Kindle

[revolution saint]

Anyone got a kindle and what's it like?

 

I really should post this in the technology forum but hardly anyone reads that so I'll open up the debate to ebooks - good idea or bad and will they kill the printed book?

[pedg]

thinking of getting one. Interested in the 3G version as the kindle includes a basic browser and appears to have effectively free world wide roaming once you have purchased upfront. Main problem on the book front is the sillyness that books don't have VAT added but ebooks do so the price of the ebooks on amazon are generally only a few pence below the hardback price. You can however get a large number of free books that are out of copyright for free.

[revolution saint]

thinking of getting one. Interested in the 3G version as the kindle includes a basic browser and appears to have effectively free world wide roaming once you have purchased upfront. Main problem on the book front is the sillyness that books don't have VAT added but ebooks do so the price of the ebooks on amazon are generally only a few pence below the hardback price. You can however get a large number of free books that are out of copyright for free.

 

I'm in the same position as you then. There are loads of "classics" which are free and I would take advantage of but the new bestsellers don't really offer too much of a discount. That said the format is appealing.

[scotty]

I'm in the same position as you then. There are loads of "classics" which are free and I would take advantage of but the new bestsellers don't really offer too much of a discount. That said the format is appalling.

 

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[buctootim]

GF has one and she likes it well enough - the convenience of accessing any book you want easily is her main draw i think. Personally I dont warm to it at all. Give me a paper book anytime. Different strokes for different folks

[revolution saint]

I'd like to thank all two responses, course now it's been moved to technology forum I don't expect anymore. Dopey mod clearly was incapable of reading or understanding the original post.

[Gis]

I reckon for under £150 the 3G Kindle is a bargain. The ability to subscribe to Magazines/Blogs, coupled with the ability for 3G downloads means that updates are just a couple of clicks away wherever you are.

 

Although you can Browse the internet and even play MP3s using the Beta version of the OS, the Kindle is best at just being a simple reading device. It works for me in my commute into London every day.

[Baj]

I'd like to thank all two responses, course now it's been moved to technology forum I don't expect anymore. Dopey mod clearly was incapable of reading or understanding the original post.

 

Dopey Admin moved this thread to the correct place. He also reads this forum regularly enough to know that a good amount of people read and responsd to this forum. Regularly enough to know that whilst the response count will be lower, the quality of replies will be higher, and regularly enough to read your sarcastic ****ing responses within 12 hours of you posting them.

[ecuk268]

The problem with Kindles is that there is no second-hand e-book market.

 

Apparently each e-book has a unique code that ties it to the Kindle where it's installed.

 

I buy a fair few used books (some from Amazon) so why no used e-books?

[Red Alert]

I bought a kindle, and I am not a big book reader really. However on the train in the morning I like to get a half hour reading it. It simply is brilliant, I read far more now than ever before. New books can be pricey, but they don't have to be bought from amazon, Calibre is a easy piece of software that will convert any ebook into kindle format so you can get books from anywhere.

[mdearlove]

Yep got a Kindle 3 and love it. I travel a lot and used to buy a couple of airport editions every time I was at Heathrow. I have about 100 books on mine that I have downloaded from newsgroups, plus a few freebies from Amazon. Its not the same as holding a book but for convenience its great.

[mdearlove]

Oh and as Red Alert said - pair a kindle with calibre and you have a marriage made in heaven. Downloading full rss feeds daily and syncing to the Kindle is great. There are other sites that allow you to pull a whole website and it will spit out a kindle book.

[badgerx16]

Give me a real book every time. I'm the sort of luddite that prints out PDFs just to read them easier, ( and I have worked in IT for 28 years ! )

[mdearlove]

I agree that its nice to have a book in hand. The problem for me is when I travel for 2 weeks I go through 7 or 8 books at least. Its much easier to use the Kindle than lug those around

[Suhari]

I have played with a Kindle - it's okay. Love the idea of e-readers, but I do find the Kindle a little plastic/cheap feeling.

 

I believe Samsung are (or may have just) brought out an e-reader.

 

Shame that a well know Scandinavian mobile phone manufacturer recently canned their e-reader project: despite being all lined up for a late Nov launch. Really good product too....

[hutch]

Sat next to a guy on an 8 hour flight last month. He was reading an "e-book" and I was listening to a talking book on my i-pod. I reclined the seat, sat back and relaxed. He was sat up, constantly twitching his finger on the screen and holding it up where he could see it. I know which one I'd rather have. I was considering an e-book thing before that, but not any more.

[mdearlove]

The only thing I find an audio book good for is sending me to sleep. I usually get as far as chapter 2 before nodding off, then wake at the last chapter. Much prefer the Kindle to Audio. With the kindle you can always turn on text to speech if you want to chill a little - although the voice is a bit Hawking