Kindle Question

[Bescotti]

Does anyone know if the lighted cover is worth buying ? I am developing cataracts and find it hard to read in dim light.

 

I bought Amazon's cover with the booklight but didn't think I would use it that much! I only wear reading glasses for poor lighting conditions and I have found that with the booklight I don't need to wear my glasses - and if the lighting isn't bad enough that I need to use the booklight I can just increase the font size.

 

Overall I am so glad I decided to get the built-in booklight - I'm finding it indispensible!

[mamaofami]

Lynn, thank you for that reference. Think I'm going to get the Kindle 3.

[Storylady]

Thanks for mentioning that. It never occurred to me that I needed to turn it off. My upcoming cruise will be the first time I have flown with my Kindle.

 

You just have to turn it off for the first 10 minutes and for the landing. On my most recent flight this week, the steward said to turn off all phones, computers, ipods, iphones, itouches, ipads and all electronic books--anything with an on off switch.

 

I still have the original Kindle with the original battery. The biggest disadvantage as someone else stated is that when you hear about a book, you immediately download and sample and then buy. I use to spend about $25 to $45 for paperbacks a month. I now spend about $100 to $150 a month for new titles that I want to read.

 

Big advantage to having the kindle is that I have a cyberbook shelves to hold the books that I purchase. I am slowing donating books that I own to my library as digital copies of older titles become available. As a lover of books, I was starting to have a shelving problem until I discovered kindle in January of 2008.

 

Biggest advantage to me is that I can adjust the typeface to my older eyes. I find that it is easier and more enjoyable to read on my kindle than it is to read a paperback. I have read for 10 hours straight on trips to Europe since I can't sleep sitting up with only the light from overhead.

 

As a librarian who knows about discounts and the publishing field. I do agree with another post that said that the publishers are getting greedy and charging more than they should. Before I was getting approximately 20% from Amazon on most paperbacks. Since the Nook and the IPAD have arrived on the scene, sometimes the prices of the electronic version have no discount---price set by publishers and sometimes it is even more.

 

If I bought the books from a library distributor, the discount is approximately 40 to 45% off most paperbacks and hardcover novels. They have to pay for the paper and the printing. All printing today is done with computers so the digital copy of the book has to be made to do the printing. So there is no cost to the publishers to issue an electronic version.

[Storylady]

Which is better - Nook or Kindle? We leave on the 24th and would like to get one before we sail.

 

If you want to get free books from your library, I guess Nook would be better. But if you want to search for titles on Amazon's website. Search for a characters name in the book you are reading or for anything else in the book you are reading, the Kindle would be better because of the actual keyboard. Nook's search method involves using a virtual keyboard--would be similar to using IPAD and the IPhone. I like the use of the actual keyboard. And I use it often when I am reading.

 

I must also mention that the company that sells the Nook is trying to find a buyer for the company. I'm not sure what the future holds for them.

 

Also, you don't pay the sales tax for books for the Kindle. Don't know whether that is true for people living in Washington State. So you can actually save some money by buying books for the Kindle.

[Cinder Again]

Does anyone use their eReaders in or around a pool? How do you protect it?

I absolutely would NOT read my kindle in/too near the pool. That said, I do read in a lounge chair near a pool, but I carry a ziplock bag to place it in whenever it isn't in my hands. Water is not it's friend, nor is a Champagne Dream, but that's another story...:p

 

Some else was asking about the reading out loud option on the kindle. Please note that it is a "computer" like voice, (You can choose male or female) and not an actor like audio books are...I use it to read newspaper articles to myself while I am driving...that works great. It just keeps reading line after line until I stop it. I wouldn't want it to read something like Harry Potter, though. Too boring a voice.

 

I think the 3 G option is important, as you never know where a free hotspot is when traveling. The 3 G works a lot of the time when I don't have wireless service. (But I travel a lot and live in the country, so it might just be me)

 

IMHO, Ipad WON't replace kindle/sony/nook. The pages on the ipad are hard to read in sunlight. That absolutely isn't an issue with the ebook readers. For me, it's apples and oranges. I think the Ipad is terrific, but a different thing altogether. It is convenient to be able to move between the ipad, Kindle and iphone, though while reading one book, without searching for your "place" in the text.

[Cinder Again]

I also don't know what the difference is between those and the $300 one.

The more expensive one (Around 300) is much larger, the size of a magazine, instead of a large paperback.

 

For those thinking about buying, I would suggest you buy a cover for it. I find it a bit slippery in my hands, and I have dropped it a time or two, luckily without a bad incident.

 

I have a nice leather cover in hot pink, from the Amazon website, MEdge is the company. The kindle hooks into it, so it won't fall off.

[LynnObie]

Lynn, thank you for that reference. Think I'm going to get the Kindle 3.

You are most welcome, Carol. I'm sure you will love it, especially when packing for your next flight on an airline that charges for luggage! :)

 

........I do agree with another post that said that the publishers are getting greedy and charging more than they should. .... So there is no cost to the publishers to issue an electronic version.

