Got a Question about a Kindle

[willie pete]

for the ones out there that have one, you like it? you think it's worth it? does it come loaded with some books? are some of them free? best sellers or new ones average $10? what else is available besides books? ...thinking about getting one as a gift Hollar Back :D

[MAGNES]

I want something that has no problem reading regular pdfs.

Whats good.

[Gaillo]

I want something that has no problem reading regular pdfs.

Whats good.


Apple iPad. I have several thousand .txt, .html, and .pdf books stashed on mine, along with most of my music collection and a few dozen movies. I also have the entire text dump of wikipedia, three dictionaries, and a few thousand photos stored on it, all of which I can view "offline" without a WiFi or 3G internet connection. Makes a great web browser too... I'm posting from it now!

[General of Darkness]

I could never imagine owning a kindle. The smell and touch of a book. Just saying.

[Gaillo]

I could never imagine owning a kindle. The smell and touch of a book. Just saying.


I understand your viewpoint completely, GoD... I own a "physical" library of over 4,000 books. However, try moving a time or three with a library like that, and you grow to appreciate a handheld device that will easily hold 4 or 5 times as many books, weighs about the same as 2 paperbacks, and can be referred to in total darkness! I personally wouldn't give up either, they both have their advantages and disadvantages.

[woodman]

I want something that has no problem reading regular pdfs.

Whats good.


Apple iPad. I have several thousand .txt, .html, and .pdf books stashed on mine, along with most of my music collection and a few dozen movies. I also have the entire text dump of wikipedia, three dictionaries, and a few thousand photos stored on it, all of which I can view "offline" without a WiFi or 3G internet connection. Makes a great web browser too... I'm posting from it now!


Yup. The I pad is the way too go. I'm typing on mine right now.

[steyr_m]

I could never imagine owning a kindle. The smell and touch of a book. Just saying.


I agree. My girlfriend is a librarian, and he brought one home from work. I wasn't that impressed, it's nothing but a toy and a way to increase profits. Nothing beats ink on paper.

[willie pete]

I know a kindle wouldn't replace a book, but with the price, storage capacity and weight it would be more practical than carrying around several books, the iPad would be a nice addition but it's greater expense to purchase and for connectivity than the kindle, and the iPad is close to a laptop, I'm wondering why they didn't incorporate the ability to make a phone call in the iPad

[NOOB]

I am getting one this week. I look at it like this-- I can carry several books with me at once including reference materials in one small package. Weapon pdfs, medical pdfs and books etc.

[General of Darkness]

I could never imagine owning a kindle. The smell and touch of a book. Just saying.


I agree. My girlfriend is a librarian, and he brought one home from work. I wasn't that impressed, it's nothing but a toy and a way to increase profits. Nothing beats ink on paper.


Your girlfriend is a he? :o

[madfranks]

I'm getting one for Christmas this year, and I did a good amount of research on them. Personally I have a huge library of PDF, .txt and .doc e-books that I simply have a hard time reading on a computer screen. My eyes start to hurt after 10 minutes or so of reading on an LCD screen. So what I like about the Kindle is that it's screen mimics ink on paper, and really well too. You can change the size of the text or the font type so it's comfortable to you. You can go to Target or Best Buy and see for yourself how nice it looks. The Kindle will read PDFs, but it renders them as images, not text, so if you have a pdf with small size font you'll have a hard time reading it on the Kindle. But you can convert your PDFs to the e-book "mobi" format (which Kindle can read) with a program called "Calibre E-Book Management". Like Gaillo, I have a large library of hard copy books as well, but after moving a few times and forgetting where a particular book is when you have 5 boxes of books, the convenience of having a good portion of them on one device is appealing.


does it come loaded with some books?

No, it doesn't come with any books loaded on it.


are some of them free?

Thousands of older books, no longer in copyright, are available for free at the Kindle store: http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=2245146011


best sellers or new ones average $10?

