit case used the same connectors (which connect directly to the battery, thus allowing the light to... er... light up in the lit version) but with the unlit case, the connectors were painted-over with resistive (is that a word???) paint.

      However, with the unlit case, the resistive paint wore off, shorting the battery and causing the Kindle to (technical term alert!) go squiffy.

      The lit case will obviously not do this, because there is a switch/ bulb in the way of the 'short' connection!

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  20. mamsey

    Well I like it...

    If you ignore the price the one I have is a decent bit of kit, I bought a Tan coloured one when my missus bought me a Kindle for Xmas.

    The light is good especially if your eyesight isn't quite as good as it used to be, and I find the fact that the light has the colour temperature of whitish LEDs rather than a tungsten bulb helps as well.

    If you're feeling flush I'd say buy one.

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  21. JMcL
    Thumb Up

    Have one and really like it

    Yes, it's outrageously overpriced, but it does the job really well.

    A few commentors complain about the weight - it brings the whole lot up to the weight of an average sized paperback, and I prefer a wee bit of heft.

    The light does a great job of illuminating the screen, and I generally use it as my sole source of illumination when reading at night - whether it be in bed, or in the sitting room with the lights turned down.

    I probably use it on average about an hour per night, and I'll usually get 3-4 weeks on a full charge.

    So not for everyone, but if you have the cash and want a neat solution, it's hard to beat

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  22. Neil 38

    Love it

    I've had one for over 6 months now, the Burnt Orange one, which really adds a nice splash of colour to the drab Kindle. The leather tag hasn't bothered me one bit and I found the quality of the leather very good.

    The price didn't seem that high to me, given the build quality and how usable it makes the Kindle to read in bed or on a plane when the cabin lights are down.

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