Amazon Kindle

Fifer

RaiderHammer wrote: »

Any other views on tablets please? Or is ipad the considered best or is it over priced?

The latter IMO. That's why I bought an Asus Transformer.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

I got a kindle and it arrived at the weekend. I have to say I am very impressed with it, I got the wifi version as I don't go globe trotting and am quite organised so cant see me in a quandry with no books on it to read.
It is much better than reading from a screen due to the ink technology as it does not strain your eyes.
I wouldnt rely on it too much for internet browsing as that is not its primary function, it is made for book reading and it does that exceptionally well, I love the idea of carrying all my 'library' around with me especially if I have to go somewhere. The battery life is exceptional too..around a month they say.
I am glad I got one after much deliberation about spending £111 but it is money well spent and I have downloaded over 100 free books which are sat there quite happily waiting to be read, its easy to use and a pleasure too.
Some people say they prefer the feel of a book but I say if you like reading then you wont be disappointed, there will always be room in my life for books but the kindle is a definite advantage.
I will still use my local library too, why buy a kindle book if it is up to a tenner when I can borrow for free from the library, the amount I read it is a dispensible purchase and would cost me a fortune. Having said that there are so many free (and very good) books to read I will be reading till kingdom come and still not have finished them all!

lexa34

I couldn't see the point of a Kindle as I have a laptop, a smartphone and love books. However, I got given one for christmas and it is brilliant. I only have to charge it about once a month and it is so easy to use and read. Great for reading in the bath as you can hold it in one hand and click ( turn a page!).

I only turn on the 3G occasionaly as it doens't cost much more and good to have the option for only a bit more cost.

HTH

DCodd

Fifer wrote: »

The latter IMO. That's why I bought an Asus Transformer.

That's an Android machine is it not?

How does the Android Kindle app compare with the actual Kindle? Is it worth buying both an Android tablet for webbrowsing and a Kindle for e-books?

Fifer

DCodd wrote: »

That's an Android machine is it not?

How does the Android Kindle app compare with the actual Kindle? Is it worth buying both an Android tablet for webbrowsing and a Kindle for e-books?

The Kindle app is very well thought out - my Kindle, my phone and my tablet all synch automatically, so whatever is downloaded on one is on all and read the same point. But reading from epaper is not like reading from an LCD or OLED display. Despite having the tablet, I'm definitely keeping my Kindle. Horses for courses and all that.

starlight_xx

To be fair the Kindle is first and foremost an ebook reader, its not sold for its internet browsing capabilities. For the ebook side of things Id say its second to none but if its an internet browser youre looking for then Id go for something which has that as a major feature.

Ive had mine for months now and never once felt inclined to go online on it, thats not its function as far as Im concerned

asbokid

Hopefully hackers will discover how to tether the Kindle's 3G modem to a PC. This would allow the "unlimited" 3G connection to be used for genuinely useful and interesting things like file sharing over the bit torrent and edonkey networks. Amazon would probably react to the discovery by imposing a charge for internet access on the Kindle or by withdrawing the 3G facility altogether. This could cause a useful wave of indignation amongst Kindle users, turning them against Amazon, and re-uniting them with the rest of society.

asbokid

starlight_xx wrote: »

To be fair the Kindle is first and foremost an ebook reader

From a 2007 article from Bill Ray of The Register...

Kindle ain't no e-book reader

Amazon's Kindle has been widely derided as a below-par e-book reader which compares badly with the competition and ignores a history of failed attempts to produce an electronic book."

Someone was comparing the Kindle to those coffee machines that must be loaded with proprietary capsules of coffee powder. Philips launched such a machine, calling it The Senseo.. How very sexy! You know the craze won't last. The buyers will slowly anger at their overpriced cup of coffee and the shopkeeper will resent the wasted shelf space taken up by Senseo "podules" that no one ever buys. And so the scam falls on its face.

