does anyone here have a kindle?

[Sazabi]

Sounds more to me like what happens when a several year old consumer electronic item gets abused by countless people over the years who are only borrowing it and treat it with utter crap.

While possible, the device had no marks of misuse whatsoever, and looked to be in better cosmetic shape that the mp3 player that has only been in my pocket once or twice.  The fact that it has constantly been used, and probably had very little down time most likely played a part.  While I have heard stories of Kindle eInk screens being unreadable after a year or two due to compression upon the screen, the Kindle I used had a screen that had no bleed through whatsoever, and the pages showed up quite nicely... up until it wouldn't reactivate the screen. ^^;  There was a halfhearted attempt to display the page I was on, but it was illegible due to being so light. :/

[thebullfrog]

Strange. Before I decided to plunk the cash down for one I tried doing a thorough search for problems with them and by all accounts they appear to be a very reliable device overall. Sure there's failures, but nothing overly consistent or common. You do have a point that a book can't fail, but I still love my Gen 3 and use it daily.

[Sazabi]

Strange. Before I decided to plunk the cash down for one I tried doing a thorough search for problems with them and by all accounts they appear to be a very reliable device overall. Sure there's failures, but nothing overly consistent or common. You do have a point that a book can't fail, but I still love my Gen 3 and use it daily.

Just different strokes, is all, TBF.   I mean I'd love to reduce my library down to a single eBook reader, it's just that I don't like having to rely upon a battery - I dislike that notion enough with my cell phone and laptop.  While I could definitely read the Kindle better in a moving bus, I'd not want to repurchase the books I have now, yet alone also adding more physical books, too, that I find at the awesome used bookstores nearby.  Alas, even with my recent (nigh insane) book purchases - they can almost all fit into a 12x12x9 inch box with the exception of about six books - I'm still trying to both cut down on my book purchases (this past week was the first significant book purchasing spree I've had from myself in a year or more, Christmas book purchase aside) and get rid of books I have now that I no longer want.

Either way, I'm trying to find the remaining books on my "buy me" list used, unless I cannot for whatever reason.  From the approximately $120 I spent on these books, had I purchased them all new from Amazon or eBay, I would've easily have spent over $240; you can't beat that savings.  I'm still going to have to go by an antique store tomorrow to see if they have any more of the Foxfire series; I have a third of the numbered books, and I know I can get them all online, but if I can get them in a physical store for less, then all the better for me. ^^;

[Pacu]

I love the foxfire books..think some of my hillybilly friends are in there

[Sazabi]

I love the foxfire books..think some of my hillybilly friends are in there

I currently have books 1, 4, 5, and 9.  I'm wanting to pick up the other numbered books, plus the unnumbered ones, too, so 17 more books. 

I guess I'm just odd; while I like the iPad and iPod Touch, I don't think I'd get enough use out of them to make them economically feasible, and yet I end up wanting to finish my collection of a homesteading material, and I have an almost mint pair of "The Way Things Work," from the late 1960s, in addition to works from Plato to Douglas Adams' "The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (plus his other works) and Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture."  I guess I'm just all over the place. :/

Actually, I just realized that I have a duplicate of one of Adams' works, probably "The Long Lost Tea-Timer of the Soul," yet I don't have its prequel, "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency."

[thebullfrog]

Strange. Before I decided to plunk the cash down for one I tried doing a thorough search for problems with them and by all accounts they appear to be a very reliable device overall. Sure there's failures, but nothing overly consistent or common. You do have a point that a book can't fail, but I still love my Gen 3 and use it daily.

Just different strokes, is all, TBF.   I mean I'd love to reduce my library down to a single eBook reader, it's just that I don't like having to rely upon a battery - I dislike that notion enough with my cell phone and laptop.  While I could definitely read the Kindle better in a moving bus, I'd not want to repurchase the books I have now, yet alone also adding more physical books, too, that I find at the awesome used bookstores nearby.  Alas, even with my recent (nigh insane) book purchases - they can almost all fit into a 12x12x9 inch box with the exception of about six books - I'm still trying to both cut down on my book purchases (this past week was the first significant book purchasing spree I've had from myself in a year or more, Christmas book purchase aside) and get rid of books I have now that I no longer want.

