Kindle kindle kindle

**Catiline** · 09-30-2011, 10:53

That's the one I have, and generally it's superb. It's definitely worth spending the extra to get the 3G model, though of course that does translate to a lot more impulse purchasing when you're on the go and finish one book. Worse you can buy stuff online and send it to yourself so it's ready and wating when you pick up the kindle. Amazon must be laughing all the way to the bank.

My only gripe with the whole system is that they don't seem to have got the connection between my reading habits and wishlists for physical books and the kindle fully sorted. You get pretty generic recommendations on the kindle, and occasionally the search can be glitchy

**frogbeastegg** · 09-30-2011, 13:25

Originally Posted by Zim

Just to clarify for a clueless husband whose wife has been wanting a kindle forever this would be the froggy recommended model?

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Keyboar...7369928&sr=8-2

That's the model; mine is the cheaper wifi version. If it is likely to be damaged or carried around, get a cover. If not, there's no need for one and it's very comfortable to use without a cover. My gift kindle didn't include a cover and I haven't picked one up yet, too expensive.

Originally Posted by Catiline

My only gripe with the whole system is that they don't seem to have got the connection between my reading habits and wishlists for physical books and the kindle fully sorted. You get pretty generic recommendations on the kindle, and occasionally the search can be glitchy

My recommendations are rubbish as well. It crams way too many self-pub books in there, and random categories which have nothing to do with my purchase history. "You purchased a book about ancient Rome? You will love this urban vampire p0rn written and published by Billy-Bob-Joe!"

It also annoys me how difficult it is to track book prices. Titles are constantly, randomly changing price. The wishlist is only useful if you view it via the amazon website, and it doesn't display ebook prices. So I have to keep viewing books in order to add them to my browsing history, then view my browsing history to monitor prices. Problem: I have a 6 page wishlist. Browsing history cuts off at 3 pages, and the lowest item is deleted each time you look at something new. You can't set up an alert for a price drop either. Considering how well they have done with the majority of the experience, it's shocking that basic areas like this are lacking.

Minor annoyances included, it's cumulatively miles ahead of my old Sony.

**Zim** · 09-30-2011, 17:56

Thanks. Looks like I have a goal to save up for. Good thing I have about 40 hours overtime scheduled next month.

**Lemur** · 09-30-2011, 18:37

Here's the thing -- I love my Kindle keyboard as well, but it's horrible for PDFs* and comics. A denser color screen might -- might! -- be the answer for my reading habits. So my old Kindle ain't going anywhere, but the larger color version has me all intrigued.

_________
* I have to read a lot of PDFs for work. I would like to be able to tote them on the train, to and from office, read them in bed, etc., so the PDF issue is non-trivial for this lemur.

**frogbeastegg** · 09-30-2011, 21:27

Originally Posted by Lemur

Here's the thing -- I love my Kindle keyboard as well, but it's horrible for PDFs* and comics. A denser color screen might -- might! -- be the answer for my reading habits. So my old Kindle ain't going anywhere, but the larger color version has me all intrigued.

I'd say it's definitely the answer. One of my former work colleagues had similar reading needs. He tried a variety of different devices, always deciding that whatever he had was not suitable and putting it on ebay within the week. After four or five different devices he tried an ipad and loved it. Of course that's the most ludicrously expensive out of the lot; that man had money to burn. Anyway, to get to the more relevant part, this fellow liked to show off his tech toys and so he brought them to work. I had short play with all of them. I found two things were important for PDF and comics, everything else was in distant second place. Firstly, it needs a high resolution colour screen. Secondly, it needs a relatively meaty processor. If you don't have the high res screen then reading quickly gives eye-strain, and if a comic has a lot of fine detail then some is lost. If you don't have the power then opening and navigating documents makes it chug like an office PC running Crysis. A surprising number of the devices were underpowered for the job they were meant to perform.

How do the US prices work out? My rough guess is two kindle fires costing the same as one ipad, since the cheapest ipad is currently £399.

**CBR** · 10-01-2011, 00:38

The Kindle Fire seems to have enough CPU power to be good. Depending on size of PDFs a 7 inch display might be too small though IMO.

**Lemur** · 10-02-2011, 03:38

Originally Posted by CBR

Depending on size of PDFs a 7 inch display might be too small though IMO.

You're right, of course. I'd spend all of my time scrolling. I expect I'll wind up waiting for the iPad or the Android pads to get to where I would need them to be to replace my laptop; hi-def screen, compatible with my work softphone, some kind of Exchange-compatible calendar/email client ... the full tablet experience.

So I'll just stick with my Kindle keyboard / laptop / cell phone combo for now. But the tablet thing is getting interesting.