Kindle - Yes or no?

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www.keirlefoh.com
I've recently been toying with the idea of buying my partner a Kindle for xmas (and potentially myself also!)..

Had a look at one in person for the first time just the other day - seems really cool. Love the idea of the E-ink being soft on the eyes and also providing extremely long battery life... Not to mention the fact that it supposedly makes glare its bitch. Also digging the idea of cheap book downloads - and obviously gotta love the physical size and portability of the thing!

I've always carried books with me to my live and studio gigs - always find some downtime during the day/night. Would be so cool to be able to keep one of these in my mixing case and bring it out whenever I have a chance to read.

Now.. Does anybody here have a Kindle? What do you think of them? How about the pros and cons of the different models? I've been reading a lot of reviews online but would be interested in hearing what everyone here has to say. I have previously tried reading eBooks on my iPhone but really don't dig the whole bright LCD thing/glare in sunlight.
 
I bought mine for a bunch of free ebooks I downloaded, but hated the idea of sitting in front of the monitor to read them. Initially i was concerned about the fact that i have a tendency to buy shit and stop using it after a month. But I've had mine for about 6 months and I've been reading it regularly since. I've, to my surprise, fallen in love with the damn thing.

I have the kindle 3, the screen has a pretty matte finish so any reflections you get off it are fairly easy to tolerate. Can't speak much about different models though. You'll wanna get a case for it though, just to cover the screen when you're not using it.

I got one of these http://www.manorbindery.co.uk/Kindle_KleverCase_5.htm for mine.

Also, no matter what you get hardware wise, you'll probably do good to get hold of calibre: http://calibre-ebook.com/

It's a great freeware ebook organizer/converter.
 
I also got kindle 3 recently (I had a sony prs500 for years though). For someone who loves to read books it's a no brainer IMO. Very practical, comfortable reading, long battery life, cheap books (or even free if you don't mind illegal downloading ;)). You may have some problems if you want to read PDFs with alot of graphics/photos. The wifi feature is cool too... it's not that practical for net surfing but it's cool for reading long articles.
+1 on getting a cover and downloading "calibre". I would also suggest a reading light, or even a case with a built-in one, for me it was essential since I like to read in the dark.
 
I have been a Kindle 3 (keyboard) user for a year and I can heartily recommend it. The only difference between reading a book is that the display DOES reflect some light (similar to reading a magazine printed on a glossy paper), although it is annoying only in rooms that are lit by fluorescent lamps all over the ceiling. Otherwise no problems at all. Oh, you get slow turn pages when it's freezing :)

By the way, for all of you guys reading ebooks, check out 2epub.com - it can convert to other formats as well (including mobi). It's basically a web front-end for Calibre that even dummies can use. Fast and reliable (I've had some troubles when converting in Calibre on my computer).
 
Keregioz said:
cheap books (or even free if you don't mind illegal downloading ;))
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Haha nice, yeah I'm not too sure about this one. I have quite a decent collection of physical books and would like to keep collecting. Traditionally, I get books from the library and those I enjoy enough, I'll purchase for my collection. Supposedly some libraries in the US let you 'loan' Kindle eBooks but I highly doubt I'll find anything like that in New Zealand.

That being said, seems kinda dumb to have to buy both a digital and physical copy of books I enjoy, unless the Kindle version is very cheap/free!
 
I love the Kindle app on my phone, and it does everything I really need it to do, so i haven't bought one. I can only assume that the real deal is even more awesome. The are tons of literary classics that are now public domain so they are free to download in the Amazon store. I think the Kindle, or at the very least a decent sized phone with the Kindle app, is a no brainer for anyone who loves to read.
 
RedDog said:
Thee kindle isn't backlit?
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That's the idea - it has no screen glare, it reads just like a news paper.

I've had mine for a while and it's really a modern day essential if you like to read, much easier to lug around than a pile of books and works just as well.

If you like the feeling of physical paper then I guess its not a great idea but if you are just interested in getting the same content in a way that isn't going to kill your eyes like an lcd screen then it's brilliant.
 
I just know about shipping them, the fire actually has an amazon.com written browser with it. Fire is backlit it has color screen with a fairly limited battery life compared to the e-ink lcd versions.
 