Either way, I'm trying to find the remaining books on my "buy me" list used, unless I cannot for whatever reason.  From the approximately $120 I spent on these books, had I purchased them all new from Amazon or eBay, I would've easily have spent over $240; you can't beat that savings.  I'm still going to have to go by an antique store tomorrow to see if they have any more of the Foxfire series; I have a third of the numbered books, and I know I can get them all online, but if I can get them in a physical store for less, then all the better for me. ^^;

I fully agree. I was very much against getting an E-reader for many of those same reasons for the longest time. I liked the "idea" but not the reality of it. However, they do serve a purpose. Certainly not in any way a replacement for the real thing, but a fantastic supplement. By no means are they for everyone, but if you have a use for it, they are fantastic. I previously never had the slightest reason to own one, but nowadays I do and I find it a phenomenal tool to have at my disposal.

[Sazabi]

I was given another Kindle 1; this one has seen more use.  When the device is powered down, there is a noticeable bleed-through on the screen of text. :/

[thebullfrog]

You know I've never actually turned mine off. I should probably think about doing that some time.

[Sazabi]

You know I've never actually turned mine off. I should probably think about doing that some time.

I tried out a friend's borrowed Kindle 3; from what I could tell, there isn't a way to actually turn off the Kindle 3's screen, but instead it cycles through various wallpapers.  I may be wrong, though; it'd be strange if that were the case. o.O

[thebullfrog]

You hold the power switch for 2 seconds to power it down. I've just been using it too much to bother.

[cerbera147]

Ok, I'm in the Kindle club 

Mine arrived last week  It is the new Kindle 3; Wi Fi only. Didn't see the value of paying £40 more for the 3G. Of course now I'm onboard they will either drop the price or come out with a new touch & colour screen 

So far I've been really enjoying it. Like others I've had a load of PDF books that I've now transferred over. I'm currently trialling a newspaper subscription. I don't normally buy a newspaper [never have the time] but it has been great to keep up to date as it is wirelessly delivered before I wake. The monthly subscription is £9.99 which works out at 33p per edition. Undecided if I'll pursue it after the trial.

I fly about every month or so and sometimes firing up the laptop is more trouble than it's worth but pulling the Kindle is just a great idea. Looking forward to my next trip.

The Kindle itself was £111 yet they wanted £50.99 for a cover with a light  Failing that it was £30.99 for the non light cover  Yet people are buying these; well done Amazon  While all the reviews for their covers were good I just couldn't bring myself to spend almost half the price of the Kindle on a cover. I got mine from eBay for £5 and it looks and performs great  I did push the boat and got a decent clip on light for night time reading though.

Overall I am very pleased with my new gadget. From what I read non US Kindle owners are getting the brown end of the stick. I don't see it but others have said that most of the free books out there are only for those within the US. Apparently Amazon.com are not keen on non US customers buying from them; kinda like US eBay. So much for a smaller world, etc. 
I'd like to see more newspapers added and formatted properly for the Kindle. Additionally the Kindle 3 can play music but you can't select the song, it just plays in order of loading. I think this is just crying out to be improved. Same for their browser; it's quite good but could be better. To be fair these are in their 'Experimental' area.
It also has two built in 'hidden' games. Minesweeper and a version of Tic Tac Toe. It also has an image viewer, 16 shades of grey but better than nowt You can also load your audiobooks from Audible if you have any. I have a load from a subscription a few years ago. I've downloaded a few to my Kindle now

At the end of the day it's an e-reader not an iPad but if they could fine tune these features they could stay well ahead of the competition 

[Gareth]

I got a good look at one just the other weekend at the meet-up.  Broadly I really liked it (based on 5 minutes playing) but it's still just a little to pricey IMO.

[Whoey]

I liked the fact that I could carry 256+ star wars books on my flight with me... and not need a shipping cargo crate to lug them along 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I still read on my phone.  I appreciate the Kindle (and other readers) for what they are, but they seem more like tablets that don't do much more than standalone devices, and I'd rather get a tablet.  Sure the e-ink may have an edge for reading, but I've been reading on a PDA/Smartphone for about a decade now and I don't mind it one bit.

