Talk to me about amazon kindle

[the great roberto]

Thinking about getting one for my 10 yr old daughter who loves to read.No really loves to read !

The initial cost appears to be £109 for a wiFi kindle 3.

But how much are the books. Like Harry Potter and teh sort of stuffa 10 yr old wouldlike /

I realise there is a load of free stuff out there i.e. pre 1923, so that covers the classics.Are these downloadable from amazon or does it have to be via a 3rd party ? Are they pdf only, and does that matter /
What does a kindle do that is connected to my ( or anyone elses) internet enabled router ?

Thanks

R

 

[Piperdave]

Books, whats wrong with books? :cry:

I would think a Kindle is a good bet for a long/ round the world trip, but there is a sense of achievment, and something beautifully tactile about, about books. The act of choosing a book is a very personal thing, as is holding one.

Oh, and i've never had the battery fail on a book! :shock:

just my twopence worth....

Dave

 

[kaytronika]

Also planning to buy one because I like gadgets and books aren't gadgets.

Prices for actual books, however, seem to be about the same as the in print versions in many cases.

Many of the classics are available to download through the website.

Taking your example of the Harry Potter series, they don't appear to have actually been released on Kindle yet. :?

Terry Pratchett's I Shall Wear Midnight is £7.98 in hardcover, £7.18 in Kindle edition and £5.24 in paperback. So quite a bit cheaper for the paperback version.

If you go to Amazon.co.uk there is actually a section purely for Kindle books and browsable through your PC web browser. Should help you make your decision?


Oh and as for connectivity: You need a wifi router connected to your internet connection for the wifi only one. The Kindle can then browse the Amazon Kindle store and there is also an experimental web browser. Given the screen limitations, the browser will be pretty basic. Greyscale only.

 

[IDB1]

I downloaded the Kindle app to my phone yesterday.. mainly out of curiosity.
Plan to get a couple of books and see how I feel about reading from a screen over the experience of the 'real thing'..

Tried audio books a while ago and struggled to get in to it...

 

[clockworkgazz]

I'm getting one for xmas and asked before here is my thread

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... e543da402b

 

[kaytronika]

I downloaded the Kindle app to my phone yesterday.. mainly out of curiosity.
Plan to get a couple of books and see how I feel about reading from a screen over the experience of the 'real thing'..

Tried audio books a while ago and struggled to get in to it...

Have done exactly that myself.
Although in defence of the Kindle... The E Ink display is a far better surface to read from than an iPhone or Android phone screen. The contrast is better and there are no problems reading outdoors in sunlight.

The nice thing I found was that the book I read on my phone synced to Amazon's servers... So when I started reading it on my laptop screen in the evening it kept my place.

 

[The Ken]

My 12 year old son asked for one, the cost of the books is the only thing putting me off, he is a prolific reader but we get books when they go cheap after a few months - this doesn't seem to happen on the kindle.

He thought it would be good because they would be much less on his bookshelves but he could still re-read stories.

 

[clockworkgazz]

mind you TK if he reads more because of the up to date hardware is that not reason enough?

 

[IDB1]

There are books available on some download sites. . . .

 

[The Ken]

Gaz don't get me wrong I think they are good but nothing will stop him reading, he loves it.

However when he looks for books in watersons or the like they are in athe appropriate section for his age, on amazon kindle recommendations there doesn't seem to be anyway to filter out unsuitable age material, I know he would go straight to graphic novels and it ain't all Beano and Dandy in there.