Novice Kindle owner - tips please?

downshifted

Hello all

My shiny new Kindle Paperwhite has arrived and I have charged it and downloaded a few free books. I have a few questions for you kind and savvy people please:

Is there a way of downloading the classics for free, other than through the Amazon site, where only a few are available?

I've heard of and looked at the Calibre website, but I am not sure what it does and how it works - can someone explain it in simple terms please?

Are there any hints and tips about kindles which you wish you had known when you first started?

We have an old plug charger (from something else, I'm not sure what) that appears to fit, would it hurt to try this for the next charge, or do I need to buy a dedicated one for travelling?

Many thanks for your patience and any help you are able to give

Jong_2

Calibre is like itunes for an ereader. It organises and lets you move files to your Kindle.

I think project gutenberg is a good place to get the classics from.
gutenberg.org/
I havent used it myself, but have heard good things.

As for the charger, any mini usb charger should be fine. I've used my phones charger with my kindle for years and its still running fine.

dogmaryxx

downshifted wrote: »

Is there a way of downloading the classics for free, other than through the Amazon site, where only a few are available?

Try a search on Project Gutenberg for starters.

zee_2

go to www.dailyfreebooks.co.uk ..daily list of FREE kindle books and other choices..used for 5 month...sometimes a advert may pop up but easy to use popup blocker stops it. site is very handy and worth a look.

downshifted

Thank you for this help - much appreciated - still not sure about Calibre though :-(

debitcardmayhem

downshifted wrote: »

Thank you for this help - much appreciated - still not sure about Calibre though :-(

Why? I have used it for 4 years, and I don't use kindles, but I do use kindle apps on iPad, my eReader is not tied to amazon's format but uses epub

cheddar_caveman

If your Kindle has a WiFi facility which I presume it has, turn it OFF when not actually downloading to make the battery charge last longer!

Kate.W_3

Calibre is a good programme for organising and managing your books.

You can edit covers and other information and also convert different files. A kindle uses a mobi file type but iBooks uses ePub. Calibre can be used to convert them (useful to me as I used my iPad as an ebook reader before getting a Kindle).

You can also transfer books really easily from your computer to the kindle which is useful if you've brought them from sites other than Amazon.

tnor_fo_tkcab

loads on amazon, just have to juggle the search a bit.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_pg_4?rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3Aclassics+free+books%2Cp_n_binding_browse-bin%3A368165031&page=4&keywords=classics+free+books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397247511


another site maybe worth trying.


http://uk.ereaderiq.com/freebies/

macman

Kate.W wrote: »

Calibre is a good programme for organising and managing your books.

You can edit covers and other information and also convert different files. A kindle uses a mobi file type but iBooks uses ePub. Calibre can be used to convert them (useful to me as I used my iPad as an ebook reader before getting a Kindle).

You can also transfer books really easily from your computer to the kindle which is useful if you've brought them from sites other than Amazon.

Worth pointing out that the conversion is a breach of copyright if the ebook in question has DRM on it.