Readers praise Kindle 2's abilities, but price is a drawback

— -- In the aftermath of my review of the Kindle 2 on Tuesday, dozens of readers weighed in with questions and comments.

Some of you said you want one but agree with me that the $359 price is steep, even if you don't have to pay extra fees for the cellular Whispernet service that lets you download books directly to Kindle in under a minute.

Understandably, some of you prefer the scent and feel of a traditional book at any price, good as Kindle is at replicating the paper experience.

Here's chapter and verse on some of the issues that were raised:

•I bought Kindle 1, now what? Technology being what it is, there's always a period when a new version of a product supersedes an earlier model. The good news for those waiting for the first sold-out Kindle is that they'll receive the new and improved Kindle 2 instead.

But if you already have the first Kindle, there's no discount or trade-in for purchasing its successor. "I have had my Kindle for a few months and feel I have been 'kindled' by Amazon," writes reader Timothy Welch.

Amazon directs people to the Amazon Marketplace, where owners have put Kindle 1 up for sale, at prices starting around $235. And there's always eBay.

•Another way to think about text-to-speech. Kindle 2 includes an "experimental" read-aloud feature. A computerized male or female voice can read whatever books or documents are stored on the device. It's not exactly having James Earl Jones read to you, as in a slickly produced audiobook. (Kindle 2 can play those, by the way, including books from Amazon-owned Audible.com.) But it is tolerable.

To some authors and publishers, text-to-speech on Kindle 2 is worrisome, because of concerns over authors' rights. Amazon says it isn't doing anything improper.