Your thoughts on the Kindle3

[itsmyparty]

Trying to think of a birthday gift for my dh who has almost everything he wants (no ferrari yet though!). I've been thinking of the Kindle3WiFi and would like to hear from those you have it or used one. He reads daily..no fiction..but current events, history, science,news magazines,etc. I know sometimes the books are so heavy to hold for reading..and wondered if this is the solution. He does get most of his books from the library, but does buy the occasional one, especially if we're going on vacation...and I think the Kindle would be alot easier to carry. I guess I'm so used my LBYM philosophy...I'm thinking twice before purchase, especially because I know nothing personally about the product. My other idea is a snow blower! Is that like buying "the wife" new pots and pans for her birthday! Will appreciate your input!!

 

[haha]

I have a Kindle 2 which I really like, but I mainly use it for classic fiction which can mostly be gotten free. I still use the library for books that I would have to pay for, even though at times the wait can be qutie long.

The physical reading experience is excellent. I keep mine in my backpack, so if I stop at a coffee house, or when I am waiting at the mechanics, whatever, I have a good book to read.

Ha

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Very happy with my Kindle 2 - easy to read, light, sturdy, always on-line via its built in G3. I paid a lot more than the current $130 and would definitely buy at $130.

Designed to do one thing very well at a reasonable price, and succeeds IMHO.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I think that's a great idea, and I bet your DH would use it a lot more than you expect. DS reads the WSJ on his every morning, besides downloading the occasional nonfiction book.

 

[W2R]

I gave my Kindle 2 to my dear friend/companion, and bought a Kindle 3 for myself. Now we are both getting a lot of reading enjoyment from our Kindles. I think he likes his even better than I like mine (if that is possible). I have paid up to $15 for certain books, though my average cost per book is $4.59 due to the many free classics that I enjoy reading. Still, I would not recommend a Kindle or any e-reader for the sole purpose of saving money. There are other advantages are much better reasons for this kind of purchase, such as carrying hundreds of books, and the ease of reading clearer, larger text.

It might help to take a look at a Kindle first hand. You can order a Kindle directly from Amazon and return it (no questions asked) for any reason during the first 30 days. Or, I think Target and very recently Best Buy have started carrying the Kindle 3, too. I don't know about their return policies but maybe you could look at one in the store.

 

[RonBoyd]

I don't understand the concept of "spousal gifts."

 

[haha]

I don't understand the concept of "spousal gifts."

Let me try to explain. Though people are married, they are still separate individuals. (Or at least some are.) To give a carefully chosen gift, or receive one, is a source of great pleasure for many, though apparently it would not be be for you.

During 90% of the time I was married my wife had no paid job. Yet she gave gifts that I still feel very happy about, even though I am divorced from her now. I never thought of them as money, I thought of them as love and caring, which in fact they were.

Gift giving is not simply an asset transfer for many, I would even guess most, people.

Ha

 

[Moemg]

I am also a daily reader and I purchased a Nook . I still go to the library and I still buy regular books only less frequently . What I like about it is when I see a book advertised that I'd like to read I can read a sample and if I like that I can purchase it . It's a nice accessory to have and most heavy readers will enjoy one . The only thing I do not like about it is the inability to share all of your books . Barnes & Noble has the Lend me feature but it is limited to certain books . I do have to say that Barnes & Noble has a nice section of free & under $5 books .

 

[BookPerson]

Got the Kindle 3 about two weeks ago and am absolutely loving it. Have yet to use it for a book. So far just creating .pdfs of online articles and sending them to the Kindle via Amazon's Whispernet. Takes all of 15 seconds to transfer! Haven't figured out the cost of transferring larger documents via Whispernet (as opposed to sending docs to a free kindle account for a usb transfer, which would be free). But so far haven't been charged for short articles.

Not only does using a kindle make it possible to read odd articles while meandering around during the day - it gets me out of the wandering-finger-syndrome where I end up clicking on all sorts of links and spending way too much time online. The time savings alone is worth the price of a kindle. Plus love how light-weight it is - no more propping up books (when I finally buy one) or newspapers.

 

[figner]

I've had my Kindle3 wifi+3g for nearly a month now. First time owning an e-reader, and I love it. So far I've mostly gotten free classic books, with a few purchases thrown in. The ease of reading and of carrying around hundreds of books is great. It's small enough that I carry it in my purse nearly all the time, so I can read whenever there's a few minutes wait for anything. The downsides so far: not being able to lend/borrow books and some books not being available in Kindle format (no Harry Potter!).

