Anybody have a Kindle???

Kindle 3, hee hee hee, this lttle gadget was made for meee! :)

OK, but seriously ... (why seriously, it's fun) ... I went wild loading it up with old science fiction, for free or just a buck or two. I've got hundreds of stories it's going to take me a year to read already, and I haven't begun to explore the non-Amazon sources of classic literature also free around the internet.

The minimal web browser and (free!) 3G access are a bonus. Not up to laptop standards but very portable and nice to have the access at all.

I got the $189 version and I'm extremely pleased. Amazon supports this well with their Kindle Store selections and the ease of finding what I might want, complete with information on authors and reviews by users for each book.

There is a lot of competition among ebook readers, including more versatile products that also read ebooks. Going by price, quality of the actual reading experience, convenient size -- the Kindle is a good deal.

* ****** **** ****** *

The Barnes & Noble Nook is a real competitor. My final choice was practically a coin toss -- I could have gone for either. Now there's a new larger Nook with a color touch screen, while they still support the original Nook as a dedicated reader.

Probably worth investigating them also. Barnes & Noble seems to be supporting their platform real well.
 
If you want to use it for just reading, Kindle is hands down the best. It is the simplest, but with surprisingly deep options, and has the easiest on the eyes screen. If you want it to do some surfing and email kind of stuff, get a Nook or iPad, since the Kindle does not do those very well unless you want just really basic functionality.
 
I've seen some of the Nooks and Kindles that friends and coworkers have. Nothing can beat a good old book though. However, Esav, thanks for posting that there's free books and short stories out there.
 
Some of the free "books" I got are actually collections of an author's works, and some are anthologies of many writers from the same period.
 
We are a Kindle family: my Dad has a first gen, I have a second gen, and my daughter has the latest generation. I LOVE my Kindle. I take the Metro to work each day and get approx 1.5 hours of reading every day (back and forth trips). The new Kindle is even better. My daughter's is amazingly thin, has an even better battery life (it was already good), and it was a lot cheaper. She got the one where you just download via a wireless network, which works fine for her. I prefer the 3G option, but it's simply a matter of preference and cost.

I find that I read quite a bit more since buying the Kindle. I used to read about 10 books a year, but last year with the Kindle I read 84 books. Not entirely sure why that is, but it's a good think as far as I'm concerned. The number of free books is also nice. They have quite a few free titles that are classics: Tom Sawyer, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Time Machine, Dracula, etc.

If you want a good ereader that does the basics, the Kindle fits the role very well. However, if you're looking for email, games, color, etc., then you are better off with one of the other devices on the market.

- Mark
 
I have an older Kindle. My wife has a newer one. If you are a reader and read books that will be released on the Kinde, it is an incredible machine. Mine has been prone to crash lately as I re-read Clancy, but has not been a big deal as the Kindle resets itself and I do find my place relatively quickly. My sole complaint with the Kindle is this...if you read in bed and fall asleep, it will hit you in the head, and it is heavier than a paperback. My Kindle has whacked me a few times. What they don't tell you is any book out of copyright that is available in Kindle format is FREE. Yes, you read that right. You like Jules Verne. FREE. You like Mark Twain. FREE. Want to re-read Dickens? FREE. Love your Homer? FREE. Pretty nice that feature.
 
The browser can reach any site and you can post, and read and write email, but without Flash you aren't getting video. And websites need a magnifying glass to read.

Fortunately Kindle has a magnifying glass built in. You can switch between portrait and landscape mode, and you can enlarge the image.

The only drawback in writing is that the keyboard is alphabetic. To get symbols, you need to access the pop-up box to select them.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
The browser can reach any site and you can post, and read and write email, but without Flash you aren't getting video. And websites need a magnifying glass to read.

Fortunately Kindle has a magnifying glass built in. You can switch between portrait and landscape mode, and you can enlarge the image.

The only drawback in writing is that the keyboard is alphabetic. To get symbols, you need to access the pop-up box to select them.
Click to expand...

Thanks again!

Jeff
 
I just bought a Kindle a couple weeks ago and love it. It is great to have the the ability to carry a book wherever you go essentially, and be able to pick it up and read even for a brief time and walk away if you need to. The the battery life is great, the the weight in your hand is minimal and that there is no page turning makes it super convenient for marathon reading sessions. I wouldn't even consider the the iPad for an ereader though, particularly with a gloss/lcd screen , 3x higher price tag and at more than twice the the weight with a faction of the the battery life it just doesn't compete.

I do wish I got just the wifi version but the 3g is convenient for travelling.
 
I have the Kindle app on my iPhone and even that works well. I always have a book or three with me.
 
I have the previous generation of the Kindle, and love it.

I was a bit skeptical than an electronic device could effectively be used for reading, but the Kindle does it.

I read more books at a faster rate when using the Kindle.

Great purchase; highly recommended.
 
Can it read other formats - .pdf .txt etc? I'm thinking of stuff you get from Alex and Project Gutenberg and ManyBooks and so forth.
 
I got a Kobo from Borders and love it. For what I wanted (nothing more than reading books).

I was looking at kindle also, but don't like some of Amazons business practices so I chose to avoid them.
 
I ended up with a Nook, which I use all the time. I've loaded it up with a bunch of pdfs converted to epub, and some real "tomes" from Project Gutenberg and Internet Archive. No complaints whatsoever.

I love books, and worked in publishing for years, but I'd rather carry my Nook than a back-breaking library.
 
I've got a Kindle 2. I got it as an anniversary gift from my girlfriend within a few weeks of the release of the "2". It's the only present I've ever been given that's gotten as much use as it has. I swear it averages an hour of use daily, some days 2-3 hours. I'm a big reader! The ability to change font sizes on the fly is great, I can take off my glasses and keep reading :)
 
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