Kindle User please give feedback

[Ephany]

As of today I've 'bought' 161 books off of Amazon since February. I also have 4 magazine subscriptions, and 2 daily update thingies. I've also downloaded books from other sites, and many of the books I've bought are collections, so I probably have about 200+ titles. However, many, many of those books were free or very cheap. The funny thing is I've liked a lot of them just as much if not more than my $9.99 titles (of which I've bought very few). Many times if it's free I'll grab it just in case, for future reading later in case the price goes up.

The other thing is that quite a few of my must read authors have books coming out in the next few months. I have all of their previous works in hardback, so do I get the hardback on the release date like I always do or buy it on my kindle, and then end up rebuying all of the earlier books in the series because I want them all in the same format? I have a feeling that eventually the majority of my books will be on my kindle, because of the ease of portability so it'll probably be the latter. This is especially true for series that DH and I both read and always had to share a book before.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

What are the major differences between a Kindle and the Sony brand? Are there other brands out there? How did you decide which to get?

I want to get my dh a Kindle or similar, because he goes through about a book a week and doesn't like to get rid of them. We are running out of room on the bookshelves!

I want to surprise him with one for Christmas, but which?

Thanks!

 

[BethA]

My DH is a numbers guy, I'm the total opposite.

How many new release hardback books would I have to buy (say at a $20 pricetag) for the kindle to begin paying for itself (but also factor in all the kindle books to buy, say new releases for $10 a piece.)

Maybe he's just trying to confuse me!

There is a kindle forum on amazon with a thread asking how many kindle books did you purchase in the first three months. The numbers were astounding - 70 to 300 books in some cases. I can't and don't read that many books per month! If you own a kindle, how many books do you really read on your kindle in a month?

I have had mine a few weeks and have 40 books so far, but I tried to get as many free books-or low price as possible. I think I have only bought 2 books at 9.99 so far. so at $20 a bokk on ful price you save $10, but it can be all the way up to the entire price for free books.

anyone have a recommendation on a light?

 

[RitaE]

What are the major differences between a Kindle and the Sony brand? Are there other brands out there? How did you decide which to get?

I want to get my dh a Kindle or similar, because he goes through about a book a week and doesn't like to get rid of them. We are running out of room on the bookshelves!

I want to surprise him with one for Christmas, but which?

Thanks!

Well, not that easy of an answer. Sony just announced a new version that has a touch screen and is designed to download books from many libraries. It has gotten mixed reviews - I haven't actually seen one yet. They also have older models...a pocket version etc.

Plastic Logic will soon have a version out which will be designed to work with the Barnes and Noble bookstore. Advance reviews are fairly favorable.

And then Amazon actually has 2 different versions (3 if you count the original which you can still buy Refurbed). The Kindle, Kindle 2, and Kindle DX.

And then there are some other companies which have released or will soon be releasing readers.

Now these almost all read ebooks in some sort of DRM version and the one you choose will limit where you can obtain your books. The question of what will happen to your library when one or more of these formats becomes obsolete (which is almost certain to happen) is still up in the air. It is possible to strip the DRM from nearly every file format currently on the market, although technically illegal.

This is an article that compares some of the eReaders.
http://www.switched.com/2009/09/12/suddenly-earth-friendly-e-readers-are-everywhere

 

[DVCLiz]

My DH is a numbers guy, I'm the total opposite.

How many new release hardback books would I have to buy (say at a $20 pricetag) for the kindle to begin paying for itself (but also factor in all the kindle books to buy, say new releases for $10 a piece.)

Maybe he's just trying to confuse me!

There is a kindle forum on amazon with a thread asking how many kindle books did you purchase in the first three months. The numbers were astounding - 70 to 300 books in some cases. I can't and don't read that many books per month! If you own a kindle, how many books do you really read on your kindle in a month?

