I just ordered one (though god knows when I'll get it - it's kind of like trying to buy a Wii) and would like to know how well it works in 1x areas. Anybody tried it? TIA - sheureka
I read an article in Newsweek about the Kindle and I've got to say, it didn't sound like too much data was being transferred at all (since it's just text.) I imagine you'd be able to download a full novel in seconds. I'm very interested about this device. Please post a review when you get yours, sheureka[/i].
No personal experience but Leo Laporte (pretty well known tech podcaster/tv host) uses one and says good things. I have not listened to this completely but he speaks about it in this one- The TWiT Netcast Network with Leo Laporte
I feel like an 8-year a couple of days before Christmas - my Kindle should be here on Monday (which, by the way is my birthday!). Another shipment must have just come in, and there are hundreds of people on the Kindle forum at Amazon all checking their credit cards online to see if the authorization ping is there yet. I've ordered first chapters for about 50 books - the first chapter is free and with over 100,000 books now in the Kindle format on Amazon there's no way you can always know what to buy. It's a great way of trying out new authors. Plus the idea of getting the New York Times delivered every Sunday morning (for 75 cents!) is just delicious. I'll post again on Tuesday after I've played with it for a day. - sheureka
Now that I've had the Kindle for a month, I'm finally getting around to writing the review. I buy a lot of "toys", use them for a while, and then get bored. But the Kindle, for me, as been almost life changing. This may not be relevant to anyone else, but I have arthritis and a neurological disease that makes my hands weak and painful. I don't think I realized how little reading I was doing, primarily because it was hard for me to hold a book! The Kindle has completely changed that - and I'm able to read for hours at a time now! It can be held in one hand or leaned against something and only requires a very minor movement of one thumb to turn the page. I've attached a picture of my setup for reading the newspaper in morning - no more cereal (or lunchtime meatball sandwich) on the book! The screen is very, very different than an LCD screen. It's not backlit (I use a small clipon light to read in bed) and is extremely easy on the eyes. It also works very well in bright sunlight (great for me in Arizona). It quickly seems much like reading a "real" book, but the ability to change to any one of six font sizes is useful in the evening when my eyes are tired. You'll read complaints (mainly from people who've never seen one) that the Kindle is "ugly" and that the cover doesn't fit. I showed it to a friend recently whose first comment was that it was "elegant" and the cover has worked very well for me. I keep it on all the time except when I read in the hot tub - then I take it off and put the Kindle in a ziploc bag! Amazon now has over 100,000 books for sale in Kindle format - most of them $9.99 or less. There are also newspapers, magazines and blogs available from Amazon - both as single issues and by subscription. I think the newspapers are all 75 cents each, and range up to $14 a month (NY Times). The magazines and blogs vary in price, with some blogs being about a dollar a month. All of the books can be "sampled" with the first chapter free and newspapers, magazine and blog subscriptions have a free 14-day subscription. Needless to say I went a little nuts in the first couple of weeks and downloaded far more than I could ever read, particularly newspapers. So now I'm only getting the NYTimes on Sunday and sampling a few blogs. I was an Audible subscriber for years, and the Kindle also plays Audible.com books (there's a built-in speaker and headphone jack). There's also a very rudimentary mp3 player, if you like to listen to music while you read. There are a whole lot of ways to get free books for the Kindle though. The Kindle reads non-DRM'd Mobipocket books - and just about anything that's no longer under copyright is available. Indexes like this one - MobileRead Forums - E-Book Uploads - make it very easy. From mobileread the books have to be downloaded to the computer and moved to the Kindle with a usb cable. Another site - Feedbooks: Food for the mind - has the catalog online and free books can be directly downloaded to the Kindle. In addition, files can be emailed to the Kindle with Amazon charging 10 cents per document to convert them for the Kindle. That's an area that I think has tremendous potential - I could send someone a pdf or txt file of my dissertation! And for only 10 cents! Amazon also does the conversion free if you have it send back to your computer instead of sending it directly to the Kindle. The web browser is pretty rudimentary - it has preset bookmarks for amazon, wikipedia. google, bbc news, espn, etc., but for the most part they're the "mobile" apps - there's no flash or color so it certainly isn't a substitute for a true browser. But it does allow you check the weather (or sports scores) and search wikipedia (which can be done from within a book you're reading). My original question on here was about the wireless connectivity - and how well it might work in a 1x area. It works just fine. I have a strong 1x signal where I live and it took less than a minute to download this morning's NYTimes - a 300-page book can be downloaded in about a minute too. Web browsing is a little slow, but that was to be expected. I know this is long and rambling and still doesn't begin to cover everything. If anybody has any specific questions I'll answer if I can. But you've probably figured out by now I think this is the best $400 I've spent in a long, long time. - sheureka
Agreed! This is exactly why I subscribed to this thread. When the price comes down, the Kindle is going to be bigger than the iPod.
just bought one for the wife with 50 dollar discount from oprah -- and she is bummed no coverage where we are in maine and her kindle is still empty !! what do we do !!
Bjoy is also sitting here with her kindle in hand --she says it is heavy to hold and when ya pick it up it wants to come out of its case !
sorry she said when you stick your hand under it to turn it on --it wants to come out of its case --she also says when you touch it it wants to change pages because the next page bar is --so long she also sya that in its case it weighs 1 pound 1oz --and thats the weight of a good size book !
