Help choose which Kindle to buy 3G or Wifi?

[DVCLiz]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned:

The less expensive model's battery lasts longer between charges. (Don't take my word for it -- check the website.) For me, battery power's more important than the ability to make a book purchase anytime, anywhere.

Once you have your Kindle for a while, you'll find that you'll build up a huge backlog of books -- you won't be able to turn down those free books! So although you might not be able to purchase that new best seller while riding a train through who knows where, you'll have something new to read.

What I wouldn't buy: The one with the ads. That'd be annoying, and the price difference is small.

Actually, the Special Offers Kindle has been fine. I have another Kindle (as well as a DX) but I was interested enough to order the Kindle SO to see what was offered.

So far, I've bought a $20 Amazon gift card for $10, ordered a new Kindle lighted cover for half price (actually I ordered the full price lighted cover, didn't open it, and today printed a return label for it since the special offer 50% discount came up), and 6 Audible books for $6 (I'm an Audible.com member so this extended my contract by 6 months and essentially gave me 6 free books).

Oh, and I bought a book from a pre-selected list and used my VISA card to make the purchase (easy since it's my default credit card on Amazon) and got a $10 credit on my Amazon account. The book I bought was $8.93 so I "made" $1.07 on that deal lol.

These are offers for products I had or would have bought anyway, so I've "saved" the equivalent of about half the purchase price.

The ads aren't really annoying - they take the place of those awful screen savers and then are small banner ads at the bottom of the Home screen. Once you select a book, you don't see any ads while you are reading.

 

[puffkin]

I also have the wifi only Kindle. Except for very specific circumstances, I think the 3G is a waste of money. I have about 20 books at any given time waiting to be read, so I don't need to make impulse purchases. Pretty much anywhere I go has free wifi close by (worst case scenario we pull into a McDonalds or something).

I played around with the browser on the Kindle and it is slow and very cumbersome. It would drive me nuts to use that unless I am desperate.

 

[nowellsl]

These are offers for products I had or would have bought anyway, so I've "saved" the equivalent of about half the purchase price.

The ads aren't really annoying - they take the place of those awful screen savers and then are small banner ads at the bottom of the Home screen. Once you select a book, you don't see any ads while you are reading.

Glad to hear all this! I ordered the 3G with special offers. I'm all about special offers so I don't think they'll bother me I do think I'll use the 3G, I don't frequent free WiFi spots often so I think it will come in handy!

 

[simonkodousek]

I have the Kindle with 3G, but if I were to buy one again, I would go with WiFi. I have never purchased anything on it outside of my house, which has WiFi. If you travel an awful lot and plan on buying things on the go, get the 3G, but otherwise, the WiFi should work fine.

 

[ToodlesRN]

Thanks for all the input and info!!
I get paid on Friday and will buy it then, leaning more towards the wifi one. Not even sure if I'll get a chance to use it that much with the 2 kids, I still have 3 new books on my night stand!! So by spending less on it I won't feel so bad if it doens't get used much.

 

[Kycha]

So, I'm not really sure how they work but you're saying you can get on the internet anywhere and it doesn't cost anything other than the initial purchase?

That's exactly what he or she is saying.

Is that really true? Or is it that you can get on the internet anywhere 3G is available? I live in a no man's land of no 3G. I'm sure there are other regions of the country that don't have 3G available too. It is as annoying as heck for me.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Here is the US coverage map. You'll note that the Kindle connects even in areas without 3G. If you live in an area without any cell coverage at all... I can see why you'd need a lot of books!



http://client0.cellmaps.com/viewer.html?cov=1

Is that really true? Or is it that you can get on the internet anywhere 3G is available? I live in a no man's land of no 3G. I'm sure there are other regions of the country that don't have 3G available too. It is as annoying as heck for me.

 

[Cotton's Parrot]

Is that really true? Or is it that you can get on the internet anywhere 3G is available? I live in a no man's land of no 3G. I'm sure there are other regions of the country that don't have 3G available too. It is as annoying as heck for me.

Well yes, you do have to be in an area that has at least some sort of wireless service. Doesn't necessarily have to be 3G.

The point a lot of people are missing with 3G and their comments about not needing to buy a book immediately or on impulse is this: books aren't all you can read. Along with books, I subscribe to the daily editions of the Chicago Tribune and Orlando Sentinel papers. Those are delivered wirelessly every day. If I'm not near WiFi and didn't have 3G, I wouldn't be able to get my papers. I realize not everybody uses things the same way, just offering examples of when 3G is useful for me.

 

[luvmy3]

Well yes, you do have to be in an area that has at least some sort of wireless service. Doesn't necessarily have to be 3G.

The point a lot of people are missing with 3G and their comments about not needing to buy a book immediately or on impulse is this: books aren't all you can read. Along with books, I subscribe to the daily editions of the Chicago Tribune and Orlando Sentinel papers. Those are delivered wirelessly every day. If I'm not near WiFi and didn't have 3G, I wouldn't be able to get my papers. I realize not everybody uses things the same way, just offering examples of when 3G is useful for me.

No, we aren't missing it, some of us just use our ereaders just to read books *gasp* Oh, and I do enjoy the games too.

 

[bicker]

I have the Kindle 3G, and I have used it a few times, but truly, when I travel, I make sure I can connect at whatever hotel room I stay in, so the longest I'd have to go without wifi access would be 18 hours. Besides that, I have a smartphone - something that I heartily recommend - and so if I run out of stuff to read en route I can just use the Kindle app on my smartphone for a few hours.

 

[DVCLiz]

No, we aren't missing it, some of us just use our ereaders just to read books *gasp* Oh, and I do enjoy the games too.

