I have had one for quite a while. I just love it. So handy and very easy to use. Aso, you can sample the book free of charge to see if you like it before purchasing it.

You haven't read a book in years?? Lavon, you don't know what you are missing! LOL

I know, isnt that terrible ! I just dont sit down much and when I do, I fall asleep ! LOL
Can you make the print larger ? That sounds neat, that you can sample a book before you buy it ! And now that I have come here to the KT, I bet I could get some good recommendations as to what to read, too.

I'm thinking about getting Harry one for Christmas. There was an article in the paper about them not long ago. I guess there are two kinds. I hope someone who has one will come and explain better before I buy the wrong one.

Me too Patti ! The one I saw is only $139 and it seems like when they first came out they were twice that much >
I would appreciate any information, too...especially because I dont read much and if I didnt like it, then what would I do with it ?

I love my kindle. Yes, you can change the size of the print. I have had mine for a year and a half. The new prices are great, but I advise the $189 one. The cheaper one (I think)works off wireless internet which to me means its portability is limited. The $189 one works like mine=which is similar to a cell phone. I can download a book anywhere I am: in the car, traveling, etc. For a dedicated reader, it is worth it. I still use library books, but I only buy kindle books. The Kindle holds hundreds of books. Once you buy a book, it's yours forever. You can delete a title from your kindle, but it is archived at Amazon and you can call it back any time. The only downside I see is that you cannot share a book with someone unless you lend your Kindle.

Nope, I still use my public library for reading material. I own plenty of books, never read any of them twice. But I have lent books to friends and given some to charities.

Lavon, You are asking exactly the questions I wanted to know about, but didn't bother asking. My problem is I don't like to BUY new books and I'm not so sure about paying for them.

I even noticed someone in church using a READER for Bible reading. I thought that was amazeing.

I'm still having a hard time justifying the cost.

Thank you, Pam 25f. That's what I needed to know for sure.

I don't mean to take over lavon46's post, but I have another question. How much do the books cost? I'm thinking mainly of those on the best seller list, but maybe there's no difference.

DS has one and loves it. He has had his for a while. He's an avid reader.

patti thats okay with me, the more I can learn about it, the better !

I do my reading on an iPad with a Kindle book app. There are lots of free books available for the Kindle. - not just olde classics either. I have had my iPad since April and have over 400 books. Purchased perhaps ten of them. Best sellers that are new cost a few dollars less than the printed version but they don't clutter my home when I have finished them. I take them with me on holidays etc. I prefer Amazon Kindle books to Apples iBook. They generally cost less and have a better selection.

I have the $189. kindle. My hubby got it for me for my birthday in July. With this one you can download books from Amazon anywhere you want too and don't have to have a computer or anything to use to download it with. The books run from 0.00 to about 14.99. The most I have paid for a kindle book has been $12.99 and thats still cheaper than what the hardback one cost. I have a lot of free ones and some that were 4.99, 5.99 and 6.99. I took mine on vacation with us to ND last month. It was really nice to read from on the plane and very comfortable to hold too. It fits in my purse even with the zipped cover on it and I can take it everywhere.Comes in handy while waiting for Drs appointments, etc. I have used the sample feature quite a bit too.

I have a Kindle and like it. The books are pricier than I like to pay ($9.99 to about 12.99) as I usually buy at the used book store, borrow or get from the library. But I like the portability of the K, the ability to preview books, the weight is nice, easy to read in bed with no pages to flip, it's very handy to take along for travel, waiting anywhere. I would not read in the bathtub with it though!! LOL!

What I don't like: sometimes I lose my page and it's a pain to find it again as the K does not use regular pages. Now I just bookmark when I stop reading and I don't lose the page anymore. With a real book I like to look at when it is published, picture of the author, read the end papers, look back at maps or whatever, and you can do this with K but it's not as easy as a book.

I still read "regular" books, just alternate with the K.

If you decide to get it, I would recommend a cover and "skin" to protect it.

If you want to do more research, go to kindleboards.com. Big K fans over there!

