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Kindle Questions

Rob&Carol Q

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Howdy all,

I'm debating taking the eReader plunge this Christmas. Among the items considered is the Kindle Fire. From my limited point of view, I really don't see where the Fire does much for us. Tiny screen for movies and all that... Like I said, I'm looking for a way to read books.

I understand that I don't understand a whole lot about this niche.

What I do know is that I will need some sort of access to download books or whatever but beyond that, I'm kind of clueless.

Any recommendations?
 

Passepartout

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I like my Kindle. It only needs to be charged once a month or less. The new one is only $79 if you don't mind Amazon ads on the screen when it's off. Added: with touchscreen it's $99. It will connect to your (or any) wi-fi to buy or download content. Thousands of free (mostly older- 'classic') books. Thousands more low cost ones. Many libraries allow some 'lending' to ebooks. I'm noticing some 'price creep' in ebooks. What were almost all $9.99 are now $13 or so. I guess that's to make up for Amazon's selling Kindle for less than the cost to make 'em.

The only advantage of a Fire is it's ability to surf the 'net. Magazines and cookbooks would look better in color, and you can load a couple of movies on it to watch on a plane. Is this worth 2 1/2 times more and having to recharge it daily? Only you can answer that. Also, you can't read the Fire outdoors whereas the monochrome ones are perfect at the pool or sitting under a shade tree.

All in all, I would buy a Kindle again. It sure beats hauling a backpack full of books on vacation.

I'm sure Nook owners will have similar comments about their choice too.

If buying any ebook, I think it's wise to buy either Kindle or Nook. They both have great support and are easy to put content on. The others need to be connected to your computer to buy and load content. That's just one more step I'd as soon avoid if I can.

Jim
 
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spirits

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Don't forget the local library

I live in Edmonton and our libraries have some of the ereaders and are only to glad to spend time with you to show you their benefits. Some branches have ereaders and will loan them out so you can try them at home. This Jan there is an inservice at a branch to display and discuss the many ereaders and their benefits. What at deal for 12/year. One benefit for living in Canada and paying high taxes:D (sorry moderators, could not resist)
 

"Roger"

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If you are really interested in just reading books, I would get either the Kindle Touch or the Nook Simple Touch. They are cheaper and lighter (think bedtime reading) than the Fire. In addition, the Fire has gotten a decidedly mixed reception. I suspect that if this is what you are interested in, then you should wait until Amazon comes out with a version 2. (JMHO)

I chose the Nook Simple Touch partly because two professional reviews that I saw (one was the Wall Street Journal, the other I am unsure of) thought that the Nook was a marginally better product. (Overall, both got very good reviews, both professionally and from customers.) One big difference, however, is price. The Kindle is $99 (not $79 as stated in the previous post) if you are willing to have ads displayed when the device is off. Otherwise, it is $139. The Nook is simply $99 (no ads).

There is a $79 Kindle (with ads), but it does not have a touch screen. I very much value a touch screen partly because of the ease with which you can look up the definition of a word. All that you have to do is hold your finger on the word, wait a second, and you will be given an opportunity to have a dictionary definition of the word appear on your screen. With the non-touch screen, you have to maneuver a cursor around with a mini joy stick. Not nearly as convenient. (Being able to look up words easily is one of the nice features of ereaders. I would almost never bother to haul out a dictionary with a physical book. I do look up a fair number of words with an ereader in that it is fairly painless.)

Good luck whatever you choose to do.
 

spirits

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Thanks for the users perspective Roger

All the reviews pale in comparison to a well written review. :D To all Canadians, we cannot get the Kindle Fire but have something called the Kobo which the librarians up here like. It all depends on how you want to use the product. If you want a simple ereader that is easy on the eyes and accesses libraires, our librarians like the Kobo. Don't know about how the Kobo is marketed in the US.
 

MULTIZ321

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Roger gave an excellent synopsis and I concur with his comments.

