Kindle - buy standard or paperwhite?

onomatopoeia99

tacpot12 wrote: »

I wouldn't buy an Amazon product again since they stopped supporting my Kindle two years after I bought it. To make it worse, they lied about the reason they pulled the support. Please don't buy a Kindle device or Kindle books.

I have an original kindle an it is still working fine and is supported, bought a book last week.

mac.d

No don't buy a tablet for reading books, e-ink ereaders are far better! Better screen for reading - no glare, no eye strain and far better battery life. The only thing tablets have over ereaders is they screens are more robust.

You can't read library books on a Kindle (unless you are in the US), as libraries use .epub, while Kindle's use .azw format.

Apart from PC World, Tesco will possibly have a Paperwhite on display, bigger WH Smith's will maybe have Kobo's, Argos probably won't have either on display.

London50

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

I have an original kindle an it is still working fine and is supported, bought a book last week.

Same for me, I use my original one most days and use Amazon to buy from as well as getting the free Kindle books from the other sites, never had a problem with either :T

LadyDee

Paperwhite, although I have no experience of others. Love my PW, it's one of my most treasured possessions. You can get lots of information on the Kindle Discussion forum on Amazon. Use Calibre to change different book formats to .azw.

pmduk

bitsandpieces wrote: »

Thanks. I thought I could use Overdrive library books on a Kindle now?

As far as I'm aware this applies to the US only so far. However, Overdrive can be used on a kindle fire which is not what you're asking about.

Personally the standard kindle does me fine, I've not been tempted to spend the extra on a paperwhite.

DavidP24

NEITHER!

Seriously had three kindles, plus bought two as gifts, all failed, VERY unreliable, POOR service, does not last a reasonable length of time, I would NEVER buy any Amazon brand again.

They also rip you off in price of books on Kindle.

Amazon have printing rights for many books, they sell some of these books for £1 but Kindle version £5+

Now I use alternative and get all my books in epub or PDF

If you want to know what kind of company you are dealing with just read news

Buy 373 items, return less than 10% and get banned and they blocked his credit balance

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/mar/18/banned-by-amazon-returning-faulty-goods-blocked-credit-balance

What you think that Greg was a one off, ask Ian then

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44350&

How about them deleting your Kindle account along with books, no explanation

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/oct/22/amazon-wipes-customers-kindle-deletes-account

They call it account culling

http://the-digital-reader.com/2013/08/01/kindle-owners-beware-amazon-is-now-closing-accounts-of-bad-customers-in-germany/

What you need to realise is that Amazon can remotely delete books you paid for even if it was the one selling counterfeit books!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1203527/Big-Brother-Amazon-automatically-removes-1984-Kindle-e-book-reader-warning.html

Couple this with the tax avoidance practices of Amazon and I just vote with my feet.

No other Amazon brand EVER!

I do keep two of them as coffee mats, when people ask me about them I show how they are bricks and this is all they are good for.

mac.d

The only thing the above post is missing is the Daily Mail headline to go with it :rotfl:

DavidP24

How remiss of me, happy to oblige


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3637886/Family-forced-flee-home-Kindle-burst-flames-set-home-fire-charging-overnight.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2932761/The-great-Amazon-rip-UK-customers-charged-60-Prime-service-European-countries.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3502558/Have-old-Kindle-need-update-reading-books.html


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-4453924/I-loved-Kindle-m-books.html

JReacher1

mac.d wrote: »

Kindle does dominate the market, but there is also the option of buying a Kobo. Both have their good and bad points.

Kinde
+ integration with the Amazon bookstore
+ Amazon has arguably the best selection/price of books
+ Amazon customer support
+ ease of use, just pick up and read books with no fiddling
- not hugely customisable
- can't borrow library books
- limited to books from Amazon

Kobo
+ more customisable, better font/text options
+ can borrow library books
+ not limited to Amazon, can buy books from more sources
+ better book organisation (with Calibre software)
- can require more fiddling (as more customisable), but for some this is a plus
- tends to be more buggy than Kindle (probably because more customisable)
- can't buy books from Amazon
- customer support can be hit and miss

As for the lighted reader v basic non-lighted. If you were perfectly happy with your Nook, the cheaper Kindle (or Kobo Aura) would probably be fine. The increased resolution is nicer but not hugely noticeable, as the built-in light tends to make the screen slightly less clear. Mind you, I'd personally never go back to an ereader without the built-in light.

Another thing about buying a Kobo would be (if you are willing to spend a little more) the option of buying an Aura H20 with a slightly bigger screen. It makes it less portable, but gives you a bit more screen size to enlarge the text on.

You can use Calibre on a Kindle as well. It is not just Kobo

Frozen_up_north

I have an old Kindle 3G, despite the addition of the keyboard it's great. I am currently in Spain and use it every day for a newspaper and bought two books on it in the past week.

My Kindle hasn't had any issues and the battery is still fine. Incidentally you can change the battery easily yourself. Open the case with a soft plastic guitar pick.

Regarding Kindle book prices, many are set by the publisher and some detest non paper formats. One uk publisher I emailed said the Kindle price would never be discounted as they wanted to encourage the use of paper books!