My husband and I each have our own Kindle, and we both love them. We have the 2nd Generation, with the 6" screen and the 3G and WiFi. In other words, we have global access for downloading new books, magazines, etc. Yes, we can be in Europe and still have the ability to get new books wirelessly downloaded to our Kindles via Amazon's Whispernet system.

You are not just limited to "printed" books on a Kindle. Amazon has another web site, Audible.com, where you can purchase and download audio books. The audio books are available in four different formats, so you can get them for your iPad or iPhone in addition to the Kindle. (Go to the web site to find out more about what devices they support. I know they can be played on the Dell DJ mp3 players.) Because of the size of the audio books, you don't download them directly to your Kindle (or iPhone, etc.). You download them to your computer and then transfer them to your device. You can listen to quite lengthy samples of the audio books before you purchase, to see whether or not you're going to like the narrator's voice.

You can also download books onto your computer from Google Books and convert them to Kindle format using a free program called Calibre.

You transfer the Audio books and Google Books (that you download to your computer) onto your Kindle using the Kindle's USB cable.

You can also transfer mp3 song files onto your Kindle, and play them while you're reading a book on your Kindle.

You can transfer PDF documents to your Kindle using the USB cable, or you can send them wirelessly to your Kindle, but there is a 15-cent per MB charge for that. (They're transferred for free using the USB cable.)

You can go onto the Internet with the Kindle.

You can send personal documents to your Kindle as an attachment to an e-mail (your Kindle will have it's own e-email address - username@Kindle.com - which is based on your Amazon account), and Kindle's "Personal Document Service" will convert them to a compatible Kindle format. Currently, the types of documents you can send are:

Microsoft Word (.DOC)
Structured HTML (.HTML, .HTM)
RTF (.RTF)
JPEG (.JPEG, .JPG)
GIF (.GIF)
PNG (.PNG)
BMP (.BMP)
PDF (.PDF)
Microsoft Word (.DOCX) is supported in the experimental category.

Again, there is a 15-cent per MB charge for this, but if you don't want to pay the fee, you can e-mail them to username@free.Kindle.com and the converted document will be sent to the e-mail address that you use for your transactions with Amazon (where they send you your order confirmations, shipment notices, etc.). Then, you can transfer the document from your computer to your Kindle using the USB cable.

Oh, about sending PDF documents to your Kindle -- if you send a PDF as an attachment to your Kindle e-mail address, the document will be received still in PDF format (yeah, I know that's redundant - Portable Document Format format). But, if you want the PDF document converted to a "regular" Kindle document, put the word "Convert" as the subject line of the e-mail.

There is a commercial currently playing on TV that shows a man with his iPad and a woman with her Kindle, side by side in chaises next to a pool. The guy is getting all sort of glare on his screen, making reading difficult. He leans over and looks at the screen of the woman's Kindle, and asks her about it. She tells him that the Kindle is great for reading in full sun. And it IS. No glare whatsoever.

OK, there are two different size Kindles -- the Kindle DX and the Kindle (Latest Generation). The Kindle DX is the larger one, with a 9.7" diagonal screen. It has the 3G and wireless coverage, and holds about 3,500 books. It's $379 and comes in your choice of white or graphite (dark gray). You can still purchase the 2nd generation Kindle DX (white only) for $359, but it's worth it to spend the extra $20 to get the latest generation. The Kindle DX is not available as a Wi-Fi only version.

The Latest Generation Kindle has a 6" diagonal screen, and holds about 3,500 books. You have your choice of white or graphite in the Wi-Fi only for $139, or you can get it in white or graphite for $189 with 3G wireless and Wi-Fi. Unless you spend your entire life in a Wi-Fi hot spot, splurge the extra $50 and go for the 3G+Wi-Fi version.

It is so easy and handy to carry the Kindle with you. No more reading ancient, uninteresting magazines while waiting at the doctor's office, or waiting to pick your kids up somewhere. In fact, you'll almost find yourself hoping that folks will be late so you can continue reading!

You can download, for free, the Kindle app for a PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, and/or Android. You can buy a book and have it on up to six different devices. So, you can be sitting in a very dull work meeting, reading a book on your BlackBerry. When you're done with the meeting, you can grab your Kindle and go sit outside in the fresh air and continue reading the book on the Kindle, exactly where you left off reading it on your BlackBerry. Cool, eh?