Another thing to keep in mind, is that as far as I'm aware, Amazon still has not provided one with the capability to download ePub books (read Library Books) to the Kindle or Kindle Fire platforms.

I know that Amazon has said that one would soon be able to download ePub books to their Kindle's. But to date, I don't think they've done so.

Yes, you can do some conversions (e.g. with Calibre) to accomplish the task, but why go through the bother.

With Barnes and Noble Nook eReaders, you can download ePub Books. Some other eReaders (e.g., Kobo, Sony) will take ePub books too.

My wife and I have been very happy with our Nook Color.


Richard
 

Passepartout

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I just go to my public library's website, sign on with my library card number, tell it what format I use (Kindle, ePub, Nook or whatever) and it downloads direct to the ereader via Amazon- for Kindle- as soon as the book is available.- instantly if it's 'on the shelf' or as soon as it expires from someone else's device. No library has unlimited quantities of ebooks, due to copyright restrictions and agreements with publishers, libraries have to buy electronic copies just as they do paper books. I can specify if I want to keep it 1 week or 2 and it automatically disappears at the end of the loan period.

This is a fairly new program at our library, and so far they only have about 2000 ebooks available over some 700 titles. This will grow as they get (a) more use by library card holders (b) more funding and (c) more publishers make their offerings available to libraries for lending instead of selling them as paper books.

Bottom line- ePub is not the only format for electronic library books.

Jim
 

Timeshare Von

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After 40+ years of T/S ownership, I am no longer "an owner"
I finally bit the bullet today and purchased the Kindle Touch on Amazon for $99.
 

Nancy

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Kindles

I have the Kindle keyboard (originally known as Kindle 3) and a brand new Kindle Fire. I love the Fire, but if the sole purpose is to read books, I think the Keyboard, Touch or one similar would be a better choice because of the screen. Decide what you want Kindle to do, then chose the best one for you.

JMHO

Nancy
 

persia

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I have an iPad and a touch kindle. The problem with the fire is that it's like the iPad, a general purpose tablet. The e-ink is so much easier to read than a general purpose tablet it isn't funny.
 

pwrshift

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Kindle is not good for Canada

For what it's worth, KOBO in Canada is beating Kindle hands down because they are associated with Chapters-Indigo and can easily be used with local libraries...and to 'share' books with other KOBO users.

The cheapest Kindle in Canada is $119 and it's the same $79 model sold in the USA .. yet our dollar values are about the same. A real rip off IMO. They only sell that model and the keyboard model in Canada so far. In addition, you cannot 'share' in Canada or get ebooks from the library. The KOBO sells for $109 Cdn and offers these two features, as well as a larger selection of books.

I bought Kindles in the US as Christmas gifts last year and brought them back so I got the lower prices...only to find that half the books sold by KOBO were not available in Canada as Amazon was very slow in getting copyright approvals to sell books in Canada. Even when you're in the US you can't get all the ebooks available to US people on the Kindle when it's registered that you are Canadian. (same with MP3 downloads from Kindle btw--you can order CD's but not MP3's) For some reason, Apple has made those copyright arrangements for ebooks, MP3's, and Videos...but not Amazon.

I bought a KOBO ($109) from Staples as a Christmas present and they also sell the Kindle ($199)...but the sales rep said people come in to buy the Kindle but leave with the KOBO because of the price difference and the library and sharing thing you can't do with Kindle. Still, he said, people still buy the Kindle probably because it's better known but less functional to Canadians.
 
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Kay H

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Roger gave an excellent synopsis and I concur with his comments.

Another thing to keep in mind, is that as far as I'm aware, Amazon still has not provided one with the capability to download ePub books (read Library Books) to the Kindle or Kindle Fire platforms.

I know that Amazon has said that one would soon be able to download ePub books to their Kindle's. But to date, I don't think they've done so.

Yes, you can do some conversions (e.g. with Calibre) to accomplish the task, but why go through the bother.

