Which Kindle? *Update, I got it!!

[Desnik]

I am going to buy my Dsis a Kindle. She is away at college,(freshman, just brought her there yesterday!) and has an Apple laptop, and a Ipod touch. So, the Kindle will strictly be used for book reading. I see that there are a few different kinds, so which one should I get her?

Thanks!

 

[DVCLiz]

I am going to buy my Dsis a Kindle. She is away at college,(freshman, just brought her there yesterday!) and has an Apple laptop, and a Ipod touch. So, the Kindle will strictly be used for book reading. I see that there are a few different kinds, so which one should I get her?

Thanks!

It depends on your budget - all of them will do a great job! If you can afford the $189 3G and wifi one that just came out, I think that would be the best choice. Some people are reporting they cannot connect to certain types of wifi networks and you would want to make sure her college wifi was compatible. For the extra $50 bucks I would get her the new 3G and wifi model that was just released - go ahead and order it now if you want to give it to her soon because there is a waiting list.

She's going to love you!

 

[Desnik]

I didn't want to go over $200. She is like my DD and I am so proud of her. She, along with my nephew who also just started college, are the first ones in our family to go to college. She is an avid reader and is an English major. I know this is the perfect gift for her & I hopped to get it ASAP. I didn't know there was a wait list!

So, the $139 Kindle does what? You just have the ability to go to Amazon to download books and then read them? That means that the $189 one actually goes on the Internet?. Sorry if I am being dumb but I have no idea about the differences and what it actually means. I would think since she has her laptop and iPod touch with her she could use either of those to go online? Then again for only $50 more she could have another device to go online? Hmmm.... I know her college has wifi in her dorm and all over actually. How would I find out if her campus wifi is compatible?

 

[golfgal]

You may want to consider a Nook because you can do free downloads from the library and there is a good chance her school bookstore is run by Barnes and Nobel.

Also, you can get a free Nook app for your PC or phone if she has a smart phone so instead of buying the reader you can give her money for books.

 

[DVCLiz]

I didn't want to go over $200. She is like my DD and I am so proud of her. She, along with my nephew who also just started college, are the first ones in our family to go to college. She is an avid reader and is an English major. I know this is the perfect gift for her & I hopped to get it ASAP. I didn't know there was a wait list!

So, the $139 Kindle does what? You just have the ability to go to Amazon to download books and then read them? That means that the $189 one actually goes on the Internet?. Sorry if I am being dumb but I have no idea about the differences and what it actually means. I would think since she has her laptop and iPod touch with her she could use either of those to go online? Then again for only $50 more she could have another device to go online? Hmmm.... I know her college has wifi in her dorm and all over actually. How would I find out if her campus wifi is compatible?

Both models will go on the Internet - it's just a question of whether you want to pay the extra $50 to get her a 3G option. The 3G will allow her to get online anywhere, not just in the range of a (free) wifi network. It's not that important for her to access anything else she does online, but it is the way Amazon sends books to her Kindle so you want her to be able to do that as easily as possible.

Some people have reported that the way a wifi network is set up can impact whether the Kindle can access it. If your budget is $200, I would definitely get her the 3G+wifi option in the 6" version that was released this week.

Orders placed now are shipping within two to three weeks so the list is not long, but go ahead and order to get your place in line.

 

[DVCLiz]

You may want to consider a Nook because you can do free downloads from the library and there is a good chance her school bookstore is run by Barnes and Nobel.

Also, you can get a free Nook app for your PC or phone if she has a smart phone so instead of buying the reader you can give her money for books.

I wouldn't suggest a Nook for a college student - they don't download books from the public library and if she is an English major she's going to be able to find most of her literature choices for free at the Amazon bookstore - my daughter did. One semester her total for her American lit class was $10!

The new Kindles have the new Pearl screen and the resolution is much better than the previous Kindle or the current Nook. I'm sure B&N will upgrade those screens in the next release, but public library access is just not important to a college student.

Both B&N and Amazon have apps for all sorts of products. I have a Kindle app on my iPhone and my iPad. But I would NEVER consider not getting a real ereader - no one I know who reads a lot would be willing to use a phone to do it on, and the iPad isn't the best ereader either - much too heavy for me and problematic for me with the backlit screen.

OP, get the $189 Kindle - it's the best on the market right now and she will be thrilled. Order a case, too - M Edge makes an excellent leather cover for all the Kindle products, and the new Amazon lighted cover is nice, too. That will put you a little over budget but it's worth it to get a case that will protect the reader.

