Who has a Kindle...

After seeing my sister's Kindle I knew I had to get one too. Due to logistics I couldn't get the Kindle before I left for a long journey so I got a Sony PRS-350 instead (would have preferred the larger PRS-650 but it wasn't in stock). It's a great little device. Graphics-heavy PDFs are a pain with the slow rendering but it's wonderful for plain text. It has done wonders for my reading.

Different readers support different formats, which can be problematic (e.g., many ebooks are in epub format, which the Kindle doesn't support), but there's a great free program called Calibre with which you can convert between a whole bunch of formats.
 
Beauty of Kindle (especially the latest gen) is its light weight, size and low price tag. With iPad, I have to actually "think" about bringing it because of its size, weight (don't want to read hours on it) and replacement cost in case of loss/accident, but with Kindle, I just throw it in the back pocket of my notebook (Leuchtturm1917) and forget about it.

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OurManInTangier said:
Without wishing to hijack the thread I have a few questions regarding the Kindle that you may be able to answer.

My 90 year old grandmother fell in her back garden and broke her hip last week. She's now in hospital for a long spell and in need of stimulus. She's unable to read the small text of books at the moment as she has just had a cataract op and her glasses no longer suit her corrected vision. As such I've wondered whether a Kindle may offer a better option for her as I'm assuming you can adjust the font size and or zoom in?
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Yes the font size is adjustable and can be made very large. Also there is a 'speak menu' option.

OurManInTangier said:
Would you, as a kindle user, think that this would be suitable for her?
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For eyesight and size and weight, yes.

I have the black model and the text contrast on the buttons can be hard to read (maybe get her a white one?). The text and navigation buttons are a little on the small side and require a little dexterity to operate. If she knows Qwerty and uses a computer or a cell phone then she should be OK with the buttons and the concepts behind the usage (home, back, menu).




/
 
I'm sorry if it was discussed before, I didn't search this thread, but is there anyone using the Kindle in "Rest of World" as Amazon puts it, i.e. someplace else than USA or UK? Is it possible to purchase all e-stuff from amazon or are there any restrictions?
Thanks!
 
RayPA said:
Yes the font size is adjustable and can be made very large. Also there is a 'speak menu' option.



For eyesight and size and weight, yes.

I have the black model and the text contrast on the buttons can be hard to read (maybe get her a white one?). The text and navigation buttons are a little on the small side and require a little dexterity to operate. If she knows Qwerty and uses a computer or a cell phone then she should be OK with the buttons and the concepts behind the usage (home, back, menu)./
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Ray that's really helpful info thank you so much. She should be fine with the Qwerty keyboard and the 'speak' option sounds really useful too - another option I had thought about were spoken word books but I thought she would struggle more with an Ipod than a kindle.
 
Simon,

Get her the most recent kindle. Might set her up with the cell-phone (2G?) option and set up an account for with some cash. It turned my son into an avid reader for a while. I would get one but I'm saving up for the iPad 3 (if I can wait that long....).

Roger,

+1 on the love the Kindle approach. I used the app on my Android phone to read my last text book for school. I have it on my Mac and love the ability to move between platforms with ease.

B2
 
Electronic Ink (E Ink) which is used for display in Kindle could be the reason B&W look really good in it? I have not used a kindle but i was reading about its E Ink technology. E Ink appears very promising for display of images.
 
Has anybody tried the $35 model from India? But I still would like to know; is there a use for this device (none of the books I want to read are on the schedule)? The only thing I've done with it in 4 months is watch 'Rockford Files' when I'm going to sleep.

EDIT: I have the Ipad.
 
Hi John

Hi John

I mainly read the free books. But I highly recommend the Stieg Larsson trilogy, and then watching the movies (free for Amazon Prime users).

Of course the books have much more detail. The first one I picked up at Costco in paperback for $5, and then I got the 2nd one in kindle ed. for $5, but saw the 3rd one was still about $10 (it's not in paperback yet). However, they fluctuate, and of course the kindle editions go down when the paperbacks come out, so I can wait.

I also read the free chapter of John (Mabelsound's) book, and it was pretty good reading. Highly recommend it.

