Kindle, should I get one?

I like the idea of a Kindle but not the cost so I downloaded an ebook reader onto my phone. It saves my page and the books don't take up much space (good job as I have 6 of them on as I forget to delete them). The only thing the Kindle does better is reading outside on a sunny day which I never seem to have time to do anyway. The app is the only way I get to do much reading at the moment as all I need to do is get the phone out of my pocket when I have 5 minutes before a shift or while DS is happy on his own playing.

I don't think a Kindle or a Sony eReader (which is what I have) has to mean you eschew real books forever. I was an 'early adopter' according to my dc and it was very useful because at the time, I was living in Africa where there were no bookshops so RL books were unavailable to me.

One thing worth checking out is your local library. I've just discovered that mine offers ebooks for download free of charge! The book stays on your device for two weeks then somehow self-destructs, which is slightly worrying, lol.

I now think of my kindle as another way to read, not to replace books entirely as I still find the charity shop cheaper if I get lucky there and do still love the feel of a book in my hand. I have a padded fabric cover for mine bought on Etsy, protects it in my bag and I read a suggestion on the kindle forum that you could pop it into a ziploc for bathtime reading which I think is a brilliant idea. Also on hols the fabric cover was useless - sun cream etc. Might use the ziploc idea to transport up and down to pool next time! Could someone who has one link to the cover with light if they could recommend one?-wld love to be able to read in bed w/out lighting up the room!

I also find it hard choosing books the Kindle way. I want to load up a few for my forthcoming holiday, I normally go to Waterstones and buy about 6 of them on 3 for 2, spent half an hour browsing Amazon (on computer, far easier than on Kindle itself) the other night and couldn't find anything I wanted. Walked into Waterstones yesterday and found half a dozen really easily. I'm going to try and remember them and download them tonight, but I feel I should buy some from Waterstones because I would hate it to disappear. Maybe once I've bought a few more from Amazon it will start making decent suggestions to me.

DD got one on Sunday for her birthday. She adores it. She loves reading and this is brilliant. Hopefully we'll be able to ditch some of the 350+ books of hers knocking around the house before we move to England.
I am considering buying one for myself.

I love my kindle more than my children!
I have the cover with the light on as well although I like the feel of it.
Half the books on mine are free and half are paid for.
I wouldn't be without mine especially with the 6 week summer holiday fast approaching.

Think it must depend on your eyesight then! Have long ago stopped been able to read normal books easily.

I'm with you Whoknows. I bought mine recently, but, whenever I start to read a kindle book, find myself moving onto a paper book v quickly.
The percentage read market bugs me as well! Though I can't work out why. Perhaps there's a way of removing it?
I've also had really interesting conversations (or even an enjoyable silent sense of solidarity with) people reading books I've enjoyed - which you don't get with a Kindle.
I think it'll be strictly for the holidays.

I've had mine since Feb, but am not using it nearly as much as I thought I would. I have got the cover with the light on, but it makes it too bulky to hold properly in bed and makes it as big and heavy as a book in my bag. The pagination of some books is odd, you get page numbers popping up in the middle of the text etc. I read fast but sometimes have to go back and re-read bits a few pages on, it is much harder to find the place on the Kindle than in a real book. I also don't like the fact that you have a percentage read marker along the bottom instead of page numbers, I know you can't have page numbering because of the different font sizes etc. but do find it irritating. I also find the books are expensive, I still end up buying lots of books in charity shops. Handy for holidays though.

how long till you love it hten?

I think I'm going to cave in and get one soon. It won't replace real books for me, and I won't buy nearly full price books for Kindle, but you can put free 19th century novels on, good for really long books that would be big to carry round in my bag (as at the moment I come to work every day with at least 6 of the books I have on the go with me, books that are too big are offputting!) And recently Amazon had an ebook sale with lots of really good sounding modern titles at less than £1.50.

Yes yes yes yes yes - the most wonderful thing ever. Especially as you can get a sand and waterproof (to 5m) cover.

I love mine.
A little plug for the customer service. Something went wrong with my kindle last night. The screen was all fragmented and I couldn't turn it on.
I've only had it 3 months but still thought I would have real problems returning it.
I phoned the kindle helpline. They asked what the problem was, I told them and they said "ok no problem we will send a new kindle to you immediately" . I have never experienced such good customer servive ever.
Kindle rocks.

Amazon has a thing under each book where you can request that they put a book into Kindle format - I'm always asking them to. Apparently, if enough people ask, they'll ask the publishers to do it.

I love my Kindle - I get loads of free books, and to be honest, I haven't spent more than £2 on a book for it (I still get books from the library, and buy the odd bargain book if I see them! I don't have much room in my house, though, so I'm trying to stop buying books - easier said than done!!).

As for covers, my dh made me a little pockety-pouch thing for mine (aah! Bless him!!), so that was free!! The best Valentine's present I've ever had (the Kindle AND the cover!!). Beats a bunch of flowers (I do read rather a lot!)

Obviously it all comes down to what you like, but I've just tried to put 'Snow' by Pamuk and 'Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow' (another thread reminded me how much I loved it) on mine, and they're not available, which, to me seems like quite a gap.

tres trendy, indeed.

ta.

is the third gen the most recent?

is the stand any use?

Oo, I think I need to properly research. Don't even know how much they cost, but I will in about 30 seconds time

waterproof cover

I particularly like the neck strap so you can also wear it like a giant beach necklace with your sarong.

From the opposite point of view from sonear I actually find reading the kindle easier than reading a book and am reading much more and like others have said, am reading a greater diversity of books.

Agree that it is lovely having books on the shelf and always will have books in our home but the kindle has got me reading more than ever.

Bloody brilliant. Love it especially the cover with the light (reading under covers as have baby :) )

ooh watertight cover, slubber? do tell.

I read mine in the bath anyway, with normal leather cover - all fine.

but watertight would be handy for beach/camping etc.

No contract needed with a kindle, anonymousbird - it is all built in ot the Amazon price.

there are 2 types" wifi (need a wifi connection, either at home or a hotspot) to connect.

or 3g, which connects anywhere via Amazon whispernet.

I ahve the wifi version, as it is all I need. dh has the 3g versin, as he has newspaper/magazine subs, and travels a lot, so is not always in reach of wifi.

nespaper is delivered over the waves each morning to his kinde.

as someone said earlier, if you set up a joint amazon account, and register more than one kndle to it (if both you and your partner want one) then you get 2 for the price of one, as you can deliver purchases to more than one kindle.

they are fab. truly marvellous.

ooh coolio

love mine a lot.

Downloaded a book yesterday at swimming lessons (dc not me), and there it was, just like that and free too.

have watertight cover for the bath/beach Ann