Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I read the threads on here prior to Christmas - now there's a bit of e-ink under the bridge, what's the vote, you newbies? I looked shocked and delighted on Christmas morn, and I played with it lots when everybody poodled off for a post scoff waddle. I am just not sure that I can read on it...I have the new little Kindle, it seems nice to play with, but it seems more like a toy, it doesn't seem like I'm reading. I'm not a Luddite - I am pecking away at this message on an iPad, because I can't be bothered to get the laptop out, but the Kindle just doesn't feel like a book. It doesn't smell like a book and the cats don't want to climb on top of it. How are all you Christmas techies getting on with yours?

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

Millie - get yourself a cover for it.

I have a leather cover that opens out just like a book. It feels just like you are reading a hardback... and my cover has an integral light that means you can read in bed without disturbing the OH as well...

I LOVE my kindle. don't get me wrong, it will never replace books. But for reading on public transport, during slow periods at work or in bed it can't be beat.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

Cookie, I will get a cover immediately, thanks. I think I need to try to train myself in Kindle 101. Just a bit hacked off because I tried to find A Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth, it's a huge bloody tome of a thing, so would be ideal for the Kindle, but it's not available - for any form of e-book reader!

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I think I mentioned that I bought the OH a kindle (not the mini one) last fall, with a cover although she's never said anything about that one way or the other.

She took to it straight away and were it not for a small matter that she has very little free time*, I'm sure she'd have downloaded many more than the 4 or 5 books she already has.

I haven't tried it myself.

*I'm going to pull the nails at the kitchen sink out of her feet quite soon.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

The only things I would really complain about:

1. The Kindle wireless is terribly unreliable. It takes forever to connect and a couple of times I've had to reboot the wireless AP before it would connect at all. It claims it can't see the wireless LAN even when my laptop is right alongside connected to the LAN and showing 80% on the reception level meter.
2. Search causes it to lock up and I have to reboot it.
3. There's no 'search for author' or 'search for title' that I can find. The best option is 'go to first book whose title starts with the chosen letter', and I can never remember where that's hidden.
4. Having over 1500 books on there gives me a greater incentive to hop from one to another without actually finishing one.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

Bought one, well a Kobo, for my daughter for Xmas, it has the leather cover etc. She prefers books:(, the feel etc of a book, just hasn't taken to it.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

As noted earlier, I have limited experience, but it's me that does the downloads (OH's a technophobe at heart, which those who've met her and know her job will recognize as a bit ironic).

1) Never had a problem with wireless connectivity. I've yet to use the 3G but I'll be using that in France over the summer.
2) Never had that problem either.
3) Eh? You're on Amazon.
4) Your attention deficiency syndrome was there before the kindle. I assume you have the sane problem in a library (if you've ever visited one)?

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I think I have finally decided what e-book to buy as Santa didn't get the hint, but I did get some money. I'm going for the Kobo WiFi - mainly because I can 'borrow' Library books with it. I will also get a cover as I love the feel of a book, I just hope convenience out ways the not having an actual book feeling.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I love my Kindle ( a friend's Kobo feels very heavy in comparison PP ;)).

I read so much more now.

My one niggle is that when you are reading a book, I would like it to say the title of the book at the top of the screen. I sometimes download about four books by one author. Someone asks me what I am reading and I have no clue. :D

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I feel your pain. I suggest you get a backing sheet of paper for your kindle and then use a new-fangled device called a "p-e-n-c-i-l" to make a"n-o-t-e" of what you're reading.

I suppose I could make a fortune patenting this idea.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

Bloody hell Novo - I knew you was clever, like, but that's brilliant. :thumbup:

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I LOVE my Kindle :wub: I have the 'mini' one too. I've read a few of the free books that I could find (that weren't porn or religion). My mum sent me over a CD of about 1500 titles from the UK (bought from some dodgy EBay seller, no doubt!) which I'm working my way through. Am thinking the books on the dodgy CD aren't really designed for the Kindle though as the page layout is all wrong. Still, beggars can't be choosers....and all that :p

I also have a cover for my Kindle!

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

But the library doesn't support Kindles - I checked:sneaky:

:rofl:

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

Good for you. Tonight it was working fine, I turned it off, I turned it back on, it said there were no wireless networks, then it said there were five wireless networks and made me select one to connect to even though it's the same wireless network it's been connecting to forever... then it told me to enter my password again. Which is a 64-character random string.

