The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

SiLeakHunt

I'm thinking of buying on of those kindle/electronic book jobbies, andybody got any recommendations or advice on them are they worthwhile, easy to use etc ?

Cheers

Jet Gorgon

Haven't played with one yet, but would like feedback, too. Dunno, I have a great library and many used bookstores with great selections near my home and I still like the book in hand thing.

Butterfly

avoid, apparently you are locked-in with Amazon despite what they say

harrybarracuda

I was surveying the amount of crap in my house - admittedly I am a bit of a hoarder - and I've decided for the amount of books I buy and store, I might as well buy a Kindle and donate the books to the library (apart from the reference ones).

I normally buy books when travelling and the're a fraction of the cost on Amazon. The one I'm buying is more expensive, but it's the largest screen (9.7") and has 3G coverage in Thailand, the Middle East and Europe to name but three, and that covers most of my travel.

So I'll order it and tell you all about it when it arrives in a couple of weeks. *

(* If I haven't been beheaded for being caught in possession of a pork pie).

Gerbil

^^ No.

They have a USB connection and you are free to load them up with your own content. The Amazon service only manages the content you buy direct from them.

However, I find an iPod Touch works great as an eBook reader. fits in your pocket and you can load whatever you want on it as well.

__________________
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Short Men, who aren't terribly bright....
More like dwarves with learning disabilities....
You are a God among Dwarves With Learning Disabilities.

sabaii sabaii

At least no fukka can rip the last page out of a kindle.
Thats ruined my library visits

Dick

kindle are for total assholes

blue

is there a good alternative ? or are you saying the concept is crap

can you easily download free books for them

Patrick

I have a Kindle DX3 - this is the larger version - and I think it is an excellent buy.

Even here in Thailand one can buy books online from Amazon and the book arrives on the Kindle within 30 seconds - the Kindle is not connected to a Computer or anything, something which amazes me!

One can also download free books - those which are out of copyright - from sites such as Gutenburg and several others.

Finally as someone mentioned it has a USB Connection so one can download books in non-Kindle Format, convert them to a format readable by the Kindle then transfer to the Kindle.

I must admit that I never thought I would be happy using an eReader as opposed to a paper book however I am extremely happy with it and will never go back to "real books".

Patrick

taxexile

do they have colour screens ?

do they display only text or can you view diagrams, maps and pictures ?

Patrick

The screen is black and white - just like most paperbacks!

Yes, the Kindle can display drawings etc., I have many of my work Diagrams etc. in .pdf Format on mine already.

Patrick

benbaaa

A couple of friends have just got themselves Kindles. They look OK, you can read .pdf files as well as the Amazon file format, turn pages with buttons on the side, turn them round the other way, increase or decrease the font size, and they're easy enough to read even in strong sunlight.

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zeusbheld

i'm probably gonna get one of these. i guess that makes me a 'total asshole' to most luddites. main selling point for me is a) small size, and therefore i can carry about 3,000 books rather than 1, 2) not too small, i should be able to read reasonably fast, 3) books and bookshelves take up apartment space, i could reduce that 4) you stare at a reflective surface rather than a light source (laptop screens fatigue my eyes) and 4) i've got all these books i've downloaded and would have to read on a laptop or phone otherwise.

only alternative i see is a tablet like an iPad or similar Android gadget, but they're more expensive and have much shorter battery life. on the other hand, if you like comics or art books, they have good color screens...

SiLeakHunt

I ended up buying one, it's great. I still need to work out how to get freebies off torents though.

Cheers

blue

i just started getting the free books , lots of good ones too , by joining
Demonoid.me
though you need an invitation code ,from an established member to join ,
perhaps someone at TD would be kind enough to help you .
think another free site is'' the pirate bay '' not sure how safe or good that is though .
and gutenburg for the classic out of copy write books
Project Gutenberg - free ebooks online download for iPad, Kindle, Nook, Android, iPhone, iPod Touch, Sony Reader
then you need to download a prog - a bit torrents client -I use ' u torrents'
http://www.utorrent.com/

the above downloads the book file from say demoniod , to your computer files add to kindle, or if you like there's a nice little free programme 'mobipocket reader ' is like a kindle for the PC
you can store the books there like a bookshelf ,and then transfer then to your kindle
Mobipocket Reader Desktop 6.2

Mobipocket ebook Reader

finally kindle used mainly mobi format
lots of the free books are in that , many are not
you can convert the latter to mobi by downloading 'calibre '
calibre - E-book management

all the links are free and safe- good luck

hazz

I was very sceptical about these ebook readers, but having used one for 4 months now, I would say they almost as good as having the real book and more importantly so much lighter. I would not want to go back to paper.

Iv'e got the ipad, as colour is far more important to me than battery life, otherwise i think i would have got the kindle

Bower

I bought a Sony Ereader last year, i thought it was great.

I find i have gone back to paper books.
No complaints about the Sony device, its just that reading seems more satisfying from a traditional book.

SiLeakHunt

for me its ace because i travel with work a lot and it takes up very little of my baggage allowance..

cheers

harrybarracuda

I too bought the DX3 and for some reason, despite the map showing coverage in the sandpit, the Kindle doesn't connect. But I know it works in Thailand, so I'll set it up and load it next week.

But there are tons of free books to download, you can pull them off the net and just copy them over.

The screen is far more readable than I expected, even outside in bright sunlight, and it's also lighter and thinner than I thought it would be.

And the free books contain some really good old cookbooks, although I'm having trouble deciphering some of the ingredients. They read like a Harry Potter spell book, sort of like:

"Churtle together three braggles of Whumpswallow......."

Bower

^ Harry, i will be interested to see how you feel about the DX3 in 6 months.
As i said not fault found with my ereader but i have gone back to paper books for leisure reading.