Has anyone bought a Kindle, or is there an alternative?

Marauder999

Some colleagues on our works IT forum have told me they use a free prog called Calibre to convert any "books" to Kindle version so you are not restricted to Amazon.

They also mention other free book sources such as Waterstone's WH Smiths and the Guttenberg Project.

HTH.

getcarter

I'm getting a kindle for christmas, how do I order books now ready for christmas?

tanith

getcarter wrote: »

I'm getting a kindle for christmas, how do I order books now ready for christmas?

You have to register your Kindle and card with Amazon first, I'm not sure you can order the books in advance but in any case there is no need. You turn on your Kindle go to the Kindle Store right on the menu page , choose the books you want and just press Buy it and within 30 seconds the book downloads.. its that simple..

xxVickixx_2

getcarter wrote: »

I'm getting a kindle for christmas, how do I order books now ready for christmas?

As tanith already said, there is really no need to pre-order books, but I have found that they are doing free books every so often and they are changing all the time... I have around 30 books I have downloaded over the past month which were free and the are ones like:
Lee Weeks - The Trophy Taker
Neil White - Fallen Idols
Grace Monroe - Blood Lines

All of them look good and I'm looking forward to getting my own Kindle for Xmas so I can try them out.

If you are wanting to do this, then you could just get an amazon account with your debit card set up, and buy them. Im not sure but I think you would have to have a version of kindle downloaded to be able to buy them, but download the PC version, you dont have to use it, but it can save you money on getting the free books if you like the look of them.

Amazon keeps the books you have bought previously on your account and you just click on "Manage your Kindle" under settings and you can send the books to you kindle once that is set up on your account at Xmas.

Check out my links I posted earlier for the link to the download of other versions of Kindle (such as PC) and then the link I found for the free books which arent the out-of-copyright ones and are ones that have been set the free by the publishers.


Hope this helps people. xx :A

travelling_light

my hubbie got one from his lovely wife for his birthday. He loves it and has taken to reading more than ever before... reasons ? He likes the gadgety-ness; likes getting books for free; likes it fitting in his inside jacket pocket and likes its feel in his hand as opposed to a bulky book. Kinda sad he likes it soooo much as I've not been able to get my hands on it...

rosie383

Having a wee quick look on ebay, judging from the completed listings, it seems as if it is possible to pick up a sony e-reader for around £60. That may be better value. Or, to be completely honest, I may have more chance of persuading dh to buy me one of those!!!!

southwestmaid

Had my kindle since October and it's fantastic. Worth signing up here http://www.jungle-search.com/UK/
they will send you an email when free books come out.

tasha_k

Just got given a kindle, have to say I am hooked! Being it out and about or at home, it's one of the best presents I have ever gotten! Seriously you wont regret it! Plus you can get really lovely covers!

jennikitten

Not sure how long e-readers are going to last, IMO they are going to go the way of the pager - they just don't do enough. The biggest drawback for me is that they don't have a backlit screen. I can read Google books, Amazon Kindle books & Aldiko books on my phone in places with bad/no lighting, and they don't irritate my eyes at all (& my eyes are overly sensitive). Realise that a phone is much more expensive, but it's worth it for the number of features & convenience compared to buying a mobile + mp3 player + e-reader + games + sat nav all individually.

Having said that, I would wait until a month or so before you go before buying an e-reader, as products are still being developed & companies are still testing the water. I would read up carefully on advantages & disadvantages of the Sony e-reader & Amazon Kindle because I've found that they both have limitations which were deal-breakers for me, but obviously aren't for a lot of other people.

rosie383

Very good advice. Thank you.