Opinions please

CharlasAmazon's Kindle

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Opinions please

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1rbott
Jun 9, 2008, 12:03 pm

OK, for you people who have had a Kindle for a while.
What is your opinion of it? Are you sorry you bought it or you would never give it up? If you have tried other brands, how does it compare? I am at the stage where I am going to buy an eReader and am leaning towards the Kindle but would like some feedback from Kindle owners.
Bob

2kageeh
Jun 11, 2008, 4:53 pm

I've had my Kindle for about 6 weeks now and I would never give it up. I love reading newspapers and magazines with it and especially books. It's so easy to just slip into my purse so I always have something to read "just in case". I won't be buying all my books in the Kindle edition but it's tempting. I still think it's about $100 too expensive but I'm very happy I bought one. I'm amazed at all the things it can do that I didn't know about just from the advertising.

3rbott
Jun 12, 2008, 12:22 am

Thank you, thats a help in making my up my mind.

4diganwhiskey
Jun 26, 2008, 9:31 am

I've just had mine about a week and I'm certainly watching less television, which has been a goal. Two very minor things which bother me a bit: Words hyphenated in the middle of a line, and inappropriately capitalized letters. Picky, I know, but can distract. Deducting for this, I give it a 9 out of 10 in meeting expectations!

5Eurydice
Jun 27, 2008, 4:32 am

It's niftier than I expected, and I love reading news and checking Wikipedia on it. Fewer books, really only because I'm working at a large TBR-stack and a lot of recent acquisitions in hard copy. (Great used bookstores, birthday gifts, kindly sent copies of things I've wanted... you can imagine.)

My mother, also given one, adores it. I think she reads as much or more, and almost entirely on the Kindle. It's simple, makes book-purchasing all too easy, and is far more gentle on one's hands - or packing - than larger books, or the accumulation you might wish you could take everywhere.

My only problem on that count is, my purses are generally not large enough to hold it. They tend to be modest (in all senses). (- Though I have one, a casual summer bag chosen partly for capacity, which works.) Not being the purchaser, I also don't really have money to replace them, yet. Women who carry small bags might want to factor that in.

6Eurydice
Jun 27, 2008, 4:35 am

Better still, perhaps: you do have limited web access, news access, blogs, dictionary, bookstore - ever so much beyond merely owned books and periodicals. I suspect you could use NowNow to get quick directions, if looking yourself was not convenient or the Kindle wouldn't load a map needed.

It does very well with B&W pictures, much as the preference is for text.

7maggie1944
Jul 10, 2008, 9:38 am

I have had my Kindle for about 6 months and I love it. I pay as much attention to it as I do my cell phone. Both are in constant use and my abilities are expanding. I am looking forward to going to France this fall with only the Kindle in tow for reading. Usually, I carry on the airplane 2-3 books. It will be very good to go lighter.

It is too easy to buy books and that is cause for constant vigilance.

8LibraryLynn
Jul 14, 2008, 12:40 pm

I have had my Kindle since December. I am a voracious reader, and I have to admit, while I don't dislike my Kindle, I can see where it's not for me in one very important way...I can't share my books. I'm a school librarian, and I frequently take my trashy mysteries in for teachers to read (and several of my students), and often, when reading something, I see how it would fit into my collection or it would fit with a particular student. With my Kindle books, I can't just hand the book over to them. I have to go through the process of ordering the book or going to Amazon and buying a hard copy to share. It's made me very careful about what books I buy.

On the other hand, it is exceptional for traveling. I am always afraid that I will run out of books when I'm on the road, I don't have to worry about that with my 10.3 oz Kindle. But yes, it is WAY too easy to buy books, so you have to be careful.

Also, it is very easy to read. I love being able to change fonts when I'm tired or when I am having glasses issues. And, at first, I found the page changing cumbersome, but if you're sitting still and reading, it's very intuitive. If you wiggle around too much, you end up a few pages ahead or behind.

I see the price is down to 359 now. By the holidays, it may be very affordable.

9Helcura
Editado: Jul 31, 2008, 7:51 pm

I've had a Kindle from nearly day one, and I love it. It's what I dreamed of having when I was a young teenager and my parents wouldn't let me buy a new book unless I got rid of an old one.

Not, mind you, that it couldn't be improved . . .

I generally find it nearly as comfortable as reading a paperback book, although I will say that after 3 or 4 hours, I notice that the weight becomes uncomfortable - a complaint I have about hardback books as well.

I find, at present, that it's best for reading pure text books. The formatting is poor for things with illustrations, charts, comic books, etc.

Another big weakness is the organizational structure. Basically, you get sort by author, title or most recent, and you can't filter the view. I hope there's a software update down the line that would allow something like tagging. It would be really nice to be able to just browse the titles on neuropsychology without having to ignore all the vampire fiction (or whatever).

On the other hand, there's nothing like having all those books right there. And, if you have the funds to do it, there's nothing like finishing a great book and being able to immediately buy the sequel without having to take your pajamas off.

I don't expect e-books to completely replace paper books - unless someone invents an e-book that only needs ambient light to power itself, but the Kindle is definitely going to be containing a major portion of my library, and will perhaps even enable me to use the bed to sleep in, rather than to store books . . . :-)

Edited to fix italics.

10maggie1944
Jul 31, 2008, 8:17 pm

OK, Helcura, you got me with the bed to sleep in rather than store books line. Believe me you, if I did not have two dogs with me on the bed, we would have lots of books. But they tend to shove the books over (the edge) , or sleep on them.