I've already put together a list of favorites that I want to download once I get mine, and I've found that the Kindle price is always much less than the hard copy price. Plus there are lots of new authors or indie authors who are not well known who put their books up for like $1-3. I found some sci-fi books for a couple bucks each that I'm planning to download. Also, pretty much any book available for Kindle you can get a free first chapter or sample sent directly to your Kindle so you can read the first part of the book to see if you like it.


what else is available besides books?

The new Kindles have a web-browser on them, an mp3 player and you can download various games as well. I don't see a need for an mp3 or game player on an e-book reader, but the web browser could be cool. If you buy the Kindle 3G version, you don't have to pay for 3G support, so you have free internet on your Kindle for life.

[Book]

But you can convert your PDFs to the e-book "mobi" format (which Kindle can read) with a program called "Calibre E-Book Management".



http://calibre-ebook.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calibre_%28software%29

:)

[Dogman]

I have been a habitual reader , from the time I learned to read, and have been in school ever since ;D
For pleasure , and knowledge. And the thought of having the classics and others , that I do not have in hard cover, is irresistible.

Just ordered a Kindle 3g. and now looking for titles to load on it and my computer!

GoD I too like the feel and smell of books! Plus if the electronics die, you are screwed! The physical book
Will always be with you, if proper precautions are used. But this a toy for the dedicated reader types that
is hard to ignore!

[Dogman]

I'm getting one for Christmas this year, and I did a good amount of research on them. Personally I have a huge library of PDF, .txt and .doc e-books that I simply have a hard time reading on a computer screen. My eyes start to hurt after 10 minutes or so of reading on an LCD screen. So what I like about the Kindle is that it's screen mimics ink on paper, and really well too. You can change the size of the text or the font type so it's comfortable to you. You can go to Target or Best Buy and see for yourself how nice it looks. The Kindle will read PDFs, but it renders them as images, not text, so if you have a pdf with small size font you'll have a hard time reading it on the Kindle. But you can convert your PDFs to the e-book "mobi" format (which Kindle can read) with a program called "Calibre E-Book Management". Like Gaillo, I have a large library of hard copy books as well, but after moving a few times and forgetting where a particular book is when you have 5 boxes of books, the convenience of having a good portion of them on one device is appealing.


does it come loaded with some books?

No, it doesn't come with any books loaded on it.


are some of them free?

Thousands of older books, no longer in copyright, are available for free at the Kindle store: http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=2245146011


best sellers or new ones average $10?

I've already put together a list of favorites that I want to download once I get mine, and I've found that the Kindle price is always much less than the hard copy price. Plus there are lots of new authors or indie authors who are not well known who put their books up for like $1-3. I found some sci-fi books for a couple bucks each that I'm planning to download. Also, pretty much any book available for Kindle you can get a free first chapter or sample sent directly to your Kindle so you can read the first part of the book to see if you like it.


what else is available besides books?

The new Kindles have a web-browser on them, an mp3 player and you can download various games as well. I don't see a need for an mp3 or game player on an e-book reader, but the web browser could be cool. If you buy the Kindle 3G version, you don't have to pay for 3G support, so you have free internet on your Kindle for life.


There are conversion programs that will render pdf into native kindle or any other format you want.
Also you if you are running windows 7 and buy one , from the kindle store you can down load a app to your pc to read on ether the kindle or pc.

I did bite the bullet and have several (bunch ;D ) of the free books ready to load and reading now, in a window on my laptop. ;D

Pdf files and one of the 3-4 programs that are free you can get any book format and render it into kindle format.. ;D ;D or go the other way!

[Dogman]

Been playing with mine for a few days and this thing is amazing. the only gripe is the page keys on both sides that if the unit is not in a case, you WILL page back or forth from your spot.

Easy to read, and no distractions other than trying to hold by the long edges to stay away from the page key or more likely the page forward one.

And as said in this thread , for something that can hold a library in your hand but fit in your back pocket, but DO NOT EVEN THINK OF DOING IT!

It for a person that loves to read, *************** Love it.

There are programs that can convert all other formats to the kindle format.

This is a reader of books with a limited web browser, but who cares !

