Question Kindle worth getting?

[cHodAX]

Been thinking about grabbing one of these for quite a while now and with Christmas coming up I thought it might be a gift for myself. Was wondering what people thought of Kindle though, anyone using one and what are the book prices like?

 

[Deebs]

I have always thought about getting one but until I am satisifed that DRM is a nogo I have always held off. DRM is the only thing that stops me from getting a ereader of any sorts.

 

[nath]

It's fooking lovely. The prices are OK to shit to great, entirely depends on the book. One of the problems is that there's no VAT on regular books but there is on ebooks so it's not always that much cheaper.

Oh, and Deebs - sure DRM might be a bit pants on Amazon's own store but there's nothing to stop you from using DRM free files on the Kindle - pdf's, text files, whatever.

 

[Deebs]

Nath,

Could I load other ebooks on the Kindle or does it have to be Amazon's only?

 

[nath]

It supports a limited number of formats, but converting from your PC or using Amazon's own auto-convert utility is childs play.

 

[cHodAX]

Very very tempted, that said prices of more recent books can be a bit pants down. The specs on the new Kindle are excellent though, wifi web browsing could be bloody handy as well.

 

[cHodAX]

A certain bay where pirates go has a reasonable amount of books, might be a good option while I wait for the prices to drop on new books that come out. Refuse to pay £10 for a digital download barely 1mb in size, that is the publishers more than Amazon though as some of the older books are unbeliveably cheap.

 

[nath]

Very very tempted, that said prices of more recent books can be a bit pants down. The specs on the new Kindle are excellent though, wifi web browsing could be bloody handy as well.

Web browsing is a bit clunky, but the pages render very well indeed. Plus, when it comes to reading columns and blogs it's fuffing aces.

 

[cHodAX]

You have sold me nath. Thanks alot for the advice fella, gonna order one now.

Not gonna bother with the 3G one, loads of wifi hotspots in Manchester or if I travel via stations/airports etc.

 

[nath]

Yeah, I don't see much need for the 3g. My mate bought the 50 quid lighted leather case and says it's pure sex. A bit pricey for me though.

 

[soze]

I have one and it is great. I had the white one but i upgraded to the graphite one recently. It you wait for books to hit paperback they are about £5 ish they tend to be 20p or so cheaper than the book which is a bit of a piss take as selling the book must cost so much more. But being able to carry 600 books around more than makes up for that.

I keep my ms reference books on it and being able to have that source of reference when you have no internet has come in handy a few times.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

I much, much prefer reading a real book and have no need for any of it's other functions, so I shall continue to eat up space with rows of books.

 

[nath]

Some free ebook sites:

Free eBooks at Planet eBook - Classic Novels and Literature
Amazon.com: Free Book Collections: Kindle Store
Free Books : Download & Streaming : Ebook and Texts Archive : Internet Archive
Welcome to Open Library! (Open Library)
Project Gutenberg - free ebooks online download for iPad, Kindle, Nook, Android, iPhone, iPod Touch, Sony Reader
ManyBooks.net - Ad-free eBooks for your iPad, smartphone, or eBook reader

 

[ST^]

I have always thought about getting one but until I am satisifed that DRM is a nogo I have always held off. DRM is the only thing that stops me from getting a ereader of any sorts.

I don't think DRM is an issue. There is a Kindle app for Windows, Mac, iPhone/iPad, Android, and I think Blackberry too. You can read your kindle books wherever. Even syncs your last-read history to your amazon account Did you have some other kind of concern with DRM?

 

[nath]

I don't think DRM is an issue. There is a Kindle app for Windows, Mac, iPhone/iPad, Android, and I think Blackberry too. You can read your kindle books wherever. Even syncs your last-read history to your amazon account Did you have some other kind of concern with DRM?

There's a reasonable concern about kindle ebooks bought on the amazon store. I read about people having purchased a book where the publishing deals changed and subsequently people had it deleted from their Kindles. A bit shitty really.

 

[Zenith.UK]

There's a reasonable concern about kindle ebooks bought on the amazon store. I read about people having purchased a book where the publishing deals changed and subsequently people had it deleted from their Kindles. A bit shitty really.

You mean like this?
Why Amazon went Big Brother on some Kindle e-books

 

[Tom]

The e-book prices are a fucking ripoff. No thanks.

 

[nath]

The e-book prices are a fucking ripoff. No thanks.

Not all of them, some are very reasonable, but yeah there are some serious ripoffs :\. Plus, you could always buy a regular book and acquire the ebook through alternate means...

 

[inactionman]

Until I get a digital copy with my physical one, or there is something that allows me access to my current book collection for a relatively cheap subscription, I'm not interested. I mean I physically own the book already, the electronic version is currently just a convienience!