Edit: So I entered my 64-character random password again, it said it couldn't connect and asked if I wanted to enter it again, I picked 'cancel' and now it's connected.

I have never had to deal with such a crappy wireless interface on any other device.

Maybe you don't have 1500 books on it. As far as I can tell, when you select search it tries to search through every single book on the device with no 'cancel' option. I think I got it to work once when I only had about 100 books on there, and I had to wait ten or fifteen minutes for it to complete.

What's on Amazon? I want to read a book on my Kindle by Joe Bloggs; there's no 'show me all books on my Kindle by Joe Bloggs' option, only a completely useless text search.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

You can download that book here (in sections): http://ebookdatabase.net/a/a-suitable-boy-pdf and then use calibre ( http://calibre-ebook.com/download_windows ) to convert it before downloading to your Kindle. I also found it here: http://www.archive.org/details/suitableboynovel00seth

:)

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I love my kindle, but it is a little older than some - called the key pad here in UK now.

• Easy to connect to wifi in uk, 3G also great so far in UK & US
• Buy far more & read more than before - I check the cheap / free books on the top 100 regularly
• I change between real books and the kindle easily & never thought I would though the larger paperbacks / hardbacks seem heavy in comparison now
• The search function on the kindle itself not as good as the full website if I don't know the author - if I do though the text search pulls up a list pretty quickly

I had tried out a kobo a couple of years ago and never got on with that - there was a page turn noise that was unexpectedly irritating - not sure if new models have this.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I've been using a Kindle for over a year, and have over 150 books on it. Mine has a keyboard. I bought my OH one of the new ones for Xmas. Unlike me, he is a technophobe, so I was prepared to send it back to Amazon if necessary. However, he took to it like a duck to water and downloaded a complete Jules Verne, his favourite author when he was a child. He has already read 10,000 Leagues under The Sea and The Island of Doctor Moreau.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I'm loving mine. It broke pretty soon after Christmas though, but Amazon sent a replacement straight away.

I've finished reading 4 books on it already, so reading much more than usual, because it's pretty much always in my coat pocket if heading out, so can read while waiting for the missus when picking her up and stuff.

It's not as satisfying when there's no heavy thump of closing a finished book, but it is quite lovely and nice.

For the online stuff, check facebook and twitter status on it now and again if the missus is using the laptop and it's okay for it, as a nice little bonus, but I wouldn't want to be online on it, as I don't have the keyboard or touch version.

I'm loving how Calibre is able to get news feeds into article format and emailed to the Kindle in time for morning read, so able to read my old local paper as well as various other news sources while having my cup of tea :)

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I created a collection called "Current Read" and then put the book I'm reading into that, when finished, I remove it from that collection and tag into a "Read" collection, as well as having all the books tagged by author, makes searching around really easy...but it was a chore to initially organise.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

Use Calibre to convert the format?

The Kobo is also about $30 more expensive than Kindle down my way...library e-book cover is pretty spotty, the Sony books are well covered, but also Kindle, but none for other books, but you download the books to your library account and transfer from that, so could always convert the format.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

Your Kindle is obviously shagged then. Get Amazon to replace it.

There are also a bunch of debug options you can get into to change some network settings to improve connection issue, but I can't remember them off hand, probably google them.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I seem to have lost my kindle... can't find it anywhere.

And I am surprisingly upset about it as well!

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I bought a Kobo touch WiFi on Saturday - So far I LOVE IT, I'm 81% through my first book on it.:thumbsup:

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

That's a new one on me, is it just half as long as 20,000 Leagues under the Sea?.. :lol:

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

Nice one. I'm not a Verne fan, myself. Had to stifle a yawn when OH read the passage about the giant squid to me.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I've just downloaded The Midwife, the book the BBC series 'Call the Midwife' was taken from, and Birdsong, which has just been on BBC

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I got the same one for Xmas and I'm with you. I love it. I like tech though. The only thing I miss about books is being able to read in teh bath. Apart from that I prefer my Kobo. :thumbup: With a Kobo you can also get e-books for free from Canadian libraries.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

You can still read in the bath... just be careful not to drop it in the water!

I read my kindle in the bath all the time.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

Just been watching that on the Beeb, enjoying it actually.

Re: Post Christmas e-book/Kindle question
 

I know!:thumbsup: I downloaded three at the weekend:thumbsup: All it costs is my $10 a year library membership.