For quite a while after becoming a Kindle user and before some publishers / authors started the price gouging (definitely not all do... at least not yet) I could buy a new release available in hard back for around $14-$16 at Costco & never higher than $9.99 for the digital Kindle edition at Amazon. Now the greedy ones are charging closer to $15 for the Kindle version! :eek: I have made a personal decision to boycott any author's books that are priced this way. After making this decision, I find that I still have more books available than I can read. Although probably unrealistic of me, I hope that enough Kindle owners will make the same decision as me to cause these publishers / authors to rethink their pricing. Even if that doesn't happen, I can live with waiting for those books to come down in price after they are no longer so new. Please forgive my rant... This just happens to be a BIG pet peeve of mine. :)

[mamaofami]

That would be for my cruise with you, Kathi !:)

[Liv4cruzin]

Then I stand corrected. I did read some techie info about this subject after I posted earlier and someone said I was wrong and the article said only with the wireless on is there enough radiation with an ebook to interfer with airplane navigation (and it is so small that every single person on the plane would have to have a book turned on), but that regulations do say they should be turned off. Evidently flight attendants don't concern themselves because mine on 2 flights never said a word to me and since I had the wireless off I wasn't concerned either. I will turn it off completely on my next flight. Never hurts to admit when you are wrong.

 

With the wi-fi turned off, I don't understand what's so "harmful" about them. I never understood why the kids had to turn off their Gameboys either. I never thought of radiation per se. It's obvious that cell phones & laptops that are actively "transmitting" are a hazard; but the rest of the restricted items IMO are "overkill". Maybe it's just easier to enforce the rules, if you outlaw EVERYTHING. That way the use of certain devices is not open for interpretation.

[DrTee]

That's my guess, that the rule is basically to simplify matters so that the flight attendants don't have to be experts on what devices are wi-fi or not. There are people who would insist that theirs wasn't, or that it wasn't turned on, etc. Just easier to enforce.

 

What I've never understood is why it's so dangerous for my seatback to be reclined a half an inch on takeoff and landing.

[French Gal]

Does anyone know if you can browse the web, send & receive e-mails on the Kindle 3 or the Nook as my friends claim? Thanks for all the info.

[jbhcw]

LynnObie..good post..I have the same feelings and have decided not to spend more than 9.99 for a book...they have gone up a lot in the past few months.

 

There are some wonderful classics out there from Amazon that are free...and I have downloaded several. I may weaken a bit as Jon Katz's new book..."Rose in a Storm" comes out today I think:):):) Not sure how much it is l..but last time I checked it was more than 9.99:eek:

[tooalto]

I have the nook and love it. I did so much research my head almost exploded. While I didn't read all the pages on this topic, I'm not sure if anyone mentioned that you can also borrow from a public library on the nook, which you can't on Kindle. I live in PA and a library card from the Philadelphia public library is free for PA residents. I've borrowed several very easily. This addresses the cost issue. There are also several online ebookstores which offer books a little cheaper. I don't believe you can use them if you own a Kindle either. Not positive.

[PaulMCO]

Does anyone know if you can browse the web, send & receive e-mails on the Kindle 3 or the Nook as my friends claim? Thanks for all the info.

 

The latest software release on Nook has a web browser. However remember that you are viewing with a LCD specifically designed for B&W pages so web pages look funky.

 

I have a Nook and my DW has a Kindle. Both are great devices for Cruisin... However my preference is for the iPad since it does so much more than act as a e-reader. I take the iPad when traveling for business and the Nook on vacation where there is liable to be a need for "sunlight" reading. The iPad has an B&N e-reader application so I can down load the same books purchased on my nook.

[PaulMCO]

With the wi-fi turned off, I don't understand what's so "harmful" about them. I never understood why the kids had to turn off their Gameboys either. I never thought of radiation per se. It's obvious that cell phones & laptops that are actively "transmitting" are a hazard; but the rest of the restricted items IMO are "overkill". Maybe it's just easier to enforce the rules, if you outlaw EVERYTHING. That way the use of certain devices is not open for interpretation.

 

A device that is turned on (specifically computers) has a high speed clock that radiates noise. It "could" interfere with the aircraft's systems especially the Instrument Landing System (ILS).

 

And yes game boys and Kindles have these.

[sparky-elpaso]

A device that is turned on (specifically computers) has a high speed clock that radiates noise. It "could" interfere with the aircraft's systems especially the Instrument Landing System (ILS).

 

And yes game boys and Kindles have these.

 

Interesting - I always wondered why things had to be turned off. So I'll turn my Nook off when asked.

[Cinder Again]

Does anyone know if you can browse the web, send & receive e-mails on the Kindle 3 or the Nook as my friends claim? Thanks for all the info.

You can browse, but it's not really quick, or my first choice, if I have my iphone or computer handy. It does the job in a pinch. At least for the Kindle, remember the Black and White issue, so if you are trying to get to a picture, it's not going to be great. Works for me checking the stock market.

