Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

I just re-read my first post.

You really are a doucebag. :D

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Sorry for making light, Peter. I am too busy posting to do much reading. ;) :r

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

:D

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Alright after 24 hours of use and about three hundred pages read, here are my thoughts.



This thing is AWESOME!

Screen is perfect - looks just like paper! I get horrible migranes from screens and my eyes get tired from paper after fifty pages or so, and with this device I had neither problem! I love how simple it is to use and that you don't need a computer for drivers/software/etc. Very lightweight and portable, and the books I bought were all a dollar a piece! (Dostoevsky, Gogol, Pushkin, Piper so far) If you are looking for more popular contemporary writing, its a bit more, but nothing that I saw was more than ten bucks. As long as you are within 3G network distance, books arrive in less than thirty seconds, and internet browsing isn't too slow. I also love the screen savers when you turn off the device! This thing is the best i've seen when it comes to functionality and portability tradeoffs!

Draw backs -

You are tethered to amazon, but they are pretty reasonable in their prices so i'm not too worried about that right now.

If you are not in 3G network range, the device falls back to 1RXTT and sucks battery about four times as much. I would recommend turning off wireless (really easy to do) when you are not using it.

Emailing yourself PDF's costs about fifteen cents a piece, but you can always just hook the kindle up to your computer and put PDF's on that way. It shows up as an external hard drive.

Internet is VERY basic. Looks like you are browsing on a cell phone. That having been said - it works for news, wikipedia, basic email, and even browsing CA!

Keyboard takes a few minutes to get used to, but its fine after you figure it out.


Final thoughts: GO GET ONE!

-Mark

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Thanks, Mark. I may just have to do that.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Peter, are you only interested in the Kindle, or in an ebook generally?
Have you considered the new Sony models that at about to hit the shelves that will connect to your local library and "check out" books for free?

From what I've been reading these could be better than the kindles

Since I'll be travelng more in my current job I've been thinking about getting one myself, but am interested in hearing the kindle feedback

have to say though, they look like something someone cobbed together in their basement back in 1950, one ugly ass piece of hardware:r

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Ebook in general

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

It will be interesting to see what the new Sony looks like. I have been watching closely but I get the feeling that this will open up into something larger over the next two years. Having said that I have a hard time dropping 300-400 on one now and the whole model change over in the next year. Google seems like they are out and about playing in ebooks also which I would say may means a reader from them in the near futre or they may throw their weight behind Sony or Amazon.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Peter, do they come with a magnifying glass?? Old eyes you know..... ;)

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

I would own one if I could connect to their wireless network here in northern Vermont. Unfortunately it is Sprint with no service locally. I am eagerly awaiting the Plastic Logic reader. It is suposed to be 8 1/2 x 11, touch screen, same display as the Kindle, content partners Barnes & Noble and Google Books, (yielding much more content than Amazon) and wireless downloads via the AT&T network which works very well here in the north country. In the meantime I trudge to the library and the bookstore.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

:tg
God, I sure hope so.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

If you haven't bought a Kindle yet, take a look at the Nook which was announced by Barnes and Noble yesterday.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/

http://apcmag.com/images/nook-reading.jpg

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

:r

Guess what I spent my lunch hour at work reading about today? Given Amazon's actions with deleting books from customer's Kindles, it is likely I won't be buying one. Much more likely I will be buying a Nook.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Very Interesting. There's going to be a lot of ereaders hitting the shelves this holiday season.

It's unclear, or I didn't see either way, if the Nook is tied to B&N the same way that the Kindle is tied to Amazon. If so, that's a deal killer for me. The move is away from that and towards allowing content from various providers, in various formats. Just something to keep in mind.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

I have a kindle. You can adjut the size of the letters for those of us that need extra help.

I wouldn't be surprised. I did see that you are supposed to be able to download some of the free books from google.
Another feature is that you can lend books to friends for a while. I think two weeks.


"3. More Books: B&N offers more titles than Amazon, plus the Nook can access 500,000 public domain titles from Google that are not available to Kindle users. The Nook will load and read Adobe Acrobat PDF documents, which the Kindle does not do."


Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

I am looking at the Kindle for my wife for Christmas and maybe the Nook for myself since I have a lot of PDF ebooks already. Both are priced the same right now, but the holiday competition is heating up.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Another thing to consider with the Kindle, is that there is also a (free) iPhone app for catching up on a few pages when you don't have your kindle with you. The cool part is the "whispersync" technology that keeps the current page in sync between the iphone app and the Kindle itself.

Though I wouldn't want to read an entire book on the iPhone, this capability is very handy.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

I currently do a lot of reading on my iPhone.
I used to read on my Palm Pilot, so the screen is actually a bit larger.
You get used to it. I normally read during my lunch, so it is quite handy.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

I absolutely love my Kindle. The only negative thing I have to say about it is that it isn't possible to share purchased books.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Me too. I actually held the iPhone up to a paperback for comparison. With the margins on the book, etc, the amount of readin real estate between the two was almost e xactly the same

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Ken, b&n has an iPhone app as well which I'm sure will work in similar fashion with their Nook. My concern with the kindle, other than it's fugliness, and lukewarm reviews, is the proprietary scheme Amazon has for it.

The new readers coming out are going to be a lot
more versatile. As is usually the case in tech, first doesn't always mean best, and frequently winds up meaning worst

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Absolutely correct. :tpd:
I have been waiting for Kindle alternatives since it originally came out. The primary reason I have not bought one yet is that their over the air service is through Sprint and I just don't get Sprint coverage where I live. I plan on taking a good hard look at B&N's Nook as I believe its' service is through AT&T, but am also intrigued by Que from Plastiic Logic. It features an 81/2 X 11 screen and though the first offering will be black & white, they claim a full color e-ink display is "just around the corner". Unfortunately it is not coming out until early 2010.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

The new International version of the Kindle has Whispernet provided by AT&T and its global roaming partners.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

I have read alot of great things about the newer kindles, also you can download books for free on the net and not having to pay an arm and a leg for them. This is actually on my xmas list for my girl so I would advise getting a newer generation one due to add on storage and battery life.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Well, after much research and comparisons between Kindle, Nook, and Sony, I pulled the trigger and bought a Kindle. I've been scouring the list of books and have pre-ordered a $hitload. Can't wait for it to arrive.

Thanks to everyone who offered feedback.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

What steered you to the Kindle over the Nook? I own a Kindle and love it, but now would probably choose a Nook if I were purchasing for the first time.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Nook was first to be eliminated for me. It came down to Kindle vs. Sony for me.

Some major down-sides of the Nook for me were:

• Return policy - 14 day w/ 10% restocking fee. (Kindle and Sony are 30 day w/full refund)
• B&N gift cards cannot be used to purchase e-books for the Nook. Huge issue if you ask me.
• Cost of books were equal or greater then Kindle/Sony.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

I didn't know about the gift card restrictions. I redeem my credit card points for gift cards, so that would be an issue for me also.

The one feature that still draws me to the Nook is the ability to loan e-books to another user. There were several of us in the desert with Kindles and I would have liked to be able to pass a book to one of them when I finished with it.

That feature is only useful if several of your friends have a Nook, otherwise it's a non-issue. Since I don't know anyone who has pre-ordered one, I'll probably get her a Kindle.

Kindle's software upgrade allows for the viewing of .pdfs in their native format now. That was another point of the Nook that was appealing that is now not an issue.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Also, the lending feature of the Nook is good for one user for 14 days only. Lend a book to friend - you can't lend that book again to anyone else - ever.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

As I understand it Amazon had no choice - they had to comply with the law and any of the e-reader vendors would have to do the same thing should a similar situation arise in the future.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Congrats! on your purchase -- maybe you can show it off to us at the Stumptown herf next month!

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

You can count on it!

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

You won't be sorry Peter. I got Anita one for her birthday and she hasn't sat it down since. She carries it everywhere.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

i love my Kindle.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

And after just two days, I'm lovin' mine, too. :dance:

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Glad to hear it.

I decided to go the Nook route--well, getting one for my girlfriend as a Christmas present anyway. I'm looking forward to playing with it, though ;)

I bet the odds are better than 50/50, however, that she buys me a Kindle, so we may have both to compare :r

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

I'm a day late and a dollar short, but I went the Sony route. At the time kindle didn't offer any overseas support and the built in lighting on the Sony sold me. It has been great on deployment. I'm known as the guy with the e-book puffing a cigar everynight in the smoke pit.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Are there any Nooks available right now? I was under the impression they were on back order until January 2010.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

I ordered one in the middle of November and it's supposed to ship December 11. Looks like the pre-orders they're taking now, though, won't ship until January.