With Barnes and Noble Nook eReaders, you can download ePub Books. Some other eReaders (e.g., Kobo, Sony) will take ePub books too.

My wife and I have been very happy with our Nook Color.


Richard


I've been trying to download free Amazon books to my ipad. The Amazon site tells me they've been sent but they never arrived. I've tried for 4 days in a row. Frustrating,
 

Rob&Carol Q

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COOL...thanks for the inputs!

We bought a Kindle Touch last night at the Exchange. $99 but no sales tax...guess you can get that "No Tax" deal at Amazon as well...so far.

We'll start using the lil beastie on the 25th...along with every other new Amazon user...

Again, thanks y'all
 

Mel

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We bought a Kobo touch this summer, when Borders went out of business. It is in many regards similar to the Nook; both use the ePub format.

I also have a basic Kindle (the $79 version) coming for my daughter (should arrive today). Our public library initially only supported ePub books, but now supports both ePub and Kindle versions through their Overdrive portal.

Both formats are supported by Project Gutenberg, where you can get copies of many book published before 1923 for free.

While the Kindle Fire is intriguing (as is the Nook Color), if you're only looking for a reader, I would stay with one of the more basic readers. The technology in the black & white readers (eInk) uses less energy, and is easier to read, because they are not back-lit. I also read on my Galaxy Tablet, and find that it is not as easy on the eyes, though I like the way everything is formatted.
 

MULTIZ321

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I've been trying to download free Amazon books to my ipad. The Amazon site tells me they've been sent but they never arrived. I've tried for 4 days in a row. Frustrating,

Kay,

I'm going to assume that you've registered your iPad with Amazon. I think your user name and Password are case-sensitive. Other than the registration, I'm not sure why you aren't receiving the books.

Good luck.

Richard
 

Elli

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I just go to my public library's website, sign on with my library card number, tell it what format I use (Kindle, ePub, Nook or whatever) and it downloads direct to the ereader via Amazon- for Kindle- as soon as the book is available.- instantly if it's 'on the shelf' or as soon as it expires from someone else's device. No library has unlimited quantities of ebooks, due to copyright restrictions and agreements with publishers, libraries have to buy electronic copies just as they do paper books. I can specify if I want to keep it 1 week or 2 and it automatically disappears at the end of the loan period.

This is a fairly new program at our library, and so far they only have about 2000 ebooks available over some 700 titles. This will grow as they get (a) more use by library card holders (b) more funding and (c) more publishers make their offerings available to libraries for lending instead of selling them as paper books.

Bottom line- ePub is not the only format for electronic library books.

Jim
Good for you, Jim, unfortunately, the Kindle is only compatible with US libraries, can't use Canadian libraries - what a shame.
 

Passepartout

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Good for you, Jim, unfortunately, the Kindle is only compatible with US libraries, can't use Canadian libraries - what a shame.

Blame it on the copyright laws. Our two countries are so similar, and we share the longest peaceful border in the world, and darn near the same language. Sometimes we forget that we are separate peoples with very different government systems. Just try spending Canadian money any distance from the border.

Jim
 

Timeshare Von

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After 40+ years of T/S ownership, I am no longer "an owner"
I finally bit the bullet today and purchased the Kindle Touch on Amazon for $99.

It arrived yesterday (Thursday) and with an overnight charge, I was able to get started with it today. I've already D/L'ed 12 free books from Amazon, so I have plenty to get me started.
 

pwrshift

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How do Kindle and others make money on free books, and there are a ton of them, albeit not from any well known writers?
 

learnalot

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How do Kindle and others make money on free books, and there are a ton of them, albeit not from any well known writers?

Most of the free books are in public domain, which means they are no longer under copyright and can be distributed freely. They obviously don't make any money in the free books but most people are not going to only read the free books. When they want to read something more current, they will purchase it. They also made money selling the device to begin with.
 
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