I have to confess that I got my Kindle lighted cover for the price of the regular one. I bought my Kindle when they were having the problems with the defective case, and Amazon sent me a brand new lighted case to make up for it.
Oh, hrmph. I think I’ve decided I want the $99 ad-supported touchscreen Kindle. But I just realized that model isn’t going to be available for over a month. It’s still in pre-orders. Now I have to decide whether I want to wait that long. I think the ones with the visible keyboard are a bit more unsightly (and I don’t wanna worry about hitting it accidentally), but I don’t like the idea of spending $79 on a last-gen kindle when I can get a touchscreen for just 20 more bux.
waaah! First world problems 
I asked this before in a different thread but never got an answer: What’s the advantage of having a touchscreen?
Or you could just get a Nook color and read it everywhere you want to without ever having to worry about being near a light source or buying an external one.
For what it’s worth, I had the 1st gen Kindle and currently have a 3rd gen Kindle and I’ve never hit the keyboard by accident.
Does the touch screen Kindle use the e-Ink technology?
Reading with a backlight (Nook color, iPad, computer, etc.) is not as easy on the eyes as reading a paper book which is a concern for (some) people.
The e-Ink technology (or whatever other e-readers without a backlight call theirs) has the exact same impact on the eyes as a paper book. In fact, I actually think the 3rd Gen Kindle has sharper text than a lot of paperbacks I’ve compared them to side-by-side.
I agree. Tried to read books on my iPad2, but it really strained my eyes. The Kindle is much nicer on the eyes.
Well, I spend at least 10 hours a day on the computer pretty much every day. It would be nice to rest them from backlighting once in a while.
Backlighting isn’t much different than natural lighting now that you can dim it down. PC monitors are typically set too bright anyways. A dimmed down Nook gives off no more light than ambient light reflected off a surface.
Do they make the with-light covers in non-leather? I don’t buy leather for ethical reasons, but I like the idea of an included light…
How do Ipads and Nooks do in outside ambient sunlight? I read all the time in bright sunlight on my kindle and it’s fine, my computer and smart phone, not so much.
Probably not all that well, I suspect it’s similar to how the phone looks (and I can barely see my phone’s screen in sunlight). My Palm Pilot was similarly bad in the sun.
I haven’t tried my Nook Color in bright sunlight but i doubt it would be good at all. I definitely have to turn up the brightness when I go to a better-lit place.
This is one of two areas where the e-ink devices (both Kindle and regular Nooks) have the Nook Color (and presumably the Kindle Fire) beat; the other area being the battery life. I do have to charge my Nook every couple of days depending on how heavily I use it and whether I remember to turn the wi-fi off.
iPad2 is not good in direct sunlight.