Of the ~200 books on my Kindle, about 190 are free ones from Amazon. They list out the best selling top 100+ updated every day. Often you'll see a free one go to the for sale list as it gains momentum from being given out free, then goes back to normal price.

Of course, once I clear off the "romance novels" which I am not interested in, I will probably be down to 50 books. Having the classics like Crime and Punishment are great, free, and searchable, and audio capable.


charjohncarter said:
Has anybody tried the $35 model from India? But I still would like to know; is there a use for this device (none of the books I want to read are on the schedule)? The only thing I've done with it in 4 months is watch 'Rockford Files' when I'm going to sleep.

EDIT: I have the Ipad.
Click to expand...
 
GSNfan said:
Electronic Ink (E Ink) which is used for display in Kindle could be the reason B&W look really good in it? I have not used a kindle but i was reading about its E Ink technology. E Ink appears very promising for display of images.
Click to expand...

Contrast is terrible, compared to paper or a computer screen. But it will improve with time, I think. The Kindle 3 has much better contrast than the Kindle 2.
 
andreios said:
I'm sorry if it was discussed before, I didn't search this thread, but is there anyone using the Kindle in "Rest of World" as Amazon puts it, i.e. someplace else than USA or UK? Is it possible to purchase all e-stuff from amazon or are there any restrictions?
Thanks!
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I am in Hong Kong and so far have been able to download what I wanted from the Amazon US cite with no problems.
 
Tried a Kindle belonging to a fellow passenger on a long trip to Australia and was hooked, so my children bought me one for Christmas.It is excellent for popping in a bag instead of a pile of heavy books. To me it is to books what digital is to film.
It would be good to have one to download Picasa so that I could travel across the world with all my photos .
However, nothing beats my books and nothing beats my photographs.

mangie
 
Well, I'd buy a Kindle today if I could -- but I can't. I can pay for one, in dollars, with a very long delivery time and the likelihood of having to pay customs and handling fees. None of the UK stores seems willing to ship to France, despite the enormous advantages of easy shipping and no extra taxes. Does anyone know of a store in the UK that would ship to me? Note that in France they use the AZERTY keyboard, so even if I could get a French Kindle, it would drive me crazy.

As usual with Amazon, there's a nasty taste in the mouth from trying to deal with a company that wants to be a monopoly; will use every means it can to be a monopoly (including proprietary formats); and either fails to understand, or disregards, the fact that within the EU there is supposed to be free movement of goods and services.

Cheers,

R.
 
andreios said:
I'm sorry if it was discussed before, I didn't search this thread, but is there anyone using the Kindle in "Rest of World" as Amazon puts it, i.e. someplace else than USA or UK? Is it possible to purchase all e-stuff from amazon or are there any restrictions?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'm in Vietnam and been buying books from Amazon, no problem except for some books not available outside US. This place is as remote as you can get technologically so any other civilized place shouldn't cause any problem.
 
I'm really getting the GAS for Kindle. Not for photos, but simply for reading.

Those looking for free e-books, check out Project Gutenberg!
 
Roger Hicks said:
Well, I'd buy a Kindle today if I could -- but I can't. I can pay for one, in dollars, with a very long delivery time and the likelihood of having to pay customs and handling fees. None of the UK stores seems willing to ship to France, despite the enormous advantages of easy shipping and no extra taxes. Does anyone know of a store in the UK that would ship to me? Note that in France they use the AZERTY keyboard, so even if I could get a French Kindle, it would drive me crazy.

As usual with Amazon, there's a nasty taste in the mouth from trying to deal with a company that wants to be a monopoly; will use every means it can to be a monopoly (including proprietary formats); and either fails to understand, or disregards, the fact that within the EU there is supposed to be free movement of goods and services.

Cheers,

R.
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@ Roger

Have you tried either of these for French shipping a Kindle?

http://www.johnlewis.com/Electrical...nd+eReaders/Kindle/18377/ProductCategory.aspx

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/amazon...ble-through-reserve-collect-08665555-pdt.html

Worth a look I guess.

Charles
 
Roger Hicks said:
Dear Charles,

Unfortunately, I've already tried both. Currys won't ship to France and John Lewis doesn't sell it on line. Thanks kindly for the thought, though.

Cheers,

R.
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Buy it from from E-bay, i just checked and there are many, all brand new.
 
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