Amazon Kindle

SkyWalker · 29th January 2011, 13:25

Hi folks - i want to pick up between Nook/Kindle for my wife and would need your feedback. What is recommended?

care about:
Weight: the lighter the better
Reading : as close to book experience as possible (eInk)
Battery Life: more the merrier (hence Kindle)
Screen : would be good to have color, she reads magazines as well as paperbacks (hence Nook)

dont care about:
Cost : dont care as long as it one doesn't cost over 300$. No iPad, i need the book-reading experience and i am happy with my Mac too.

dont care about Wifi etc, i will sync rarely - even USB cable is more than good enough.

Sorry if i am digressing a little - thanks for your time!

frankmehta · 29th January 2011, 13:35

Get the nook colour brother. it's a beauty!

SkyWalker · 2nd February 2011, 13:35

thanks FM. I will probably do that!

Samurai · 2nd February 2011, 17:49

If you want a book reader, e-ink is a must. Only Sony e-reader and Kindle have that.

ampere · 2nd February 2011, 18:12

As Samurai said, do note that Nook would have a backlit display. Hence very small battery life as compared to Kindle.

spindoc · 3rd February 2011, 01:18

I got my dad a Kindle (WiFi + 3G) last October. Here is a review based on my limited experience.

Pros:
E-Ink Pearl display is awesome - indoors and outdoors. Pretty close to a printed book.
Excellent for single-handed operation (either hand)
Font size adjustment / line spacing work great and help you find the setting you like
Inbuilt Dictionary / Wikipedia integration are great
Highlights, Bookmarks and notes work very well
Text-to-speech for those lazy times
Nice keyboard and 5-way navigation key
Excellent battery life
Personal document service via email is very handy and easy to use - Simply email a book or document to have it (converted and) sent to your Kindle for free
If you have multiple Kindle devices (physical or Kindle for PC / mobile), you can add them all to the same Amazon account and share books between all of them

Cons:
Proprietary format limits you to the Amazon Kindle store (workarounds are possible but not practical for everyone) - of course, they have a huge selection but things could change (e.g. Google has just started selling ebooks in the US market)
Books aren't really "cheap"
Great for reading but definitely not for browsing
Non-user replaceable battery
Amazon math: Free = 2 USD for Indian readers (That's what they charge to deliver each book from the "Free" list to non-US readers)
No "Page" numbers - Kindle uses locations (128 byte blocks) to refer to absolute points in a book. This can be confusing for some people
Text-to-speech option is good but doesn't sound great
Needs separate lighting for night time reading
Pretty ordinary audio output

maddy42 · 3rd February 2011, 05:22

What i heard is there is a kindle app for people using other tablets. Any idea?

Samurai · 3rd February 2011, 08:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by spindoc

Proprietary format limits you to the Amazon Kindle store (workarounds are possible but not practical for everyone)

Not true, just install Calibre (calibre - E-book management) on your PC and you can convert virtually any format into Mobi and export it to Kindle. It is a very slick app.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spindoc

Needs separate lighting for night time reading
Pretty ordinary audio output

Get a the cover with the light.

Quote:

Originally Posted by maddy42

What i heard is there is a kindle app for people using other tablets. Any idea?

Kindle App by itself is nothing great, what about e-ink display?

fuel_addict · 3rd February 2011, 09:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by spindoc

Books aren't really "cheap"
Amazon math: Free = 2 USD for Indian readers (That's what they charge to deliver each book from the "Free" list to non-US readers)

There are several sites from where most books can be downloaded absolutely free. You might have to do some online searching. I have managed to transfer some 400 ebooks to my Kindle and they have all been free.

maddy42 · 3rd February 2011, 11:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai

Kindle App by itself is nothing great, what about e-ink display?

That is their major advantage. Others being number of books on store and battery life.

Was watching an interview of Jeff Bezos the CEO of amazon and the language felt like the company wants Kindle to target primarily reading and may move into the email space but it would not compete directly with the tablet makers.

But being amazon you never know. May be shocked sometime soon. Who knows!

spindoc · 3rd February 2011, 13:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai

Not true, just install Calibre (calibre - E-book management) on your PC and you can convert virtually any format into Mobi and export it to Kindle. It is a very slick app.

My point was about options for purchasing eBooks - the other readers that use PDF / ePUB have the benefit of a large (and growing) seller base and that could be important to some people.

Thank you for the firsthand information about Calibre! I will definitely begin using it.

Quote:

Get a the cover with the light.

I have heard those are good but they were unavailable when I ordered the Kindle. I personally don't miss it, but had mentioned it 'cos there are other readers (Sony) that come with an integrated LED lamp.

Quote:

Kindle App by itself is nothing great, what about e-ink display?

Absolutely - the app certainly isn't great. It is OK for when you want to catch up on a book but are away from the Kindle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuel_addict

There are several sites from where most books can be downloaded absolutely free. You might have to do some online searching. I have managed to transfer some 400 ebooks to my Kindle and they have all been free.

Yes. For legal (public domain) downloads, there are many sites - e.g. gutenberg and feedbooks. I was referring to the "free" books on Amazon.com as some people have been nastily surprised by them.

Do share any good sites that you know of.

fuel_addict · 3rd February 2011, 14:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by spindoc

Yes. For legal (public domain) downloads, there are many sites - e.g. gutenberg and feedbooks. I was referring to the "free" books on Amazon.com as some people have been nastily surprised by them.

Do share any good sites that you know of.

The "free" books on Amazon are not free if you are outside the US. There is the $2 fee that you mentioned.

