Amazon Kindle

[spud]

Hi folks,Just my 2p worth but I love my sony e-book,its got great battery life and I have over 800 books in my e library (which i didnt have to buy from Amazon , i believe you must do for a Kindle).

[Nick]

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Well, I now have a Kindle and it is better than I expected - a fabulous gadget if you like reading. I have been having a look to see what is available in the way of sailing titles and have put together a preliminary collection: Esailing

[Nick]

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Still really enjoying this wee gadget - it's just been to sea for the first time (last week), where I finished MingMing and the Art of Minimal Ocean Sailing. Bought the new Ian M. Banks yesterday (just out in hardback). One click ordering and its's on the Kindle in less than a minute ready to start reading.

The waterproof case for reading in the bath should be here tomorrow - I'm definitely hooked.

[DaveS]

Nick (or anyone else who knows):

As something of a late adopter of new gadgets, I would appreciate some guidance. I saw a Kindle in reality for the first time last week (guy sitting in a tube train), but I have read the adverts.

If I understand correctly it comes in two communication flavours: wireless only or wireless plus mobile phone, both options involving no usage charge. Now bearing in mind previous discussions about accessing websites while afloat, the obvious question is does the Kindle only allow you to access books, or can you also use it to surf the net, email, etc? If the latter then I can see this being a useful gadget.

[Nick]

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The Kindle has a web browser, but I haven't even tried to use it. For me it is a book reader, that is all I want it to do - and it does it superbly. If you want a multi-purpose gadget then a netbook or Ipad is a much better bet, although of course the reading experience will not be as good and the battery life will be much shorter.

[Mark]

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Well, I now have a Kindle and it is better than I expected - a fabulous gadget if you like reading. I have been having a look to see what is available in the way of sailing titles and have put together a preliminary collection: Esailing

Thanks for taking the effort to group all these together. Very useful indeed, especially approaching the Festive Season.

[spuddy]

So a few months later, I bought one. All the advantages already mentioned with no cons of any substance. It really is easy to download a book; fortunately Microsoft haven't got near it and spoiled it - although such flaws are probably a source of income for Nick.
I haven't paid retail price for hardback within living memory and the paperbacks come from charity shops mostly so don't intend to pay Amazon prices. Starting off on the free downloads of which there are lots and of different genres. The Gutenberg and other resources are also available. Will think again when read all those.
I live on the boat for half the year and put stuff in store so anything that saves space ashore or afloat is a godsend. This also will solve the problem of all the earnest books (eg Dostoievsky) I keep intending to read but never do. Rather than yards of shelves they can all go to the charity shop and I'll put digital version on the Kindle.
Thanks for the collection.

[Silkie]

no cons of any substance.

You can't lend books to your pals.

[Nick]

no cons of any substance.

You can't lend books to your pals.

Yes, this is a huge downside - but Amazon are going to make it possible to lend books to other Kindle owners, albeit with a 2-week limit and a once only policy - better than nothing, but not great.

[spuddy]

Yes, of course - no book swapping, which I've just done with Arghiro. A cautionary word - wasted £50 by getting the 3G version. No need as I could download hundreds of books at a wifi to last me for months.

[Nick]

Yes, of course - no book swapping, which I've just done with Arghiro.

You can't swap books you've bought from Amazon, only books you have downloaded from elsewhere or converted yourself. Or do you know something I don't? If so please PM me.

[spuddy]

Ah, badly phrased by me. I was referring to tangible books that Arghiro and I posted to each other.