This thing is for reading and in that it does a banged up and good job.

[willie pete]

Been playing with mine for a few days and this thing is amazing. the only gripe is the page keys on both sides that if the unit is not in a case, you WILL page back or forth from your spot.

Easy to read, and no distractions other than trying to hold by the long edges to stay away from the page key or more likely the page forward one.

And as said in this thread , for something that can hold a library in your hand but fit in your back pocket, but DO NOT EVEN THINK OF DOING IT!

It for a person that loves to read, *************** Love it.

There are programs that can convert all other formats to the kindle format.

This is a reader of books with a limited web browser, but who cares !

This thing is for reading and in that it does a banged up and good job.



I'll find out tomorrow IF it was a good decision to gift one... :D

[Dogman]

Been playing with mine for a few days and this thing is amazing. the only gripe is the page keys on both sides that if the unit is not in a case, you WILL page back or forth from your spot.

Easy to read, and no distractions other than trying to hold by the long edges to stay away from the page key or more likely the page forward one.

And as said in this thread , for something that can hold a library in your hand but fit in your back pocket, but DO NOT EVEN THINK OF DOING IT!

It for a person that loves to read, *************** Love it.

There are programs that can convert all other formats to the kindle format.

This is a reader of books with a limited web browser, but who cares !

This thing is for reading and in that it does a banged up and good job.



I'll find out tomorrow IF it was a good decision to gift one... :D


Dude if you use it for a tad , you will want it back for your self..


Yes they are that good!

[willie pete]

Been playing with mine for a few days and this thing is amazing. the only gripe is the page keys on both sides that if the unit is not in a case, you WILL page back or forth from your spot.

Easy to read, and no distractions other than trying to hold by the long edges to stay away from the page key or more likely the page forward one.

And as said in this thread , for something that can hold a library in your hand but fit in your back pocket, but DO NOT EVEN THINK OF DOING IT!

It for a person that loves to read, *************** Love it.

There are programs that can convert all other formats to the kindle format.

This is a reader of books with a limited web browser, but who cares !

This thing is for reading and in that it does a banged up and good job.



I'll find out tomorrow IF it was a good decision to gift one... :D


Dude if you use it for a tad , you will want it back for your self..


Yes they are that good!


..I think I'll be OK ;) ....and you can browse the web too? ..not that that's what it would be used for predominately, but still....I got the 3G model

[Dogman]

Been playing with mine for a few days and this thing is amazing. the only gripe is the page keys on both sides that if the unit is not in a case, you WILL page back or forth from your spot.

Easy to read, and no distractions other than trying to hold by the long edges to stay away from the page key or more likely the page forward one.

And as said in this thread , for something that can hold a library in your hand but fit in your back pocket, but DO NOT EVEN THINK OF DOING IT!

It for a person that loves to read, *************** Love it.

There are programs that can convert all other formats to the kindle format.

This is a reader of books with a limited web browser, but who cares !

This thing is for reading and in that it does a banged up and good job.



I'll find out tomorrow IF it was a good decision to gift one... :D


Dude if you use it for a tad , you will want it back for your self..


Yes they are that good!


..I think I'll be OK ;) ....and you can browse the web too? ..not that that's what it would be used for predominately, but still....I got the 3G model


Where I live it is spotty edge area(EDGE) I have not been into a 3g area yet , so I can not report
What I can say you can use the web, but highly limited..

And those limits , until I can be in one and play, I will not say.


But this , This is a reader and it does it dam well, Best IMO of the bunch, It is not a do everything .But for reading, IT ROCKS!!!!

The web for it is to download books, free and the ones you pay for.


This machine does its job very very well.

I love it.

[willie pete]

^^^gracias :D

[madfranks]

..I think I'll be OK ;) ....and you can browse the web too? ..not that that's what it would be used for predominately, but still....I got the 3G model


Yep it comes with a web browser, and if you got the 3G model, you don't have to pay for the 3G support, so you have free internet on the Kindle for life!

I think I'm getting one for Christmas tomorrow, I'm excited!

