I Love My Kindle

[aliantha]

Right, and as you say, MsMary, the iPad doesn't have a non-glare screen like a dedicated e-reader does. It's lit up like a computer screen instead. Which I think is harder on the eyes, for an extended reading session.

I just think it's interesting, because before the iPad came out, the "experts" speculated that it would be Apple's answer to the Kindle. (And then after it came out, they wondered who would buy it. It seemed like a gadget without a market. Shows ya what the "experts" know...)

[Mr. Broken]

I love my Kindle. Im a huge fan of Steven Erikson, I read, and re-read his Malazan Book of the Fallen series. All ten installments, Esselmonts additions to that universe, the Bauchelain, and Korbal Broach novellas, all at my fingertips, try carrying that load of books around in a back pack, or sacrificing a significant portion of vital living space to store it. Nope the only drawback is that it doesnt smell like a book. I have faith that someday they will make a spray.

[Avatar]

I have faith that someday they will make a spray.

Yeah, I'll give it that advantage for sure. Those are a lot of books to cart around.

--A

[wayfriend]

Sad news. The Kindle I fell in love with, the one that I was so accustomed to it was like part of myself, the one in the base post of this thread ... died.



I need a new Kindle. But the new ones all seem to suck.

[aliantha]

You can get a new eInk Kindle. They're pushing the Fire instead, because tablet! But you can still get the uber-basic model (no keyboard, I don't think, though) for about $79.

[wayfriend]

Yeah, but I am not happy about the new touch-screen ones.

I generally dislike things that assume I want to do everything a certain way and then make it impossible to do it any other way, and then call it "easy to use". Apparently these new kindles assume you want to run wi-fi all the time, and you want to synch everything you do to THE CLOUD (dum dum DUUUMMM) and is annoying when it can't (like by not having wi-fi on). For example, it won't save what page you left off on if you're not connected to THE CLOUD (dum dum DUUUMMM).

At least, this is the vibe I get researching these things.

Anyone got a Kindle Touch, Paperwhite, or Voyager to give me the real story?

[SoulBiter]

Sad news. The Kindle I fell in love with, the one that I was so accustomed to it was like part of myself, the one in the base post of this thread ... died.



I need a new Kindle. But the new ones all seem to suck.

Ironically mine also died last week. Turned it on and nothing happened, wont reboot, no lights no nuthin.

I bought the new Kindle and it showed up pretty fast. I quickly synced a few books down, disabled the old Kindle on amazon and I'm up and running again.

So the skinny on the new device.
OK... you don't HAVE to be connected at all times. You can pull down any books you previously bought or ALL the books you bought and store them on your reader. As you read it still keeps track of where you were reading. But doesnt sync that to the cloud for you since you aren't connected. So if you logged into Kindle from your smart phone, you could not start reading where you left off on your kindle without paging through. If you then later pick up your kindle, you can sync to where you left off on your smart phone. One of the things (that doesnt require the cloud) I like about the new kindle is that you have a bar at the bottom where you can go backward and forward in the book very quickly without that contant hitting of buttons forward and back.


BUT..... while connected to the cloud you get, a way to look up definitions of words as you read them (in case you are reading SRD LOL). You can change the font very very easily. I like scanning the pages better and you can also tap the screen on the kindle and it will page forward. Finding the way to the home page buttons was fun... you tap near the top of the screen on the kindle and it brings it down.

Overall, I like the functionality of the new one better than the old one... although I have to buy a new cover because the new Kindle doesn't fit in my old one.

Hope that helps

[wayfriend]

Actually, that does help. (Yes, it bites that I have to buy a new cover now, too.)

The navigation features you discuss seem like my wife's Fire HD. Which is okay. But I see a lot of complaints about the Kindle Touch screen being too sensitive. What do you think?

It used to be you could look up words without internet access because the dictionary was right on the device. Now even what words you look up go into the data mine. Yes, I am peeving. But lets face it, the device stores thousands of books and you have to access the internet to look up a word? Bogus!

I suppose I will get used to it. I am friggin' old.

[Horrim Carabal]

I'll use my old Kindle until it gives out, then go on eBay and buy a brand new old Kindle. Or, if they are out of new (unused) old Kindles, I'll buy a refurbished or used old Kindle.

I don't deal with change well, and so I can't really see me buying a new model Kindle.

...as a further insight into my psyche, I drive a 13-year-old car that I've owned for....13 years.

[peter]

In my house a thiteen year old car *is* a new car.

[Iolanthe]

Thanks Way. I was wondering why my dictionary wasn't working on my kindle fire!

[wayfriend]

I'll use my old Kindle until it gives out, then go on eBay and buy a brand new old Kindle.

I investigated that route. I don't think Amazon even lets you register the old guys any more, but I may be mistaken. So this is out.

I guess Kindle Touch is like Windows 8 - it sucks, but you gotta use it to keep up with the times.

Settling on the Paperwhite, it looks like. Touch seems a tad too cheap, Voyager seems a tad too overpriced.

[aliantha]

There's an even cheaper alternative to the Paperwhite, Way. Hang on, lemme do this one other thing and I'll be back with a link...

EDITED to add: Aw crap. They've added a touch screen to the bare-bones Kindle. The version I bought a couple of years ago doesn't have a touch screen.

[SoulBiter]

You get used to it. I bought the newest bare-bones Kindle. I have adjusted nicely to it. Its not 'that' different. I wish they had kept it the same size as the other though.

[wayfriend]

aliantha, yes, that's the thing. It's all touch now. The most basic model is now the Kindle Touch. It seems a little bit too cheap though, from what people are saying. The Paperwhite is the next model up, and I think I will shoot for that. It gets 4.5 out of 5, while the base model gets a 4.

SB yes, they seem smaller, but my impression is that the screen is roughly the same size. There's just less around it. Is this wrong?

[aliantha]

My World's Cheapest Kindle Model seems to work fine, but like I said, it's a couple of years old now. Maybe they've compromised on some of the other stuff in order to get the touch screen feature.

Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. Probably the most significant drawback of my Kindle is that if I want to type a note, I have to pull up a tiny on-screen keypad and use the arrow keys to shift around it to click on the letters I want. It's a little cumbersome.

[deer of the dawn]

I also have the original Kindle (got it in 2012) and love it because all it does is books. I was reading books on my phone for a short while but the screen light does a number on your eyes, and battery life... Kindle in airplane mode lasts a couple weeks, reading a lot.

If you are on NoiseTrade, they currently have a survey which if you fill it out you have a chance to win a Kindle Paperwhite. I filled it out cuz, what the hey. Free is good.

[peter]

How long is a Kindle expected to last then? I expect 5 years min from any apliance I buy and I wouldn't expect any different from a Kindle. In fact I'd be dissapointed if I didn't get 10!

[kevinswatch]

I don't have a Kindle. But I have a Nook. I like my Nook.

-jay

[wayfriend]

We took a look
We saw a shnook
In his hand, he had a Nook
On his Nook, he had a book
On his book was “How to cook”

We saw him sit and try to cook
He took a look at the book on the Nook
But a shnook can’t read so a shnook can’t cook

SO…

What good to a shnook is a Nook cook book?