new kindle e-reader

[maark]

Have never used an e-reader but seriously thinking about pre-ordering one of these - wifi only is £109. Can anyone give me feedback on using previous versions?

See amazon front page - www.amazon.co.uk

[pete]

I'm tempted as well for manuals, study texts and DR docs.

 

Need a few pre-sales questions answering first though. Would like to be able to convert password-protected .pdfs to kindle format, which doesn't work via email (nor would I want to email them), so I'm hoping for a corporate config toolkit.

Edited August 2, 2010 by pete

[plexer]

If you go for the 3G version then you get basic web browser as well though could come in handy?

 

Ben

[AyatollahPies]

I'm tempted as well for manuals, study texts and DR docs.

 

 

I may be tempted myself if it can display Microsoft manuals that are in pdf format. Call me a slacker, but I cannot be bothered to sit down and try to read for more than a few minutes with a book that would kill a kitten if you dropped it on it.

[steve]

I've ordered one, so I'll do a little review after it arrives

[flyinghaggis]

I've ordered one, so I'll do a little review after it arrives

 

I'd definitely be interested to hear your thoughts about it as I'm quite tempted by one aswell. As above I loathe having to lug around 1000 page tech manuals. The thought of a nice lightweight PDF capable reader is pretty appealing especially at the £100 price point.

 

Would be nice if there was some way to 'subscribe' to your favourite websites and have it auto-download the latest articles/news/etc over wi-fi. Sort of like a podcast but for books!

[mattx]

Is there any DRM on what you download etc ? As I like to share books........

[flyinghaggis]

AFAIK you can copy across PDFs/txt files onto it but if you purchase any books from the amazon store (effectively itunes for books!) I believe they're all DRM'd so you can't give them to anyone else. I *think* you can install the Kindle reader software onto you're PC/phone/etc so given your account details you can, in theory at least, read any book you buy on any device you own.

 

To be honest I'd never download a book from amazon (or a song from itunes) simply because I object to the DRM. Especially when I can buy a physical book/CD that I'm free use wherever I like or lend to my friends!

Edited August 6, 2010 by flyinghaggis

[mattx]

Anything DRM is a no no in my house, they can go and swivel then - certainly won't be getting one now. [ Unless someone finds a way of breaking the DRM ]

 

Just found this - may get one after all !!

 

http://i-u2665-cabbages.blogspot.com/2009/12/circumventing-kindle-for-pc-drm.html

Edited August 6, 2010 by mattx

[robk]

I am sure no one would sugest breaking Amazon's copywrite and of course removing DRM is ilegal.

 

It is nice to be able to lend a book to a friend, one of the downsides of electronic media I suspose.

[pete]

Pre-ordered a wireless one, since 3G is a mythical beast hereabouts.

[tom_newton]

Have pre-ordered the 3g one. Will tell you after xmas if the promised free mobile coverage in Nairobi* works Pete - it will drop to GPRS etc. in absence of 3G so you'd have been ok?

 

* May test in the city, but i'm staying in kitingela area, a few miles south, so may not be a fair test. Still, looks like its on amazon's coverage map.

[Soulfish]

Have pre-ordered the 3g one. Will tell you after xmas if the promised free mobile coverage in Nairobi* works Pete - it will drop to GPRS etc. in absence of 3G so you'd have been ok?

 

* May test in the city, but i'm staying in kitingela area, a few miles south, so may not be a fair test. Still, looks like its on amazon's coverage map.

 

Do you know if worldwide 3g roaming is included, or is it an extra cost? I know the US kindle doesn't include worldwide roaming (you have to pay extra), but the UK Kindle page isn't very clear!

[pete]

Pete - it will drop to GPRS etc. in absence of 3G so you'd have been ok?

 

Not that fussed and the extra £40 bumps it out of my "impulse purchase" bracket. With readily available Wifi and sufficient reading material for a few years, I'm unlikely to be stuck bookless in Elbonia.

[AyatollahPies]

Well, at least most places appear to charging less for the ebooks than paperbook, which makes sense as no extra production, cost of paper needs to be added on.

 

Unlike downloadable games of course. Was looking on the GAME website yesterday at some classic PC games from around 10 years ago and you could purchase a physical copy of one game (forget which) for £1.49, yet it cost £9.99 to download.

 

Plonkers!

[tom_newton]

Can't see any indication there's a further charge for worldwide roaming. Sure they'd have to fess up if there was one. Oddly enough their cell map shows 3G coverage in Nairobi, but not right on the centre of the town - in fact more out towards where i'll be. Hmmm. Error in lat-long conversions or oddly placed 3g mast? i'll find out

 

Re: games: have you tried "good old games"? (gog.com) - I got a few off there, and it is good & cheap.

[AyatollahPies]

Someone else mentioned gog.com this morning. Will have a ganders.

 

Sorry for going off topic. ;-)

[pete]

*ponders if he could hack the Kindle to run Zork*

 

(someone's already stuck Ubuntu on the original one iirc)

[dhicks]

Have pre-ordered the 3g one.

 

Am tempted... I'd want something I can get a newspaper on, though, and the PC Pro review didn't sound that impressed:

 

Kindle newspapers: slower than print | PC Pro blog

 

Seemingly you get a text-only version of the paper, too, which is a bit off.

 

--

David Hicks

Edited August 10, 2010 by dhicks

[steve]

Got my kindle today

 

First Impressions:

 

Nice size, just fits in one of my larger that average hands. Nice shape and weight.

 

Text is very clear and easy to read - much better than a computer screen.

 

Loaded a couple of PDFs and this is where it isn't perfect. It doesn't re-format the text for the screen and make it a font adjustable format. You're limited to zooming in / out of the pages. However if your rotate the screen via a menu, the pdfs I've tried are quite readable.

 

PDF text is search-able, but in a 400 page book its very slow (can be over 30 secs between finds).

 

There is a web browser too! Its not great but usable.

 

3G / GPRS is ok, but wifi quite speedy.

 

Any questions, I'll try and answer them.

[tom_newton]

Steve - when did you order? I should get mine soooooooooooon!

 

Thought of re-formatting pdfs before use? Reckon i could use ghostscript to sort things out automagically.

[steve]

Ordered it 3 weeks ago. Got it delivered this morning (sat) - didn't pay for delivery either.

 

Might have a look at formatting pdfs when I get a bit of time.

[dhicks]

Any questions, I'll try and answer them.

 

Are newspapers readable in text-only mode? Does The Independent still only start arriving at 7:15am? Any idea how long it takes to download?

 

--

David Hicks

[steve]

Are newspapers readable in text-only mode? Does The Independent still only start arriving at 7:15am? Any idea how long it takes to download?

 

--

David Hicks

 

According to the kindle shop nothing has changed for newspapers. Still text only and arrives starting 7.15am. Not sure on download times - guess that will depend on whether wifi, 3G or GPRS. £13.99 a month is a bit steep IMHO for a newspaper. The only review of the Independent download claims all the articles in the kindle version are on the independent website anyway. So you could just use the inbuilt browser and save the cash.

[steve]

Just found a nice free bit of software for converting pdfs to ebooks, which makes them more kindle friendly.

 

Mobipocket eBook Creator