Calling all readers

[massbikebabe]

Sorry I have been away but we had a major puter crash here. I do want to share with you about my Mothers Day. The family all pitched in and got me a kindle from amazon and I gotta tell ya it's the best toy I have gotten since my i-pod. At first I didn't think I would have use for it, but I LOVE IT!! The initial cost is kinda high,but books are only ten bucks at the most including best sellers, and they are delivered to your machine in less than 20 seconds,(yes I timed them). You can even get you daily newspaper delivered to your kindle. I am thinking about getting Mom one. Call it a clutter saving eco friendly toy.

karen

[uforgot]

I've wondered about the Kindle. I couldn't imagine reading it over a book. Was it hard to get used to? Easy to see? How many books can you store? I like to lay down and read, would this work?

questions..questions. It's good to have someone with some experience with it.

[KnottedYet]

I'm very interested in the kindle, too.

Is it heavy? Would you imagine it'd be uncomfortable to hold on a bus ride?

Is it true that you can change font size on the fly?

How sturdy is it? (would it survive being tossed in a backpack?)

[dachshund]

I have a kindle, and I love it! Two friends of mine are avid readers, and after they got theirs and went on and on about how great it was, I got one. The great thing about it is that you've got all your books in one place. I subscribe to a couple of newspapers in kindle format (which costs a few $$ a month), and they download automatically every morning. If I get stuck somewhere like in a waiting room, I can go back to whatever I was reading. It comes with a dictionary, and you can look up words on the fly. You can access Wikepedia on the fly. You can download book samples (from Amazon) for free. And of course, you have the Amazon book site available all the time - it's supposed to make it easy to buy more books from Amazon. Buy one and it's downloaded in a few seconds. The wireless connection is free.

I'd say the only downside is that not all books are available in kindle format, and you can't share your kindle books with others. The kindle forum has a lot of suggestions on how to email the publisher and ask them to get with the program and publish a kindle version. And the kindle is not a color device, so books that depend on color photos wouldn't be worth it.

Knotted:
- Is it heavy? Would you imagine it'd be uncomfortable to hold on a bus ride?
It's not heavy. It's very comfortable to hold. For me it's easier than holding a book. It comes with a cover that you can hold like a book, or fold it back out of the way. At first it doesn't seem like there's any way to hold it without accidentally hitting the page-turn buttons, but that gets resolved with a little practice.

- Is it true that you can change font size on the fly?
Yes.

- How sturdy is it? (would it survive being tossed in a backpack?)
I'd say so. The cover has an elastic strap that holds it closed. The cover pretty solid, it's made of stiff material.

Here's the link to the forum, lots of good information there.
http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-Device/forum/FxBVKST06PWP9B/-/1/ref=cm_cd_dp_sap?%5Fencoding=UTF8&cdAnchor=B000FI73MA&asin=B000FI73MA

[dachshund]

I've wondered about the Kindle. I couldn't imagine reading it over a book. Was it hard to get used to? Easy to see? How many books can you store? I like to lay down and read, would this work?

questions..questions. It's good to have someone with some experience with it.

It takes a few minutes to get used to. You just have to get used to where the page-up & down buttons are, and how to navigate with the menu. That's about it. It is easy to see, they've designed it to be easiest to read in bright light. There's no backlighting.

It's fine reading it lying down. It helps to have an extra pillow to prop it up with. Now lying down side-ways, I'm still working on that one. :) But it can be done.

[lph]

Oooh. I want. :)

[KnottedYet]

I like the idea of not wasting paper or transporting paper or remaindering books, and authors still get royalties.

And kindle books don't go "out of print".

(my brief stint at a bookstore taught me the horror of ripping covers off perfectly good books, sending the covers back to the publisher to prove the books hadn't sold, then destroying the books. Urp. This happens with magazines, too.)

Mind you, I would always have my collection of paper books, too.

[massbikebabe]

My kindle has survived bouncing in my backpack, in the cage of my walker,
falling off my bed, and me squeezing the cover while having a tooth extracted. Because of the lack of back lighting my DH gave me the LED light that Amazon has on their page as a recommendation. I was a little disappointed in the cover so I just ordered this:

http://www.buymedge.com

It looks like it may be a little sturdier than what Amazon sent. I think the books are transferred over Whispernet which is a Sprint product so if Sprint is in your area you will not have any trouble getting books. I love the ability to change fonts. Initially I had some difficulty holding the machine because of my stroke hand, but you can adapt very quickly. I am very happy with this toy and think all you hard core readers out there will like it also. Plus, I feel like I am saving a tree or two.:)

karen