Amazon Kindle - Your thoughts?

Zeathy · 01-19-2011, 12:04 AM

For those whom own one, can you share your thoughts on the kindle? What are the pros and cons?

I have been debating on getting one for a while but now that I realized most of my textbooks are on it, for half the price, I am putting more thought into it.

Is there any way to protect your books in the case that if Amazon goes under?

Filler bits below, skip if you want. I doubt anyone has an answer.
Also, has there been any news on a color Kindle? I have had trouble finding any information. It seems the consensus is that Amazon keeps things under their belt really well. I did notice that at some show, present being the same company that does the Kindles eink technology, there was color eink being displayed and it worked well for still images.

TheBomfy · 01-19-2011, 01:31 AM

I have spent about 25 hours with 2 Kindles. I do not have one yet (waiting to see if Nookstudy will someday work on a Nook Color), but my sister got one for her kid's sitter and a family friend got on at my recommendation.

I personally love it, I think the one thing that people forget when they compare it to an iPad is, you can one had a Kindle while lying down for hours on end. It's so light.

3G is the way to go, unless you live in a great wifi area. The cons are that it does feel a little plasticy and cheap, but it is cheap. Leaving teh 3G on does cook the battery in about 12-14 hours.

The screen is great in sunlight and I find zero eye strain with the e-ink even on the smallest font sizes.

With the size on the thing, I'd just leave all the books you have bought n it and that would have you safe if Amazon goes under (highly doubtful). You'd just be in trouble if the thing broke.

The sitter is 80 with pretty bad Macular Degeneration and the family friend is 77 with all sorts of eye problems (cornea transplant). They are old and they all after about a week with the thing have it all dialed in and love it.

As for a color Kindle, I have no idea as of yet.

Sjael · 01-19-2011, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeathy

For those whom own one, can you share your thoughts on the kindle? What are the pros and cons?

I have been debating on getting one for a while but now that I realized most of my textbooks are on it, for half the price, I am putting more thought into it.

Is there any way to protect your books in the case that if Amazon goes under?

I frickin' love my Kindle. I was apprehensive of the e-ink thing for a good while, until the Kindle 3 launched at a decent (gasp) price. I decided to grab one, since a new paperback book here will run you about US$50, compared to the Kindle's US$10 average. It paid for itself after about 4 novels.

If Amazon goes under? Don't delete them from your Kindle? :P
I can't imagine that happening very soon in any case..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeathy

Also, has there been any news on a color Kindle? I have had trouble finding any information. It seems the consensus is that Amazon keeps things under their belt really well. I did notice that at some show, present being the same company that does the Kindles eink technology, there was color eink being displayed and it worked well for still images.

Color e-ink is garbage at the moment. Don't expect it for a while. I'm more interested in techs like Mirasol..

TheBomfy · 01-19-2011, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sjael

I frickin' love my Kindle. I was apprehensive of the e-ink thing for a good while, until the Kindle 3 launched at a decent (gasp) price. I decided to grab one, since a new paperback book here will run you about US$50, compared to the Kindle's US$10 average. It paid for itself after about 4 novels.

I have to ask, you meant paperback and not hardcover? Goodness gracious, I get jarateed when a paperback is $15 US. Do you mind if I ask where you live?

Sjael · 01-19-2011, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBomfy

I have to ask, you meant paperback and not hardcover? Goodness gracious, I get jarateed when a paperback is $15 US. Do you mind if I ask where you live?

New Zealand. US$50 is probably a bit higher than usual for a paperback here. The starting price is more like US$35-40, but some books by my favorite authors have hit paperback at $50 for sure. And I've seen some hardcovers go as high as US$70.

I nearly stopped reading entirely because it's just prohibitively expensive.

It's often actually cheaper to order a novel from amazon and pay the $25 shipping than to buy it locally.

spacebug · 01-19-2011, 02:11 AM

Actually most paperbacks seem to be between $20 and $30NZD in my experience (that's currently about $15 - $25 US). Only the really large and popular ones are $40 - 50.

But it is very true that it's often much cheaper to order books from amazon.com and pay as much in shipping as you do for the book. Especially with text books, they're insanely expensive.

Zeathy · 01-19-2011, 02:15 AM

Thanks for the bits thus far. I want to get one but my only concern is the lack of color. I could care less about color when I am reading a novel but for textbooks it seems necessary. A lot of graphs and charts fill these textbooks and while they can be read in grey tones and black, it would be easier otherwise.

