Amazon Kindle, eBook reader Options

[JeffG]

If you've ever been to the Amazon web site, you can't have failed to notice they are pushing their Kindle electronic book reader. I just assumed it was a gimmick and they were having trouble selling them.

However, I just went to the Portable Devices forum on Digital Spy to check it out and it seems to be extremely popular, with one thread here 22 pages long!

So I was wondering if anyone in the local area reading this has one (or has seen anyone using one) and what their views were?

[Jayjay]

If you've ever been to the Amazon web site, you can't have failed to notice they are pushing their Kindle electronic book reader. I just assumed it was a gimmick and they were having trouble selling them.

However, I just went to the Portable Devices forum on Digital Spy to check it out and it seems to be extremely popular, with one thread here 22 pages long!

So I was wondering if anyone in the local area reading this has one (or has seen anyone using one) and what their views were?

Fantastic piece of kit. Was using my brothers over the weekend and have just ordered my own. He took his on holiday and even with the sun on the screen it is still easily readable. Some books are free, but even new title's appear to be cheaper than paper or hard back books. Battery life is good at around four hours (unsure if this will decrease with wear) it is charged through your laptop but plug in chargers are only about £6.

[GMR]

As a book lover/ reader I won't be using it. I have seen the Kindle advertised on Amazon (as i regularly use that site). I love the feel of books.

[Darren]

Brilliant bit of kit, especially for holidays. No longer do you have to pack the latest hardbacks.

[GMR]

Brilliant bit of kit, especially for holidays. No longer do you have to pack the latest hardbacks.

Don't you like packing 'hard backs' then?

[Iommi]

As a book lover/ reader I won't be using it. I have seen the Kindle advertised on Amazon (as i regularly use that site). I love the feel of books.

Don't you like packing 'hard backs' then?

After you have 'felt them up'?

[JeffG]

Many thanks for the useful replies!

[dannyboy]

Be careful about which one you buy. Some let you only download titles from certain sites.

Some titles you can only read a few times & you can't lend the 'book' to someone else once you have read it.

[GMR]

After you have 'felt them up'?

We are witty today.... on a promise, are we?

[Cognosco]

If you've ever been to the Amazon web site, you can't have failed to notice they are pushing their Kindle electronic book reader. I just assumed it was a gimmick and they were having trouble selling them.

However, I just went to the Portable Devices forum on Digital Spy to check it out and it seems to be extremely popular, with one thread here 22 pages long!

So I was wondering if anyone in the local area reading this has one (or has seen anyone using one) and what their views were?

The major problem seems to be you never actually own the books you have purchased and you are not allowed to share the books with other Kindle users. I do believe you are limited to how many times you can download a book?
Other than that it seems a useful bit of kit. Not sure how long it will last with all the other palm type devices coming onto the market in the very near future? So a bit like the old video types VHS or Betamax; not sure which type of reader will win out?

[Iommi]

Battery life is good at around four hours (unsure if this will decrease with wear) it is charged through your laptop but plug in chargers are only about £6.

My mates of mine reckons, that you should get at least week out of the battery if you leave 3G and Wi-Fi on 24/7, and a month if you switch the 3G and Wi-Fi off. The DX is a larger version, but not readily available here.

[Strafin]

The Kindle is brilliant, you can only buy from Amazon I believe but to be fair Amazon has such a huge range I don't think you'd ever be left wanting.

[JeffG]

I do believe you are limited to how many times you can download a book?

Actually, from the web site:

Worry-Free Archive
Delete with abandon. We automatically keep an archival copy of your Kindle books—-re-download for free, anytime. We even back up your last page read and annotations, so when you re-download to the device you can pick up where you left off with all of your notes still in place.

So it appears there is no limit.

As for battery life, they claim one month between charges with wi-fi turned off.

[dannyboy]

Actually, from the web site:


So it appears there is no limit.

As for battery life, they claim one month between charges with wi-fi turned off.