LOL - purchasing and actually reading are two entirely different things!!! I probably have in the neighborhood of 200 titles in my Kindle - I've probably read about 50 in the last year and a half. That 1-Click is just too tempting!!!

Many of those books are titles people have downloaded for free - not everybody is paying $9.99 per title for their entire library.

As far as the math, I paid $489 for my Kindle DX, and say another $50 for the M-Edge leather cover. Round that up to $550.00. Then say I buy 50 books at $9.99 each. Call that another $500.00. So $1050.00 total investment. Your break-even point in that case would come at 52 hardback books at $20.00 per book. After that, you would be saving $10.00 every time you bought a hardback book.

For me, the added value comes in not having to store the hardback and then decide how to dispose of it when I no longer want to keep it. That's something you should think about. Some people have a problem with the concept of not "owning" the book and want to have the physical item on a shelf. For them, the Kindle and other ereaders might not be best. For me, it's the opposite - I WANT to have only the electronic version of the book and not having the physical item to store and take up space is a BONUS.

Of course, I can have my cake and eat it, too. I can always buy a hardcover of anything I really want to keep - I just don't have that many books that are really, really keepers.

 

[Cool-Beans]

LOL - purchasing and actually reading are two entirely different things!!! I probably have in the neighborhood of 200 titles in my Kindle - I've probably read about 50 in the last year and a half. That 1-Click is just too tempting!!!

Many of those books are titles people have downloaded for free - not everybody is paying $9.99 per title for their entire library.

As far as the math, I paid $489 for my Kindle DX, and say another $50 for the M-Edge leather cover. Round that up to $550.00. Then say I buy 50 books at $9.99 each. Call that another $500.00. So $1050.00 total investment. Your break-even point in that case would come at 52 hardback books at $20.00 per book. After that, you would be saving $10.00 every time you bought a hardback book.

For me, the added value comes in not having to store the hardback and then decide how to dispose of it when I no longer want to keep it. That's something you should think about. Some people have a problem with the concept of not "owning" the book and want to have the physical item on a shelf. For them, the Kindle and other ereaders might not be best. For me, it's the opposite - I WANT to have only the electronic version of the book and not having the physical item to store and take up space is a BONUS.

Of course, I can have my cake and eat it, too. I can always buy a hardcover of anything I really want to keep - I just don't have that many books that are really, really keepers.

I know I don't NEED to point out a library to you, Liz, but I'm doing it anyway. It's an easy way to get rid of books you no longer need.

The hard part is actually deciding which books one no longer needs. If it is an ebook, it is easy - no waffling, no "Should I or shouldn't I?" So, bonus there.

I find myself looking at the Kindle(s) on amazon about once every two weeks now. I know me and I know I'm slowly talking myself into this thing I once considered the most vile replacement for a book on the planet. Cheaper or not cheaper? That is the question. Is the big screen better or does it just make amazon more money? I don't want to feel like I'm holding an electronic gadget that shows a book. I want to lie on the couch and read, kwim?

Also, Liz, this is completely OT, but I'm going through my mother's books and found a copy of Michener's Caribbean. I loved Hawaii, but don't know if this one is any good. Do you - off the top of your head - remember anything about it?

Mom has hundreds of books - and that's after countless library donations. If they were all ebooks, I wouldn't be tasked with this, "Keep it or no" affair. But I also wouldn't have the privilege and comfort of putting books whose covers I've spent my entire life seeing on my bookshelves. Ugh, it's such a toss-up. But I feel myself getting sucked in.

 

[DVCLiz]

I know I don't NEED to point out a library to you, Liz, but I'm doing it anyway. It's an easy way to get rid of books you no longer need.

The hard part is actually deciding which books one no longer needs. If it is an ebook, it is easy - no waffling, no "Should I or shouldn't I?" So, bonus there.