I was thinking to get the $139.99 model. How often do you folks use your 3G? I am trying to figure out when I would need it. The only use for the kindle seems to, rightly so, be books and in that case I can just load my books up before I leave home. Am I missing something?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sjael

Color e-ink is garbage at the moment. Don't expect it for a while. I'm more interested in techs like Mirasol..

What is that?

Sjael · 01-19-2011, 02:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spacebug

Actually most paperbacks seem to be between $20 and $30NZD in my experience (that's currently about $15 - $25 US). Only the really large and popular ones are $40 - 50.

Well, I read mostly epic fantasy and space operas, so there you go.

Although my father did recently buy a biography of John Britten that was paperback and NZ$60.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeathy

What is that?

It's a display developed by Qualcomm (I think) that is entirely passive, so it's easy to read, but also runs at 30fps so it can do video, too. It's pretty clever stuff. Dunno if it can hold a candle to the raw DPI of an e-ink screen though...

As for the 3G - the kindle has a web browser, so it could be handy for checking emails and stuff on the go. However, the screen is so darn slow that it's impractical for much else. Which is fine by me - I bought it as an e-reader, and I bought the wi-fi only version because of that.

spacebug · 01-19-2011, 02:37 AM

Yeah those epic fantasy books prices are scary. I don't even want to think about how much the next Song of Ice and Fire will cost

What are the pros and cons of Kindle verses Kobo e-reader?

mr. duck · 01-19-2011, 04:00 AM

I doubt that anybody could dislike the kindle and I have had a second generation kindle. It is a great reader but IIf I were to purchase one now it would have to be the wifi version. The 3g is not worth the higher price for just downloading books or magazine subscriptions. The kindle has a web browser which for the past couple of years I have used less then five minutes. The browser is slow to use and it is not really what the Kindle was built for. I would recomment the wifi version and buy books with the extra money.

Sjael · 01-19-2011, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spacebug

What are the pros and cons of Kindle verses Kobo e-reader?

The Kindle has a keyboard, far superior battery life, and more storage. Apart from that, all e-readers use the same Pearl E-ink screen so there's little difference in performance.

The only really notable exception is Sony's readers that have 'touch screens' (I believe the screen isn't actually touch sensitive, they use some kind of infrared sensors to figure out where you touch the screen..) but even that is really a gimmick on a device where 80% of the time all you want to do is go forward a page.

IIIIGooseIIII · 01-19-2011, 12:21 PM

I love my kindle for the same reasons as everyone else in this thread.

joeylawn · 01-19-2011, 12:22 PM

My mom uses hers daily.

Simonicus · 01-19-2011, 01:53 PM

Im oldskool me, had a few ebooks and pdfs on my system so dug around in my many boxes and rescued my old palm zire 72. A quick synch and a download of adobe reader for palm os, and im good to go. For my purposes, its just right, and i didnt need to splash the cash on a kindle.

You may mock me, point and laugh but "ha" I say. I dont need yet more wifi or browsing access, if im outside, I dont want to be reading, the touchscreen is colour, it eats sd cards for plenty of storage and the blue coating now has a retro scraped and peeled effect which is pretty cool. And it has a camera. I can use the stylus or hold it comfortably in one hand and use the buttons to turn pages etc and have the option of a selection of colour schemes. Granted, the screen is smaller than any kindle, but its bigger than my dsi and quite comfortable for me.
I was looking at some homebrew on the ds but couldnt be bothered in the end. Thats when the Palm os called out to me.

Oneironaut · 01-19-2011, 01:57 PM

I've had my Kindle now for about 8 months, and love it.
I've seen no news about a color Kindle.
If you do get one, I would advise checking out some of the indie books available. Like indie games, the quality can vary, but there are some real gems there for prices around $0.99 to $2.99.

01-19-2011, 12:04 AM	#1
Zeathy Join Date: Oct 2009 Reputation: 130 Posts: 348	Amazon Kindle - Your thoughts? For those whom own one, can you share your thoughts on the kindle? What are the pros and cons? I have been debating on getting one for a while but now that I realized most of my textbooks are on it, for half the price, I am putting more thought into it. Is there any way to protect your books in the case that if Amazon goes under? Filler bits below, skip if you want. I doubt anyone has an answer. Also, has there been any news on a color Kindle? I have had trouble finding any information. It seems the consensus is that Amazon keeps things under their belt really well. I did notice that at some show, present being the same company that does the Kindles eink technology, there was color eink being displayed and it worked well for still images.