From a quick search, it appears as though they sold out the initial production run on November 20, so any orders placed after that will be shipped later.

Thanks for the scare, though :r

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

Not to perpetuate the scare but Barnes & Noble is on shaky ground. The future of the company was one of many reasons I eliminated the Nook early on. A couple of other big show stoppers for me were only a 14 day return policy with a 10% restocking fee. Sony and Amazon is a 30 day full refund. B&N e-books are generally more expensive and B&N will not allow the use of their own gift cards to purchase their own e-books. WTF is up with that?!?!?!!?

I truly hope your girlfriend likes her Nook. It just didn't cut it for me.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

I ordered a Nook as it seemed like the best of the bunch and they charged my card then said they were out till January. I was some kind of pissed as it was for my Wife for Christmas and January is a bit late and they would have my money for a month. Got my card credited and now waiting on the next most improved version not offered by Barnes and Noble.:td:td

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

After a number of weeks of agony, I have decided I need to sell my kindle. I absolutely love it, but the books I am reading are exclusively scholarly works, and apart from my Dostoevsky class nothing is really available for Kindle. Furthermore, the texts I am reading for my academic pursuits are things that I would like to keep, mark up, reference, etc in the future in my Masters/PhD programs and therefore I think I should invest in real, physical paper. :tu I'm gonna post the sale on Craigslist, not sure it would be an appropriate use of the board to post it here. Anyway another bump for an awesome product if you are looking to fly through books and not worry about having them in the future for reference. I read more and faster with the kindle, and I'm sad to see it go! Its just an expensive paperweight, ya know? Plus I could buy probably ten scholarly works that I would use over and over for the price of the kindle...

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

My kids call me a book eater. I read a lot and this is a great way for me to do it with out piling up lots of paper. I have save enought in the diffrence in the paper version and gas to pay for my Kindle.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

No problem at all posting it here, Mark.
We occasionally get non-cigar items put up for sale. As long as it's not Cuban cigars, alcohol, firearms, etc. as listed in the rules, you are free to put it up here.

Good luck.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

I am not by nature an ebook person, but this thread made me go out and borrow the most recent model from a friend to try out.

Honestly, I was not impressed. I could not get over the "gadget" feel as some others have described. I constantly felt like I was playing with a video game.

The prices for things that interested me where actually more expensive than hard copies of the books (7.19 for The Bear & the Dragon by Tom Clancy). I can hunt around online and come up with a paperback copy of that book for a dollar. Also, as I understand (correct me if I'm wrong here please!) but if you decide to get rid of the Kindle, you're out however much you spent on the books, and you don't have the books in hand.

The battery needed a charge somewhere between the 700-800 page range, but I can't be sure if it was a full charge when I borrowed it. If that is a full charge, I'd say that's a rather low capacity for someone with time to read and who reads quickly.

Also, I'm somewhat of a speed reader. Maybe it's just my eyes, but I constantly had to go back and re-read something because I wasn't sure if I had read it correctly. That's something I NEVER have to do with a hard copy.

I think, given enough time (I only read one book, even if it was 1000+ pages) I could develop a tolerance for reading on a Kindle, but my initial trial run didn't sufficiently impress me enough to give me a solid reason for buying one.

Obviously, others here would get more use out of it for the physical or electronic benefits, but I don't see spending 250 on a Kindle as a wise investment as of now.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

The Barnes and Noble Nook looks like a Kindle killer. I used one in store the other days, and it's great.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

I'm all for technology and hell, I even use it pretty much everyday. When I first saw this kind of technology I'm scratching my head like,,,WTH! What happened to just taking a bood,,open it,,,and read? For what these things cost you could buy quite a few books on Amazon and read the old fashioned way like we did growing up. Now we have texting, tweeting, facebooking, and everything in between that actually keeps us from having to interract with other like human beings. I can hardly wait for cigar herfs over the internet,,oh wait, I do that now.

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

I own one now! My wife and kids got it for me -- quite a surprise -- and I love it! It's not the same as reading a real paper book, but it is very good for what it is. It travels well, and it is very convenient!

Re: Anyone Own A Kindle?
 

:)
We'll have to compare notes on the 29th.