I find myself looking at the Kindle(s) on amazon about once every two weeks now. I know me and I know I'm slowly talking myself into this thing I once considered the most vile replacement for a book on the planet. Cheaper or not cheaper? That is the question. Is the big screen better or does it just make amazon more money? I don't want to feel like I'm holding an electronic gadget that shows a book. I want to lie on the couch and read, kwim?

Also, Liz, this is completely OT, but I'm going through my mother's books and found a copy of Michener's Caribbean. I loved Hawaii, but don't know if this one is any good. Do you - off the top of your head - remember anything about it?

Mom has hundreds of books - and that's after countless library donations. If they were all ebooks, I wouldn't be tasked with this, "Keep it or no" affair. But I also wouldn't have the privilege and comfort of putting books whose covers I've spent my entire life seeing on my bookshelves. Ugh, it's such a toss-up. But I feel myself getting sucked in.

Have you still not bought this damn thing yet, Cool Beans???

I'll have to say - I personally like the DX better than the Kindle 2. I passed my Kindle 2 down to my daughter when I uprgraded. This, after passing the Kindle 1 down to my other daughter when I bought the Kindle 2. We are a reading and now a Kindle loving family. But if you order one and it's not what you thought, you can always return it within thirty days.

As an aside, my daughter who is a senior in college this year bought all of her required literature books from the Kindle store and spent a total of $3.99. Most of them were free - she is reading the classic public domain stuff this year.

We cleaned out the children's books shelves this summer - we donated TEN grocery bags (the paper kind, not plastic!) to our school's book sale. I took about 50 hardbacks to the same sale last year - those were adult hardbacks. I probably have another two or three stacks I could gather up in a matter of a few minutes if I had to. That would reduce me down to only the books I have stored on actual proper wooden bookshelves. I have THIRTY SEVEN shelves of books still in my house.

We are a book loving family!! And, I am a librarian by profession - although retired - so I know all of the local donation resources in my community.

But, to actually DO IT - as you are finding - is more difficult. A little bittersweet - should I give away my copy of the book I gave my mom for her last Christmas, with my handwriting in it - even though I'll never read it and it's a duplicate? Do I REALLY want to keep that level of sentimental item? Wouldn't I rather remember her with any of the hundreds of other things in my life she loved and touched - her furniture, some sheets she gave me as a new bride, etc?

So for me, the Kindle allows me to detach from those objects I would otherwise just have to spend time and emotion dealing with. I can download the book, read it, and then I'm done. If I love it and have to have it in hardback, I can order it immediately from Amazon and it shows up on my doorstep three days later. Best of both worlds...

I'm sorry, Cool Beans, I don't remember the Michener, except that they were really popular back in the day. I didn't read either of them.

 

[NitroStitch]

I love, love, love my kindle 2, but I spent almost as much "dressing" it as buying it I have a decalgirl skin, oberon cover, and borsabella bag! I'm "cheap" and still get my new bestsellers from the library, but there are TONS of books available for the kindle that are either free or just a few dollars. Go to kindleboards (dot) com for tons more info. Yes, there will always be a bigger,better version, but DF loves his Kindle 1 and I love my Kindle 2 still.

And I agree, it's always an attention getter in public!

Terri

I'm another member of that board as well, and it's been a great enabler when it comes to dressing my Kindle 2. All sorts of things I never knew I needed until then. I had a Kindle 1 first, but much prefer the operation of the K2. My only pet peeve with the Kindle is the lack of folders to organize my books. If they fixed that (and maybe made a more impact-proof screen), I couldn't possibly be happier!

 

[legalsea]

What are the major differences between a Kindle and the Sony brand? Are there other brands out there? How did you decide which to get?

I want to get my dh a Kindle or similar, because he goes through about a book a week and doesn't like to get rid of them. We are running out of room on the bookshelves!

I want to surprise him with one for Christmas, but which?

Thanks!

