Amazon Kindles

[tripsis]

I know a few people who have kindles and after seeing one, have decided I would like to get one. However, there are several different models out there, and from what I have been told, some only read books bought from Amazon, while others can read everything, from PDFs to ebooks downloaded elsewhere and everything in between.

Does anyone here already have a kindle? If so, which one do you have? What are the pros and cons of the model you have?

Any information is very much appreciated.

Edit: also, is there a find function (for text) of kindles, like there is on computers? Also, can you zoom in on text?

Edited March 15, 2011 by tripsis

[random]

There is an Australian owned/made one that is supposed to be very good and cheaper than some others, found it -

Www.ubiqtechnologies.com

Quokkapad.

Sorry cant hyperlink from phone.

Edited March 15, 2011 by meeka

[migraineur]

Why not get an iPad? Just don't turn into an Apple fanboi.

[tripsis]

Thanks meeka, will look into it.

An iPad has a screen like a computer. A kindle has a screen which looks like paper. It not not need to be backlit, can be read in bright light without reflected glare, etc.

[migraineur]

But a tablet PC can do so much more and you can just buy one of those anti glare covers.

[tripsis]

Got any links to those anti-glare covers you speak of? The new kindle has free internet access too.

[C_T]

basically the eye strain reading on a pc or ipad etc is way worse than a kindle. They are awesome for reading like a book, only better!

[migraineur]

Check out invisibleSHIELD, Apple iPad Clear Matte TFT Screen Skin Cover Protector or BodyGuardz for iPad screen protectors. I'm sure there are more too. Check www.whirlpool.net.au for technology related stuff. There are always good threads on there. The CEOs of companies even get on there to give information or smack down stupid customers.

[Darklight]

I got a Kindle DX as a birthday present. Didn't think I'd be much into it but I totally love it

Plus things:

Great for reading scientific papers, a touch unwieldy on pdfs tho til you establish the settings but once you work out what suits you it's seriously awesome. Shows good quality pics too if they're good in the original doc

No backlight means it doesn't keep me awake if I'm reading before I go to sleep.

Battery lasts for absolutely ever, you don't have to keep recharging every few hours. Just turn the wireless access off for extra battery life

Books get delivered by 3G network so no more having to go and pick them up from the post office after waiting 2 weeks, or browsing shitty rural bookshops

The music player on it has pretty good sound by my standards

Books are pretty damn cheap this way. Maybe 30% of paperback costs out here in the sticks, often less

Heaps of free books out there

It's really comfortable to hold even with the cover ( extra ) on. The cover is really well designed too

You don't have to make space in your bookshelf for awesome reads

Good visibility and resolution, can read outside etc

Yes you can change the text size or word search your book. Not sure about wordsearch on pdfs tho

Minus things

Dunno if internet connection is free with the new ones, with mine it certainly isn't. Can't see browsing being super easy but have never tried it

Because you can buy books at any time it can get a bit compulsive at 3am. I've blown two years book budget ( admittedly not huge ) in a couple of months. Really, I should be working not reading

You can't get the same range in Australia that you can from the US. This is a total pain in the arse but it's a publisher's matter somehow. There is some way around this but I haven't tried it

You'll still need an iPod or laptop for interactives. This thing is a book first and a comms device second, but YMMV

I'm so in love with mine. I reckon the damn things will take over. Which will be a shame for smaller bookshops ultimately, but maybe not authors. One of the interesting processes I've seen is being able to get a few good new author's works free online. After a bit they'll disappear from the free places and turn up on Amazon, first cheap then progressively more expensive til they are compatible with other ebook prices. A new model for professional development for writers maybe?

[tripsis]

Thanks for the detailed reply DL, exactly the sort of response I was hoping for.

I'm thinking of getting a DX so that I can use it for uni, having textbooks and scientific papers on it. Is it too large to comfortably hold though? And would reading books of the non-textbook variety on it still be alright?

Not sure about wordsearch on pdfs tho

That's something I will have to look into. Would be a pain to be able to have scientific articles on it, but not be able to search for specific key words.

You can't get the same range in Australia that you can from the US. This is a total pain in the arse but it's a publisher's matter somehow.

Ahhh, see, that's what I'm worried about. I've heard that some of them only allow you to read ebooks bought off Amazon, while others read everything. Does this mean then if you have downloaded an ebook off the web (probably as a PDF), the Kindle will not read it?

[tripsis]

Thanks migraineur, those covers look good, but there's still the fact that the screen are backlit.

[C_T]

Check out invisibleSHIELD, Apple iPad Clear Matte TFT Screen Skin Cover Protector or BodyGuardz for iPad screen protectors. I'm sure there are more too. Check www.whirlpool.net.au for technology related stuff. There are always good threads on there. The CEOs of companies even get on there to give information or smack down stupid customers.

 

Mate i got all and worked with all sorts of screens, tablets, laptops etc. And as far as reading goes, Kindle is the bomb!!!

They are a touch expensive for its limitations (its not a computer as such), but for reading you will not regret it.

[Darklight]

I'm thinking of getting a DX so that I can use it for uni, having textbooks and scientific papers on it. Is it too large to comfortably hold though? And would reading books of the non-textbook variety on it still be alright?