 

[RitaE]

I have the newest Kindle 3G + WiFi. I've had no problems hooking the WiFi up to our home router but I haven't tried it anywhere out and about. The 3G gives you the ability to download books from anywhere you can get a cell phone signal, while the WiFi you need to be at a hotspot. Other than that, they are identical.

My son has a Kindle and uses it at college. The books for his History and Literature classes usually have Kindle versions but other subjects are spotty. He mostly uses it for just plain old reading though because like most students he likes to scribble and mark-up his textbooks and an eReader just isn't the same. The Kindle does have some nice social networking functions though where you can look at a Kindle book you own and see what the majority of Kindle owners are highlighting in that book.

As for the Library books, I have a little Sony Digital readers that I use for the Overdrive System and I do appreciate the free books I get from there. But, I get more free and low cost items from the Amazon Kindle Store than the Library will ever provide and I don't have to deal with wait lists. It seems like I'm picking up one or two free books a week from Amazon right now.

 

[DVCLiz]

I have the newest Kindle 3G + WiFi. I've had no problems hooking the WiFi up to our home router but I haven't tried it anywhere out and about. The 3G gives you the ability to download books from anywhere you can get a cell phone signal, while the WiFi you need to be at a hotspot. Other than that, they are identical.

My son has a Kindle and uses it at college. The books for his History and Literature classes usually have Kindle versions but other subjects are spotty. He mostly uses it for just plain old reading though because like most students he likes to scribble and mark-up his textbooks and an eReader just isn't the same. The Kindle does have some nice social networking functions though where you can look at a Kindle book you own and see what the majority of Kindle owners are highlighting in that book.

As for the Library books, I have a little Sony Digital readers that I use for the Overdrive System and I do appreciate the free books I get from there. But, I get more free and low cost items from the Amazon Kindle Store than the Library will ever provide and I don't have to deal with wait lists. It seems like I'm picking up one or two free books a week from Amazon right now.

This is a great point - I know there is a valid reason to use the library for some people, but if you aren't waiting for an expensive bestseller - just browsing the backlist of available titles for something to read - Amazon has an enormous selection that no library will be able to match, plus all the thousands and thousand of public domain stuff that is free.

I'd only choose an ereader with a library function if I wanted to use it to read bestsellers that were expensive. Otherwise having to wait on a list and have a time constraint to read the book before it was due back would be deal breakers for me.

 

[MaryJ]

Another plus for the Kindle is that if she also has the Kindle app on her iPod Touch, she can use it to read if she doesn't have the Kindle with her at the time. The app will pick up right where she left off on the Kindle. So, if she stops reading at the end of Chapter 12 of a certain book on the Kindle, and she is waiting in line at Target and has her iPod touch in her purse and wants to read a bit, when she brings up the Kindle app, it will start her reading at Chapter 13.

The other readers may do that as well as I know that they also have apps for iPod Touch, but I don't have any experience with them.

 

[golfgal]

I wouldn't suggest a Nook for a college student - they don't download books from the public library and if she is an English major she's going to be able to find most of her literature choices for free at the Amazon bookstore - my daughter did. One semester her total for her American lit class was $10!

The new Kindles have the new Pearl screen and the resolution is much better than the previous Kindle or the current Nook. I'm sure B&N will upgrade those screens in the next release, but public library access is just not important to a college student.

Both B&N and Amazon have apps for all sorts of products. I have a Kindle app on my iPhone and my iPad. But I would NEVER consider not getting a real ereader - no one I know who reads a lot would be willing to use a phone to do it on, and the iPad isn't the best ereader either - much too heavy for me and problematic for me with the backlit screen.

OP, get the $189 Kindle - it's the best on the market right now and she will be thrilled. Order a case, too - M Edge makes an excellent leather cover for all the Kindle products, and the new Amazon lighted cover is nice, too. That will put you a little over budget but it's worth it to get a case that will protect the reader.

Yes they do.

"Here is why I think the Nook stands out from the others and sets the bar. Some items are found in a Kindle or Sony Reader, but the Nook brings all of these together:

* Ability to purchase content via WiFi and AT&T 3G wireless connections from any location in the US
* Ability to lend ebooks to others for 14 days
* Ability to checkout and read local library ebooks for free
* Ability to browse full ebook content while connected in Barnes & Noble stores
* Sync across platforms and readers of bookmarks, annotations, last reading location
* 16-level grayscale display
* Small capacitive color touchscreen for ebook store browsing

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-gadgeteer/b-n-nook-beats-amazon-kindle-sony-reader-heres-why/2101

Plus, if the school bookstore is BN, you can often go there and read books for free-even books you would have to normally pay for. She will be able to access free books-often textbooks, at the college library and Nook has all the free books that Kindle has.

