kindle question

System

Before I press the "buy" button, I'd just like to have my brain in action over how this thing works. I assume that with it will be a charger and that needs to be done first. When this has been done and the charger disconnected, what then?

I am telling myself there may be software that needs to be installed on my laptop and when that is in situ, I will be directed to a Kindle library, but how to select is something I can't fathom out. We will want to have free stuff initially. Lets say for example we have selected half a dozen free books, yes I have wifi, but what needs to be done to get them on the kindle?

Not for one minute do I think I am alone in having these doubts, so make no apology. I will welcome everyone's four pennorth.

S0litaire

The Kindles comes 40%-60% charged from Amazon so you can use it right out of the box.
No Software required for general use, if you plug the USB cable into the Kindle and PC, the Kindle shows like a usb drive.
Just drag and drop.
as for books try here : http://www.gutenberg.org/ for free books to start with...
http://www.freekindlebooks.org/MagicCatalog/MagicCatalog.mobi < this is an ebook that lists all the books within the Gutenburg site!
Just drag that file from your PC onto the Kindle.

But first it will probably ask you to register your kindle with amazon.co.uk that gives you access to buy books direct from Amazon

tanith

You do have to register your kindle when you buy with Amazon then you can browse at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kindle-eBooks/b/ref=sv_kinc_1?ie=UTF8&node=341689031

If you look to the right of the page click on the 'Top 100 free' tab and it will display all the free books.. once you are registered you can then download as many books as you like by clicking on the book and then on the right again the' Buy now with 1click button' , the book will download to your Kindle in a flash ready for you to read.. Some of the 'Top 100' are pretty cheap too so take a look there also.. and keep checking back as they change the free books quite often..

System

OK, I think we may have lift-off, but when she decides to stop reading and switches it off, how does it know which page she was on?

zzzLazyDaisy

It just knows.

Also if you have kindle for android on another device like a smart phone or tablet you can read the same book on that device and when you get home you just switch on wifi on both devices and it automatically synchs so both are showing the last page you read.

S0litaire

islandman wrote: »

OK, I think we may have lift-off, but when she decides to stop reading and switches it off, how does it know which page she was on?

The kindle only "turns on" to change the screen. otherwise it's in a low power sleep mode But it does change the screen to a "screen saver" image after 5-10 mins of non-use. so you can turn it on, go away for a day and it will not run out of power.

It also makes a note of the furthest you've read and what page your are on, and logs that into your kindle account on Amazon (so if you open Kindle on your PC you can read from the last page you were on when on the Kindle Keyboard, or the other way about.)

Amazon Kindles motto = Buy once - Read Anywhere

nearlyrich

I got one for Christmas, no-one was more anti e readers than me but I haven't bought a book since January ( I used to spend £40 plus per month on books) my spend is minimal now as I try all the freebies on Amazon I have a cd of royalty free books which I have uploaded via Calibre and I buy books I fancy just like I used to do in Waterstones but I spend a lot less these days. I love the fact that I can take it everywhere and when I finish a book the next one is there waiting and I can go book shopping in the middle of the night ( I am a bit of an insomniac) and get it delivered instantly. As someone with well over 1000 books on my bookcase and boxes stashed everywhere I am well and truly kindled. Oh and the new software upgrade that downloaded to my device last weekend has stopped the black screen issue occurring not that it really annoyed me.

njm123

For Science Fiction/Fantasy fans there's also the Baen Free Library from Baen Books - which as the title suggests is free. For the odd book not in kindle format there is always the Calibre option mentioned elsewhere on the thread.

Mainly early works in series - being offered as tasters.

Note that Baen have also produced around 20 CD's with lots of free e-books released as insert in their paper books. However they allow these to be freely copied and there are plenty of places to get them on the internet - fifth imperium being one of the best as it's approved by Baen. Again if the books not there in kindle format use calibre.

I haven't counted but there's around 400-500 good sci-fi/fantasy books available from a professional publishing house legally available for free this way.

Their book sales increased after they took a progressive approach to selling e-books - i.e. at a fair price for the stuff that they do sell and doing things like selling a subscription that gets you a few books a month - some before the paper book is published.

System

The Kindle sounds amazing and something I would like to buy my wife one as it seems that it's always me having something teckie. I now have to decide, should I tell her in advance and show her all the things it can do and how the books are transferred/obtained (she knows nothing about the net), or wait till it arrives which for her would be the frustration of waiting till she understood.

Sambucus_Nigra

Let her find out for herself how easy it is.