[Hillbilly]

Just buy a real book. I know it's old fashioned but....it's one less thing to tether you to the matrix.

[willie pete]

Just buy a real book. I know it's old fashioned but....it's one less thing to tether you to the matrix.


you're already tethered to the matrix, the kindle is of convienence and portablility, sure you can carry around a book, but not a library, periodicals and newspapers

[Dogman]

Bump!

;D

Edit: The only irritation is the page turn keys, easy to accidentally press, Bare unit hard to hold without pressing page keys. But with a cover less likely too. Also using a cover makes holding the unit easer.

If a bunch of books are loaded, Hard to find titles, unless you use collections, With out collections everything
is sort of like this forum with all posts in general discussions. With collections the structure is more like this forum with all of the sub forums, if looking at titles the same as posts.

If you have one , download the kindle for pc program, or for whatever op system you are running. it can help
moving titles , on to and off the kindle.

Other than learning how to hold it, and manage a large library , mine is over 1500 titles so far,(years of reading) This thing is great!

[Gangsta99]

I ended up getting a Kindle from the mother in law for Christmas out of the blue. Never really wanted one but now that I have it the first thing I did was download a bunch of torrents of collections of books. I have so far downloaded close to 12000 total books and loaded up about 3400 onto the Kindle. Crazy what sort of books are available for free via torrents. Some of the collections include New York Bestsellers from 2 or 3 months ago and back.

Love the screen but not too happy with the overall format of going through the library to find books loaded on the Kindle. I never registered mine so I don't know if that is part of why I am having issues. I have experienced a few times were I am reading something on it and it just resets itself and I am back at the first page of the library. Very damn annoying.

[LuckyStrike]

Apple iPad. I have several thousand .txt, .html, and .pdf books stashed on mine, along with most of my music collection and a few dozen movies. I also have the entire text dump of wikipedia, three dictionaries, and a few thousand photos stored on it, all of which I can view "offline" without a WiFi or 3G internet connection. Makes a great web browser too... I'm posting from it now!


At this point I think the notionink Adam is a superior product especially one that is going to be primarily used as an ebook reader since the adam has pixelqi as well as regular LCD so you have all the benefits of an ipad but also can read books without a backlight.

The Adam literally just got released so time will tell how well it does, but I think it has the potential (especially future generations) to be the best thing since sliced bread.

Their are several advantages I see over the competition

1) You can use pdfs without hassle
2) pixelqi display for non backlit easy reading
3) runs android which is IMO the best mobile/tablet OS

IMO the Adam is like an Ipad and Kindle rolled into one while being cheaper than the former.

I'm going to wait things out and see how it does but I'd like to have an e reader by the end of the year at least, I have 10's of thousands of ebooks but I'll be damned if I will read them at the computer.

[madfranks]

I ended up getting a Kindle from the mother in law for Christmas out of the blue. Never really wanted one but now that I have it the first thing I did was download a bunch of torrents of collections of books. I have so far downloaded close to 12000 total books and loaded up about 3400 onto the Kindle. Crazy what sort of books are available for free via torrents. Some of the collections include New York Bestsellers from 2 or 3 months ago and back.

Love the screen but not too happy with the overall format of going through the library to find books loaded on the Kindle. I never registered mine so I don't know if that is part of why I am having issues. I have experienced a few times were I am reading something on it and it just resets itself and I am back at the first page of the library. Very damn annoying.


You know you can create folders (they call them "collections") on your home screen and organize your books into various folders. 3400 is a lot to move around using the kindle interface, so it would probably be easier to do on your computer.

I got a kindle for Christmas too and I've already read 7 books, a few short stories and am in the middle of a few more. It's awfully convenient having them all handy in one device!

[Gangsta99]

I ended up getting a Kindle from the mother in law for Christmas out of the blue. Never really wanted one but now that I have it the first thing I did was download a bunch of torrents of collections of books. I have so far downloaded close to 12000 total books and loaded up about 3400 onto the Kindle. Crazy what sort of books are available for free via torrents. Some of the collections include New York Bestsellers from 2 or 3 months ago and back.

