kindle 2!

[bulgron]

Bulgron, do you find that it works faster in other places other than your house?

I haven't tried it in other places yet. Will get back to you once I have a chance to do so.

My zipcode is 94087, but I don't know that that will tell you the entire tale. I live in something of a dead zone for wireless connections. The dead zone extends for a few hundred yards in every direction from my house. (Other people complain about it too.) The situation has been slowly improving over the years as the cell companies have managed to build more towers (always over someone's objection so it takes time to get these in.) Nevertheless dropped calls are still a frequent complaint around here. I think they can't build towers fast enough to keep up with the increasing user base.

When I turn on my Kindle's radio, the strength meter will jump up and down at random between zero bars and four bars. Two or three bars are the average. Sometimes it's connected 3G, other times not. Weekends are better than weekdays. Midday is better than early evening hours.

Generally, when I buy a book I just put the Kindle down and do something else for ten minutes or so and then the book is there when I come back to the device. It isn't that big of a deal, but it also isn't the "under a minute" that Amazon advertises.

 

[bulgron]

I'd really be tempted by one of these if the price were more reasonable.

The Kindle can actually pay for itself, depending on what you want to read on it. For example, I read one guy's review of the device who wants to read the New York Times on the Kindle. NYT home delivery is $58/month or $697/year. NYT delivery to the Kindle is $13.99/month or $168/year. So you can buy a Kindle and get a year's worth of NYT delivery for $169/year less than if you just went with NYT home delivery. On the second year, after the Kindle is paid for, you get the NYT for $528 less than if you just went with home delivery.

As for books, I find that so long as you aren't buying new releases/best sellers/etc, you do save some amount of money per book buying on the Kindle than if you buy paper. For paperbacks the cost savings is around a buck. For hardback books versus Kindle, the cost savings is around 2 -3 dollars per book. That said, my wife can beat Amazon's cost on everything by buying paperbacks at CostCo. But then, CostCo's selection is limited so your mileage may vary.

But for me, the convenience factor of not having to have all that paper filling up my house is more than worth the price of admission. As in everything, you should buy the technology that best suits your lifestyle and personal interests.

 

[stitchawl]

I have the SR505 Sony reader and I have been very happy with it, probably the best gift I ever got. I dont need to download newspapers or books on the fly so the Kindle is overkill for me

For me as well. Thanks for your review, Jabberwock. I find myself in quite the same situation. I don't live in the USA so downloading directly is not really an option anyway. But the cost of English language books here is really prohibitive, especially as I read 2-3 books a week. An English language novel costs between $15-$20 USD here!

I have even loaded technical manuals in PDF format so that I can access the information when I need it and that has been quite useful.

I have several hundred pdf manuals that I've collected 'to read someday.' But reading them on the computer is a bother. I'd rather change their format (I understand reading pdf on e-book readers is no joy) into something more comfortable, and read them at my leisure.

I have not used either Kindle but I did my research and the Sony fits my personal needs better. It feels really solid, I love the look of it and I expect at least a couple of years additional use out of it. Battery life is excellent, I charged it when I left home a week ago, have almost finished one novel of about 600 pages and the battery is down to 3/4. That was a priority for me and I am very satisfied with the performance.

Thanks again for the very comprehensive review. I've decided to order the older model Sony. I don't need a touch screen nor do I need to download on line. I tried to order the Sony from Amazon, but they aren't allowed to ship it here. Licensing agreements between Sony USA and Sony Japan. Amazon has the Sony USA version. Unfortunatly, Sony Japan doesn't make the device with English language prompts but I've found other sellers in the states who will ship to me.

I've been very busy downloading books from "The Project Gutenberg" site, and have about 400 already. Only 250,000 more to choose from... I've found thousands more available as torrents, including full series by leading current authors, but I haven't decided about the ethics of that yet. I suppose there are plenty that are now in public domain though.

