kindle help!

no.1swimmum

Please be gentle with me, I apologies in advance for what might seem to some a stupid question!! and I also hope that I posted in the correct area ;-)

I am thinking of buying my husband a Kindle 3g for his birthday this month - now I know that he can down load books etc. but can he actually surf the web via the kindle or is it just straight to Amazons site to purchase books etc - if not then I think I might give him some money towards an ipad as he would use it more (but can't quite stretch to buying one at the moment)

Thanks for your help

penrhyn

The Kindle has an experimental web browser, its not very good!
However you can just about use it for reading emails, I have found that if the site you want to use has a mobile version then its not too bad.
There are reviews about the Kindle 3 browser on the You Tube.

kwikbreaks

My own view is that it isn't worth paying the extra for 3G on the basis of the browser unless you really need the internet while out and about and have no other means of accessing it. Assuming there is a wireless router at home that should be perfectly adequate for downloading books as the Kindle can store loads of them so you can stock up in advance for holidays etc.

sillygoose

The Kindle browser is about good enough for shopping on Amazon, which is no surprise! For the price of the 3G Kindle + another £40-£50 you could buy a little 10" Netbook PC. In the long run it will do far more than a Kindle or an ipad. Something like a Samsung N130 has a very long battery life is only just over a kilo in weight and performance is fine (once you uninstall all the rubbish they load on them). If you wanted it to be totally roaming, not just on wifi you could easily add that later with a cheap 3G USB dongle plugged in.

.. anyway just a thought.

BillScarab

A netbook will be crap for reaidng books on though in comparison to a Kindle. The web browser on the Kindle is very basic, you wouldn't want ot use it regularly. I'd also agree that getting the 3G one is pretty pointless if you have WiFi at home.

You need to decide what your husband actually wants as the Kindle is superb for reading books but not much use for anything else. If he wants a mobile computer you need to be looking at Tablets and Netbooks. But they won't be as good for reading books.

Fifer

RussJK wrote: »

Pretty much true - get an ereader if you primarily want books, and get a netbook if you primarily want the net on the go. One exception would be when the 7" Samsung Galaxy tab goes down in price. The screen is fantastic, a super AMOLED that doesn't use a backlight, and would be quite good for reading without eyestrain.

It'll satisfy both my rational desire for an ereader, and my irrational desired for a tablet PC - also will be useful for looking up things I need at work given it's smaller size.

SUPERAMOLED is still an emissive technology and just as likely to cause eye strain as LCD.

The 3G browser on the kindle is usable just. It's ok for catching up with emails and BBC news. It's very handy for free use abroad for those purposes.

Aiadi

My 3G Kindle saved my **s whilst stuck abroad with no access to WiFi when the great British airports were covered in snow. We have also used it countless times to find addresses and locate points of interests. Having internet access (albeit basic) in something like a 100 countries that does not need worrying about topups or finding a hot spot is an absolute killer for me.

Humphrey10

Kindles (and other ereaders) are much better than ipads (and other tablet PCs) for reading books on - I've no idea about eye strain etc, I just know they are more pleasant to use. And also they are much lighter than an ipad if you are holding them up for any length of time.

no.1swimmum

Thank you so much for all your replies - he reads alot i am still undecided so think that maybe the best thing to do is to ask him.

hjibds

Apart from the eye strain etc where the Kindle comes in to its own is reading outside on a nice summers day (I know we dont see many of them!). An iPad is useless in the sun with the glare, i'm yet to find an android tablet that can be read under bright sunlight also.

penrhyn

Steve Martin ( Actor) recently tweeted that he had downloaded 11000 books onto his Kindle and that now he couldn't lift it!