Kindles! Any tips or recommendations, or websites for second hand?

[gerbo]

We're hopefully off on holiday in July. Flying, so can't take actual books. We normally read about 5/6 books each on hols, so kindles would be great. We'll need 4.

Are there any models which are superior to read on? Does it matter about size etc? Does it matter if its an old model? Not massively techy so advice gratefully received.

Can anyone recommend websites for second hand kindles, reconditioned?

I think Amazon sell reconditioned ones. Get a cover and a paper white one. Keep in mind you can only buy books from Amazon for a kindle.

Get a Kindle Paperwhite - out of the several I've owned this is the best.

You can actually import other e-books and documents to your kindle. You just email them to your kindle with the word "Convert" in the title line. You'll find your kindle's email address in the Manage your Content and Devices section - there are several tabs, so click on the Devices tab. Select your kindle and you will see its details, including its email address.

I have several hundred e-books on mine that I didn't buy from AMazon all converted to kindle format and all perfectly readable.

Yep, another vote for the Paperwhite, reconditioned is absolutely fine

Do NOT get a kindle fire, thinking what a nice treat being able to use it to watch films etc will be too. You won’t be able to see anything from the glare of the sun, ruining both reading books and watching films!

Thanks all. Just checked ebay, and seem to be lots of second hand ones on sale for around £50. Would you trust these? Hard to know....

Are there any models which are superior to read on You want proper kindles not fire ones, which are more like a tablet.

Does it matter about size etc They're all the same size except for the very new ones.

Does it matter if its an old model I'd say no. I've just switched from a second generation kindle paperwhite (from about 2013) and it worked fine but I got a deal on the one just replaced that's waterproof so good for reading in the bath etc.

Full details of all the different versions are:

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?tag=mumsnetforu03-21&nodeId=GK33S847NN4V6Y83

I see that ones like my old one sell on ebay for around £20-30 on ebay, so that would be one option.

However, the new basic kindle, which is very similar to older paperwhites are currently £54 for 'certified refurbished ones' on Amazon. These are often returns and it says they look and work like new and have a 1 year warranty.

www.amazon.co.uk/Staging-Product-Not-Retail-Sale/dp/B07HSDTR23/ref=sr_1_5_sspa?s=electronics&crid=2U1SLQ44ZF471&keywords=kindle&sprefix=kindle%2Celectronics%2C91&th=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzREM0UVVRQUY0U1lYJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTM0MTc5MUtWNFk2WEVRTDI5NCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTUwMDQ3MUxXUlhZMlNMRzhYTyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX210ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1649230304&sr=1-5-spons

To be honest, unless you absolutely want the cheapest option, I'd get 4 of those for the extra peace of mind. If you like reading, being able to have hundreds of books to hand, read in the dark and buy new books instantly, often very cheaply due to the endless 99p offers is life changing.

Brilliant. Thanks Barbara. Thanks everyone.

I agree about a Paperwhite but also that the new basic ones are similar to the old Paperwhites (I think mine counts as old and it's great!)

If you're looking at second hand on ebay for £50, they're probably the 2-3 YO ones, so definitely look at refurbished from Amazon for £54 in the link in my previous post in that case.

I'd also suggest getting cases, but make sure you buy the right ones, because, while the screens are all the same size, the outer casings do vary in size/thickness very slightly between versions.

The official Amazon case is expensive, but there are nice dupes on Amazon, ebay and a few other places like Case Happy.

@gerbo

Thanks all. Just checked ebay, and seem to be lots of second hand ones on sale for around £50. Would you trust these? Hard to know....

Absolutely. I got mine for about that, years ago. Paper white, but older model, must have been about the 2nd one of that kind out. Still going strong!

I got mine second hand from CEX, it was surprisingly low priced compared to their other second hand goods but it just depends on luck whether they will have it in stock or not.

@FlipFlops4Me

Get a Kindle Paperwhite - out of the several I've owned this is the best.

You can actually import other e-books and documents to your kindle. You just email them to your kindle with the word "Convert" in the title line. You'll find your kindle's email address in the Manage your Content and Devices section - there are several tabs, so click on the Devices tab. Select your kindle and you will see its details, including its email address.

I have several hundred e-books on mine that I didn't buy from AMazon all converted to kindle format and all perfectly readable.

I forgot to say that the Manage your Content etc is on Amazon in your Accounts and Lists dropdown.

Only thing is, as far as I know, the Paperwhite does not have a facility to play audiobooks, and I listen to books at least as much as I read them (especially on transport). So have always looked into the Paperwhite but gone for other models in the end.

The basic one with light is £39.99 on Amazon on special offer today.

@Ormally

Only thing is, as far as I know, the Paperwhite does not have a facility to play audiobooks, and I listen to books at least as much as I read them (especially on transport). So have always looked into the Paperwhite but gone for other models in the end.

Could you listen to audio books using the Kindle phone app instead if that's the only feature that's lacking?

@FlipFlops4Me

Get a Kindle Paperwhite - out of the several I've owned this is the best.

You can actually import other e-books and documents to your kindle. You just email them to your kindle with the word "Convert" in the title line. You'll find your kindle's email address in the Manage your Content and Devices section - there are several tabs, so click on the Devices tab. Select your kindle and you will see its details, including its email address.

I have several hundred e-books on mine that I didn't buy from AMazon all converted to kindle format and all perfectly readable.

I never knew this,. Thanks so much for the tip. Really appreciate it

I have both a paperwhite and a Kindle Fire, that I bought a couple of years ago to replace my elderly mini iPad. It was considerably cheaper!

I use the KIndle Fire for general browsing/downloading films/TV/Radio to watch, but also for borrowing ebooks and audiobooks from the library. See what your library offers if you want to save some money. Locally our County really upped its spend on Borrowbox titles during lockdown.

I did have a Kindle Unlimited and Audible subscription for a while but the things I wanted were often not covered by it.

I am very happy with my Paperwhite, which is very light, but i find that I invariably pack my Fire instead for winter trips. If you are going somewhere sunny, the Paperwhite works really well.

@FlipFlops4Me

Get a Kindle Paperwhite - out of the several I've owned this is the best.

You can actually import other e-books and documents to your kindle. You just email them to your kindle with the word "Convert" in the title line. You'll find your kindle's email address in the Manage your Content and Devices section - there are several tabs, so click on the Devices tab. Select your kindle and you will see its details, including its email address.

I have several hundred e-books on mine that I didn't buy from AMazon all converted to kindle format and all perfectly readable.

Can you use this for library books?

@hopeishere - I don't know; I've never tried it. Maybe the library could advise? If they are aware that you can actually import books other than AMazon purchases.

ALso - don't forget all the hundreds of free/ultra cheap classics available for Kindle. I have so many and I get so much reading pleasure from them.

@purplecorkheart - once imported to your kindle, when you want to find them on your kindle use the dropdown in the library and choose documents, as all non-Amazon books are called documents for some reason.

So I've had a look on CEX for second hand paperwhites. There are lots of Paperwhite 2s,3s,4s on offer between 38 and 70 pounds.

Anyone else with good experience of this site? Does it matter which generation paperwhite I choose?!

I haven't used that particular site, but we happily buy secondhand iPhones. They come with a warranty, so you can always return it if the screen/buttons don't work properly.

I don't think the processing power/chip makes much difference and individual books don't take up much memory. This wiki site might help:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle

The books I borrow from the library have to be read within the app (in my case that is Borrowbox, but I have had Cloud library). You can install the apps on a Fire, but I don't think you can put them on a Paperwhite.