Kindle vs. Kindle Touch

[LeslieG]

I'm thinking of getting my mom a Kindle. She is not very computer savvy and would probably only download books she could borrow. Do you think the benefits of the Kindle Touch would be worth the extra cost?

Also, she doesn't have wifi at home. Is it easy to transfer books using the USB cable? If not, I may have to consider the 3G model.

 

[Fyrefly]

If she isn't computer savvy I feel like adding in a USB transfer would be complicating things. On the list of things people learn about computers I often find "being able to keep track of where they download things" towards the end of the things they learn. My mom always loses stuff she downloads no matter how much we try to teach her about files and Explorer.

I'd just go 3G. Then she only needs the computer to put in credit card or gift card info.

I love my keyboard version, and I think if she's searching for all her books to buy right on the device it might be easier to have a real keyboard. But I don't think it matters all that much.

 

[lastminutemom]

The Kindle isn't set up to get books from public libraries that have e-books. Amazon has just started their own "lending library" but it is very limited, in my opinion, mostly older titles or ones you have never heard of. Plus, you have to have an Amazon Prime membership to use it. You may already know all this, but I just want to make sure.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?docId=1000739811

I believe that other e-readers are much more compatible with libraries that have e-books. Our libraries don't have ebooks and won't for a while because of budget constraints. So you might want to investigate.

As someone who received a Kindle as a gift, I rarely use it for books, because I almost never buy books, but borrow them from the library. Most books cost about the same for the e-version as they do paperback for the Kindle, at least the newer ones.

 

[jrmasm]

The Kindle isn't set up to get books from public libraries that have e-books. Amazon has just started their own "lending library" but it is very limited, in my opinion, mostly older titles or ones you have never heard of. Plus, you have to have an Amazon Prime membership to use it. You may already know all this, but I just want to make sure.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?docId=1000739811

I believe that other e-readers are much more compatible with libraries that have e-books. Our libraries don't have ebooks and won't for a while because of budget constraints. So you might want to investigate.

As someone who received a Kindle as a gift, I rarely use it for books, because I almost never buy books, but borrow them from the library. Most books cost about the same for the e-version as they do paperback for the Kindle, at least the newer ones.

Yes it is.

 

[RALuck]

The Kindle is set up to borrow books from the public library, I got mine as a gift in mid-October and have already read several library loans on it. I love it!

 

[lastminutemom]

I gladly stand corrected. I got mine over a year ago and I don't think that this feature was available.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000718231

I don't know how I missed it, except that it doesn't matter to me because our library can't afford to join Overdrive....

 

[LeslieG]

I gladly stand corrected. I got mine over a year ago and I don't think that this feature was available.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000718231

I don't know how I missed it, except that it doesn't matter to me because our library can't afford to join Overdrive....

I haven't fully researched it yet, but I don't think you have to get the ebooks from only your local library. I think you can get them from any library that is online. Seems like I saw a website that will help you find them.

 

[LeslieG]

Has anyone used the USB cable for downloading books? Is it slower/faster/the same as using WIFI?

 

[Fyrefly]

Speed-wise it's about the same. You either open it up in Explorer or you get some free software like Calibre to help manage your library.

If your mom is tech savvy enough to be able to find files she wants on her computer and put them on a USB drive then she can handle side-loading her Kindle. If she's not, I'd just go with 3G.

 

[Suz D]

We looked at the Touch and the regular Kindle (the $79 one) for my in-laws and decided on the regular one. I think the Touch looks a bit harder. The regular one has just a few buttons. There are videos on Amazon showing them in use. Watch those for both of them and then decide.

As far as WiFi, if she can figure out how to connect to WiFi, she could just go to McDonald's, Starbucks, or the public library to download content.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

If she is going to be borrowing books from the library and doesn't have wifi then she is going to have to learn how to use the USB cord anyway; Amazon does not support library downloads over 3G, just wifi.