I need a Kindle Education, please. :) Versions--pricing?

[DVCLiz]

After having my Kindle for 3-4 years, I am spending more on books than I used to, but I'm also reading more.

About 50% of what I read is free stuff, and I'm happy enough with the prices I pay for other things. I do get a little ticked if the price is more than $9.99 -- but that doesn't happen often.

The library and borrowing options are definitely second-rate features of these machines. Our library doesn't lend e-books and I don't want to pay to join another county's library, so I'm entirely out of luck there.

It's not really that it's a second-rate feature, it's that you don't currently have a library that participates. Please go to the NC Digital Library homepage and see if you qualify for a library card in any of the systems listed. Sometimes there are reciprocal arrangments with neighboring counties, etc.

I think the "lend me" feature is lame, though. I understand the publishers' point of view but one loan one time is just lame. If we could loan it some set number of times, like a dozen, I would support that.

The library feature is a wonderful addition to Kindle - my first book is due back tomorrow. I haven't finished it, of course, so I hope it will be available to check out again!! I am sure they would like me to buy it so I just might...

 

[SuzanneSLO]

It's not really that it's a second-rate feature, it's that you don't currently have a library that participates. Please go to the NC Digital Library homepage and see if you qualify for a library card in any of the systems listed. Sometimes there are reciprocal arrangments with neighboring counties, etc.

I think the "lend me" feature is lame, though. I understand the publishers' point of view but one loan one time is just lame. If we could loan it some set number of times, like a dozen, I would support that.

The library feature is a wonderful addition to Kindle - my first book is due back tomorrow. I haven't finished it, of course, so I hope it will be available to check out again!! I am sure they would like me to buy it so I just might...

I think that the library feature will be big at some point in time, but that it probably is not for many people right now. Due to recent budget cuts, many libraries just don't have that many e-books. My local library has less than 4,000 total, half of which are currently checked out. The larger public library up the road has less than 6,000 titles available, about 2,500 of which are currently checked out.

At the other extreme, the Orange County library in Orlando offers more than 21,000 e-books, and over 17,000 of them are currently available for check out.

I find the typical 14 day check out period (some are 21 days) to be frustrating, but understand that it helps to spread out the limited resources.

With e-books, the local library takes on a whole new meaning. Here in California, many libraries allow you to get a library card as long as you are resident of the state, although you must obtain one in person. Since each library or group of libraries "purchaes" a different set of e-books, I forsee getting more library cards when I travel within the state. -- Suzanne

 

[AmandaNied]

Your content is tied to your Amazon account, so it will be available to download onto your new device whenever you register it.

As for your old kindle... if you just deregister it anything you've purchased and downloaded will still remain on the device. If you don't want to pass along your content, delete your downloaded items before deregistering it.

I believe there's also an option to reset the kindle to factory defaults, which would automatically remove downloaded items. I've never done that, so I'm not sure of the exact steps though. Maybe someone else will have more info.

Thanks for your help! did it this afternoon and reset it to factory settings (for the record- it's menu-then menu again)

I can't wait till I get the kindle fire!

 

[luvthemouse71]

Do the touch and the basic model have a virtual keyboard to make notes, etc? If so, what advantage is there to having the kindle with an actual keyboard?

Thanks!

The basic model has a virtual keyboard. You navigate it with the 5 way controller, and it works pretty well. The Touch will have a virtual keyboard that you navigate through the touch screen.

IMO, some people just like physical buttons better. But really, all versions have a keyboard.

Just as a heads up- the 3G on the new model will no longer be able to be used for web browsing/email. It will just be for buying books. If you have a Kindle 3 with 3G(what they call the Kindle Keyboard now), you can still use that for web browsing and email.

The Kindle Touch will only be able to web browse through wi-fi. I canceled my Kindle Touch 3G order and got the wifi one instead. I have access to plenty of wi-fi though. For someone like a PPs mom, who doesn't have a computer, I'd still go with the 3G so she can buy books without having to side load.

 

[laughinplace199]

The basic model has a virtual keyboard. You navigate it with the 5 way controller, and it works pretty well. The Touch will have a virtual keyboard that you navigate through the touch screen.

IMO, some people just like physical buttons better. But really, all versions have a keyboard.

Just as a heads up- the 3G on the new model will no longer be able to be used for web browsing/email. It will just be for buying books. If you have a Kindle 3 with 3G(what they call the Kindle Keyboard now), you can still use that for web browsing and email.

The Kindle Touch will only be able to web browse through wi-fi. I canceled my Kindle Touch 3G order and got the wifi one instead. I have access to plenty of wi-fi though. For someone like a PPs mom, who doesn't have a computer, I'd still go with the 3G so she can buy books without having to side load.

Thank you for this info. I ended up ordering the Touch (wi fi) for DD.