 

[Sue J]

My son got the Kindle 3 and he loves the thing. He downloaded some free books and has also been purchasing. Recently, he discovered the Scrabble game for Kindle (I think it was $5) and he's hooked on it.

 

[haha]

I've had my Kindle3 wifi+3g for nearly a month now. First time owning an e-reader, and I love it. So far I've mostly gotten free classic books, with a few purchases thrown in. The ease of reading and of carrying around hundreds of books is great. It's small enough that I carry it in my purse nearly all the time, so I can read whenever there's a few minutes wait for anything. The downsides so far: not being able to lend/borrow books and some books not being available in Kindle format (no Harry Potter!).

Is there a handy way to see what classics are available free? Is this at Amazon? I try to get what I can, but I am low on the learning curve here. I need more Palliser novels!

Also another question- if I should buy an economics book for example that has charts, can the Kindle display them?

Ha

 

[Meadbh]

Is there a handy way to see what classics are available free? Is this at Amazon?

Amazon.com, Kindle Store, sort by price, choose a free book, download. It takes about 20 seconds.

 

[haha]

Amazon.com, Kindle Store, sort by price, choose a free book, download. It takes about 20 seconds.

Thnx!

 

[W2R]

Amazon.com, Kindle Store, sort by price, choose a free book, download. It takes about 20 seconds.

Meadbh has given you the best answer to your question, but since there are thousands and thousands and thousands of free books for the Kindle, here's another approach that I like sometimes.

Go to Amazon.com, Kindle, then books, to get to the Kindle books webpage. In the lower right corner, click on the tab and you can look at the 100 most popular free Kindle books. That's fun and easy. Also there are other non-Amazon websites that provide free books in Kindle format.

 

[figner]

Is there a handy way to see what classics are available free? Is this at Amazon? I try to get what I can, but I am low on the learning curve here. I need more Palliser novels!

Here's a good starting list of sites that have free ebooks outside of Amazon. Books in MOBI, PRC, TXT (plus several others) format are readable on Kindles.

MobileRead Wiki - Free eBooks

Also another question- if I should buy an economics book for example that has charts, can the Kindle display them?

It depends on whether and how well the charts were converted into digital format along with the rest of the book. For instance, I have a copy of William Bernstein's "Birth of Plenty" on my Kindle with graphs and charts. They look crisp enough and can be enlarged to a certain point, but it would be easier to see all the fine print on a physically printed page.

Most if not all kindle books through amazon have a preview excerpt available so you can try it out before buying.

 

[Zathras]

Does the Kindle 3 now read the Epub format used by most libraries?
If not, the OP may want to take a closer look at any of the readers that will natively read Epub format (since she mentioned her husband uses the library a lot).

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I am not familiar at all with the Kindle but it must be the thing. There was just an article in the local TV news last week about Clearwater High School issuing Kindles' to all the students in lieu of them buying books and lugging them all over school. I guess this will be the norm in the future. They have some plan for students that lose their Kindle's. First lost one is free, second cost $100 and the third time that student
goes back to hard cover books. We'll see how that works. But, with the little I know about the Kindle, this sounds like a great idea.

 

[Tiger]

Since I have an allergy to old paper the Kindle 3 has been a perfect vehicle for me to read older books by my favorite authors. I still do go to the library for new books. I wish the Kindle had a night light. I received mine as a gift from my gf and have been thrilled with it.

 

[TromboneAl]

How is it for browsing the web?

 

[Meadbh]

Since I have an allergy to old paper the Kindle 3 has been a perfect vehicle for me to read older books by my favorite authors. I still do go to the library for new books. I wish the Kindle had a night light. I received mine as a gift from my gf and have been thrilled with it.

The new ones do have nightlights, at least as accessories.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

How is it for browsing the web?

Rudimentary. It is still considered a non-advertised, "experimental" feature and is pretty useless. In a pinch, better than nothing.

 

[scrinch]

My wife just bought me a Kindle3 WiFi for my birthday 10 days ago. So far I love it. I've bought a few books and have downloaded quite a few freebies. I find the screen very easy to read, even in relatively low light. It is easy to turn pages, back or forward, and uses virtually no power. Learning to navigate its menus is relatively painless, but does require a half hour of reading and experimenting.

The web browser is virtually useless, however. There are frames in each of the websites I visited to which I could not point with the cursor. I loaded some music, and while it sounds okay, the songs are not navigable. They play in some arbitrary, non-controllable order. It also comes with Audible Books software that works better than the Blackberry Audible software that I have on my phone.