Stitchawl

 

[jabberwockg]

Happy I could be of assistance. What region are you in? There are a lot of websites which offer free books from new authors so the quality is variable. Do a google search and you will find a lot and then it is a case of going to each site to see if you can find something you like. If you buy the Sony reader through Sony they give you 50 or 100 classic titles for free but you might have a problem downloading them from your location.

I like having the technical manuals on my reader because I can place bookmarks and find different areas of interest very quickly. It cannot search like the Kindle which is a negative but it is irrelevant for my use.

Enjoy it, you will not regret the decision.

 

[Saunterer]

I haven't tried it in other places yet. Will get back to you once I have a chance to do so.

My zipcode is 94087, but I don't know that that will tell you the entire tale. I live in something of a dead zone for wireless connections. The dead zone extends for a few hundred yards in every direction from my house.

I just checked some coverage areas, and if you are on the western side of I-280, there is some spotty coverage. No word on site expansions tho.

 

[bulgron]

I just checked some coverage areas, and if you are on the western side of I-280, there is some spotty coverage. No word on site expansions tho.

I'll try to download something from Amazon tonight when I'm watching my kid practice her sports thing at a local community college. My main problem is that someone in a different timezone from me tried to use my one and only credit card to purchase $650 worth of printing supplies. Visa caught the purchase, talked to me, then canceled my card. I'm getting a new card in about five more days. But in the meantime, no more Kindle book purchases!

Still, they have free books at Amazon. I'll try downloading one of those tonight to see how it goes.

 

[stitchawl]

Happy I could be of assistance. What region are you in?

Therein lies the rub... I'm in Japan. It's a county that receives relatively little English language tourism and few ex-pats. There isn't much available that's written in English. Huge book stores (and there are plenty of them) might offer one small rack of English language books.

There are a lot of websites which offer free books from new authors so the quality is variable. Do a google search and you will find a lot and then it is a case of going to each site to see if you can find something you like.

I have found many of them, and have been downloading like a madman! I now have over 15,000 books on my computer. Of course the larger percentage of them aren't books I want, simply parts of author's collections. But removing those will still leave me with 600-700 books that I want to read!

If you buy the Sony reader through Sony they give you 50 or 100 classic titles for free but you might have a problem downloading them from your location.

I can't download any English language books from Sony Japan. It would violate their trade agreement with Sony USA. That's why I can't even purchase the reader from Sony Japan.

Enjoy it, you will not regret the decision.

I'm excited at the prospects! It will be at least a month before I receive it though. I had to mail the order in (a week to ten days) as my local 7-Eleven's fax service only covers Japan. No International faxing. The company I ordered from will have to order the model I want (another week to ten days) then reship to me. (Another week to ten days.) I am NOT good with delayed gratification! :grumpy:

Stitchawl

 

[stitchawl]

I can't download any English language books from Sony Japan. It would violate their trade agreement with Sony USA. That's why I can't even purchase the reader from Sony Japan.

Er... that was supposed to say 'why I can't purchase from Sony USA.' Sony Japan and Sony USA are different companies formed under the Sony name. Sony Japan can't sell to the US, and Sony USA can't sell to Japan. Unfortunately, Sony Japan makes no English language products so if I want something that has English language prompts it needs to come from Sony USA. That leads to licensing violations should a US company selling Sony USA products ship those products to Japan! Very complicated, and very much a pain in the butt, but it's a problem I have run in to several times before with other Japanese companies that have US divisions. It makes pricing interesting too. A 'Casio' brand watch made in Japan that sells for $50 in Florida, sells for $150 in Tokyo. Should we suppose 'dumping' was only practiced in the auto industry? :jerkit:

Stitchawl

 

[bulgron]

Still, they have free books at Amazon. I'll try downloading one of those tonight to see how it goes.

I tried a download from a place, not my house. It worked like a charm. Crappy wireless dead zone where I live. I swear, one of these days I'm going to move.