The Kindle

[medpedspouse]

We are going on vacation for 2 weeks at the end of this month and one of the things I love to do is cram as much reading as possible. Hence, I have been searching online for books about the places we will be. I noticed that many of the them are in Kindle format.

Made me think to ask all of you - Who has a Kindle and what are some pros and cons???

A year ago DH bought me an Ebook and I returned it. It was heavy and clunky. It would be nice to carry all my books on one device but I have been known to fall asleep with a book and I am not sure the Kindle would be that comfortable.

Also, I am afraid to drop $300 + on a device that may drop in price once the hoopla is over (thinking IPhone).

[Sheherezade]

Re: The Kindle

I have one. It is a cool device. It would be perfect for the application you've described. You could buy many books on it and just carry the one little thing. I mostly use mine for newspaper and magazine subscriptions. I get WSJ and NYT every day on it and several other magazines. I keep it in my purse. It holds a charge for days and days and recharges quickly. The internet connection for purchases is good and downloads for me have been relatively quick. (No more than a few minutes.) I have purchased one book on it. I have found it hard to break with the idea of owning a physical book -- but I may get over it. It can also be loaded from your computer with PDF documents. I've found this handy as well----like when I downloaded the stimulus package bill and wanted to skim it without sitting at my computer for hours on end.

I like it. I can't wait till they adapt it for the kids to use for textbooks. No more heavy backpacks and easy updating. Yip-ee!

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Re: The Kindle

I'm obsessed with the concept. I want it so badly. Perfect for business trips!!!

Too bad it's WAY over a price range I can conceive of spending on myself right now.

[MissCrabette]

Re: The Kindle

I personally don't understand why some books are more expensive as a Kindle download than as a paperback. Even when that's not the case, the price is still higher than what I think it should be. And that's not even considering the price of the Kindle itself. That said, I would LOVE one.

[medpedspouse]

Re: The Kindle

Yeah, I wondered about the book prices. Although, on Amazon, I read that there are many "free" books. I like the idea that it can carry PDFs. I usually make these "travel folders" with all our reservations printed out.....I know very OCD. BUT, the travel folder could be history if I just scan and or convert all docs to PDFs. I am liking this idea.

Thanks for responding BTW - the reviews on Amazon looked like they all came from a Kindle cult. I wanted to hear from authorities like the IMSN group....the only opinion to be objective and diverse.

[Sheherezade]

Re: The Kindle

I got mine as a Christmas gift. I'm notoriously hard to buy for -- so an expensive gadget is a good way to just check me off the list for everyone in the family. I'd much prefer that to a bunch of little things. So.....I didn't shell out the dough personally. I can see that the price is prohibitive.

I've heard that you can also download free material from the Gutenburg project on to the Kindle. Haven't tried that yet.

[MissCrabette]

Re: The Kindle

I completely forgot about Project Gutenberg. In that case, I'd say it's totally worth it. So many classics to choose from. I have a whole bunch of books from Project Gutenberg sitting on my laptop, waiting to be read.

Re: The Kindle

My mom really enjoys hers, especially for traveling. I think she can have a couple of books on it without the space of books. I can't remember what the resolution was -- but it stopped working when she was traveling. I have since seen her using it so whatever went wrong must have been fixed.

She really likes it. There aren't a lot of kids books available for it but DD has read one on hers and liked it too.

I'm a little attached to actual books, being able to go back and pull them off the shelf, loan them out, etc.

Re: The Kindle

dh keeps suggesting I get one. it's nice to have the review of another book-lover that I "know".

[Michele]

Re: The Kindle

The reviews on cnet.com were positive. I'm not a reader but I downloaded the iPhone app. It syncs with kindle 2 to save your place while reading which seems to be a great feature. Though the iPhone app only does books (no mags) but it does color whereas the kindles are only B&W - apparently matters for comic books. oh and you can't purchase books directly from the ihone app

[medpedspouse]

Re: The Kindle

I read that the Kindle can read to you. This would be great for my 2hr commute....IF it really works as an audio book. I am assuming that if it works with earphones, it should work with the FM tuner or if I plug it in my aux. outlet in the car. Anyone tried this?

One of the drug reps had one today and I really liked it - but I realized that I knew more about her Kindle than she did. So, she could not answer my Qs.

Re: The Kindle

oooh - that feature really might be good -- except I'd really need to know what voice it reads in. If it's that robo-call kinda computer voice, I can't see that as being pleasant.

[Sheherezade]

Re: The Kindle

I haven't tried the "read to me" feature. I think I read that it was in some type of patent dispute. I'm not sure if that makes it unavailable now. The Kindle has a menu item for "experimental features". The read-to-me is under that list.

[poky]

Re: The Kindle

It is an automated voice (I haven't heard it, so I have no idea how easy it is to listen to), and the writer's guild threw a hissy, trying to claim it created a derivative work. From what I've read, they don't have a whole lot of a leg to stand on, and most of the authors I've heard talk about it are just fine with it, and don't want to hinder it.

My understanding is that Amazon's agreed to turn the functionality off on a per-book basis, at the say-so of the rights-holders. But the whole situation's still unfolding, afaict.