01-19-2011, 01:53 PM	#14
Simonicus Join Date: Nov 2004 Reputation: 281 Posts: 212	Im oldskool me, had a few ebooks and pdfs on my system so dug around in my many boxes and rescued my old palm zire 72. A quick synch and a download of adobe reader for palm os, and im good to go. For my purposes, its just right, and i didnt need to splash the cash on a kindle. You may mock me, point and laugh but "ha" I say. I dont need yet more wifi or browsing access, if im outside, I dont want to be reading, the touchscreen is colour, it eats sd cards for plenty of storage and the blue coating now has a retro scraped and peeled effect which is pretty cool. And it has a camera. I can use the stylus or hold it comfortably in one hand and use the buttons to turn pages etc and have the option of a selection of colour schemes. Granted, the screen is smaller than any kindle, but its bigger than my dsi and quite comfortable for me. I was looking at some homebrew on the ds but couldnt be bothered in the end. Thats when the Palm os called out to me. Last edited by Simonicus: 01-19-2011 at 01:57 PM.

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01-19-2011, 01:31 AM	#2
TheBomfy Join Date: Feb 2009 Reputation: 52 Posts: 63	I have spent about 25 hours with 2 Kindles. I do not have one yet (waiting to see if Nookstudy will someday work on a Nook Color), but my sister got one for her kid's sitter and a family friend got on at my recommendation. I personally love it, I think the one thing that people forget when they compare it to an iPad is, you can one had a Kindle while lying down for hours on end. It's so light. 3G is the way to go, unless you live in a great wifi area. The cons are that it does feel a little plasticy and cheap, but it is cheap. Leaving teh 3G on does cook the battery in about 12-14 hours. The screen is great in sunlight and I find zero eye strain with the e-ink even on the smallest font sizes. With the size on the thing, I'd just leave all the books you have bought n it and that would have you safe if Amazon goes under (highly doubtful). You'd just be in trouble if the thing broke. The sitter is 80 with pretty bad Macular Degeneration and the family friend is 77 with all sorts of eye problems (cornea transplant). They are old and they all after about a week with the thing have it all dialed in and love it. As for a color Kindle, I have no idea as of yet.

01-19-2011, 02:11 AM	#6
spacebug Banned Join Date: Sep 2008 Reputation: 3258 Posts: 2,645	Actually most paperbacks seem to be between $20 and $30NZD in my experience (that's currently about $15 - $25 US). Only the really large and popular ones are $40 - 50. But it is very true that it's often much cheaper to order books from amazon.com and pay as much in shipping as you do for the book. Especially with text books, they're insanely expensive.

01-19-2011, 02:37 AM	#9
spacebug Banned Join Date: Sep 2008 Reputation: 3258 Posts: 2,645	Yeah those epic fantasy books prices are scary. I don't even want to think about how much the next Song of Ice and Fire will cost What are the pros and cons of Kindle verses Kobo e-reader?

01-19-2011, 04:00 AM	#10
mr. duck Join Date: Aug 2007 Reputation: 561 Posts: 105	I doubt that anybody could dislike the kindle and I have had a second generation kindle. It is a great reader but IIf I were to purchase one now it would have to be the wifi version. The 3g is not worth the higher price for just downloading books or magazine subscriptions. The kindle has a web browser which for the past couple of years I have used less then five minutes. The browser is slow to use and it is not really what the Kindle was built for. I would recomment the wifi version and buy books with the extra money.

01-19-2011, 12:21 PM	#12
IIIIGooseIIII Join Date: Nov 2009 Reputation: 278 Posts: 876	I love my kindle for the same reasons as everyone else in this thread.

01-19-2011, 12:22 PM	#13
joeylawn Join Date: Jan 2008 Reputation: 14786 Posts: 1,297	My mom uses hers daily.

01-19-2011, 01:57 PM	#15
Oneironaut Join Date: Oct 2009 Reputation: 785 Posts: 1,213	I've had my Kindle now for about 8 months, and love it. I've seen no news about a color Kindle. If you do get one, I would advise checking out some of the indie books available. Like indie games, the quality can vary, but there are some real gems there for prices around $0.99 to $2.99.