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Kindle - more than a book reader?
rick_694
05-08-2011
I appreciate there is a Kindle thread near to this, and have read it!

We're looking to buy mum a special present for her 70th. She loves all the new technology stuff, so have narrowed it down to three: smart phone - probably a bit too much for her, it is for me! Laptop, probably perfect but at £350-ish, quite expensive.

Kindle - she loves reading books, so pretty ideal. But reading the feedback at Amazon, it seems you can do more than just read books. I just wondered if anyone has a Kindle and can explain what it's capable of?

Having read the other thread, we would go for the 3G. But the other thread doesn't go into the nuts and bolts detail of what the Kindle can do. If there's a thread posted previously that does so, please post a link here.

Thanks guys.
ironjade
05-08-2011
Kindle's other functions are listed as experimental: a slow, fiddly web browser and a (very) basic mp3 player. They both work but I only use them when unavoidable.
That said, Kindle is brilliant as an e-reader, its main purpose.
You can also subscribe to newspapers, albeit in a cut down version.
If text-to-speech is enabled by the publisher, you can have Kindle read to you in a creepy, robot voice (male or female).
You can email book files to your Kindle and Amazon will convert them to .mobi for free.
You don't need to connect it to a computer and the battery life (if the wireless connection is turned off until you need it) is excellent.
Don't hesitate.
John259
05-08-2011
If you google for
kindle manual
then you can download it and see in detail how the additional capabilities work.

BTW, as another alternative have you considered a tablet computer such as an iPad?
excelents
05-08-2011
I have the 3G & Wi-fi and it also reads PDF's etc and other formats. I am appearing in a play in September so I have typed up all my lines in an ordinary text / notepad file and uploaded it to the Kindle and now walk about the house learning my lines.

Its odd in a way to be carrying it and reading from it in such a manner but feels totally comfortable.

As a side note whilst going to Scarborough on the train the other day I took my 6 year old daughter with me and I downloaded various Free e books from Amazon to the Kindle using the 3G connection and she read Alice in Wonderland on route.
rick_694
05-08-2011
Thanks guys. I've posted on a couple of forums and the Kindle is definitely the way to go for her. I'm considering one for myself also!

Appreciate the comments.
RobinOfLoxley
05-08-2011
You do know of course, that amazon has its own dept, 'Kindle Store' with a link top right Kindle Support. It's pretty comprehensive.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/cust...deId=200487800

Also Google 'tips and tricks' and 'hacks' for ways to get more out of it.
(I'm not suggesting your Mum Jailbreaks it!!)
c4rv
06-08-2011
if your main function is to read books then that is what the kindle does best. If you want a multi function device then I would not look at a tablet. However you are looking at £350 to £400 for one of the latest generation, all singing, all dancing models. £150 will pick up android 2.2 based device which is perfectly useable but not quite as good.
rick_694
06-08-2011
Originally Posted by RobinOfLoxley:
“You do know of course, that amazon has its own dept, 'Kindle Store' with a link top right Kindle Support. It's pretty comprehensive.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/cust...deId=200487800

Also Google 'tips and tricks' and 'hacks' for ways to get more out of it.
(I'm not suggesting your Mum Jailbreaks it!!)”

I hadn't seen that. Great stuff, thanks!

Just one thing which I'm slightly unsure of: the 3G Web Browser - is that unlimited web browsing? The diagram on Amazon says 3,004MB free - what does this mean? At some point will I have to pay?

Sorry if this seems a tad numptyish, but I've never used smart phones, 3G stuff, etc!
ironjade
06-08-2011
Before you run amok buying books from Amazon, be aware that there are several places from which you can legally download books for free, particularly classics but plenty of others too, in Kindle format. Project Gutenberg and Feedbooks are two of the best.
Amazon also has some free books but not that many compared to the above.
Nigel Goodwin
06-08-2011
Originally Posted by c4rv:
“if your main function is to read books then that is what the kindle does best. If you want a multi function device then I would not look at a tablet. However you are looking at £350 to £400 for one of the latest generation, all singing, all dancing models. £150 will pick up android 2.2 based device which is perfectly useable but not quite as good.”

While such devices are FAR better at browsing, they are also far WORSE as an ebook reader - the Kindle with it's 'electronic ink' is a much better device for that.
rick_694
06-08-2011
Just read up on 3G etc, a bit more clued up now. What a cool feature!

Now we just need to know when the Kindle 4 is coming out!!
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