TO buy a kindle or not to buy a kindle?

[ATruthFestivelyAcknowledged]

Disclaimer: (No doubt this has been done before, please feel free to direct me to previous threads if you know where they are )

I'm a book lover. As in, I love the books themselves as well as the contents. Our house is stuffed full of books. Our biggest challenge after moving was finding enough bookshelves. Because of this I always swore I'd never get a Kindle.

However (there was always going to be a 'however' wasn't there?!) my mum and best friend (who always felt as strongly as me about kindles) have both been given them as gifts over the last six months or so and they both now LOVE them. I've got some Christmas money burning a whole in my pocket and my hand is hovering dangerously close to the 'add to basket' button on Amazon.

So... should I do it? Why? And if I do it, which one should I get?

How do the 'touch' ones work? I've read reviews that suggest it's hard to work the controller to type anything. If that's the case, can I buy books on my computer and transfer them to my kindle? How?

What else do I need to know?

Thank you.

Hmm, thanks Tribpot. I think I need to go into a shop and ask someone and actually look at them. Do John Lewis sell kindles? Or are they only available through amazon?

I got mine on Wednesday. Love it already. Particularly love that you can get papers on it & that it stays on the page you were reading. I've barely read anything since LO came along as keep being disturbed. I'm hoping that this will make it easier to pick up from where I left off & also allow me to buy a paper immediately if LO drops off as I walk into town so I can nip to coffee shop for some 'me' time without wafting his whole nap trying to find a paper shop.

I got mine from tesco & ordered cheap cover from eBay. The cover (purple leather) is lovely & looks great, but the light that came with it is next to useless so I'm going to look for a 'proper' one as soon as this blasted rain passes & I can be bothered to wander into town.

Thanks tripot - yet another thing added to my wish list! The waterproof cover looks great for camping.

My local John Lewis Home had Kindles in.

As well as Tesco, PC World have the covers, and it looks as if they have the devices in too.

The waterproof cover is great for the bath, I'm sure therefore by extension good for camping too :)

I've done a comparison of the size of the cardboard new-sized Kindle that Amazon sent to tempt me, with the size of my Kindle cover, and I reckon it could work if they've situated the holes on the side of the Kindle appropriately.

Right - perhaps a ridiculous question - but can you get Biff and Chip books on Kindle (for free???)?

And another perhaps ridiculous question - when it "freezes" how do I unfreeze if without plugging it back into my computer as I have been doing?

Oh, and does anyone know a good site for plays (want to download Complete works of Shakespeare and it doesn't seem that straightforward.

TIA!

Doesn't look like Biff 'n' Chip are available for the Kindle - why would they be free if they were? Just because every child in the land has to suffer through their adventures at some point :)

What does it do when it freezes, is it when the screensaver comes on with a picture of some famous writer person (or a bunch of fish or whatever) appears?

Looks like Amazon have a few complete works of Shakespeare for the Kindle, but there are a number of other sites on the internet like the Gutenberg Project - I think somewhere in the Kindle manual it lists the main ones?

Thank you - you are v clever. (And know I was chancing it a bit with Biff and Chip!!)

One of the best things for me is not running out of books on hols - or having to cart a big pile away. If I finish what I've downloaded I've just used hotel wifi to buy more. Magic.

I'm seriously considering buying a Kindle for my birthday (not until August). I love books, but I'm out of shelf space, and no room to easily put any more bookcases. The ability to make notes and highlight quotes as you are reading is also incredibly useful for my bookclub. I know two people who had one for Christmas, and I've had a play around with both types (the one with the real keyboard and the one with the on-screen keyboard) - but I'm going to investigate further a bit nearer the time. And I do want an inbuilt light in the cover - I was so surprised that they didn't have an external light as standard.

But I think it's a question of which model, rather than will I buy one at all.

I have an amazon kindle without a keyboard. I find it easy to use and navigate around.

I agree that initially it seems a bit strange that the screen is not backlit. However, personally a fund this arrangement more gentle on the eyes somehow!!

owlelf - I wouldn't want it backlit - it would be like a computer screen then, which defeats the object, I like the dull grey background - but an external light would be very useful when you are trying to read in dim light conditions.

I've got the kindle cover with the inbuilt light for christmas and it's fab. I got the keyboardless one, so unfortunately there's not the same choice of colours as for the keyboard kindle covers, but that's only a minor drawback. I really really love it, I wouldn't want a backlit screen

Got one for Xmas and absolutely love it - haven't picked up a real book since xmas!!

I love my shelves and shelves of books too but am amazed at how quickly I have got used to the Kindle. Went for the basic model with 5 way controller. Easy to set up - just click to access your wifi, type in your code and it will remember it for future!

Easy to browse Amazon - you log in on your kindle using you amazon account so it gives you suggestions for what you'd like to buy etc. It takes a millisecond to download an entire book!

There are kindle special offers on all the time - and check out the top 100 kindle free downloads list! Some great reads on there.

I bought a separate cover with light for reading at night. From ebay - the amazon ones are v spenny!

Go for it!
hth

WidowWadman can I ask which cover with light you bought that fits the normal kindle (no keyboard)? I am going to buy the keyboardless kindle but haven't found a cover for it that includes the light. There is one on Amazon for the kindle keyboard but the chap in John Lewis I spoke to said it didn't fit the more basic Kindle. A link would be lovely

I've got this one It's the original kindle one (with the branding imprinted on the inside and the light takes its power from the kindle itself)

Am I the only person not loving their kindle?

I pestered the back off DH for one for Christmas, he lovingly obliged but I wish I had borrowed one first because I just don't like it, it's weird.
I have been making excuses that I have loads of real books to get through before I start on e books but I'm going to have to use it soon.

I bought books fine in the US, but it was from the UK site. You can't buy them from the US site if its registered to the UK one. Also Kindle Fires have limited capabilities outside the US at present.

I think you get into your Kindle, so keep trying with it, and suddenly you find the right books and can't put it down.

Thanks WidowWadman that is exactly what I was looking for. Maybe I wasn't using the Amazon website correctly cos I just couldn't find anything for the original kindle! Thank you

cheeser - the keyboardless kindle is not the original one, any accessories for the keyboardless kindle you'll find looking for "All New Kindle 6" WiFi"

Thanks WidowWadman that's very helpful. I didn't know what it was properly called, rather than 'basic kindle' which is what I was searching for

Amazon have a Kindle forum. Its on the Kindle books page under discussions at the top. Sorry but I don't know how to do links.
There is a thread on there that answers any any Kindle question.

Oh, definitely buy a Kindle. I have the cheapest one that I just got for Christmas. I love it so much more than I thought I would. I've got "1clickitis" for all the free and cheap books on Amazon.

It's so easy to use and doesn't hurt your eyes at all.