There seem to be some Kindle fans here?
£150 for the Kindle 3G seems like a good deal. I'm just looking for someone to persuade me to part with the cash! Any experiences with the "experimental" web browser?
The relevant bit to this list: Any PC interaction I have with it will be from my Linux (Ubuntu) box. Any reason to have any concerns? I've never owned an eBook but I gigure something like Calibre should allow me to convert between ebook formats (the wife is concerned she'll buy an ebook from Waterstones that she can't use on it, for example; my concern is more about keeping her off MY Kindle in the first place!)
On 15 Nov 13:14, Mark Rogers wrote:
There seem to be some Kindle fans here?
£150 for the Kindle 3G seems like a good deal. I'm just looking for someone to persuade me to part with the cash! Any experiences with the "experimental" web browser?
I'm really quite liking my kindle, but then I do use it purely as a book - so, it's primary purpose is being fulfilled nicely with the bonus that if I get stuck on the train and run out of things to read I can just grab a new one.
The relevant bit to this list: Any PC interaction I have with it will be from my Linux (Ubuntu) box. Any reason to have any concerns? I've never owned an eBook but I gigure something like Calibre should allow me to convert between ebook formats (the wife is concerned she'll buy an ebook from Waterstones that she can't use on it, for example; my concern is more about keeping her off MY Kindle in the first place!)
Haven't tried buying anything that's not directly from amazon yet, but I've heard many people have had luck with calibre.
On 15/11/10 13:14, Mark Rogers wrote:
There seem to be some Kindle fans here?
£150 for the Kindle 3G seems like a good deal. I'm just looking for someone to persuade me to part with the cash! Any experiences with the "experimental" web browser?
It's ok for emergency use only really. The e-ink screen has to go into a partial refresh mode which means there is some image persistence (ghosting) and the web fonts don't look anything like as nice as the ebook fonts.
On the good side, it is a webkit browser and seems happy with most content and for now at least the 3G access is free worldwide (don't expect that to last forever)
However I really wouldn't buy one if I was expecting to need to use the browser often. Get a tablet if you need that functionality.
The relevant bit to this list: Any PC interaction I have with it will be from my Linux (Ubuntu) box. Any reason to have any concerns? I've never owned an eBook but I gigure something like Calibre should allow me to convert between ebook formats (the wife is concerned she'll buy an ebook from Waterstones that she can't use on it, for example; my concern is more about keeping her off MY Kindle in the first place!)
Dunno about conversion but the kindle just appears as standard mass storage. I have only used that to put some mp3's on it. Books I have either bought from the kindle store or had PDF's emailed to my kindle email address (which gets them converted and uploaded via whispernet). I would have thought there would have been some DRM on the Waterstones ebooks that would have prevented this from working.
Again, if you are thinking that most of your ebooks won't come from Amazon then I would argue that it might be the wrong device. Having to use things like Calibre might degrade the quality of the books and reduces the usefulness of the 3G as you can't just grab books on the fly.
On 18/11/10 08:10, Wayne Stallwood wrote:
However I really wouldn't buy one if I was expecting to need to use the browser often. Get a tablet if you need that functionality.
I don't need the functionality, it would just push me over the edge from "I'd like one but can't justify it" to "here's my money, Mr Amazon". I think I'm still on the edge though :-( I'd love a tablet with several day's battery life that weights the same (and costs the same) as a Kindle, but in the absence of such a device the Kindle would be better for me.
Again, if you are thinking that most of your ebooks won't come from Amazon then I would argue that it might be the wrong device. Having to use things like Calibre might degrade the quality of the books and reduces the usefulness of the 3G as you can't just grab books on the fly.
I'm happy to use Amazon or perhaps use the Kindle for reading some of the tech PDFs I've got kicking around that have never been looked at. But the wife tends to get Waterstones vouchers for presents so she'd potentially be locked out. (That might be a good thing!)
I was hoping for a killer argument to make me spend the money, but I think I might just have to accept that I don't really need one, otherwise I'd have bought one by now. I just seem to be in the mood for a new toy and the Kindle seemed to fit price/feature-wise.
I daresay I'll either dive in and buy one just before they slash the price, or dither about it just long enough for the price to go up or for them to run out of stock.
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Brett Parker -
Mark Rogers -
Wayne Stallwood