Christian Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Which costs £97 as you have to spend extra for a UK plug attachment......disgusting! You get the usb cable, so you can charge it through your laptop, but need a plug I bought one fo rmy Mum for Christmas and didn't realise - so I checked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docsquid Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 My Sony reader went wonky a little while ago and it was a toss-up between the Kindle wi fi and the Kobo reader. In the end I went for the Kobo reader because I can read the e-pub format on it, and I had already got over 100 books on the Sony reader. You can convert copyright free books for Kindle, but not the ones with DRM still attached, which unfortunately is most of the books I already own. I can say that the Kobo is excellent. Beautiful screen, long battery life, purchase and download books using the reader or computer, lovely touch-screen technology. It is linked with WH Smith online, and there are a very wide range of books available to buy. There is also a Kobo reader for the iPad, so I can use that if I'm left without the Kobo. If there is a book available only on Kindle, I have the reader for the iPad. However the iPad is relatively large and heavy, so I wouldn't want to use it all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Code here for £10 off a Kindle from Tesco Direct. Valid until December 1st. Hope this is helpful to some of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 The Kindle sounds the bee's knees from all of this, but is it just me, or do Amazon, like Google, seem to be taking over everything? And will it be a case of more new software that we all have to update to about once a year? I'm worried that everything seems, well, very ephemeral. Forget the old libraries (British Library, Bod etc.) if in years to come x and x book (like modern photos) won't be accessible because we'll all have different software or new hardware (lesson learnt through cassette and LP collections). Tell me I'm an old fogy full of Bah Humbug by all means Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 IMHO,it us no different than vinyl becoming CDs which in turn became downloads. Or VHS becoming DVD. It's just progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 I'm not sure it is 'progress' so much as just 'different' and 'new' but I would not want to put the clock back. New things are bound to happen. I just worry that with each new device we are constantly being pushed to upgrade to the next level of sofware (3G is about to be replaced by 4G) and the previous level is made incompatible. Look at Microsoft and how Windows one version is replaced by Windows the next version. This is often as much a money making device as it is genuine advancement. I worry that through all these so called 'upgrades' a lot of records are being lost. We all rush to load pictures to things like Photobucket - but how long will that be around? With 'vinyl becoming CDs which in turn became downloads.Or VHS becoming DVD' a lot has already been lost. In a way, too, this change could be much more dangerous. Vinyl, VHS etc are all very recent but books have been around for hundreds if not thousands of years in on form or another (think -Great library at Alexandria). The advent of eBooks would be fine (like clay tablets changing to paper and the arrival of the printing press) except if changes in software make a lot of modern ebooks unreadable in as little as, say 5 years. If paper continues to co-exist then fine, but many books will only come out in e-form. All very ephemeral. What's more do we really all want to be just the puppets of Google, Microsoft and now Amazon? (And with all that thought at this time of day - I need me a coffee ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docsquid Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Another good reason not to go for Kindle is that Amazon refuse to allow people to read the e-pub format on the Kindle. Yes, you can convert free e-pub books, but not the DRM ones. Most public libraries supply books for lending as e-pub, so you won't be able to borrow books if you have a Kindle. I found the range of books rather limited on Amazon (I don't read any fiction or novels, only reference books or text books or science books), which is why I've gone for the Kobo reader as the range of books is better. Plus it gets better reviews than the Kindle. If the Kindle allowed you to read DRM e-pub, then I'd have gone for that because it is slightly cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 I have yet to find a book that I couldn't either download from Amazon or rip via Calibre. But then I read novels,not reference books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squiffs Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Who is to say that in the future a software update would not be available for download enabling the kindle to read other formats? Amazon tries to push for books to become available in 'e' form, but they can't make publishers do something they don't want to do, so I get that. I'm just not buying that amazon will forever stop people reading other formats, they can see that it's a big tick in the 'cons' list for the kindle, and it can be easily addressed by the fact that all kindles have wireless and 3g connectivity, so software patches are easily distributed and put into beta testing. I read reference books mostly at the moment, and I find that converting files to PDF eradicates the problem entirely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickendoodle Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 The Kindle sounds the bee's knees from all of this, but is it just me, or do Amazon, like Google, seem to be taking over everything? And will it be a case of more new software that we all have to update to about once a year? I'm worried that everything seems, well, very ephemeral. Forget the old libraries (British Library, Bod etc.) if in years to come x and x book (like modern photos) won't be accessible because we'll all have different software or new hardware (lesson learnt through cassette and LP collections). Tell me I'm an old fogy full of Bah Humbug by all means I had to think long and hard about getting a Kindle and this was my reasoning 1. I did not keep the paperbacks I read, usually giving them to charity shops or sometimes car booting them so the physical book did not stay in the house 2. I was spending £20 to £30 a month on books. I have had my Kindle around 6 months and even taking into account the cost of the Kindle I reckon I am "in profit" already as I have largely kept to either free books or ones under a £1 so far. I actually splashed out £2.79 for the new Peter James book which is still half of the price in the shops at the moment. Now that I can ignore the cost of the device in my calculations I will be saving myself loads of money. 3. In view of 2 above, even if my Kindle became obselete (which I very much doubt) I would happily buy a new one as it would still be cheaper than paperbacks 4. There is a huge environmental advantage as no paper involved! 