I also do not know much about the Sony reader. However, several reasons people like me love the Kindle:

1. Wireless connection. As I sit out at the weekend house in the country, on a Sunday morning, I can shop in the Kindle store and have my choice of newspapers: 35 US newspapers, 5 from the UK, even one from China. WIth the push of a button I can download the Los Angeles Times, the Austin-American Statesman, of the London Times. Boom. It is on my Kindle and ready for me to read.

2. Samples. Many (but not all) of newly published best sellers are offered at $9.99. Don't know if you want to buy that new book from Dan Brown? Hit the 'sample' button and read the first chapter. This alone has saved me many dollars (one book I had wanted turned out to have such a poorly written and confusing first chapter that I opted not to buy). Then again, I have ended up purchasing books I would never had dreamed of getting (for instance, the Percy Jackson series).

I highlyl recommend the Kindle.

 

[EJ4Disney]

I am a new Kindle owner and am still learning how to use it. Could you please point me to the sites that you all order books for free. So far I have bought
($9.99) all of my books. I would love to get some of them free.

Thanks so much for your help.

Ellen

 

[poutytink]

Amazon has the free books...mostly old classics but sometimes they put other ones....like they have a James Patterson book "The Angel Experiment-Max Ride" for free right now. Check in the Kindle Store- "Kindle Daily Post".

 

[DVCLiz]

Amazon has the free books...mostly old classics but sometimes they put other ones....like they have a James Patterson book "The Angel Experiment-Max Ride" for free right now. Check in the Kindle Store- "Kindle Daily Post".

You can also search by price - select "Low to High" from the search menu in the upper right hand corner on the screen if you are searching a certain genre, like fiction. The "free" books come up first with a price of 0.00.

 

[RitaE]

I am a new Kindle owner and am still learning how to use it. Could you please point me to the sites that you all order books for free. So far I have bought
($9.99) all of my books. I would love to get some of them free.

Thanks so much for your help.

Ellen

My favorite free eBook site is http://www.manybooks.net
Also, if you go to http://www.mobileread.com

and look at their forums ... all the mobi/prc books that people post can just go right onto your Kindle with no conversion. Eventually if you get interested, you can learn how to convert the other formats to Kindle.

 

[TDC Nala]

I just got the Sony. Was able to get Dracula and the Complete Sherlock Holmes free from Adobe, I think.

 

[MrsPete]

I just saw that Amazon has REFURBISHED Kindle 1s for $149 and REFURBISHED Kindle 2s for $219. I've purchased several refurbished ipods, and I've been very pleased. My husband's ipod classic -- the first refurb I purchased -- is on its last legs, but it's 4-5 years old and has seen a good bit of use. Even though we're about to replace it, I'm entirely satisfied with the purchase.

I LOVE my Kindle. It is literally one of my favorite posessions.

Pros: Small, lightweight, easier to hold than a book, never loses its place, super-fast service to purchase books, no need for more bookshelves.

Cons: Cannot lend books to friends, some books aren't available in Kindle format.

 

[EJ4Disney]

Amazon has the free books...mostly old classics but sometimes they put other ones....like they have a James Patterson book "The Angel Experiment-Max Ride" for free right now. Check in the Kindle Store- "Kindle Daily Post".

You can also search by price - select "Low to High" from the search menu in the upper right hand corner on the screen if you are searching a certain genre, like fiction. The "free" books come up first with a price of 0.00.

Thank you so much for the information. I am still trying to figure it all out. Today my goal is to figure out how to email documents. Wish me luck.

My favorite free eBook site is http://www.manybooks.net
Also, if you go to http://www.mobileread.com

and look at their forums ... all the mobi/prc books that people post can just go right onto your Kindle with no conversion. Eventually if you get interested, you can learn how to convert the other formats to Kindle.

This is a lot of help I will give it a try. Thanks so much.

Yesterday I did get a 3 year warranty with ADH from squaretrade for $39.00. I was thrilled with it as I have been scared to death I might drop it or spill something on it. I have a cover but it still worried me.

Ellen