Oh - some folks will tout the Nook's ability to lend books to another Nook user, but those folks don't realize that you can lend a Nook book only ONCE. That's not "once per other Nook user" -- it's ONCE PER BOOK. So, the ability to lend books isn't "all that."

There are thousands and thousands of free Kindle books on Amazon, and the books that have a cost can be as low as one cent. You can download a sample (usually the first chapter, but sometimes more) for free. Read the sample and if you like it, then you can buy the whole thing.

Many, if not most, but not all, books have a text-to-speech feature (this is something that the publisher has to enable, and not all do it for all books). This is different than an audio book. You have your choice of male or female voice, and there is a slow, standard, or faster speed choice. This is a feature that is considered to be experimental, and the voices do sound a bit "canned," but I expect Amazon will improve that in time. (Yes, if they make software updates, the updates can be downloaded to your Kindle.)

The Kindles have two speakers on the back, and they also have an earphone plug, so you can listen to mp3 songs, audio books, or text-to-speech either using the earphones or through the speakers.

There are free Kindle books available. First, if you go to Amazon Kindle books and search under best sellers, quite a few free ones will show up because so many people get them (free!!!). Also, many classics are free as public domain books.

Also Ereader News Today will notify you by email of free books. These are mostly romantic fiction and religious.

Daughter has one and likes it. . I prefer real books which I pay nothing for. I read best sellers from my library, usually two a week and then return them. Never ever had a fine after decades of going every week. And I read in the bath tub, another plus for real books.

There is nothing to prevent someone from reading on a Kindle while in the bathtub. In fact, although I haven't read my Kindle while in the tub, I think it would be so much easier than reading a paper book while in the tub. You can hold the Kindle in one hand, and use your thumb of that hand to go to the next page, and the next, and the next, etc. With a paper book, it's difficult, at best, if you're using only one hand, to turn the pages and hang onto the book. So you have to keep both hands dry while in the tub when reading a paper book. That's a disadvantage, as far as I'm concerned.

The problem with getting books from the library is that you have to go to the library to get them, and then you have to go back to the library to return them. If you ever want to read the book again, you have to go back to the library again to get it, and again go back there to return it.

With a Kindle, you go to the Kindle store wirelessly, from where you are, no matter where that is, and download the book you want. If you've downloaded a book and then delete it from your Kindle, it's still part of your Kindle account on Amazon and you can download it again without paying anything.

More and more local libraries are closing, which is a shame, and more and more of those that are remaining "open" are reducing their hours. You can get Kindle books 24/7/365.

Another Ipad fan here, have the kindle reader, iBook, and Nook. Plus I am laying here in bed to post this, as I have said before, I am am Ipad addtct!

I love my Kindle...when I go out, it's in my handbag and I can whisk it out while i'm waiting at the doctors, in any long line, etc.

I keep several free samples of books downloaded on it that people have recommended or by favorite authors, that I can read and decide if I want to purchase. No charge until I actually decided to purchase.

I don't like APPLE products, all the I-devices, because they demand very fine finger dexterity, which I don't have anymore. Nor do I need bright colors or shiny screens.

I got my Kindle in July and love it. I've found some new (meaning new to me) authors and enjoyed their books a lot. I get mostly the free books from Amazon.com but have also paid 99 cents to $2.99 for some. Mine is the one Lindsey has...btw, she explained the Kindle and how it works very well. A friend asked me, "But don't you miss real books?" *L* Of course I read "real" books also, but the Kindle is handier and easier for me to carry around.

Thanks EVERYONE for all the great information, I really appreciate it !
I had my husband sit down and read all of your replys so he would have a better understanding, too !
I am thinking I might put this on my list to Santa Clause !

We live 3 - 5 minutes from the center of our town -- RR, groceries, LIBARY. We usually read two books a week and watch one or two DVD's a week -- free, from our library.

If we donate $500 a year to the library, we're still more about $1000 ahead -- and a lot of other people have the use of a historic facility with book clubs, children's programs, lecturers.

These electronic devices are the future, I know. Like the newspaper business, publishing traditional books on paper is coming to an end. Some gains. Some losses. I'll miss the human interaction of the library.