I also love my Kindle. Just today thinking about taking which French book with me to France, I went *eureka* I can Kindle some French books. So off I went (figuratively speaking since I stayed on the deck where I was when I got the idea) and bought two books to help with my French language while in France. How cool is that?

11Eurydice
Ago 1, 2008, 4:34 am

It's fabulous!

And when you can use it to make annotations and highlights without defacing anything.....! To read the news, or blogs, or look things up in Wikipedia or where-you-will..... there's a lot to be said for it. Especially when it's holding Clarissa, a Bible, and any number of papers and other things in the same few inch-and-ounce-bound space.

12Eurydice
Ago 1, 2008, 4:34 am

Sigh. My bed is still bounded by paper books, stacks' worth, though.

13jillmwo
Editado: Ago 6, 2008, 12:42 pm

Any of you monitoring the pricing on the books? I think I'm seeing some real experimentation by publishers, some of which seems awfully optimistic. I noted that I can buy The Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia for $111.16. I'd love to see the sales data on that one...

14xenchu
Oct 5, 2008, 4:28 pm

I just bought a Kindle. It arrived last Thursday. I have used it almost constantly since it came in the door. I like it a great deal. I give it 9 out of 10.

There are some things that could be improved. I am sure the next version will be touch screen. The page buttons make the unit a bit awkward to hold and the keyboard seems clumsy to me. And it would be nice to be able to filter the book list using your own criteria. The black and white text and pictures are sharp and clear but color would be nice if as sharp and clear.

At the moment my Kindle has one more small problem. It has gone completely dead on me. It is an inert block of plastic. I believe the battery has failed. I have written Amazon about the problem but it is too soon to expect an answer. I will keep everyone informed about what happens.

15maggie1944
Oct 6, 2008, 11:14 pm

xenchu, so sorry. I assume you have tried turning it off and plugging it in over night or over a day and a night. I had heard that if you turn both buttons on all the time that the battery is very quickly depleted. Only turning it on and leaving the ether net button off while reading makes the battery last a great deal longer. Best yet is reading with it plugged in which I can do at night when reading in bed.

I will be anxious to hear the rest of your story. Hopefully all will be fixed very soon.

16billtaichi
Oct 7, 2008, 7:28 am

Definitely don't leave the wireless on, that will drain your battery very quickly. I only turn wireless on if I want to get a book and then I turn it right back off.

I hope that you get your problem resolved quickly!

17billtaichi
Oct 7, 2008, 7:28 am

Este mensaje fue borrado por su autor.

18B3agleboy
Oct 7, 2008, 7:41 am

Earlier this year I had been on the fence about buying a Kindle. What made me buy was a combination of its free wireless internet service and Library Thing. I do some traveling and frequently find myself in used book stores. I don't always remember what books I have, but with the Kindle I can log on to the mobile version of Library Thing and do a (relatively) quick search to see if I already have the book. Now I don't have to worry about owning duplicate copies of a book or not buying a book because I'm worried that I might already own it (and then discovering I don't).

19xenchu
Oct 8, 2008, 1:21 pm

I received a new Kindle today. I called Amazon's service department and we tried everything to get the Kindle to work but it was no use. It had failed completely. So they sent me a new one. It is charging even as I type this; soon I will be using it again. I confess I can hardly wait.

So I can say their Service Department works well. They sent the new Kindle out on 2-day shipping and it came on schedule. The only requirement was that I send the old one back at their expense.

If the new Kindle works as I expect it to I will have no complaints about Amazon (or the Kindle) at the moment.

20maggie1944
Oct 9, 2008, 12:40 pm

congrats, xendu, I am hoping all is good. Let us know if the new one is working well. Did you have books which you need to load on your new device? I have been wondering how accessing the archives works.

21xenchu
Oct 9, 2008, 9:09 pm

Thank you, the new Kindle seems to be working fine. To download the books I owned that were on my Amazon page I went to my 'Mange your KIndle' page on Amazon and cicked on the download button next to each book. It worked just fine.

The 'Manage your Content' page on Kindle worked to move books to my new SD Memory chip. I will say it is a little slow but otherwise no trouble. My only complaint is that everything shows up on your booklist no matter where it is. I think that makes the booklist cumbersome.

22xenchu
Oct 16, 2008, 5:24 pm

There is something else I would value everyone's opinion on. Up to this time the only items listed in my library are physical paper books. No cds, dvds, magazines or other ephemera of any kind are listed. I am wondering if I should include the books on my Kindle in my library. Should electronic books be included in my library? Opinions please!

I stated in my previous message that all books showed up on my booklist all the time. I found that there is a way to select books from among Kindle, sd memory or Amazon list to show the books so listed exclusively.

23maggie1944
Oct 17, 2008, 7:00 pm

I don't know what we "should" do about books on Kindle included in LT inventories. But I do it. I like putting down when I got it, when I finished reading it, and I like publishing a review. Plus I like counting up all my books, virtual or hard copy.

I do not put the NY Times on my inventory.

24jillmwo
Oct 17, 2008, 7:25 pm

I just tag books as Kindle in my collection. No particularly fancy treatment.

25billtaichi
Oct 21, 2008, 10:52 am

I definitely add Kindle books, especially since going forward most of my novels will be on the Kindle, just like jillmwo I do tag it as kindle.