I have a Kindle 3 and it's brilliant! I can read it for hours without a headache. I won't be getting the new fire model. I like something that is really good at doing one thing. I don't need browsing, games and mp3s, and a LCD screen.
 
Kindle Fire is a step aside in a way, as the Kindles have traditionally been e-ink ebook readers and Fire is in fact a tablet. I was wondering why didn't they call it something different, but I guess it's a matter of marketing (those with older kindles will probably think about "upgrading" [which is really more of a crossgrading], which they would not do if it was just another new product with a new name).

Pity that the MP3 player in Kindle 3 does not have any kind of interface (GUI), then it would be teh thing. I still prefer having a dedicated mp3 player with me as it's much easier to control.
 
DanLights said:
Man I wish there were kindles in Spain, amazon Spain only opened up a couple months ago and they´ve got a small stock of books and other crap, but no kindles or kindle books, I really want one
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You can order it from the american amazon [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reader-3G-Wifi-Graphite/dp/B003DZ1Y72/ref=amb_link_357598322_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=03R7NHZ0SEGSN85SQH8E&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=1321314642&pf_rd_i=B002FQJT3Q"]here.[/ame]
Taxes and customs are included in the price so you won't have to pay extra when it gets in spain, you will only receive a notice from the delivery company to send them an authorization paper with your signature through email or fax, so they can pass it through customs. That's they way I got it here in Greece, pretty easy.
 
Keregioz said:
You can order it from the american amazon here.
Taxes and customs are included in the price so you won't have to pay extra when it gets in spain, you will only receive a notice from the delivery company to send them an authorization paper with your signature through email or fax, so they can pass it through customs. That's they way I got it here in Greece, pretty easy.
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Interesting, last time I bought from a website in USA after paying all the taxes, I was surprised with yet another fairly annoying sum when the package made it to my door so I decided never to buy from the US again. If you`ve done it though, I guess it´s not the same case with Amazon, but I´m still afraid of any Spanish specific taxes, I´ll find out to make sure
 
I've had a Kindle for almost a year now, got it last Christmas. Just the base model, which I believe is around $75 currently. A couple points I would like to stress.

-It is as good as everybody says. A pleasure to read. Amazing to hold. Display is great. I much prefer it to regular books. If you like reading large, heavy books especially it is much easier to hold above your head in bed. :lol:

-However, it gets expensive incredibly fast, especially if you are a voracious reader. You should probably still rely on the library for your reading needs. When I first got it I was on Christmas break and decided to read the entire Dark Tower series, and when I checked my account balance at the end of the month I thought, "Geez, where did the $80 go?". :lol: There is a lot of good free stuff (or cheap stuff), especially if you are into classic lit, but a lot of the good stuff you have to pay for.

-Selection is still hit or miss. Depending on your tastes this may or may not be a problem for you. I'm still very disappointed that there are many Michael Moorcock books not available in print anymore (at least here in the States) that I would love to acquire on Kindle that are sadly absent from Amazons store, as well as Gene Wolfe's New Sun books, to name a few not available.

Still a great buy, but depending on how much you use it, and how you use it, expect it to be a bit more expensive than you might think!
 
Keregioz said:
That doesn't sound right, are you sure that the taxes you paid included customs?
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I don´t know how the business was cause it´s my wife who did that purchase (American Eagle, clothes), but she said the AE site also said you didn´t have to pay anything else and in the end we did.

Staying on the kindle subject, I checked some audio books and their kindle prices, and damn they´re expensive. Some are even more expensive than the real book, some are the same or a little bit cheaper, but not "9$ or less" as amazon so proudly says every three seconds on their website.

What´s the dillio? I´m looking to get like 80$ worth of mixing/recording books and checking their kindle prices I´m more inclined to buying them all in physical format, even though I could get them for kindle on my iphone.
 
DanLights said:
Interesting, last time I bought from a website in USA after paying all the taxes, I was surprised with yet another fairly annoying sum when the package made it to my door so I decided never to buy from the US again. If you`ve done it though, I guess it´s not the same case with Amazon, but I´m still afraid of any Spanish specific taxes, I´ll find out to make sure
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buy from the amazon uk.
I buy all my games there and of course being in europe I don't get raped by taxes.
And the prices are cheaper than amazon.it, and I mean a lot cheaper.
From amazon uk one of the latest xbox games goes for 40 euro, while on amazon.it goes for 50 euros ...
 
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