My wife would like a Kindle for her birthday but im not sure how they really work.

i know you can get a 3G one and a WIFI one so how does the 3G one work?

do you put a mobile sim into it?

also are there books that are free?

any advice please.

There are thousands of free books, both classics and new authors. If you keep a watch on the Amazon Kindle homepage, you will occasionally get a big-name author doing one of their books free for a short period.

The Wi-Fi Kindle is the one I have, and it works by connecting to your Wi-Fi network. If you find something you want during your lunch hour at work (for instance), the book will download to the Kindle as soon as you get home and turn the Kindle on.

The 3G version works on Amazon's own Whispernet which downloads the books direct to the Kindle. This is ideal if you don't have Wi-Fi at home, or if you are away from home.
Personally, I would never be in a situation where I didn't have enough books on my Kindle to keep me going long enough to get back home, hence I chose the Wi-Fi version.

I've had my Kindle since Feb, and have only 14 books that I've paid for (mainly for my mothers' Kindle as she has no internet and it was registered to my Amazon account), and yet in my Kindle archive, I have 197 books.

You can also download free books from other sites (not sure if you can mention them, but Smashwords is a good site). These you download to a folder on the computer, and then use the USB cable to transfer them to the Documents folder on the Kindle.

It's honestly pretty much foolproof


*Beware of "one-click-itis". It's incredibly easy to just click and download! Potentially injurious to financial health

The 3G one comes with it's own simcard so you don't need to put anything in it.

There are a lot of free books. Many of them can be downloaded direct from Amazon, but the Project Gutenberg site is another handy resource. Free books come in two types. There are old books that have had the copyright lapse on them (such as Dracula), and there are also a lot of free books that can be had from up and coming authors to get you trying their work. There are also a lot of books in the up to two pound range.

A great piece of software to get is Calibre as it lets you convert other formats to readable formats on the Kindle if you fancy trying other website to buy from.

I'd strongly reccomend getting it. They are great devices for regular readers.

For extra money, 3G is definitely worth it. You don't need to do anything, it just works out of the box.
Amazon has a selection of free books (some of which are also craftily listed in the paid-for section) so always look here first, although you won't find the latest best sellers.
Many more legal freebies at Project Gutenberg and Feedbooks. These can also be downloaded direct but make sure you choose the correct .mobi format.
You don't need a computer to use Kindle.

To 3G or not to 3G is a personal choice. Some people don't see the point, others find it a fantastic feature.

If you are only going to use the Kindle at home or when commuting then 3G probably isn't going to be worth it. However, if you travel a lot - especially for work - then it can be easily worth the money. Not only can you download books pretty much everywhere in the world you are likely to go for free but it also gives you a basic mobile internet browser with no roaming charges ever.

OK, the browsing experience isn't great, but it's fine for checking the news headlines and football results from back home. I've used my 3G Kindle in the USA, India and Thailand where Wifi was not available (or not free) and where mobile roaming costs would have been extortionate.