Rating:

The cover looks good (I like the steel blue colour), is beautifully made and holds the Kindle securely. Reading, both with the cover in the open book position and with the top folded behind the Kindle, is very comfortable. The weight of the Kindle plus the cover is about the same as a 500 page paperback (around 15 ounces), which is fine for me.

I hesitated about whether to get the lighted version or not, but am really glad that I did as the light works very well. It’s great for reading in bed at night and and will be extremely useful when I’m away from home. Although the lighting across the screen is uneven, I find the illumination is fine for reading, and the fact that the light is always available (and hidden away when not is use) makes up for this.

Before I got the cover it seemed expensive, but if it stands up well to sustained use it will be worth every penny.

Rating:

Positives

1) Good quality leather.

2) Swinging lock mechanism works very well and holds kindle in place securely.

3) The cover has been designed so the front cover extends fully backwards so as to overlap the back cover. At first I thought the increased thickness that results would be uncomfortable but I was pleasantly surprised how little you notice the cover when reading in this position.

4) The light (when reading only). Yes it is not evenly distributed over the entire screen but is perfectly adequate for reading at night. The difference in light from the top right hand side of the screen to the bottom left of the screen in my opinion is negligible.(However please see point 2 below for using the keyboard at night)

Negatives

1) The fastening mechanism – which comprises of what I can only describe as a thick elasticated string. I cannot help but wonder how long this string will last after repeated pulling and releasing. Yes it does the job but surely the designers could have come up with a better fastening mechanism. I hope to be proved wrong and like to think Amazon had some sort of robotic arm which was continually opening and releasing the kindle cover to test its longevity.

2) The light (when using the keyboard only). Although the light is perfectly usable when reading on screen I have found it to be lacking when using the keyboard at night. I have found myself having to strain to distinguish between the keys.

3) Muffled sound from speakers. Ok the text to speech option is at present not very good and as Amazon say it is experimental, but I thought I would mention that because the kindle speakers are located at the back of the unit, any sound that is played is muffled. Yes it sounds obvious and there is probably not much you can do about it (apart from turn up the volume) but I thought I would mention it.

4) Price. There is a niggling doubt in the back of my mind that the sum of the components does not reflect the overall price. In my opinion a price tag of around £35 is more realistic.

Rating:

I was very impressed, I could easily fit into the bag my Canon 400, Canon 50mm lens, Tamron 70-200mm macro lens. There was easy enough room for another 50mm type sized lens. There were plenty of storage compartments for CF cards, Filters etc;

Bag is supplied with well padded carry strap, lcd cleaning cloth and all weather cover. Ive just returned from a week in the Lakes and rained every day. The all weather cover was fab. If you need an everyday bag that is lightweight and doesn’t get in the way when out with the family, I’d recommend this one.