Love the screen but not too happy with the overall format of going through the library to find books loaded on the Kindle. I never registered mine so I don't know if that is part of why I am having issues. I have experienced a few times were I am reading something on it and it just resets itself and I am back at the first page of the library. Very damn annoying.


You know you can create folders (they call them "collections") on your home screen and organize your books into various folders. 3400 is a lot to move around using the kindle interface, so it would probably be easier to do on your computer.

I got a kindle for Christmas too and I've already read 7 books, a few short stories and am in the middle of a few more. It's awfully convenient having them all handy in one device!


Well found out registering the damn thing opens up all the settings so I can organize the books. :)

[big country]

we own a nookcolor. Half the price of an iPad, but doesn't do nearly as many functions. I like the smaller size, works fine for a web browser (runs android, so you have the android browser) and works good for reading books.

Works ok for pdfs, it loads them as an image I believe so there is no editing of them or anything, but I can see the whole thing no problem and scroll around. Check it out.

cons: not e-ink so if you are sensitive to LCD screens it may be an issue. I have no issue.
7hr battery life (actaully using it) instead of weeks for a kindle, slightly shorter then the 9-10 of an iPad.

[AndreaGail]

just got a kindle 3g wifi as a gift yesterday!! I downloaded the calibre e book management software and am in the process of converting all my pdfs into the mobi format

[dys]

I absolutely love mine. It's not as nice as an Ipad, but the price is much more affordable. If you have the inclination and the patience, there are free and low priced books that come out every week. If you keep you eye on the list, you'll eventually run into stuff you want to read. Got my King James Bible for 2 bucks. The 3G is a must as well, no monthly charge for it although it's slow.

dys

[Dogman]

just got a kindle 3g wifi as a gift yesterday!! I downloaded the calibre e book management software and am in the process of converting all my pdfs into the mobi format




Caliber is very good, there are 3 other useful programs to have for converting and managing your kindle.
Find and download Mobipocket creator, this program sometimes can convert what caliber can not. And
auto kindle ebook converter. Caliber and Mobipocket are very good at what they do.

For helping to manage your books (kindle weak spot) download the program "kindle collection manager"
it does help! If you seem to be using battery power faster than you think you should, make sure that your
kindle is finished "indexing" all of your books! Found out that sometimes if a e-book is not fully converted
to the kindle format, the kindle can get hung up in a indexing loop and suck the battery down very quickly!

I love my kindle! It will never replace real books, in the look, smell and feel department, but for being able
to carry a library in my pocket with months to years of reading material is priceless!

[Awoke]

I'm not sure I like I-Pads.

I like them for there ease of use, and user friendliness, but the browser has memory/cookies that I don't know how to clear, etc. That is one reason I won't use it to browse/post here. I think it's datamined.

My MIL has a Kindle and she loves it, but I have never checked it out, so I can't comment on that.

[Dogman]

Been a few months now and curious how goes it?

After much wondering about battery life being short between recharges, found a few books that were locked into a indexing loop, erased and ran the books through the formatting program and download again, everything chilly again.

Finally got 3g coverage in my area, WoW , you blink and any book downloads are done. Zippy on the web now also.

[madfranks]

Been a few months now and curious how goes it?

After much wondering about battery life being short between recharges, found a few books that were locked into a indexing loop, erased and ran the books through the formatting program and download again, everything chilly again.

Finally got 3g coverage in my area, WoW , you blink and any book downloads are done. Zippy on the web now also.

I got my Kindle last Christmas, and I've read more this year than any previous year I can remember. I've read over 25 books so far this year, and I absolutely love having a full library of books on it. I've got a couple dozen more books I want to read all loaded up and ready for me to read when I get to them. And the battery life is fantastic, I've probably only charged it 4 or 5 times this year and I use it pretty much every day.

