New Kindle

I'm tempted, I have to say

I am annoyed by that TV ad where the "stupid white guy" is insulted by the "cute", but incredibly annoying and smug chick due to the fact that he is using an iPad can't read it in direct sunlight. They are NOT the same thing. The respective price and functionality are not comparable.

The stupidity, and disingenuous nature of that ad will actually prevent me from buying a Kindle. Weird but true.

I have used the Sony Reader most days for the past two years or so, and find it very satisfactory. I don't really see anything new in the Kindle if you just want to read books on it.

The latest Kindle outperforms the Sony on a number of fronts. It's higher capacity, it's faster, it has a better screen, it's more versatile, there are more titles available, it has free 3G and wi-fi built in, and it's cheaper.

I have the Sony Reader too of similar vintage, and it's just fine. Certainly no problems with speed (?) or the quality of display which is excellent.

I guess if I didn't have the Sony I might be tempted by the Kindle.

I had a play with a Sony one in Waterstones and the 'page-turning' just seemed horrid, slow and clunky.

Is there anywhere it's possible to try out a Kindle?

Niether are for me, I'm happily using the Kindle app on iPad. But Mrs B would like to try out a Kindle.

Steve,
As far as I know the only way is to find somebody who already has one. Luckily I was able to try a colleague's today and I was completely bowled over. I agree it's important to try before you buy, particularly if like me you've never used one of these things before.
I've now placed my order and hopefully it'll be here in a couple of weeks.

Kindle is a nice device, but unlike the Ipad, it is just an ebook reader, and this is the problem.

It's no problem whatsoever. In the UK it's a third of the price of an iPad with a better display. They're completely different devices aimed at different markets.

Many talk about lowering the box count in other threads.

How well does it function with PDFs?

I am thinking about one for reading heavy (in the paper incarnation) computer software tomes. Thus, it is essential that the formatting of the original PDF be pretty well preserved.

Thanks in advance for any views.

Fraser

Fraser, I have a colleague who uses his for just this. Here are his comments:

"PDF handling is ok – the original formatting is preserved. The quality of display varies with the quality of the original pdf so some can be hard to read. People are using Kindles for tech manuals but I’d get a bit frustrated if I was using them all the time as you are battling with displaying columns comfortably while maintaining an easy flowing reading style."

When you're squeezing something like a PDF into a smaller space I guess compromises have to be made.

So, what's the advantage over books?

quote:

Originally posted by JamieWednesday:
So, what's the advantage over books?

Very interesting question! Why Amazon and millions of others did not think of that?

quote:

Originally posted by JamieWednesday:
So, what's the advantage over books?

I'll assume this is a serious question.
You can carry over 3000 books in something roughly the size of a DVD case. The screen is almost print quality and certainly better than an iPad. If you're travelling you can take any books you want with you and there are tremendous applications in any book oriented activity. Education springs particularly to mind, and a colleague of mine is at the moment writing a paper to present to my college's senior management proposing that every student is issued with one. That's total pie in the sky at the moment but perhaps not in five years time. And you can surf the web and access your emails. It's also an MP3 player.
And you can buy a nice leather case so you get the smell of a beautifully bound book as you're reading.

TomK,

Thanks for this. Following your contribution, I've tried mimicking a Kindle-sized window with Acrobat Reader (menus and toolbars off) and I think there will be problems with documents demonstrating any great complexity of formatting.

I think the Kindle is probably a portable Penguin library - grand, but not suited to my purpose.

Fraser

quote:

Originally posted by JamieWednesday:
So, what's the advantage over books?

For a two week beach holiday, my Partner and I would probably take 14-20 books, usually picked up from a second hand book store, with 2-4 new books we particularly want to read.
Apart from 2 or 3 books the rest will be left at the resort.
Travelling with most 'bucket' or charter airlines the journey out usually requires me to carry on a rucksack weighing more than a small child to avoid a cripling payment for excess weight in our cases.
Carrying a pad weighing a few grammes containing countless books that cost about the same as second hand book store copies would appear to be pretty good value in the long run, even if we have to buy two kindles !

Another useful thing - our local library offers a free on-line service for downloading e-Books. They've a large selection & you just download the books you want.

They're time-stamped in some way so they expire after three weeks but as long as you don't connect your e-Reader back to your computer you can hang onto them for longer.

It's fab!

tonym,

Brilliant, mate! This was of immediate value.

Fraser

My wife presented me with a 3G Kindle for my birthday last week, and I love it! Downloads take seconds, I can adjust the typeface and font size, the screen is very clear, certainly better than any print on a computer that I've seen. An added bonus was the ability to surf the web and check my web based e-mails. Although this as explained in the Kindle literature is an "experimental" feature.

Not sure if you need the 3G model, which I guess is only for downloading where you can't access wi-fi, and you would save £40. Beware that you don't bend the connecting hooks if you buy the Kindle leather cover with light, I found it a bit fiddly to fit but it's Ok now and has a reading light built in powered from the Kindle's battery.

Chris

quote:

Originally posted by Fraser Hadden:
tonym,

Brilliant, mate! This was of immediate value.

Fraser

Forgot to add - you can only take out three books at a time per person but of course once you've finished one you can take out another one.

OK, fair enough

A question

How bright is it - for instance we often read in bed (it's an age thing...)

Is the screen bright to disturb the other if they're not reading? A lap top or i/phone screen is bright enough to disturb I think, how about kindle?

Also, can it surf as any other internet device?

Jamie as far as I know there are no restrictions on surfing but obviously the display is monochrome, and it won't handle Flash or movies. The high quality text display and amazing battery life come at the expense of versatility for the time being at least.
I don't know about the brightness as I've only seen it in daylight, when it looked just like a page from a book. If you're reading in bed I guess you'd have a reading light on anyway.

Incidentally Amazon just told me I should receive it by the end of next week. Can't wait.

Jamie

It's not bright at all, it looks just like a page in a book, in fact the leather case can be bought with a reading light that pulls out and gives just enough illumination for the screen/page.

The text is very easy on the eye.

Chris

ChrisG,

Given that the 3G+cover setup cost £90 over the base price of the device, do you think the extra worthwhile? That is, would you have paid the extra, had you not received the setup as a gift?

I am particularly exercised by the cost of the cover as it doesn't look as if it would prevent the incursion of fluids or sand, for instance. It also seems to roughly double the weight and bulk of the raw device - is this a disadvantage or does it actually stabilise the Kindle, making reading easier?

Sorry for the questions, but hopefully any answers will be of use to many in their decision-making.

Fraser