KINDLEs about to buy. tell me whats great

[Devons Daddy]

Grandma and Grandad of Devons Daddy first born,
wish to purchase number 1 grandson a KINDLE/KOBO or what ever.

seeing so many here are speaking highly of such devices,
is the kindle the Ipod of the electronic book, as in BLOODY AWESOME, or are others as good.

he is into tom clancy,Andy Mc Nabb,spy novels, and thrillers. tends to read a novel in 4 -6 days. hence book shelves now straining. he has started getting stuff on his itouch.

guide my non techy parents to heap the greatest magical tablet upon their cherished male grandchild. oh great HIVE MIND.

[pauljholden]

Kindle's great, also, right now, Amazon are doing a 12 days of christmas on kindle books, every day there's been a bunch of books for 99p - including stuff like the QI book and lots of others - so you can fill up on books on the cheap.

-pj
(Caveat : I don't like DRM books, but, I have kindle apps for my mac and my iphone and ipad which makes it a little more tolerable)

[Keef Monkey]

It's a Kindle I've got, and I've only had it since xmas so am far from an expert. I'm very impressed though, particularly as it came ready-synched to my Amazon account and buying books is incredibly easy (probably a little too easy).

[Banners]

Here's a recent round-up of reviews at PC Pro...

Amazon Kindle 5/6, PC Pro Recommended

Sony Reader Wi-Fi 5/6, PC Pro Recommended

Kobo eReader Touch 5/6, PC Pro Recommended

iriver Story HD review 4/6

[Judge von Boom]

A lady at work received a Kindle Fire for Christmas. Pretty and slick, but the interface seems to a little lacking. She has problems bringing up the menus when a book is open. She has to turn it off and on then quickly stab at the menu, but that may be her problem not the Kindle's.

JvB

[pauljholden]

A lady at work received a Kindle Fire for Christmas. Pretty and slick, but the interface seems to a little lacking. She has problems bringing up the menus when a book is open. She has to turn it off and on then quickly stab at the menu, but that may be her problem not the Kindle's.

JvB

Fire had an update recently for stuff like that. Though, if I'm not mad keen on the kindle fire, I do love the kindle e-books.

-pj

[Emperor]

Highly recommended from me (the eBook not the Kindle Fire, as it is a different beast) and everyone I've shown mine to goes and gets one for themselves.

If the person is interested in early 20th Century and earlier books then it is a no brainer - mine is now filled with enough reading material to last me until I die.

One niggle is still the pricing as you can often pick up a heavily discounted paperback for less than an eBook, which does make it a struggle to stick to the eBooks wherever possible but then there are other times when it makes expensive book affordable (I am tempted by this for example).

[DoomBot]

If you're an avid book reader then a kindle is virtually a no-brainer. Avoid the one with the keypad which adds bulk and weight. Get the one without the keypad. Excellent form factor. Feels nice. As Emperor said, lots of books to be had for free if they're older.

The negative points for me are minor:

Too easy to accidentally buy stuff via 1-click purchase button, but that said the integration with the amazon store is seamless.

What I've discovered is that you can't gift a kindle book to someone (that lives in the UK via amazon.co.uk) though you can from Amazon.com. Which just seems weird and a bit frustrating.

Also kindle books are subject to VAT meaning that new titles might be more expensive than the paperback equivalent.

The Kobo is too late to the party. Can't see why you would buy one of them over a kindle

[Emperor]

As Emperor said, lots of books to be had for free if they're older.

Always check Gutenberg and ManyBooks.net* first (also the Australian one works with 50 years from an author's death not the 70 odd in the UK so they have more there, although legally....) and shop around because you can find more obscure books cheaper in other formats on other sites.

Install Calibre to manage your books and it will also convert formats into ones that work better on the Kindle:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calibre_(software)

* Project Gutenberg have very strict policies in place and check that each book is out of copyright which can slow the process down, while ManyBooks try to get as many public domain books in as possible, so draw on other sites too (which PG don't seem to, which can mean there are PD books on other sites they could scoop up but don't).

[Keef Monkey]

A lady at work received a Kindle Fire for Christmas. Pretty and slick, but the interface seems to a little lacking. She has problems bringing up the menus when a book is open. She has to turn it off and on then quickly stab at the menu, but that may be her problem not the Kindle's.

JvB

Fire had an update recently for stuff like that. Though, if I'm not mad keen on the kindle fire, I do love the kindle e-books.

-pj

Am guessing that's just a Fire issue because the Kindle I have has a menu button which brings that stuff up as a box-out on top of the book you're reading, same button gets rid of it.

I have noticed (as others have mentioned) that some things are more expensive than getting a cheap paperback (some paperbacks go for a penny on amazon marketplace which is something I've often taken advantage of) but it can work both ways (Game of Thrones was £1.99 when I bought it).

[Chris Fain]

Something else to think about; If your son enjoys comics, I would go with the Kindle Fire, because the regular Kindle readers are severely lacking when it comes to comics. If he just wants to read novels though, I would suggest a regular Kindle, because the eInk display is much easier on the eyes, and the interface is generally crisper. Some of the Kindle readers also have a free 3G connection, that is available at all times, so buying a book couldn't be easier.

[Devons Daddy]

TIS the KINDLE then.

oh great hive mind, once again you have guided well.
grandparents have been informed.

the worlds greatest minds have united in one voice.
thankyou chaps.
 

[vzzbux]

THe missus has had one for yonks now and she has never looked back. Managed to make space replacing alot of books.



V

[Keef Monkey]

I mentioned this in the Help forum (and thanks Emperor and PJ for the guidance!) but thought I'd mention it here in case Devon's Daddy makes the same mistake I just did...

Make sure if you're paying money for a book for your Kindle you use Amazon and get the Kindle edition, I made the error of thinking Waterstones books would work but because of the format they use and the DRM in place to stop you converting them it doesn't actually seem possible to put their books on a Kindle device. Beware!

[Something Fishy]

Can the caliber software do it for you?  It converts all sorts and send to the kindle.