It would appear there is a limit -



http://www.geardiary.com/2009/06/19/kindle...and-it-is-ugly/

[Bartholomew]

The major problem seems to be you never actually own the books you have purchased and you are not allowed to share the books with other Kindle users. I do believe you are limited to how many times you can download a book?
Other than that it seems a useful bit of kit. Not sure how long it will last with all the other palm type devices coming onto the market in the very near future? So a bit like the old video types VHS or Betamax; not sure which type of reader will win out?

I think that you are incorrect about owning the books. It is no different to buying a book, except the media is different. You can share books with another kindle on the same account. The Kindle holds about 3500 books, so why would you want to keep downloading the same book?

The big value with the Kindle is that it is directly connected to Amazon and the range of books is growing rapidly. Downloads from Amazon cost nothing except for the book purchase cost. Unlike VHS/Betamax, Amazon provide the media as well as the hardware.
Incidentally a previous post indicated that the battery lasts for 4 hours. In fact I've had mine nearly a month now being used two hours a day without needing a recharge.

[JeffG]

I think that if there actually is a limit on the number of downloads, then it's pretty much a red herring, since with a capacity of 3,500 books, I imagine you wouldn't need to delete books to make room for others that often!

Having read the responses here, I think I may well go ahead and get one.

[Darren]

Don't you like packing 'hard backs' then?

There's clearly some subtext I'm missing here.

I'm waiting for more technical books to be made available as it will make reading a 2-thousand page training guide at lot easier on my hands.

[blackdog]

I think that if there actually is a limit on the number of downloads, then it's pretty much a red herring, since with a capacity of 3,500 books, I imagine you wouldn't need to delete books to make room for others that often!

Having read the responses here, I think I may well go ahead and get one.

The download issue is not a red herring, its a real issue. I guess most users will not experience it for a long time, but some gadget freaks will hit it a lot earlier. The limit seems to be (even Amazon don't seem to know for sure) on the number of devices you can download the book to. As the sales pitch is that you can buy the book and, effectively, store it at Amazon for ever it is a real issue.

The chap writing about it on the link has a Kindle, and an ipod touch and an iphone or ipad - all of which can run Kindle software. Quite neatly they can also synchronise so you can use whichever is more convenient and all of them will know where you have got to and be ready to start from where you left off - neat.

However, he now has three devices to download HIS book to from Amazon. Everything went fine until he upgraded his iphone and ipod and went to download his books to them. Some of them would not download. Eventually he is told that this is because these books have a limitation on the number of devices you can download them to. All of a sudden his library of purchased books at Amazon has a limited shelf life.

So how would you feel if you Kindle breaks down after 2 months - you get a new one under guarantee (great) and go to download your books only to find that some of them are limited to a single device.

If I go out and buy a book - the real thing - I can read it as often as I like, I can lend it to a friend (and often get it back), I can even sell it when I am finished with it, or give it to a charity shop to help raise cash for a good cause. Even better I can buy a book second hand for a fraction of the cover price. How much of this can you do with a Kindle book?

Can you back up Kindle books to your PC? If you do can you restore them to a different Kindle/iphone/ipad/ipod?

[dannyboy]

If I go out and buy a book - the real thing - I can read it as often as I like, I can lend it to a friend (and often get it back), I can even sell it when I am finished with it, or give it to a charity shop to help raise cash for a good cause. Even better I can buy a book second hand for a fraction of the cover price. How much of this can you do with a Kindle book?

which is why, as well as several other reasons, publishers are so keen on the new technology.

[Iommi]

If I go out and buy a book - the real thing - I can read it as often as I like, I can lend it to a friend (and often get it back), I can even sell it when I am finished with it, or give it to a charity shop to help raise cash for a good cause. Even better I can buy a book second hand for a fraction of the cover price. How much of this can you do with a Kindle book?

Is this legal?

You don't need a bookshelf with a Kindle.