Def

[Sazabi]

kinda gives themself a kick in the teeth not using there e ink display anymore well for the fire at least

But with it being a tablet, they'd not be able to play games or movies; it just wouldn't work with e-ink. :/

[ryan1835]

its just the way they were promoting it to make it seem better then tablets in a way, now they have released a tablet it seems a bit silly

[cerbera147]

its just the way they were promoting it to make it seem better then tablets in a way, now they have released a tablet it seems a bit silly

Next step will be a dual screen; regular tablet screen on the front and an e ink screen on the back 

[Sazabi]

its just the way they were promoting it to make it seem better then tablets in a way, now they have released a tablet it seems a bit silly

Next step will be a dual screen; regular tablet screen on the front and an e ink screen on the back 

There are already some out through a no-name company; these have e-ink on the left, and lcd on the right, though.  They look ugly as crap, though.  I'm thinking about getting a Kindle 3 for my uncle this Christmas, and putting a good chunk of Project Gutenberg on it.

[cerbera147]

Their new keyboardless budget model has half the memory of the Kindle 3 

Personally I'd pay £20 more for twice the memory and the versatility of a keyboard. I suppose if you only want the reader aspect of the Kindle and not interested in the fancy stuff it could be for you 

For my next tech purchase I'm hoping the new iPod Touch will come with 3G  

[Whoey]

The keyboard sort of sucks... some of the frequently used keys on ours have already started losing the silk screened characters. That being said, and as cool as a touch screen version would be, I'm in no hurry to replace the one we have.

[Sazabi]

I'm going to see if Amazon does any Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals on their Kindles; I'm fed up with having to print out so many instructions, only to end up at a job location and find out I had grabbed the instructions for the wrong store.  I'm debating about the Keyboarded Kindle with free offers.  $100 will pay off in ink and printing paper in just a couple months' time. @_@    Still wish the Kindle had an external expansion card slot.

[ryan1835]

I gave up on a kindle and bought an iPad, already reading a book on it too. I find it fine to use and read of for long times so I'm very happy. Also turning the page is very authentic haha

[Pacu]

we have so many kindle models it confuses the customer when they come in to buy one now.

sure you have the folks that pour over engadget before buying but ole grandma coming in to buy one is at a serious loss.

[ryan1835]

we have so many kindle models it confuses the customer when they come in to buy one now.

sure you have the folks that pour over engadget before buying but ole grandma coming in to buy one is at a serious loss.

Even I'm confused by the current range!

[Janitor]

Does Kindle have a way to check out books from the library (like the Nook does) yet?

[kd8fre]

Does Kindle have a way to check out books from the library (like the Nook does) yet?

I do not know the details, but yes, Kindle Library Lending is either active, or will be very soon. 

Personally, I like my K3 with Keyboard, but am seriously thinking about getting the KFire when it comes out.

[Janitor]

Does Kindle have a way to check out books from the library (like the Nook does) yet?

I do not know the details, but yes, Kindle Library Lending is either active, or will be very soon. 

Personally, I like my K3 with Keyboard, but am seriously thinking about getting the KFire when it comes out.

Cool beans.  As far as I'm concerned, the lack of library access has been the prime deal breaker so far. Great to hear that they may have (or are at least about to) overcome that issue.

[jzmtl]

kinda gives themself a kick in the teeth not using there e ink display anymore well for the fire at least

But with it being a tablet, they'd not be able to play games or movies; it just wouldn't work with e-ink. :/

You are not playing many games with that spec anyway. Besides the browser goes through their server so they are literally tracking your every move. Plus without access to android market you are pretty much at mercy of Amazon of what you can do on it. Heck you still can't read epub files (ebook standard) on all other kindles.

[Janitor]

Just went to the Amazon site and checked it out.

I'll be much more interested when they sort out how to work with the public library, but while you're still pretty much captive to Amazon's digital distribution, their 'lending library' is certainly a step in the right direction.

[kd8fre]

Just went to the Amazon site and checked it out.

I'll be much more interested when they sort out how to work with the public library, but while you're still pretty much captive to Amazon's digital distribution, their 'lending library' is certainly a step in the right direction.

I just found the Public Library info on Amazon's site.  (I'm not sure of link-posting rules, so I'll leave out the link for now)  but if you punch "kindle library lending" into Google, it is the 4th or 5th major link down the page to get to the Public Library info.