Question for Kindle owners

[Disneefun]

I'm trying to decide on an ereader. I know with the Nook, in order to unlock purchased books you have to enter your CC number. This seems annoying to me. Do you have to do this with the Kindle? How do you (or do you) unlock purchased books on the Kindle? Thanks.

 

[WENDYDOTS]

I have the Kindle and the books are just automatically downloaded to your device. You can order books online through Amazon to be downloaded to your device when you turn in on, or you can order them automatically through the Kindle via Whispernet. The Amazon account that the device is linked to has your cc info, but you don't need to "unlock" anything...hope this helps...

 

[agriffith]

No unlocking necessary! You can purchase the book directly from the Kindle, or online from Amazon. If you purchase from the Kindsle, it downloads immediately. If you purchase from Amazon, it downloads as soon as you turn the Kindle on and it is connected to its own wireless system. Very easy; I absolutely love mine!

 

[budbeerlady]

I "purchase" the free books on Amazon so it doesnt use my card. Otherwise I would assume it would purchase from the "stored" card you have for your amazon account.

Here is a great blog for free or cheap books for Kindle, Nook, etc. http://booksontheknob.blogspot.com/

 

[Marionnette]

I'm trying to decide on an ereader. I know with the Nook, in order to unlock purchased books you have to enter your CC number. This seems annoying to me. Do you have to do this with the Kindle? How do you (or do you) unlock purchased books on the Kindle? Thanks.

I have a cc that I use just for my amazon account. But I know others who share one account for multiple kindles so that they can share books. They use gift cards to fund the account and pay for the books. They just redeem the gift card in the account and when they purchase a book with there kindle it gets deducted from the gift card balance,

 

[DVCLiz]

I'm trying to decide on an ereader. I know with the Nook, in order to unlock purchased books you have to enter your CC number. This seems annoying to me. Do you have to do this with the Kindle? How do you (or do you) unlock purchased books on the Kindle? Thanks.

OP, I don't understand your question. Do you not want to give a credit card at all in order to set up an account? What exactly do you think is "annoying" about using a credit card to set up the account?

 

[cseca]

I'm trying to decide on an ereader. I know with the Nook, in order to unlock purchased books you have to enter your CC number. This seems annoying to me. Do you have to do this with the Kindle? How do you (or do you) unlock purchased books on the Kindle? Thanks.

Hi,
I'm a nook owner and just curious, at what point do you mean we have to reenter our CC#?
The only time I ever had to add a CC# is when I register my device. And that is the payment method for any future book purchases. But I've had my Nook for several months now and I've never had to type in my CC# other than that 1st time.
And I've done both sideload and direct download to the device. No need to retype my CC#.

If you're talking about the lend to me feature then I'm not sure. Since I've never loaned out my ebooks.

 

[Suz725]

Ditto above poster...I also have lent books out and didnt enter any CC info

 

[Disneefun]

OP here -- okay, maybe it's different with the actual Nook, but... I have the BN reader on my computer. When I purchase books and download them to the computer, it makes me enter the CC number that's tied to my account the first time I open the file. It says something like "to unlock this purchased book, enter the CC number on your account." I assumed it would be that way on the nook, too. It does this even when the book is "free." Not talking about public domain books, but books that usually have a charge but are given away free for a limited time. It has something to do with the DRM, I'm sure.

 

[mcorbo]

OP here -- okay, maybe it's different with the actual Nook, but... I have the BN reader on my computer. When I purchase books and download them to the computer, it makes me enter the CC number that's tied to my account the first time I open the file. It says something like "to unlock this purchased book, enter the CC number on your account." I assumed it would be that way on the nook, too. It does this even when the book is "free." Not talking about public domain books, but books that usually have a charge but are given away free for a limited time. It has something to do with the DRM, I'm sure.

