Kindle Reader

missingskin

missingskin

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Brighton
I am getting back into my book reading again, so i thought I would ask a few of you who have them a few questions before I take the plunge.
I have read the amazon page, but would prefer to get answers from the people who have used them....
1. How are they to view in sunlight (my phone screen is not good...)
2. Is it worth springing the extra for the 3g version as I have wi-fi at home.
3. Do I have to buy all my books from Amazon or can you get them from other places.
4. What is the range of titles like and what is an average cost per book.
5. How long will the battery last between charges
Sorry about all the questions but nothing is better than getting feedback from users rather than the people who want to sell you the thing.......
Steve
 
missingskin said:
I am getting back into my book reading again, so i thought I would ask a few of you who have them a few questions before I take the plunge.
I have read the amazon page, but would prefer to get answers from the people who have used them....
1. How are they to view in sunlight (my phone screen is not good...)
2. Is it worth springing the extra for the 3g version as I have wi-fi at home.
3. Do I have to buy all my books from Amazon or can you get them from other places.
4. What is the range of titles like and what is an average cost per book.
5. How long will the battery last between charges
Sorry about all the questions but nothing is better than getting feedback from users rather than the people who want to sell you the thing.......
Steve
Click to expand...

1. Brilliant - uses e-ink - really is just like a page of printed text
2. No. I did but only because I had some 'found' moneyand the missus made me buy it.
3. No. But some might not be compatible. There is software out there to monkey about with files types. I've not looked into this.
4. There's tons of titles available. Some authors are refusing to release e-books but there's enough to get your teeth into. All the 'classics' tend to be free.
5. A month without using wifi.

I'm enjoying mine.

Went a bit nuts in the first few days and downloaded loads of free books then deleted them and have just kept and bought the ones I wanted.

Pratchett's Discworld books
Fleming's Bond books
Le Carre's 'Smiley' books
Sherlock Holmes stories (free)
 
Hi Steve,

1. Just like reading a book in the sun
2. I have Wi Fi at home so didn't bother with the dearer model. I can't imagine why I would be wanting to download books when I'm out and about. I get my books before I go out.
3. No you can get e books from a number of internet sights. There is a free computer program called Calibre which can convert books to Kindle format. You can also e-mail PDF documents to Kindle and put 'convert' as the subject. The document will be returned to your device in Kindle format.
4. There is a huge range of titles across the site ranging from free to tens of pounds. I am interested in ancient history and there are litery thousands to chose from.
5. I charge mine once a week but a friend said his went for a month before it ran out. I just plug it into the computer while I'm surfing to charge up.

All in all I am delighted with my Kindle. At the moment I have about 60 books saved on the device (Non fiction is my interest) and these cost me exactly nothing. I am buying a couple more shortly one costing 0.72p and the other 1.70.

Hope this helps a bit.

Kevin
 
Like everyone else says. Didn't get one with 3G, it was a present and to be honest and for me it is unimportant.

I have been given a hooky disk with about 900 books on it, of which maybe 50 would be of interest to me.

I am getting the £50.99 leather cover (with light) at some point.

Simply because I can :|

I have downloaded a few free books from amazon and have bought a couple (Somme Mud, Agent Zigzag & Operation Mincemeat) and will be looking at getting the Morse / Sharpe / Agatha Christies & Bond books on a slow time basis.
 
Think it has sort of made my mind up for me. I have been looking on Amazon to see what titles are available and the prices seem fair. I was going to ask about the disks that you see on Ebay but I guess you would get a few good books and a load of shite to sift through.
Think it will be the wi-fi one and I will get a case with it.
At least it will cut down on the storage space needed and most of the Irvine Welsh books are on there so that will keep me happy for a while.
What are the bond books like Vinnie........anything like the films?.......
Thanks for the help guys much appreciated.
 
missingskin said:
What are the bond books like Vinnie........anything like the films?.......
Click to expand...

Nothing like them by all accounts.

In the books, Bond is a much 'darker' character and the stories are very short.
 
I'll go against the flow here and heartily recommend the 3G version. In the grand scheme of things, it's not much more expensive. Remember that unlike other devices, there is no contract or charge for 3G use with the Kindle - even if you use the 'rudimentary' browser. But I find that the ability to purchase a book as and when the thought arises, rather than waiting until I'm at home, is invaluable. Remember that you won't get free access at the majority of WiFi hotspots.
 
missingskin said:
Think it has sort of made my mind up for me. I have been looking on Amazon to see what titles are available and the prices seem fair. I was going to ask about the disks that you see on Ebay but I guess you would get a few good books and a load of shite to sift through.
Think it will be the wi-fi one and I will get a case with it.
At least it will cut down on the storage space needed and most of the Irvine Welsh books are on there so that will keep me happy for a while.
What are the bond books like Vinnie........anything like the films?.......
Thanks for the help guys much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Check BST threads. Over5feet is selling a cover for the Kindle.
 
Sorry to hijack the thread but my question for the more experienced users fits, can you swap kindle ebooks between users? Much as you'd lend a mate a book?
 
Ids said:
Sorry to hijack the thread but my question for the more experienced users fits, can you swap kindle ebooks between users? Much as you'd lend a mate a book?
Click to expand...

Not legally, at least, not yet. In the US, there is a facility to 'lend' someone else a book (subject to the Publisher's consent) for just two weeks. The capability should be coming to these shores at some point.

It's important to understand the major difference between paper books and e-books. With a paper book, you're buying the physical paper and print. With an e-book, you are buying a license to read the book, but not to do anything else with it (such as sell it).

There are scripts available on the Internet, however, to remove the DRM protection from e-books which would enable the sharing, though in contravention of the license agreement.
 
Ids said:
Cheers for that, another question then, can I create a back up on the pc for the .azw file?
Click to expand...

Yes, you certainly can. In fact, it's better than that. You can authorise 5 devices against the same Amazon account and you can read the same titles on each of them. They can be Kindles, PC's, Mac's, iPads or smartphones. In fact, your progress through Kindle books is synchronised amongst all registered devices, so you can read on your Kindle one minute, them move to a PC or phone and continue to read where you left off. It's damned smart and very useful if you find you've left your Kindle behind.

For books that you've bought from Amazon, you can re-download them at any time, so you don't need to keep a local backup of those.
 
I bought the wife one for her birthday in January. She loves it, big book reader on the train. i got the 3G version so that she could down load unhindered and also subscribe to a news paper.
 
I just got Bram Stockers 'Dracula' for the grand old price of £0.00 from Amazon

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dracula/dp/B000JQUBRM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1299509843&sr=1-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dracula/dp/B000 ... 843&sr=1-1</a><!-- m -->

going to have a butchers and see if I can find any other freebies.
 
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