Kindle - how, which and why ?

jshm2

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

jshm2 said:

MouldyOldDough said:

Wife is looking at Kindles

I know nothing about them

Which model do we buy ?

Do they all allow downloads from any source or are we limited to Amazon ?

Any advice before we make an expensive mistake ?

Go with Kobo instead. Kindle basically ties you into the Amazon store. 

That is incorrect it absolutely does not tie you into Amazon.  There are many apps, Calibre for one, that you can use to load books onto a kindle so you are not limited to the amazon store.  And remember as an amazon prime member you get access to prime reads and you get a free book or 2 every month

That is illegal, or against Amazon ToS in many cases, and Amazon reserves the right to remove content from your account or device it seems as such. Also, using Calibre can be seen as pirating content in many cases, especially if you're using it to break DRM

I AM a prime customer and get all those and more benefits, but prefer to use my Kobo, or my phone and Kindle app instead.  

goldfinches

MouldyOldDough said:

When someone buys a kindle (from "wherever") and wants a book - are they limited to Amazon for purchasing said book ?

My wife has no Amazon account - due to difficulties with bank account confirmation txt messages....

Yes so have another go at sorting the Amazon account out for her. You can link the Kindle to any Amazon account you choose when you set it up so that might be another way round for you.

diveunderthebonnet

Can i ask a " Kindle " related question ,what is the difference between a 16gb and 32gb kindle ,i know it is the memory size BUT why do you need the larger one ,does it hold more books ? or is there another reason why you need one with a larger memory.
Also i know it is a bit like" how long is a piece of string" but do these items last ,i notice a few posters on this site saying that they have purchased several Kindles.

MouldyOldDough

diveunderthebonnet said:

Can i ask a " Kindle " related question ,what is the difference between a 16gb and 32gb kindle ,i know it is the memory size BUT why do you need the larger one ,does it hold more books ? or is there another reason why you need one with a larger memory.
Also i know it is a bit like" how long is a piece of string" but do these items last ,i notice a few posters on this site saying that they have purchased several Kindles.

Apparently it is virtually impossible to fill 16gb so it would appear to be overkill to get an extra 16gb

flaneurs_lobster

It's certainly true that 16GB of standard text books equates to "absolutely shedloads" but with the availability of manga and graphic novels in e- form, especially on the newer colour readers, they will take a fair bit more storage. 

GDB2222

I have the kindle app on my iPad, so I know exactly how much data it is using: 682MB. I was going to count the number of downloaded books I have, but there are pages and pages of them in the library. It must be hundreds, but whether it’s  200 or 500 I can’t say. 

Can you play audiobooks on the kindle? They take up a bit of space. BorrowBox is utilising nearly 1GB, and that’s with only 6 audiobooks downloaded. 

flaneurs_lobster

GDB2222 said:

Can you play audiobooks on the kindle? They take up a bit of space. BorrowBox is utilising nearly 1GB, and that’s with only 6 audiobooks downloaded. 

Yes you can, from the Amazon Audible store. There's a funky function that can synchronise listening/reading the same book that allows you to swap and bookmark.

goldfinches

diveunderthebonnet said:

Can i ask a " Kindle " related question ,what is the difference between a 16gb and 32gb kindle ,i know it is the memory size BUT why do you need the larger one ,does it hold more books ? or is there another reason why you need one with a larger memory.
Also i know it is a bit like" how long is a piece of string" but do these items last ,i notice a few posters on this site saying that they have purchased several Kindles.

I have run out of space on every kindle I've owned but you simply remove books that you're not reading from it to free up space and then download them again if you want to reread them. Once you've bought the book you always have access to it on the main database whether or not it's currently on your handset or the publisher/author decides to stop offering it in electronic format.
When you're browsing you'll see books marked as "you already own this" or with a "read now" box.
The exception to this is the Kindle Unlimited subscription plan which operates rather like a library with a maximum of 20 books at one time and only works for those books that have opted in to the scheme so sometimes you may find you can't access a book that you previously borrowed using KU.
However, an author I know whose books are all included in the KU scheme tells me that she receives more money from that scheme than from outright sales of her books so there is that to consider if you want to support a particular writer.
The other thing about memory to consider is that some types of books such as those with many illustrations or photos use up far more memory and there is also the facility to underline and save significant sentences/passages to a separate document which can use up a lot too so have a think about what you'll need.

diveunderthebonnet

Can i ask another Kindle related question ?
Does anybody use  " The BookBub program " i came across it on Facebook and all the comments were positive BUT being on Facebook does not make it bulletproof and i would hate to download anything dodgy onto my tablet.

GDB2222

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/bookbub.com

Mixed reviews.