 

[rynnor]

Heathens

How can you move away from the beloved feel of books - the re-assuring heft of it.

The 'not f*cking up your eyes staring at a screen' of it.

The lack of battery requirement, the drop it on the floor and its fine ability of it.

And the whole ownership thing - would you really swap an attractive tome for a text file on your puter?

I'm amazed any of these ever sell tbh.

 

[nath]

The 'not f*cking up your eyes staring at a screen' of it.

The lack of battery requirement

These are two non issues. The e-ink screen is like looking at paper, it doesn't fuck up your eyes at all - it's not illuminated.

As for the battery - 4.5 hour charge gets you 4 weeks. I'd say that's not much of an issue.

 

[FuzzyLogic]

I love the look of rows of books, something I really miss from the local libraries (too many computers in them for my liking); the tactile feel of the pages and to come dangerously close to sounding like Giles, the smell of them too

Can't deny the practicality of e-readers though, that many books in that small a space? Makes too much sense for nobody to have created it. They sound like the king of tech manuals or books that are more or less obseleted by newer versions. Heck, universities and the like could use it to easily distributing specific editions of said books for courses (if they have an agreement with the publishers of course )

Meh, rambling. tldr, ebooks have a use, physical is better

 

[throdgrain]

I may be wrong, but isnt this just a little computer to read books on?

Why dont you just buy a fucking book??

 

[FuzzyLogic]

What, like Hustler?

 

[DaGaffer]

I've been looking at this a lot lately; the Kindle is definitely the best quality dedicated reader out there, and the price aint bad. I also have a serious space problem with the amount of physical books I have...but, Amazon still don't support ePub (which is the MP3 of ebooks) so you are pretty tethered to them for purchases, and there's still a lot of fighting going on with the publishers, so the books you want may not be available.

I'm actually thinking of the Galaxy Tab instead. A lot more expensive, but it would be my music and video player as well as a decent web device. We've got a test one in at work and it is really nice, much more usable day to day than an iPad imho (and supports a shitload more formats as well as Flash), and it solves the Amazon problem because it has its own ereader, but you can also download the Kindle reader from the marketplace.

 

[Tilda]

I'd wait and look at the ADAM tablet which is going to have a screen better than a Kindle so should be awesome for ebooks

 

[cHodAX]

Heathens

How can you move away from the beloved feel of books - the re-assuring heft of it.

The 'not f*cking up your eyes staring at a screen' of it.

The lack of battery requirement, the drop it on the floor and its fine ability of it.

And the whole ownership thing - would you really swap an attractive tome for a text file on your puter?

I'm amazed any of these ever sell tbh.

I own about close to 1000 books bud, my place is fit to bursting with the things and I work away so much that carrying books all the time is a real pain in the arse. Oh and the Kindle needs charging about once a month, can play mp3's and web browse!

 

[cHodAX]

I'd wait and look at the ADAM tablet which is going to have a screen better than a Kindle so should be awesome for ebooks

ADAM looks superb but pricing is beyond what I am prepared to pay as an impulse purchase.

 

[old.user4556]

These are two non issues. The e-ink screen is like looking at paper, it doesn't fuck up your eyes at all - it's not illuminated.

As for the battery - 4.5 hour charge gets you 4 weeks. I'd say that's not much of an issue.

This.

I was one of the ignorant "fuck that reading a backlit load of shite, give me a real book!" types, then I saw and used a Kindle up close. I even cemented my ignorance by saying to my colleague "man, they've even left a piece of real paper inside the cover for you to make it look like a real book!".

He said "no you fucktard, this is e-ink, it looks like real paper and ink".

I said "but surely the battery is shite?"

He said "no, it only uses battery when it refreshes a page, so on average it lasts a month".

I said "oh".

Fucktard I was. I have since U-turned my opinion on the Kindle and think it's fucking marvelous for those people that are regular readers and want to travel light. Not so sure it would replace rows of books at home, but if you had a reasonable commute on a bus / train / plane, or wanted to take several books on holiday without the bulk, it makes absolute sense. Even the speech sounds decent. The e-ink really does look like paper and ink as if you're reading a book.

 

[nath]

I've been looking at this a lot lately; the Kindle is definitely the best quality dedicated reader out there, and the price aint bad. I also have a serious space problem with the amount of physical books I have...but, Amazon still don't support ePub (which is the MP3 of ebooks) so you are pretty tethered to them for purchases, and there's still a lot of fighting going on with the publishers, so the books you want may not be available.

There are a tonne of utilities on the web that will convert any and all formats to be compatible with the Kindle. So while it may not support it natively, there's always a way.