Kindle - do I need 3g

Flat_Eric

I'm thinking of getting a kindle after finally getting my paws on one today and seeing how nice they are as opposed to the sony e-reader.

I have a question though as I don't really understand how they work. well more to the point, how you actually get the book on the kindle.

Their website advertises that books can be downloaded in as little as 60 seconds, I don't doubt that. But what has put me off previously in particular with the sony ereader is that instead of Windows, I run Linux. The sony e-reader is not compatible with Linux so I had to run Windows on a virtual machine to be able to view the e-reader (well the books on it) / to be able to charge it.

As the e-reader was on loan to me - I didn't actually download any books.

Now after having a kindle in my paws this evening and browsing the blurb on the amaz0n site, my understanding is that I don't need my computer to download the books as the kindle has built in wi-fi. Is it a simple case of telling the kindle to talk to my router (vice versa I suppose actually) and then hey presto I can download books at will ? Do I need to do anything with the kindle via the computer - i.e. register it etc ?? I thought that I would need the 3g version to be able to download books without connecting it to my computer but from reading the blurb about the kindle that costs £111, I see that this one has the built in wi fi too so I guess I wouldn't need to shell out the extra. Am I right about this? I wouldn't want to download books other than at home so I'm guessing I don't need the 3g version.

Fifer

You don't need a computer at all. You can download directly from the Amazon website via 3G or by wifi via your router. If you buy the Kindle from Amazon, it will arrive already registered to your Amazon account. If you buy it from elsewhere, you just need to register it from the Kindle - still no PC needed.

siamese0109

It really is simple to set up and once that's done you just register your kindle on Amazon, choose your books and when you press to purchase they're automatically delivered to your kindle for you :j

Setting Up Wi-Fi
Press the Home button, then press the Menu button.
Use the 5-way controller to select "Settings."
Select "View" next to "Wi-Fi Settings" to display a list of detected Wi-Fi networks. You may have to wait a moment as your Kindle detects networks in range.
Choose "connect" next to the Wi-Fi network to which you want to connect. If necessary, enter the Wi-Fi network password. Use the SYM key to enter any numbers or symbols in your password, and the Shift key for uppercase characters.
After you have successfully connected to a Wi-Fi network once, your Kindle will automatically connect to it again when it detects a signal from that network.