On the actual nook device, you never have to enter a credit card to read a book. It's all linked to your B&N account that must have a registered credit card on it. I then place gift cards on my b&n account ( up to 3) to pay for actual book purchases I make on my nook.

I never even had to enter a cc to set up my nook, just my B&N user is and password.

 

[RitaE]

The nook DRM is an algorithm that is computed using your name and credit card number. You don' t have to enter them on the nook itself, you put them in your Barnes and Noble account and then authorize the nook to that account. That is why you can't download the free books from Barnes and Noble without having a credit card on your account --- it has to have a credit card number to set the DRM.

I've never actually used the nook Desktop App so I don't know about entering the credit card number there. It seems like there should at least be somewhere in the App settings to store your account info rather than having to continuously re-enter all that.

The Kindle uses a DRM method using a PID (Personal ID) of the Kindle device. So every time you buy or download a book from Amazon you tell it which Kindle you are downloading the book to and then it generates a file DRM'd to that specific device.

 

[DVCLiz]

OP here -- okay, maybe it's different with the actual Nook, but... I have the BN reader on my computer. When I purchase books and download them to the computer, it makes me enter the CC number that's tied to my account the first time I open the file. It says something like "to unlock this purchased book, enter the CC number on your account." I assumed it would be that way on the nook, too. It does this even when the book is "free." Not talking about public domain books, but books that usually have a charge but are given away free for a limited time. It has something to do with the DRM, I'm sure.

Oh, I see. No, with the actual Kindle device you don't have to enter your credit card each time. Once you have the account set up, you simply click to download and the book is sent wirelessly to your device - no credit card information is needed.

Now if I buy a book from my iPad or iPhone Kindle apps I do have to enter my Apple password each time, but not my credit card info.

I don't know about the Kindle app for PC - I don't use that since I have so many other ways to read Kindle books!

 

[MrsPete]

I'm not completely clear on what it means for a book to be "locked". Perhaps it's a Nook thing, but the Kindle has no equivalent.

When you get a new Kindle, you must register it and set up your account at Amazon.com - this is a simple, 10-minute task, which requires that you key in your Kindle's unique code number and you key in your credit card. This creates your Amazon account. You don't have to enter your credit card again. It's stored in your account.

When I log onto Amazon.com from my home computer, it "remembers me". If I log onto another computer, I have to log into Amazon.com so that it can identify me. Once it identifies me, it "knows" my account information.

From that point, you can purchase books (either from the Kindle itself or through the computer). Each time you purchase a book, you click "Buy with 1-click", and one of two things happens:

A. If, when you make the purchase, your Kindle's wi-fi is turned on, the book appears on your screen in about 30 seconds. It is not "locked". You can begin reading that minute.
OR
B. If you buy through the computer while your Kindle's wi-fi is turned off (because it saves your battery life to keep it turned off), the book goes to your Archives. When you turn on your wi-fi, you hit "Menu", then "Sync for new items", and in less than a minute your book appears. Again, it is not "locked". You can begin reading that minute.

You get an email saying, "Thanks for your purchase of ____ book at the cost of ____ on ____."

Free book purchases are identical to paid book purchases -- except that no money changes hands. You see a book you want, the price is $0.00. You click "Buy with 1-click". The book appears on your Kindle. You get an email saying, "Thanks for buying ___ at a cost of $0".

I've had Amazon.com gift cards. They're easy too: You go to your account, enter in the gift card number, and you have a "credit" on your account. Say it's $25. When you buy a $5 book, your credit goes down to $20. Easy.

I did have one problem once: My credit card number was stolen, and the company issued me a new one. I had to "edit" my Amazon account, giving the new credit card number. Easy.

 

[RitaE]

locked is a layman's term for DRM restricted - so it is just another way of saying that the file you download can only be read by the person/account who purchased it.

Amazon/Sony/Barnes and Noble -- every retailer who sells books by the major Publishing houses have a method of applying DRM. The Publishers won't allow them to sell the eBooks without it.