Convince me to get a kindle

[Mattey]

I love to read and tried a kindle when they first came out many years ago but they weren’t for me, can’t really even remember why but just remember I much preferred a paper work. Are they worth it? What makes them so good? What type should I get? I don’t need a tablet for other things than just reading. Are books much cheaper on the kindle? I’d like to up my reading this year if I can. Thanks a million

I have never had any issues with DRM and I have been using my Kindle Paperwhite daily for over a decade.

I have never had books removed - they are there in my library, as I have purchased them. As for updates, I have been asked if I want the updates a few times, I don't think it happens automatically although I guess it might to the online versions vs what is downloaded on my kindle.

I wouldn’t be without my Kindle. I’ve read over 100 books this year, and it means as soon as I finish one I have another one with me to start. It’s lightweight and smaller than a paperback so easier to carry around. With Prime Reading, ad hoc kindle unlimited subscriptions and keeping an eye out for deals it has made reading much cheaper than buying books. I can read at night without a light on, no losing my page, no need to find somewhere to store books at home. It’s a game changer on holidays when I can read 10+ books and packing them is just not practical.

I was reluctant at first too, but when my old one broke after many years I didn’t hesitate to replace it with next day delivery so I wasn’t without it.

I’m unlikely to read a book more than once and happy to pay the Amazon price for it so I don’t worry about side loading / books being taken off me / being controlled by Amazon as if I love a book enough I’ll also buy a paper copy to have in the house (also in over ten years of Kindle usage it’s never happened to me).

Oh and it’s great for foreign language books if that applies to you as you can tap a word and get a translation.

I have never had any issues with Amazon. I have a paper white and for all the reasons listed by other posters love it.

It is a breeze to use by the pool too, no sunlight glares and I can wear my sunnies and not my reading glasses as I can ramp the font size up. My DH jokes that he can read my book from the other side of the room as the font is so big but hey ho!

You can also buy a stand that holds your kindle and attach a wee device to it that can be managed with a remote. So in theory you can be tucked up in bed, and not actually need to hold the kindle and turn a page by pressing g a button on your remote. Not for me but can see the appeal!

I use the kindle for the type of books I don't need to have a physical copy of. Books I'll only read once basically. I pay for kindle unlimited and like trying authors using that. It's nice and light and I can read at night without the light being a disturbance. I like it ... although it is a pain if I miss something in a story and want to flick back and check.

For books I love, nothing beats paper.

I just make sure all my books are in epub format. You can download a lot of classics for free from the Gutenberg project and I think PocketBook also has something that will allow you to buy directly from Amazon, but if you do it that way you are once again stuck with the DRM restrictions.

I just make sure that whatever I get, I download it as an epub file and then transfer it to my PocketBook. The files are small, so it's really quick to transfer 100s of books within seconds. It also allows me to keep my own files organization, so everything is easy to find.

If you have a kindle, and a kindle app on your phone/tablet, they sync with each other. This is surprisingly useful for those times when you find yourself with phone but without book unexpectedly - you can just carry on. I also have 3 favourite cookery books as ebooks. Never cook from them, as a physical books is easier, but it means I can be seized with a sudden impulse to cook something and I can check for ingredients while I'm out. It's a good 40 minutes to my nearest supermarket so this is handy. I can also check recipe timings from the sofa without having to go and dig out a book when I'm feeling really lazy. I have always shared my kindle library with DH and vice versa, so only one of us has bought book club books. Downside is now I'm a widow, I'm reluctant to close down his Amazon account because I assume I'll lose all his purchases. Do not underestimate the space saving!
Also keep an eye on the kindle daily deals. Occasionally they throw up something excellent. The selection changes every day, and they are 99p or sometimes slightly more - but always much cheaper than the usual price.
I am on my 3rd kindle and when this dies, it will be replaced as fast as I can manage.

I bought a kindle because I read on my app on my phone and sadly it gets used about 3x a year. I also find reading paper books a hassle now. I didn't research the types of kindles enough and didn't realise the one I bought was so slow either.
To be honest, if you're on the fence I would only buy one if -
You tend to take lots of books on holiday and want to carry less
You find it hard to carry books about
You want less storage in your house/more sustainable (although mixed arguments for that)
You do lots of research on the screen type you want

A recent pro for me was finding an out of print book available. It would have cost me a lot of money to buy a secondhand book that I would on,y read once.

Honestly, get the smallest and cheapest one. It's brilliant and holds a charge forever. I can read when it is dark because of the backlight. But best of all, it's small enough that it fits in my coat pocket or small handbag and comes everywhere with me.

@SlugsWon - are you based in the UK? I don't think my kindle connects to my library's eBooks in the UK?

To answer your question OP. I use my kindle a moderate amount. Primarily I like it to take on holiday because I can get through 10 books in a week if I am away and I like not having to decide before I go and being able to buy more while I am away if I like them. I also like it for buying books as they are often cheaper on a Kindle than in paperback format. They aren't cheaper than buying books second hand.

However, I don't use it that much, but that's because I get the majority of my books from the library - which is in paper format.