Why the snarky comment, luvmy3? Wireless delivery of newspapers and blogs daily is one of the great features of the Kindle. If you don't have wifi and want to download something daily, getting the 3G model would make sense. No need to treat those who use their Kindles for more than book-length reading as though they were doing something exotic and/or unnatural.

 

[bicker]

I don't disagree Liz, but I cannot justify the price they charge for periodicals, given how readily I can obtain all the periodical content I wish without additional fee via an Internet browser. I would love to know if it is just me being cheaper than the average consumer, or rather that these offerings aren't attracting much interest due to their comparatively high price.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

I have the wifi and I personally see no need for me to have a 3G one. I use it for reading novels, so I can anticipate when I'm nearing the end in time to download a new book.

 

[DVCLiz]

I don't disagree Liz, but I cannot justify the price they charge for periodicals, given how readily I can obtain all the periodical content I wish without additional fee via an Internet browser. I would love to know if it is just me being cheaper than the average consumer, or rather that these offerings aren't attracting much interest due to their comparatively high price.

It's just you.



It's certainly a personal choice. I don't personally use my Kindle to read newspapers and magazines because I also have an iPad, which I prefer for magazines.

Really, in the scheme of things, nothing is all that expensive in Kindle format if it's worth it to you to read it in eink instead of LCD format.

 

[puffkin]

I also think many of us just have other platforms to read things like newspapers, magazines, email, web browsing etc (smartphones, laptops/netbooks/tablets, desktops, etc) that we really don't want or need the extra functionality. It is so much nicer and easier to pull up that type of stuff on my iphone or netbook that I would never consider using my Kindle for that. Just like I could never imagine reading a full lenght book on my laptop/iphone. The appeal to a lot of us is to use the Kindle as a dedicated ereader which is wifi is fine for many of us.

Plus, if you are like me, I tend to get distracted if I have too many features so I like to just read on my Kindle.

 

[Cotton's Parrot]

Really, in the scheme of things, nothing is all that expensive in Kindle format if it's worth it to you to read it in eink instead of LCD format.

Agreed. The whole "expensive" argument is ridiculous anyway. Is anybody buying a Kindle to save money? Face it - it's a luxury item. Just like iPads and smartphones and iPods and Nooks and tablets. Nobody "needs" any of those. It's laughable to hear people buy a Kindle or an iPad or other such device and then complain about how much the books and periodicals and applications cost.

 

[DVCLiz]

I also think many of us just have other platforms to read things like newspapers, magazines, email, web browsing etc (smartphones, laptops/netbooks/tablets, desktops, etc) that we really don't want or need the extra functionality. It is so much nicer and easier to pull up that type of stuff on my iphone or netbook that I would never consider using my Kindle for that. Just like I could never imagine reading a full lenght book on my laptop/iphone. The appeal to a lot of us is to use the Kindle as a dedicated ereader which is wifi is fine for many of us.

Plus, if you are like me, I tend to get distracted if I have too many features so I like to just read on my Kindle.

I certainly agree - and for me, I wouldn't use those features on my Kindle, either. But it's not THAT unusual for someone with a Kindle to want to read a newspaper or blog that updates daily - for example, the Amazon blog each day. If you prefer the convenience of having those types of items delivered to your Kindle, 3G might be a feature you'd want to have. Again, totally personal preference (and also, as you point out, based on what other gadgets you've gort) but I just thought the previous poster was responding in a way that made it seem wrong or unusual to want to have more features than simply book reading available for the Kindle.

It's not a weird, extravagant or wrong thing to want to have 3G if you personally see a need for it.

 

[dgthree]

6 Audible books for $6 (I'm an Audible.com member so this extended my contract by 6 months and essentially gave me 6 free books).

Really? I didn't read the fine print & just assumed that it wouldn't apply to existing members. Yeah, yeah, I know about assuming...

I'm going to have to revisit that offer.

I really do think that the Kindle w/ special offers might well pay for itself in a year's time since I'd be buying these things anyhow. (well, maybe not the Kindle cover, since I wouldn't need one if I didn't have the Kindle...)

 

[DVCLiz]

Agreed. The whole "expensive" argument is ridiculous anyway. Is anybody buying a Kindle to save money? Face it - it's a luxury item. Just like iPads and smartphones and iPods and Nooks and tablets. Nobody "needs" any of those. It's laughable to hear people buy a Kindle or an iPad or other such device and then complain about how much the books and periodicals and applications cost.

I totally agree with you here!!! Saving money was the last thing I hoped to get from my Kindle. For me, it's all about convenience, instant gratification and storage space.

If it were really about saving money, you'd just use the public library or borrow from friends. There are more free ways to read a book and more free books to be read than anyone could accomplish in several lifetimes.

Having said that, I'm playing the game of "saving" enough from the Special Offers to justify the cost. But, of course, I know that really I am spending money to pay less for something I might not have bought anyway. If I were on a book budget, I wouldn't have done that.

 

[phorsenuf]

I totally agree with you here!!! Saving money was the last thing I hoped to get from my Kindle. For me, it's all about convenience, instant gratification and storage space.

Totally agree wit you there. That's why I wanted one. Since I've bought my Kindle (wi-fi only) I think I've done more reading in the last 2 months then in the last 2 years! It's just so much easier to grab up the Kindle and read then lugging a book everywhere, plus I take advantage of the free books. I've bought 1 book so far ($2.99). You just can't beat that.

I haven't tried reading magazines or newspapers yet. What does the layout look like? Is it regular newspaper columns, or more like a table of contents?