I was thinking, because it is an electronic device of the future, it might encourage me to pick up a book and read it ! I don't leave home often ( by choice) we do have a library in town, but I have never been there, and thinking back, I am not sure I have been to one, anywhere since high school.
I have trouble with small print, so just the idea of larger print interests me too. Plus I can come here now and see what everyone is reading and get some good ideas.
My husband says he thinks I will never use it, LOL , says he has not seen me read a book in 12 years, so why would I start now, but to go ahead and try one, he really did enjoy reading all the information here about it though.

The problem with libraries is that you may want to read a certain book and find that it's not in the library at the moment.

A new, popular book may have a waiting list...a loooong waiting list. And then, the book has to be returned within a certain length of time to avoid paying fines. So, if you can't lay down a book to read another, and come back, or are unable to read because of other activities - what do you do?

When I worked in a library, we seldom bought more than two copies of any fiction.

How many copies does your library buy?

With a device like the Kindle...you "own" that electronic copy, and if life interferes with reading or finishing it within a certain time - no problem.

My husband recently suffered a back injury, which resulted in an extremely painful bulging disc. He could barely move. He couldn't go to work - he had to stay home and get as much rest as possible. He had to be on his back with his knees up on one of those tempurpedic wedge things, or on his side with his top leg bent at the knee and up on a body pillow.

He's not one for watching a lot of tv, but he does love to read. But, he tends to read books that don't come in paperback -- his books are huge thick hardbound things that are heavy. Try holding up a heavy book for hours at a time while you're on your back or side. Doesn't work well. But a Kindle is light enough that you can hold it for hours and hours and hours while you're in virtually any position. And as I said before, you can hold it in one hand and still advance pages. My Hubs has said that having a Kindle is what saved his sanity during that recovery time.

For those who live alone, how would you get to the library to check out and/or return books when you're ill? With a Kindle, you can get books 24 hours a day, every day.

I love to knit, but I don't always have knitting patterns with me when I decide to knit something new/different. So, I've put several knitting patterns into Word documents, then had the Kindle "Personal Document Service" convert them to Kindle format. So, now I'll always have knitting patterns with me. And, yes, the patterns even have photos, too. :-)

You can increase (or decrease) the size of the print on a Kindle, and you can also change the screen orientation from portrait to landscape.

Many Target stores already sell the Kindle, and I think all Target stores should be carrying them soon. And, I think it's Best Buy that is going to carry all three -- the Kindle, the Nook, and the Sony e-reader; so you can go into the store to check them out in person.

OK, I embarrassed to admit this - a friend of ours gave us the very first Kindle when it first came out and it was so hard to get.

And it's still in the shrinkwrap

Tally! Shame on you! Take that Kindle out of the wrapper right now and start downloading books!!!

I guess our library is more outstanding than I knew!

I've never waited more than two weeks for a book I have reserved. If there is a Book Discussion selection, the library offers many copies. We also have inter-library loan; if our library doesn't have a title, one can be brought in within days.

As for fines...I could keep a book for months for less than I could buy one at ten dollars a pop. (I'm a pretty fast reader, though, and don't tend to read a lot of 'heavy' literature or non-fiction.)

I know there will be an e-book in my future. I just don't seem to need one yet! I can see that they may 'save' publishing, e-publishing.

"As for fines...I could keep a book for months for less than I could buy one at ten dollars a pop."

I have absolutely no idea what library fines are now. But, no matter what they are, I'd be willing to bet that they'll be increasing. Because of the proliferation of e-books, people reading newspapers online, etc., fewer folks are using libraries; not to mention the reduction of government monies being directed to libraries. An increase in late fees is one way of trying to make up some of the deficit. Just like the Post Office increasing the price of first-class stamps all the time...

"(I'm a pretty fast reader, though, and don't tend to read a lot of 'heavy' literature or non-fiction.)"

The last time my reading speed was measured was when I was in the 7th grade, at which time I was reading 785 words per minute. I know I read a lot faster now. (The average person reads 300-350 words per minute.) If I had to rely on a library for books, I'd be there constantly.