Kindle Accessories

Let's suppose you have purchased a Kindle or decided to purchase one. You may be wondering what else you need to buy for it. If you have purchased a laptop you know what I mean. You do not necessarily need anything to use it right away but you may want to get a wireless mouse for it, a laptop case to protect it on the road, extended warranty, games, etc. Kindle is like a laptop this way. You can use it right way but there are certain things that are nice to have.

Warranty

Amazon offers an extended warranty for it on their websites. Currently it costs $65 for 2 years from the date you purchased it. It, however, to the best of my knowledge does not cover accidental damage to it. I myself stumbled upon SquareTrade which is a third party warranty company.

SquareTrade offers 3 year extended warrantees and you can opt to include accidental coverage for it as well. The sign up is super easy and you can even check how much the warranty may cost before you register on their site. If you drop me a note I can have a 20% coupon sent to you. Or you may sign up for their newsletters and they often have better deals such as saving 30-40% off the regular warranty prices. Of course if you let me send you the coupon I get a $5 referral fee. The current warranty is priced at $34.99 for the Kindle. Adding the accidental coverage is about $10 extra. This is a much better deal than getting it from Amazon.

If you do decide on getting an extra warranty make sure you do so within 30 days of purchase.

Covers and Cases

To protect your Kindle during normal use I definitely recommend getting a cover for it. On the Amazon site itself there are so many of options you can choose from it will make you dizzy. I'll break it down for you here.

• Hinge Covers. These covers will utilize the Kindle's hinge system to keep the device in the cover. It opens up as a book.
  
• Platform Covers. It usually uses straps to hold the Kindle and flips open on top. It can be used as a bookstand for hands-free reading.
• Sleeve-style Cases. You'll have to take your Kindle out for reading. I recommend these for travel.
  

I myself have the Mivizu sleek cover in color red which is my favorite color. My biggest beef with this cover is that it's not padded therefore it does not provide as much protection as I'd need with kids in the house. But it's great for reading as it does not add bulk to the Kindle.

If I had a lot of money I'd definitely get an Oberon cover. They are beautiful!

Lights

The Kindle display is not backlit due to the e-Ink technology. (This technology makes reading easy on the eyes on the Kindle and other eReader devices.) For this reason if you read a lot at night you may want to consider purchasing a light. If you have an M-Edge cover they have M-Edge light compatible with it.

Skins

If you want to make your Kindle pretty or you don't like the its boring white color, purchase a skin for it. Skinit is a popular site for selecting a new look for your Kindle. Skins are basically stickers that cover the surface of the device. They usually have holes for the keys and other places where it's needed.

Some people - who have more time and money on hand than me - go into such trouble as purchase matching covers and skins AND customize their screensavers to blend in seamlessly.