If I use the eLibrary I can't get them on my kindle. I committed to a kindle about 15-17 years ago so I am fairly stuck because of the digital rights management. If I started again now I wouldn't necessarily get a kindle - because I think some other ebook readers you can use with your library's eBooks. I would research that heavily. I would also echo what others have said about not buying a kindle fire - contrary to its name, it's just a tablet.

The main other advantages are it lighting up (but minimally) for nighttime reading - you can read without disturbing anyone, and being able to change the font size.

I like mine, but it hasn't completely replaced paper books. It's good for holidays and books I'm only likely to read once (mainly novels), but I still have, and continue to buy, paper books if they're non-fiction, or anything I'm likely to want to leaf through rather than read cover-to-cover.

I've had mine for over 10 years, and it's a very basic model. I'd love one of the newer ones with a backlight (especially for camping!), but mine just keeps on going, so I can't really justify replacing it! 😄

I have a Kindle (2019 Oasis) and a Kobo (2024 Libra colour) .

The Kindle has a larger shop and if you subscribe to their borrowing service (Kindle Unlimited KU), has a much larger library. I find that that when purchasing books sometimes Kobo is more expensive.

Kobo is great in that you have access to the Libby app which is used by public libraries so you can borrow public library ebooks flawlessly. If you’re clever you can access US public libraries which is handy ^^.

There is the ability to download any book you purchase from Kindle and ‘jailbreak’ the file so it can be transferred and opened on a Kobo device. This is the Digital Rights Management other posters have talked about. You are not bound to DRM if you purchase a kindle book. It’s fairly straightforward and I do this when purchasing books as inevitably Kindle is a bit cheaper but I prefer to read on my newer Kobo device. You can find YouTube videos on how to do this if interested.

Amazon has been getting a lot of flack lately for it’s corporate ethics so a lot of people have been ditching them in favour of Kobo and other brands like Boox.

I love my Kindle. I have Kindle unlimited which more than pays for itself in what I save not buying books. I'm an addictive and voracious reader, so get through between 3-7 books per week.

It’s very easy to add non DRM files to Kindle through Personal Document Settings so you can still use Project Gutenberg. You can also send PDFs to your Kindle, I use this for work sometimes.

I’d echo buying the smallest and cheapest. I bought a new kindle this year after my old one died (10 years old, it owed me nothing). My new one fits in the back
Pocket of my jeans, I can read it in the dark and it goes everywhere with me. I do still read paper books but the kindle holds all my leisure reading. It’s by far the best, most used piece of tech I own.

You aren't tied to the kobo store with a kobo, you can buy books from other stores too. I use Google Play store for books as they are often cheaper or I have points.

No need to get a kindle, just the the app on your regular tablet. They are useless for anything but books

Our whole family have Kindles, so we have obviously bought into that system. I was the last to succumb for all the reasons mentioned above, and I love mine now for reasons already given. Essentially, advantages of Kindle:

• always have books with you, and many are 99p or free (out of copyright) if you buy at the right time. I don't have Kindle Unlimited, but one of my kids does, and he shares with me.
• I haven't tried library books recently, but I have loaded epubs on as documents. I think that's recent - or maybe I missed it, but I thought it was only pdfs before.
• For my grown up kids, it has encouraged reading - they are motivated to get 'perfect weeks' and months and the longest streaks.

Edit: An advantage over physical books is that you open up at your last page every time. Also, I have shelves of books, and despite offloading them regularly, I still have more than enough. I love books, but I really don't want to own any more novels I'll probably read just once.

I get a lot of my Kindle books for free - there is a huge range. You have sift a bit but I have had lots of nice finds. Also I check the Daily Deals for heavily discounted books.

I subscribe to Kindle Unlimited for 3 months at a time for the trial 99 pence, then cancel before the normal monthly subscription cost kicks in. I then resubscribe to the next trial offering and I don’t have to wait too long. I do the same with Audible.

Love mine, especially as reading vision has deteriorated.

Lots of books in my pocket, more space for bookshelves for other stuff.

Get the basic one with backlight.

You can switch between kindle and a real book of you prefer!

Get the kindle app on your phone. If you get on with it, consider upgrading to a kindle.

Reasons I like mine - waterproof so I can take it down to the pool on holiday. Less affected by glare from the sun on holiday. Battery lasts for ages. DS doesn’t try to steal my kindle to play Sonic Dash. I use the kindle app on my phone day to day though.

I have a very old Kindle which has been replaced by a Paperwhite Kindle
I can read outside in sunshine, in bed I have it on dark mode (less blue light).
I pay for Kindle Unlimited as I read, on average, two books a week so it’s definitely worth it for me.
I have a mountain of paperbacks I need to read and then pass on - they take up so much room! - but that means having the light on when I read in bed.
Paperwhite all the way for me.

I love my kindle for all the reasons already mentioned on here. If you’re short of storage space for books, it’s brilliant. I find it charges very quickly. I like that I don’t have to hold pages open. I also love a 99p kindle book. It’s saved me a fortune.

I hadn’t read a book for about 20 yrs then in Sept 23 I got given a Kindle paper white and I’ve read hundreds of books since , generally late at night in bed as I have insomnia . We have kindle unlimited anyway as my daughter uses it on hers so we just share an account .