The same demise awaits the Kindle. It's living on borrowed time. Already we find Kindle e-books with prices much higher than a dead-tree book. Hello?! Negligible production and distribution costs yet the punter stumps up 50% more cash. Welcome to corporate America and its stinking vaporware..

Quel surprise that Amazon plans to interleave advertisements into the texts on the Kindle e-reader. It's an "optional extra", with a bit of bribery thrown in by way of a discount on the overinflated price of an e-book. It all sounds God-awful. No doubt there will be a brain-dead "intelligent" engine that parses the text and inserts Viagra adverts in every passionate paragraph of my Mills & Boon. Yuck!

asbokid

MrsAtobe wrote: »

The Kindle does not display in colour

There are several research groups developing electrophoretic displays (EPD) of the type found in the Kindle. It's actually a 1950s technology that nobody could find a use for at the time, until the concept of e-readers was re-examined first in the 1970s and then in the 1990s.

Each of the research groups is working on a slightly differerent technology. One group uses black and white ink particles while the Kindle group (led by Philips Research, Eindhoven) uses only black microcapsules with a brilliant white bottom laminate layer to the display. This use of a single colour of "ink" particle results in the Kindle display producing a higher "ink to paper" contrast. However, its tie-up to this technology might also prove to be the Kindle's limitation in the future.

A rival group (Sipex) has recently announced that it has developed a colour EPD, using a filter technology similar to the shadow mask found in a cathode ray tube. Colour e-readers are expected to be available as consumer products in 18 months or less. For the book lover, it will be a much more pleasant experience to see colour illustrations rather than the depressing grey e-ink drawings of the Kindle.

Worth pausing before buying a Kindle to see how the technology of colour EPD advances.

and whilst the browser works, it really isn't brilliant. It's fine for a quick browse, but not for long periods of time imho.

There are regular claims that Amazon has nobbled the 3G connectivity on the Kindle. It seems to be heavily traffic-shaped with connections pumped through a web proxy where they are perhaps analysed for evidence of abuse. Despite the claims of "unlimited internet access", in truth Amazon only fitted the 3G modem to sell books.

Also, with wifi on constantly, the battery life is dramatically reduced.

Amazon reckons that you should charge the Kindle battery every other day, and more frequently if using wifi or 3G. The budget Li-Po battery in the Kindle has a charging durability of 400-600 cycles, so with regular wifi/3G use, the battery is likely to fail in the year after the 12 month warranty has expired. Theoretically, the battery in the Kindle can be changed but it is not a user-serviceable part and for most users, battery replacement will involve returning the Kindle to Amazon for a charged repair.

The browser is also considered 'experimental' by Amazon.

I don't own a Kindle, but from what I've seen, the browsing experience on the device looks dreadful. Owners have complained of painfully slow internet access, and the refresh rate of the screen is so low (~200ms) that it is not really usable for surfing in the normal sense.

I ended up getting very frustrated by the limitations of the Kindle's browser, and knowing that I was going to be laid up at home after a foot operation, I opted to buy a reasonably priced tablet.

Yeah. Life's too short for wasting time on obsolete technologies.

starlight_xx

asbokid wrote: »

The same demise awaits the Kindle. It's living on borrowed time. Already we find Kindle e-books with prices much higher than a dead-tree book. Hello?! Negligible production and distribution costs yet the punter stumps up 50% more cash. Welcome to corporate America and its stinking vaporware..

Well if its not first and foremost a ebook reader I must be missing out on something on mine cos mine doesnt do hellish much else. I didnt even realise I could browse online on mine but so far Ive never felt the need to, Id rather use my phone if Im out and about. I bought my Kindle to read books on, nothing more.

Of the 200 books on my Kindle Ive bought 5 of them on Amazon. Ive certainly not stumped up extra cash to get them either I think Ive spent under £20 on them. Having a Kindle doesnt mean youre restricted to Kindle ebooks on Amazon, far from it.

200 books for £20 - not a bad price as far as Im concerned