5. There is always something to read of any genre I fancy without having to get in the car, go into town etc etc 6. The font is set exactly how I like it so it is better for my eyesight 7. I have read books that I would never dream of buying as they are free/cheap and so my reading experience has been enriched 8. Authors who might not get published in paperback or stocked in shops can get an ebook published so I can read books by little known authors 9. It is much lighter than a paperback and fits in my handbag Yes there are downsides but they are far outweighed by the advantages. I miss the cheerful cover on the paperbacks and I find that I do not easily retain the titles/authors of the books I have read as it not the same as picking up a paperback and looking at the cover each time you open it. I do feel slightly uneasy about the market dominance of Amazon but on the other hand it's a really good product so why shouldn't they dominate? I feel I am a cog in the death knell of bookshops and the printing industry but this has to be weighed up against the environmental cost of printing many thousands of books I absolutely love the Kindle and so does my OH but each to his own Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy chickens! Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 That's interesting Docsquid, looking on here for views as I have a Sony and looking at getting an ereader for my mum for xmas. I think if I get her a kobo, we will be able to share the books we have already purchased, but a kindle is a totally separate format. I also read that Amazon don't 'sell' you the book, just license it to you. Complicated! Reassured that you find the kobo good anyway. I love my ereader in general, great for holidays, travel etc. And so quick to buy books as well (mmm sometimes that's a disadvantage though! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Another plus for the Kindle is that because it is the market leading e book reader,it has a good resale value on eBay,so you can sell your older model on to help finance a newer one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 I'm getting convinced . . .been thinking that I can always read most of my books on the Kindle and just buy my favourites in paper format for my adored book collection. Just one quick, probably dozy, question . . . if you don't have the 3G Kindle, but only the basic £89 one, do you have to plug it into your laptop and go onto Amazon in order to download books? I ask because my laptop belongs to the company I work for and since they are paranoid about security and viruses you can't plug in any 'foreign device' and download directly (the laptop just won't recognise the other 'device'). For instance, if I want to put photos from my mobile to my laptop I have to send them to my email address and down load them from there. I don't want to get a Kindle only to find I can't put any books on it (Apologies if I'm being totally dim and have it all wrong ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squiffs Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 I'm getting convinced . . .been thinking that I can always read most of my books on the Kindle and just buy my favourites in paper format for my adored book collection. Just one quick, probably dozy, question . . . if you don't have the 3G Kindle, but only the basic £89 one, do you have to plug it into your laptop and go onto Amazon in order to download books? I ask because my laptop belongs to the company I work for and since they are paranoid about security and viruses you can't plug in any 'foreign device' and download directly (the laptop just won't recognise the other 'device'). For instance, if I want to put photos from my mobile to my laptop I have to send them to my email address and down load them from there. I don't want to get a Kindle only to find I can't put any books on it (Apologies if I'm being totally dim and have it all wrong ) No, it has inbuilt wi-fi, so as long as you're within range of a wireless connection you can download from the kindle itself. You can also buy things on your amazon account and they will be sent to your kindle. You'll get a kindle email address too which means you can email yourself documents like PDFs and they'll be downloaded when your kindle next connects wirelessly to the internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 (edited) Many thanks, Squiffs. Thanks too to everyone for putting up with my theoretical debates. I've asked OH for one for Xmas P.S. OH can come out of room 101 now Edited November 24, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docsquid Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 That's interesting Docsquid, looking on here for views as I have a Sony and looking at getting an ereader for my mum for xmas. I think if I get her a kobo, we will be able to share the books we have already purchased, but a kindle is a totally separate format. I also read that Amazon don't 'sell' you the book, just license it to you. Complicated! You will be able to share the books you have already bought for the Sony on the Kobo, provided you have your library set up in Adobe Digital Editions and/or Calibre. You can only read Amazon books on the Kobo via a complicated conversion route involving removing the DRM (Digital Rights Management) (which is illegal) and then converting to pdf. I think eventually Amazon will be forced to adopt the international standard (e-pub) rather than their own format, or at least allow Kindle readers to read DRM e-pub without conversion, but in the meantime...both are very good readers and you can make a choice based on which format you already have. The fact that I had over 100 books in e-pub meant conversion would have been complicated and not guaranteed to work, so I went with Kobo. It is an excellent reader, but so is the Kindle. I have the Kindle app for my iPad for the few books that are available only in Kindle format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pips_pekins Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Just noticed that Amazon are doing a book a day deal for Kindle. Not sure when it started or when it will end but thought I would post here rather than start a new thread in case others haven't seen it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I got this for 99p yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagazer Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Thanks for that, I shall keep an eye on Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I got this for 99p yesterday. One of my favourite books,that one. Total chick lit,very light,but a lovely story & very seasonal,with a ghostly aspect & a touch of the Downtons too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pips_pekins Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I got this for 99p yesterday. One of my favourite books,that one. Total chick lit,very light,but a lovely story & very seasonal,with a ghostly aspect & a touch of the Downtons too Not read it yet but but have seen it and the Twelve Days of Christmas by same author is also 99p. I bought The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Not my usual type but thought I would try it for 99p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I bought the Twelve Days of Christmas too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squiffs Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I bought my OH a 'discontinued/reconditioned' kindle keyboard for Christmas, £79.99 without 3G I also bought confessions of a GP for 99p yesterday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poachedegg Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I got this for 99p yesterday. Thanks for that - have just bought it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluekarin Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I would say yes to getting one. I got one from my hubby for my birthday and I love, love, love it Only downsides I can see are, no light for reading in a dim room, and I can't see how to sort books into folders so I don't need to go through pages of them. Or how to delete them if I no longer want them (like some of the freebies I have) I have bought two books already (99p cheepies) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
