Amazon Kindle

[OverKnight]

I'm thinking of getting the Kindle e-book reader. Does anyone have one? What do you think of it?

[naut]

What is it?

[CBR]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindle

It's ugly as hell if you ask me. But an ebook reader is something I do like to have as I'm running out of bookshelves.

Amazon does seem to have lots of ebooks but AFAIK their ebooks can only used on a Kindle so what to do if you want to buy another reader later on.


CBR

[Whacker]

Hmmm, eReaders have a ways to go IMO. The Kindle is an honorable start, but they've got a ways to go in terms of overall design, functionality, battery lifespan, etc. Personally I would not buy one right now, but in a couple of years as the technology matures, I'll most likely get one. This is tempered however with the knowledge that these things are going to be riddled with DRM.

The other thing that I see as a "killer app" in conjunction with these eReaders is a linkage with something like Project Gutenberg. I'd like to be able to both A> download electronic copies of books I already own, and B> have access to a large number of free texts that I can get at will.

In short, definitely something to keep an interested eye on, but I'll save my money for now.

:balloon2:

[JR-]

can a kindle read PDF's, text documents, rtf, docs, and odf's?

[OverKnight]

There's a way to import various formats to the Kindle, but a PDF with a lot of pictures and such might not translate well.

When you buy the Kindle, Amazon provides you with an email address you can send various formats to, such as a PDF, where they are converted to the Kindle's native format transferred to your reader. I believe the service costs 10 cents each time.

There's also a way to do it yourself without paying the fee, but it's a bit more hands on.

Edit: The Wikipedia entry on the Kindle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindle) goes over what formats it accepts.

[frogbeastegg]

(Bear in mind that I'm in the UK and we don't have Kindle. I did a fair bit of reading into the device a few months ago while trying to work out if importing one would be viable)

If you've not already done so, I recommend you take a look at the Sony Reader as well before you make your decision. Unless the Kindle booklist is better suited to you, or you really must be able to download books via wifi, the bulk of the differences between them swing in the Sony's favour IMO. Cheaper, prettier, more user-friendly, and less of this "My format, my way!" business.

In the end though it comes to the same thing I always say about games consoles. Look at which has the books (games) you want and then buy the device (console) which has them. The rest is less important. If you don't have much to read (play) then where's the point?





Hmmm, eReaders have a ways to go IMO. The Kindle is an honorable start, but they've got a ways to go in terms of overall design, functionality, battery lifespan, etc. Personally I would not buy one right now, but in a couple of years as the technology matures, I'll most likely get one. This is tempered however with the knowledge that these things are going to be riddled with DRM.
Because of the way e-ink works battery life isn't an issue unless the device is doing something else, such as wifi access. That's one area where I expect Kindle compares unfavourably to the Sony Reader. The Reader only uses power when you turn a page. When the battery on mine dropped to half of its first charge, I'd read 9 books which each come to 400+ pages long in mass market paperback format.


The other thing that I see as a "killer app" in conjunction with these eReaders is a linkage with something like Project Gutenberg. I'd like to be able to both A> download electronic copies of books I already own, and B> have access to a large number of free texts that I can get at will.
I've found that my problem has been more about finding places selling books I want than finding free stuff to read. Because the Reader will accept books in a variety of formats, and because it will do a decent job of formatting files so they are readable on the screen, any site which is offering free downloads is a source, and that includes Project Gutenberg itself. I'm finding it very good for reading the PDF manuals they include in games. All of the PDF files I have tried so far turn out looking very natural. Ditto richtext files. Hehe, I could even read this thread on my Reader if I wanted to ... with some copy and pasting into Word.

The UK service is still very new, and there's only one place to get titles from. American sites block non-residents from buying ebooks so I can't even 'import' titles like I can with normal books, which is utterly infuriating because there's loads I want out there but am unable to get. Meanwhile on the UK service I don't know what is coming or when until Waterstones put it up for download. Most annoyingly they don't put all of the titles of a series up in one go! I have books 1 and 2 of one trilogy, books 1 and 3 of another, and could get book 2 and only book 2 of yet another. These are all works which are 10+ years old, and there's no hint if or when the other parts will become available. There isn't even a simple way to check the list of recently released titles.

I want books. I'd buy books in scary quanities if they'd let me. I think nothing of a buying 10 or 12 at a time provided they appeal, and then going back the next week for another 7, and the week after for more. But will anyone let me do that with ebooks? Nope, not now I have exhausted the initial offerings on the single site I'm allowed to buy from.

I brought my Reader to suppliment standard books and to take the strain off my (very) overloaded shelves. It's supposed to have the books I don't care much about while all the rest are brought traditionally. That would be a roughly 50/50 split between traditional and ebooks if all titles were available in both formats. Instead I'm managing to get a handful of the ones I am less bothered about, the ones I do want a lot, and the rest are staying in the shops while I wonder if they will be available for download or not.

So yes. Love my Reader to bits. Much less keen on the limitations on where and what I can buy.

[OverKnight]

Hey all, thanks for sharing, particularly frogbeastegg (big fan of the guides, BTW) :2thumbsup:.

After a few weeks of thought, reading product reviews and browsing through the available libraries, I've decided to purchase a Kindle.

I'm in the US, so that made the choice easier. I'm also confident that Amazon's market share in book sales will allow them to bring more and more publishers on board for Kindle.

I'm also running out of places to put books, I'm a bit of a pack rat, so that played a part as well.

If anyone is interested I'll be happy to share my thoughts once I receive it and have a chance to play around a bit.

[frogbeastegg]

Yes, please do. If they make their way to the UK then there's a chance I might get one if the book range is good.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7656513.stm