Some useful free ebook sites:

FreeBookSpot | Download e-books for free
Ebookee: Free Download eBooks Search Engine!
Smashwords - Ebooks from independent authors and publishers
World Famous eBook Store - Diesel eBook Store
ManyBooks.net - Ad-free eBooks for your iPad, smartphone, or eBook reader
Free Novels,Ebooks
Free Download ebooks and Softwares
free ebooks download from obooko - Romance, Thriller, Horror, Historical, Science Fiction and more!

Gutenberg is restricted to classics alone as far as I have seen.

superamerica · 4th February 2011, 15:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuel_addict

The "free" books on Amazon are not free if you are outside the US. There is the $2 fee that you mentioned.

Some useful free ebook sites:

FreeBookSpot | Download e-books for free
Ebookee: Free Download eBooks Search Engine!
Smashwords - Ebooks from independent authors and publishers
World Famous eBook Store - Diesel eBook Store
ManyBooks.net - Ad-free eBooks for your iPad, smartphone, or eBook reader
Free Novels,Ebooks
Free Download ebooks and Softwares
free ebooks download from obooko - Romance, Thriller, Horror, Historical, Science Fiction and more!

Gutenberg is restricted to classics alone as far as I have seen.

Are you sure about this $2 fee? I have been downloading a lot of free books, but have not been charged a penny. I have the address on my Amazon account as the "US Address". Downloading over 3G or Wifi should not matter since they charge only for periodicals over 3G outside the US.

Samurai · 4th February 2011, 15:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by superamerica

I have the address on my Amazon account as the "US Address".

That is the key. If you have an Indian address, they will charge $2 and many books won't be available to you.

Samurai · 22nd February 2011, 19:21

Finally we get page numbers...

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29th January 2011, 13:25	#106
SkyWalker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,531 Thanked: 136 Times	re: Amazon Kindle - Touch & Tablet Version launched Hi folks - i want to pick up between Nook/Kindle for my wife and would need your feedback. What is recommended? care about: Weight: the lighter the better Reading : as close to book experience as possible (eInk) Battery Life: more the merrier (hence Kindle) Screen : would be good to have color, she reads magazines as well as paperbacks (hence Nook) dont care about: Cost : dont care as long as it one doesn't cost over 300$. No iPad, i need the book-reading experience and i am happy with my Mac too. dont care about Wifi etc, i will sync rarely - even USB cable is more than good enough. Sorry if i am digressing a little - thanks for your time!
	() Thanks

29th January 2011, 13:35	#107
frankmehta Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 4,000 Thanked: 3,577 Times View My Garage	re: Amazon Kindle - Touch & Tablet Version launched Get the nook colour brother. it's a beauty!
	() Thanks

2nd February 2011, 13:35	#108
SkyWalker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,531 Thanked: 136 Times	re: Amazon Kindle - Touch & Tablet Version launched thanks FM. I will probably do that!
	() Thanks

2nd February 2011, 17:49	#109
Samurai Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore/Udupi Posts: 25,828 Thanked: 45,521 Times View My Garage	re: Amazon Kindle - Touch & Tablet Version launched If you want a book reader, e-ink is a must. Only Sony e-reader and Kindle have that.
	() Thanks

2nd February 2011, 18:12	#110
ampere Team-BHP Support Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 17,947 Thanked: 12,934 Times View My Garage	re: Amazon Kindle - Touch & Tablet Version launched As Samurai said, do note that Nook would have a backlit display. Hence very small battery life as compared to Kindle.
	() Thanks

3rd February 2011, 01:18	#111
spindoc BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Madras Posts: 356 Thanked: 293 Times	re: Amazon Kindle - Touch & Tablet Version launched I got my dad a Kindle (WiFi + 3G) last October. Here is a review based on my limited experience. Pros: E-Ink Pearl display is awesome - indoors and outdoors. Pretty close to a printed book. Excellent for single-handed operation (either hand) Font size adjustment / line spacing work great and help you find the setting you like Inbuilt Dictionary / Wikipedia integration are great Highlights, Bookmarks and notes work very well Text-to-speech for those lazy times Nice keyboard and 5-way navigation key Excellent battery life Personal document service via email is very handy and easy to use - Simply email a book or document to have it (converted and) sent to your Kindle for free If you have multiple Kindle devices (physical or Kindle for PC / mobile), you can add them all to the same Amazon account and share books between all of them Cons: Proprietary format limits you to the Amazon Kindle store (workarounds are possible but not practical for everyone) - of course, they have a huge selection but things could change (e.g. Google has just started selling ebooks in the US market) Books aren't really "cheap" Great for reading but definitely not for browsing Non-user replaceable battery Amazon math: Free = 2 USD for Indian readers (That's what they charge to deliver each book from the "Free" list to non-US readers) No "Page" numbers - Kindle uses locations (128 byte blocks) to refer to absolute points in a book. This can be confusing for some people Text-to-speech option is good but doesn't sound great Needs separate lighting for night time reading Pretty ordinary audio output Last edited by spindoc : 3rd February 2011 at 01:23.
	() Thanks

3rd February 2011, 05:22	#112
maddy42 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Coorg Posts: 2,131 Thanked: 1,328 Times View My Garage	re: Amazon Kindle - Touch & Tablet Version launched What i heard is there is a kindle app for people using other tablets. Any idea?
	() Thanks

22nd February 2011, 19:21	#120
Samurai Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore/Udupi Posts: 25,828 Thanked: 45,521 Times View My Garage	re: Amazon Kindle - Touch & Tablet Version launched Finally we get page numbers...
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