I reckon if you're using large pdfs as textbooks I'd go to an iPad instead? I still haven't found a pdf book I could use as a dedicated textbook which I could search easily on the DX. That might be cos all the textbooks I have on pdf are unofficial copies of ones I own in hardcover. If your textbooks are in kindle format it might be very different, I haven't had that experience so I can't tell

You might also lose picture quality if that's important for your studies as Kindle is b/w & greyscale only. Not sure if that's changed in recent months but mine is still monochrome

Besides, if you're using it primarily for study, then you mightn't find the overstimulation by the backlit screen a problem. It could be a feature ;)

Much of the academic reading I do is project specific, so I'm doing a general article reading, sometimes using my laptop for that so I can cross reference it with other docs in synch. Then for all re-reads and as I set up and plan an experiment in closer detail I'll use the Kindle cos it's easier to handle and is more portable than the laptop, I can make space for it in the lab easier and the battery life is longer.

So it's not in constant academic use. You can only read so many papers before you have to go and do the experiment ;)

Dunno how DX would handle jumping about in a long document like a textbook. If you can borrow one, or take a sample file to a vendor and get a demo with it, I'd recommend that

Yes, you can wordsearch pdfs, I just checked.

It's hell comfortable. Really it is

Ahhh, see, that's what I'm worried about. I've heard that some of them only allow you to read ebooks bought off Amazon, while others read everything. Does this mean then if you have downloaded an ebook off the web (probably as a PDF), the Kindle will not read it?

Kindle handles *.azw files best, they're the Kindle format. But you can grab a lot of free *azw files for free from online library download sites.Books out of copyright, books written by new authors and released for free etc

All my pdfs were downloaded from my laptop no worries, open just fine

Pdf reading for short documents like tech publications is extremely convenient for my particular uses, especially if I'm focussing on say a methods section in a particular paper and trying to translate it and make it run.

90% of my Kindle reading is fiction I'm ashamed to say, and it's supercool for that

[tripsis]

I'll look into an iPad. Realistically, I'd probably use it mostly for leisure reading, but would like it to be versatile enough to use for uni too. I've got a tonne of ebooks (mostly science textbooks) on my computer, but reading them on a screen is never appealing and so they rarely even get looked at. So having a Kindle, where the screen doesn't look like a computer screen, would hopefully mean that I might use those book more often. It's a shame to have a wealth of resources at one's disposal and not even use them.

As far as losing picture quality goes, as long as I can later look at the picture either in an actual book or on a computer, it shouldn't matter much if the Kindle is not great.

Thanks for checking that the DX can wordsearch PDFs.

Dunno how DX would handle jumping about in a long document like a textbook. If you can borrow one, or take a sample file to a vendor and get a demo with it, I'd recommend that

 

I might go try to do that, it's a good idea.

Kindle handles *.azw files best, they're the Kindle format. But you can grab a lot of free *azw files for free from online library download sites.Books out of copyright, books written by new authors and released for free etc

All my pdfs were downloaded from my laptop no worries, open just fine

Great, well as long as it can handle PDFs, it should be fine. Most of the ebooks I already have are PDFs, so at least I'd be able to use them.

[Marcel]

I own a small second hand bookstore and I talk to customers about the Kindle almost on a daily basis. From my casual observation, I'd say that 85% of the people who own one (or similar e-readers) almost entirely give up on it within 9 months or so. They end up using it exclusively for travel and read good ol' fashioned paper books in their day to day lives. And the people who use them like crazy are either businessmen who travel internationally on a regular basis, or people who only read a few books a year.

It's a familiar pattern: a person walks into my shop with a couple of boxes of books that they "no longer need" because they have a new Kindle. We buy their books and sell them on. And then within a few weeks they pop in to buy a book that they can't find for Kindle. Then they come in a few weeks after that to buy something to read for the weekend because they left their Kindle at work. And then a few months later they're buying back some of their old books that they "no longer needed" and become regular customers again.

I think they're awesome for travel and things like uni text books, where books are printed in limited runs and go out of date very quickly.

I read somewhere that there are more vinyl only record stores in New York at the moment than there were 20+ years ago, when LPs were still pressed in mass numbers. A billion and ten iPods in the world paradoxically just make records that much more attractive. Same goes for books, I predict.

[synchromesh]

Who needs to read so many PDF's? I mean, seriously?

[tripsis]

Who needs to read so many PDF's? I mean, seriously?

I take it you've never been to university.

[Darklight]

Who needs to read so many PDF's? I mean, seriously?

 

Gosh, you're right. Why would anyone bother to research in depth all aspects of an issue when they can get so much quality data from google?

[synchromesh]

I meant on buses and trains, etc.

[toby]

there's a free program that converts pdf files to formats that suit the kindle better..

if i didn't get a kindle the first day they came out in australia i'd have probably gone the ipad though..

not everything comes out straight away as kindle books, but it's pretty amazing to be miles from any book store hear

about a book and be reading it within a few minutes!

[Amazonian]

Hey tripsis, just wondering whether you ended up getting the Amazon kindle, and if so what do you think of it?

[tripsis]

My girlfriend got one instead. Decided I'd wait to see how it was. Seemed alright, but the screen ended up getting broken only weeks after getting it, which was pretty disappointing. Good reminder that it really is just another piece of electronic junk destined for landfill. Suffice to say, I won't be getting one.

[Amazonian]

OK. Well the reason i asked is i am trying to find a better way to read pdf files from my computer. It is quite cumbersome, trying to kick back and do some light reading with a laptop teetering on your legs. I have an iPod touch, 4th Gen' and am just trying to work out how/if possible to use that as of an eBook reader.

[tripsis]

Ah, fair enough. I'm not a fan of PDFs on computer screens either. At uni you have to read a fair numbers of them, which is why I was looking into Kindles in the first place, but my money could be spent better elsewhere.

[toby]

Contact kindle support about that broken screen.

They seem pretty keen to keep people on them and may send a replacement..