 

[DVCLiz]

Yes they do.

"Here is why I think the Nook stands out from the others and sets the bar. Some items are found in a Kindle or Sony Reader, but the Nook brings all of these together:

* Ability to purchase content via WiFi and AT&T 3G wireless connections from any location in the US
* Ability to lend ebooks to others for 14 days
* Ability to checkout and read local library ebooks for free
* Ability to browse full ebook content while connected in Barnes & Noble stores
* Sync across platforms and readers of bookmarks, annotations, last reading location
* 16-level grayscale display
* Small capacitive color touchscreen for ebook store browsing

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-gadgeteer/b-n-nook-beats-amazon-kindle-sony-reader-heres-why/2101

Plus, if the school bookstore is BN, you can often go there and read books for free-even books you would have to normally pay for. She will be able to access free books-often textbooks, at the college library and Nook has all the free books that Kindle has.

I'd be interested to hear your experience with a college student using a Nook to download books from the public library, and also any real life instances where college students have used a Nook with a Barnes & Noble college bookstore. In my experience with my own college student, the feature that was most useful in an ereader was the convenience and immediacy of the download.

I cannot imagine a time when my daughter would have actually gone to the college bookstore and stayed there long enough to download and read something for free when she could have been reading it in her apartment instead, even if she had to pay for it. Considering the cost of paper books in a college bookstore, ANY price of a Kindle download was a bargain. And as I said earlier, she was a literature major and many of her books were free or very cheap.

Also, I can't really imagine the college textbooks are free for download - that sounds like a nice selling point but I would have to see some evidence that the same textbook that one student paid for in a print version was available for free as a download to a Nook. That just doesn't make sense to me unless the college has paid for some licenses. Not saying it isn't a possibility somewhere, just that it would be very unusual for the college to give up that revenue stream by choosing books that are available for free.

The 3 benefits to a Nook - the lending feature, the library feature, and the B&N instore options - are to my mind all tradeoffs against the MAJOR feature of an ereader, and that is CONVENIENCE. If I want to request a book, wait for it to be available, download it and have a specific time period to read it, or if I want to give a friend a book and use my only opportunity to ever lend that book out then those Nook features are useful. But that's not the way I want to read, and it's not the reason I invested in ereader technology. I want to be able to read what I want when I want, and I'm willing to pay the - to me - reasonable cost of that access.

I would never use the Nook for browsing - even if it does have a color touch screen it's only a small strip at the bottom and I would much rather browse online using my iPad or laptop, so I can have a decent size screen to use.

The list you quoted from zdnet seems dated to me. Some of Kindle's features - the text to speech option on most books, the better dictionary function, options, the fabulous new Pearl screen - make it by far the best choice right now, in terms of usability. Plus, it's cheaper.

 

[Desnik]

Thank you all so much!! I have really learned so much! I will be buying her the $189 Kindle!! It seems to be the best option for her.

 

[DVCLiz]

Thank you all so much!! I have really learned so much! I will be buying her the $189 Kindle!! It seems to be the best option for her.

She's going to love it and you will be the best sister ever!!

And don't forget, if you want to get one for yourself at any time in the future, you can share the books she has on her account for free as long as you are both registered to the same account. I have two daughters and I love being able to pay for a book once and have all 3 of us read it, at the same time if we want!, on our individual Kindles. Bliss!

 

[Desnik]

She's going to love it and you will be the best sister ever!!

And don't forget, if you want to get one for yourself at any time in the future, you can share the books she has on her account for free as long as you are both registered to the same account. I have two daughters and I love being able to pay for a book once and have all 3 of us read it, at the same time if we want!, on our individual Kindles. Bliss!

That's my new dilemma! Should I get one too!!?? I have an iPad and I use the Kindle app on that. I also have the Barnes and Noble and Borders app along with iBooks. I love the variety and I love my iPad and it doesn't bother me to read on it. I read on it all the time. The only thing I hate is that I can't use it on a sunny day! We were at Disney lounging by the pool and I wanted to read but couldn't because of the sun! Maybe I will just tell DH to get it for me for Xmas.

She better think I am the best sister ever!!!. I tease our older sister all the time telling her that I am our little sisters favorite! I do spoil her and we are so alike, we really are best friends.

 

[golfgal]

I'd be interested to hear your experience with a college student using a Nook to download books from the public library, and also any real life instances where college students have used a Nook with a Barnes & Noble college bookstore. In my experience with my own college student, the feature that was most useful in an ereader was the convenience and immediacy of the download.

