The pros and cons of traveling with Kindle

Slimmer and easier to use than its predecessor, the $359 device is an "unbelievable travel tool," raves BootsnAll.com co-founder Sean Keener, who has been "devouring books" on the Kindle 2 during his current backpacking trip through the South Pacific. Peripatetic bookworms can tote a library of 1,500 books, plus blogs, newspapers and magazines; ordering is via a computer or Kindle's built-in wireless store (only available in the USA) that lets readers sample, buy and download books in under a minute.

But for all its gee-whiz features, most major travel publishers have been slow to jump on the Kindle bandwagon. Of the 260,000-plus titles available on Kindle, about 1,500 are travel-related, a category that also includes essays and travelogues.