The winner of the Case-Mate Enlighten Kindle2 Cover giveaway is bearstuff, and an email has been sent. Thank you to everyone who entered, and keep your eye out for more giveaways soon!

Update: This giveaway is now closed. The winner is bearstuff. Thank you for entering, and keep your eye out for more great giveaways!

If you liked the looks of the Case-Mate Enlighten Kindle2 Cover that I reviewed the other day, and if you can’t wait to get one of your own, then you are in luck!

Read on to see how you can get yours before they are even available for sale …

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One of the things that I love about the Kindle – its eInk screen – is also one of the things that makes using the Kindle a bit difficult when lighting is poor. It seems silly in a way to complain about not being able to read a book in the dark, because it certainly isn’t something anyone could do with the dead tree version, but there are a couple of reasons I think it chafes more than expected when people read from non-backlit devices.

I think many who use eReaders have also experienced reading on other mobile devices, which generally use color-capable LCD screens and are easy to read from in even the worst light. It seems only natural then, that when we pick up an electronic device meant to read books from – that it should also be in color, or at the very least backlit. But of course, they aren’t.

I’ve just received a brand new Case-Mate Kindle2 cover which not only wraps the eReader in a fine leather hardback cover, it also has an amazing integrated lighting system. The Case-Mate Enlighten won’t be available until mid-December, but I wanted to go ahead and give my impressions on this most remarkable wrap.

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JAVOedge recently released a new line of cases for the Amazon Kindle 2.

These cases, called Hardwood Sleeves, are eco-friendly sleeve style cases made to protect your Kindle when you’re not reading.

The cases, which are made to look like hardwood, come in two styles, Oak or Ash.

JAVOedge was kind enough to send along both styles for me to review.

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When we did the Kindle2 review, one of the few things that Dan, Doug and Kerry griped about was the device’s pasty white front. I didn’t really mind the slightly off-white color, but when I purchased the Kindle DX I decided it needed a bit of personalization. Since I don’t yet have a case for the oversized ereader, I thought it would be fun to give it dash of protective color; I purchased a DecalGirl skin.

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[Editor's note: This is a joint review by Judie and Julie that will be appearing simultaneously on Gear Diary and The Gadgeteer. Judie's comments will be in black, and Julie's will be in blue italics.]

Like many who own an Amazon Kindle or Kindle2, Julie and I have grown to greatly enjoy the convenience of carrying our current and future reading material on our own “virtual book shelves”. The question of how to keep our Kindles protected was one that we had to answer fairly early on, seeing as Amazon did not include any type of cover with our pricey new readers. For a while, I kept mine inside a floppy Cole Haan, but that all changed the day I received the Sky Dragon Kindle2 Cover in red from Oberon Design.

I have been protecting my Kindle 1 and 2 ebook readers with covers from M-edge.  But for this review, I received the Tree of Life Kindle 2 Cover and the Sun Kindle 1 Cover from Oberon Design. I couldn’t help but fall in love with all their gorgeous designs even before I received them in the mail.

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I love Waterfield’s cases. They are well built, have nice style and, most importantly, are super functional. I use one of their cases with my MacBook, and have one for my HP2140. Fortunately for all Kindle fans, they offer a nice selection of cases for the Kindle 1, Kindle 2 and will have some for the Kindle DX shortly after it is released this summer.

I’ve used the Waterfield Travel Case for a while now and find it to be “typical Waterfield”. That’s a good thing. Let’s take a look.

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Chances are if you own a device with a LCD screen you fall into one of two camps:  Those who protect and those who don’t.  It only takes one scuff or scrape to forever scar the beautiful screen of that new device.  A good quality screen protector can go a long way in helping to keep your screen looking like it did the day you unboxed it.  If you don’t currently use a screen protector on your phone or PDA you might want to think about adding one.

JAVOedge makes a variety of accessories for a variety of devices.  One of their more popular items is their JAVOscreen screen protector.  The key to any good screen protector is transparency.  Does it do a good job of protecting the screen while remaining undetectable to the user?

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It’s a common occurrence.  One of shock and disbelief.  One experienced by many first time Kindle 2 owners.  Here’s how it goes….

They open the package.  Unpack all the included items.  And then, scratching their head in shock and wonder, they begin rifling through the contents of the box once again looking for it.

What is it they’re looking for you ask?  The included case of course.  It’s only then that they realize that the Amazon Kindle 2 comes with no case.

Although perhaps surprising to some, probably not necessarily a bad thing.  After all, how many of us actually use the plain Jane, cheapo, pleather case that’s included with a new mobile device?

Not many.

JAVOedge has been making accessories for several mobile devices for a numbers of years.  I recently received two of their new cases from their Fiber line for the Amazon Kindle 2.

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I suspect it comes as no surprise that those of us on GD who have an Amazon Kindle2 are big fans. At last count there were five of us from the site who have, use and rave about them. We love the portability, the exceptional battery life, the Whispernet for immediately downloading books and other materials, the Whispersync to keep various devices working together (since I also have an iPhone and a Touch this comes in very handy all the time), and we love the fact that the book selection and prices are excellent.

As with any device, however, no matter how good they are there are always complaints as well. Here too, there are a variety of things we might choose to change. For me, the biggest issues are the pasty white material from which the device is built, the delicate nature of the device itself and the fact that it doesn’t even ship with a simple slip case. They are small complaints but they are complaints nonetheless.

Fortunately there are a growing number of case options for the device that solve some, if not all these issues. They come in a variety of styles and price ranges and their numbers are constantly growing. We have, thus far, taken a look at a number of them. Today we’ll take a look at two additional ones that come from a new player — TrendyDigital. One of them has, in fact, become my daily case.

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One of the biggest issues with the Amazon Kindle 2 is the fact that Amazon cheaped out on the device by not including any sort of protective case. No, they didn’t need to include a leather case like the one that shipped with the first generation Kindle, but something – even a simple slip cover – would have been appropriate for a device with an open, vulnerable screen. They didn’t, and as a result any of us who have a Kindle and actually use it have had to scramble to find a way to protect it.

I was fortunate enough to have a case coming from M-Edge for review when I ordered my Kindle 2. Unfortunately there was going to be a 1 to 3 week gap between the Kindle and the case arriving. I was worried about protecting the device during that period of time, so as a result I ordered one of Amazon’s own cases for the interim period.

Let’s take a look at both.

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Like Judie, I unboxed my Kindle VERY carefully. The Kindle wasn’t inexpensive, and having read Rob Bushway’s tale of woe, I didn’t want a repeat. So… while I had not initially bought a case for my Kindle (hello Amazon, talk about cheap! Include SOMETHING case-wise for crying out loud), I did order the standard case as quickly as possible.

The Kindle came Wednesday and the case arrived yesterday. It is sweet!

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