[Mary Ellen]

We sent e-mails from London using my Kindle. As Cinder Again said - not our first choice. It was do-able.

[mamaofami]

Ordered my kindle 3 today. Can't wait.:)

[bra1nchild]

Does anyone know if you can browse the web, send & receive e-mails on the Kindle 3 or the Nook as my friends claim? Thanks for all the info.

 

 

Although not ideal because of its screen size, the 3G Kindle allowed us to check e-mail while we were on the Prinsendam for 36 days on the TOTW and Baltic Gems. The 3G is provided free by AT&T. We were able to avoid u$ing interent minute$ by u$ing the Kindle.

 

You can also download your own PDF files to the Kindle if you want. Prior to this cruise, I added almost a dozen walking tours of the cities we were visiting. All I had to do was turn the Kindle on and start walking. Because we were so well-prepared, we didn't follow any of those tours!

 

We also downloaded a PDF picture of our grandchildren to act as sort-of "hello" screen.

And you can download MP3 files as well, at least on ours. All I had to do was convert our WMA files from Windows Media to MP3 and copy them from the computer to the Kindle. The same could be done with audio books, I suppose. The downside is that you can't shuffle or skip around on your playlist; how you load it is how you hear it.

[Cinder Again]

Ordered my kindle 3 today. Can't wait.:)

You will love it, we'll have our own little e-reader club on board!

As a first book, try to find "Home to Italy". It was free on Amazon, I assume it still is...very sweet story, and just one of many free books I've read that I never would have found without the Kindle and Amazon! I wish/hope they are able to work out the library book rentals, but since I have an ipod too, I've already experienced what it's like to have the "wrong" brand. Everyone was loading their MP3 players with audio books via the web, except me... the library hadn't worked out a contract with Apple...

Carol, if you need help once you get it, email me at kathim at hughes dot net

[LynnObie]

Ordered my kindle 3 today. Can't wait.:)

Congrat's Carol, you will love it!

 

Although not ideal because of its screen size, the 3G Kindle allowed us to check e-mail while we were on the Prinsendam for 36 days on the TOTW and Baltic Gems. The 3G is provided free by AT&T. We were able to avoid u$ing interent minute$ by u$ing the Kindle.....

Now, there's a feature I must check out in detail at Amazon! My wife got the $139 Wi-Fi version and I haven't decided whether to get one of the 2 new Kindles yet or just keep using my iPod Touch with Kindle software - which I love using - BUT, being able to access e-mail free while cruising sounds like a feature I would spend the extra $50 for... hmmm. Was it easy to set up for checking e-mail?

 

You will love it.....one of many free books I've read that I never would have found without the Kindle and Amazon!...

Be sure to check out www.kindleiq.com & click on the "Free Kindle Books" tab at top where you can sign up for notification of free releases as they become available on Amazon. I get notices of newly offered free books almost daily. My experience has been that several titles I've tried didn't stay "free" forever. I have tried some authors that were new to me by reading their free book then went on to buy other titles they wrote.

[Storylady]

You are most welcome, Carol. I'm sure you will love it, especially when packing for your next flight on an airline that charges for luggage! :)

 

 

For quite a while after becoming a Kindle user and before some publishers / authors started the price gouging (definitely not all do... at least not yet) I could buy a new release available in hard back for around $14-$16 at Costco & never higher than $9.99 for the digital Kindle edition at Amazon. Now the greedy ones are charging closer to $15 for the Kindle version! :eek: I have made a personal decision to boycott any author's books that are priced this way. After making this decision, I find that I still have more books available than I can read. Although probably unrealistic of me, I hope that enough Kindle owners will make the same decision as me to cause these publishers / authors to rethink their pricing. Even if that doesn't happen, I can live with waiting for those books to come down in price after they are no longer so new. Please forgive my rant... This just happens to be a BIG pet peeve of mine. :)

 

 

It's not the authors who set the price. It is the publishers. Only the big name authors can name top dollar and that is because the publisher knows that they will most likely get their money back.

[DrTee]

Don't you have to subscribe to a monthly data plan with the 3G?

[HoneyGV]

While I do not have a Kindle, I have the Sony e-Reader and my sister has the Nook and we both are VERY happy with our purchases. Which every reader you get, you probably with enjoy it. I like it because it cuts down on the reading materials I have to pack.

 

Shortly after I purchased mine, I had to spend the night with a friend in the emergency room, then later waiting while he had surgery. It was a GODSEND! Once I finished what I was reading, I moved to the next "book."

 

I also have the Sony E-Reader and love it. I love the touch screen and it's easy to read...especially when I resize the text. Mine has a leather cover with a built in light. I have several books on it, plus articles that can be put in in PDF format.

The Kindle allows you to download on the fly, but I don't find that necessary since it's so fast and easy to download from being online.

My neighbor has a Kindle and I looked at it before I got my Sony and I didn't like it that I HAD to push a button to change pages instead of just touching the screen.

I'm happy with my Sony and wish you good luck with yours too...and happy reading!;)