[willie pete]

I got my Kindle last Christmas, and I've read more this year than any previous year I can remember. I've read over 25 books so far this year, and I absolutely love having a full library of books on it. I've got a couple dozen more books I want to read all loaded up and ready for me to read when I get to them. And the battery life is fantastic, I've probably only charged it 4 or 5 times this year and I use it pretty much every day.


Ended up getting one for my daughter last Christmas, she loves it, got the G³ edition

[Dogman]

Wake up thread!

Here are some links for free kindle and other format books, and not the old dusty classics. Some are very good reads.

http://www.manybooks.net/

http://www.baen.com/library/books.asp

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/82539

These last two links are for amazon books that have been reduced in price , to nothing. And at least the mobi one is updated everyday.



http://ebooks.addall.com/amazonfree.html Updated everyday.

http://www.ereaderiq.com/free/ This one says it updates every hour.


Enjoy!

[willie pete]

I'm looking at a Kindle Fire now....::) ....you can't keep up with this stuff...::)

[Dogman]

I'm looking at a Kindle Fire now....::) ....you can't keep up with this stuff...::)

Great forum and dam good info here.... http://www.mobileread.com/forums/index.php

There are some fast and hot threads going on now about the fire.


http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=243

There is a program at the mobileread forum that can be side loaded into the kindle , that lets you link into amazon the good amazon free books, and the books are updated every day.

How to find it , go to the forum main page, then click on the e-book menu on the top blue bar, you will get a drop down menu.

Click on the menu item, called mobipocket download guide and it will automatically ask if you want to down load the program.

down load to your desktop or preferred location, connect your kindle by usb and go to the kindle drive in my computer. click on the kindle drive so you can see the folders.

Then cut and copy the downloaded mobipocket file , into the documents folder of your kindle.

Mobipocket-Guide-2011-11-19.mobi is the file/programs name.

once loaded, when your wireless is on will have a list of hot links to all of the books and it is a very long list.

[sunshine05]

I bought one for my 10 yo son for his birthday in April because he loves to read and we go through so many books. He even brings his books in the car when we run errands so I thought he would love the Kindle but surprisingly he doesn't. He prefers books so I'm taking over the Kindle. I love the convenience of one click and I instantly have my new book on there and ready.

My husband borrowed it for pdf files and didn't like it, but I didn't know about mobi format so maybe that would have enabled him to read everything better on there.

[Dogman]

bump for a post update.

[TomD]

I've got a Nook and love it. I read a LOT and do about 50/50 Nook/paper. One nice thing about it is I can buy a book online and have it in the Nook in minutes, it ties into my house wireless. The "electronic paper" that Nooks and Kindles use is very easy on the eyes, almost exactly like regular paper and isn't backlit, so the battery life is long. The only time the devices use power is when changing the page. Very handy way to carry around a bunch of books.

[Dogman]

I've got a Nook and love it. I read a LOT and do about 50/50 Nook/paper. One nice thing about it is I can buy a book online and have it in the Nook in minutes, it ties into my house wireless. The "electronic paper" that Nooks and Kindles use is very easy on the eyes, almost exactly like regular paper and isn't backlit, so the battery life is long. The only time the devices use power is when changing the page. Very handy way to carry around a bunch of books. Check out the forum I posted about, they cover it all , all brands and topics. Some very nice people that love to read and talk all things books and readers. International bunch. Very civil bunch , Mobileread. And links to just about every e-book made.

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/

[Uncle Salty]

When it's time to bug out, the last thing I want to carry around are a bunch of books. The kindle easily solves that problem at an inexpensive price. I love books, but times change and so do circumstances. A fire could burn down my whole library. Just grab the kindle and go! It's just a tool.

[Dogman]

When it's time to bug out, the last thing I want to carry around are a bunch of books. The kindle easily solves that problem at an inexpensive price. I love books, but times change and so do circumstances. A fire could burn down my whole library. Just grab the kindle and go! It's just a tool. They also have kindle for pc, which is a kindle based reader that you can read kindle books on your computer. Store all your book file archives on a thumb/dvd/cd or external hard drive. Sort of neat to be able to carry thousands of books/complete library in your pocket.