I cannot imagine a time when my daughter would have actually gone to the college bookstore and stayed there long enough to download and read something for free when she could have been reading it in her apartment instead, even if she had to pay for it. Considering the cost of paper books in a college bookstore, ANY price of a Kindle download was a bargain. And as I said earlier, she was a literature major and many of her books were free or very cheap.

Also, I can't really imagine the college textbooks are free for download - that sounds like a nice selling point but I would have to see some evidence that the same textbook that one student paid for in a print version was available for free as a download to a Nook. That just doesn't make sense to me unless the college has paid for some licenses. Not saying it isn't a possibility somewhere, just that it would be very unusual for the college to give up that revenue stream by choosing books that are available for free.

The 3 benefits to a Nook - the lending feature, the library feature, and the B&N instore options - are to my mind all tradeoffs against the MAJOR feature of an ereader, and that is CONVENIENCE. If I want to request a book, wait for it to be available, download it and have a specific time period to read it, or if I want to give a friend a book and use my only opportunity to ever lend that book out then those Nook features are useful. But that's not the way I want to read, and it's not the reason I invested in ereader technology. I want to be able to read what I want when I want, and I'm willing to pay the - to me - reasonable cost of that access.

I would never use the Nook for browsing - even if it does have a color touch screen it's only a small strip at the bottom and I would much rather browse online using my iPad or laptop, so I can have a decent size screen to use.

The list you quoted from zdnet seems dated to me. Some of Kindle's features - the text to speech option on most books, the better dictionary function, options, the fabulous new Pearl screen - make it by far the best choice right now, in terms of usability. Plus, it's cheaper.

Are you sure you know what a Nook is, it IS an EREADER? Nook has an app for PC's and Phones as well. They also have an Etext book feature and the download on them is less then half the textbook cost and you can highlight, make notes, etc. right on your computer. The access to the free textbooks is in the bookstore-you do have to read in the bookstore. In my son's school bookstore there is a cafe attached and they can go in there and access NOOK books for free-a lot of kids do this for research and seldom used textbooks that are "required" but not really used all that much.

BN has the same download capabilities-better actually-than Amazon. They have thousands of free books available for instant download just like Kindle. You set up an account and you can browse for books from your PC then add them to your account and download them either to your PC, Phone or Nook. I am not really sure you are totally familiar with a NOOK.

 

[jrmasm]

BN has the same download capabilities-better actually-than Amazon.

In what way?

 

[golfgal]

In what way?

The ability to download books at the library for free
The ability to download book at BN for free (all BN ebooks are free in the store-you can only read them in the store for free)
The ability to download textbooks for less then half of what a "real" book costs and the ability to access those textbooks for free from a BN store.

 

[jrmasm]

The ability to download books at the library for free
The ability to download book at BN for free (all BN ebooks are free in the store-you can only read them in the store for free)
The ability to download textbooks for less then half of what a "real" book costs and the ability to access those textbooks for free from a BN store.

"Better actually" in an opinion. And you should have stated that.

People with no interest in the library function do not think that's better.
And free but being forced to read in a particular location in not better in my opinion.

I think they're both great ereaders. I just don't think that either is clearly better than the other.

 

[LoraJ]

I just got my Kindle and love it. I was using the app on my phone before I got it and was amazed that when I downloaded the book I am reading that it opened up right to the last page I was on. I got the case for it that has the light and it works great.

I am sure she will love the Kindle.

 

[KCK]

Best I understand the free Nook reading while at the BN store is restricted to one hour a day. For real bookworms this is peanuts. For college students with many other things to do it may be fine.

I bought K2 a few weeks ago, then got the K3 (not 3G) last week. K2 will go to older DD.

The wifi to my network seemed to fail on the K3 when I tried it. I thought maybe fat fingers, tried it 3 times, each time failure message. I tried connecting anyway and it did so! So there is a bug but not a fatal one.

Good choice on the K3 with 3G, but if you haven't sprung already the non-3G would be fine because:
1. Most campuses are compatible with most electronics/network devices.
2. If it happens not to be you can return it and get the 3G version. Might cost you $6 for shipping, maybe not.
3. So many places are wifi now. Not just coffee shops, it's auto mechanics shops, virtually any office, airports, many grocery stores, etc. Anyway the 3G browser is junk (slow) and very kludgey compared to a real computer, it's a pain using the browser. So the only real use IMO of 3G on Kindle is to dl books.... how often is she going to do that anyway?

Congrats on a nice choice. As someone else mentioned, the Kindle is one of those rare products that actually exceeds expectations. Many of Apple's toys also fall into this category although their strong-arm tactics after the sale slightly sour that experience.