here are some other threads on the kindle.
this one is about children, but there will be
some useful information on it for you , i thinkhttp://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchentable/msg1015562524909.html

Here is a link that might be useful: question about kindles.. thread

No monthly fee.

I've had mine for about 2 months now and I love it!

-No monthly fees,
-you can download samples of books before you purchase,
-the books are reasonably priced, sometimes free!
-you can adjust the font according to your eyesight
-it slips easily into the side pocket of my purse so I can take it anywhere
-if you get the lighted cover, you can read anywhere there is low light
-you can shop for books from the Kindle itself, all you need is a wireless modem in your house

What more can I say? I love it!

I really like mine and can think of only two downsides so far: you can't pass books on to others like with a paperback and, this may be personal only to me, but it is a little TOO easy to buy books; if I hear about a book that interests me I can "own" it on my Kindle in about 30 seconds and I find that I'm spending WAY more money than I used to when I bought paperbacks.

I have had my kindle for almost 2 years and love it. I agree with momrox (above) about its only flaws. Also, you do not need wi fi to use it. Currently you can by the wifi kindle for $139 or the 3g whispernet for $189. (I think it also is wi fi) The difference has to do with downloading. With the 3g you can download anywhere, such as traveling in a car. You do not need to be connected to read.

I have had mine for about 2 months now, and I love it. Hadn't read in years, print was hard for me to see, and on the Kindle you can make it 5 different sizes, I love that feature. I just ordered my 3rd book last night, and I hadn't read a novel in over 20 years.
I couldn't be happier with it,love the convenience of it and its very easy to learn how to use it, too.

How much do the books cost? Is it worth it rather then just a book?

I was going to get the kindle for my hubby and have been researching it a little. One thing I learned is that you have to use only Amazon for the books, I was disapointed in that. For Canadians it is also a bit more challenging because apparently we have a more limited author list.

I looked at the Kobo that our Chapters/Indigo have ($149.)and I really wasn't impressed with it at all. It kept acting up when I tried it and seemed rather difficult to navigate.

Then I went to Costco...they are expecting something called a pandigital e-reader. I have never heard of it but will research it. They weren't sure of the price but thought it would be around $158.

Next it was Staples, they had the Sony touch reader for $219. It is not wireless, he would have to download the books to the computer and then put them on. It will hold 50.000 books, play mp3's and has 12 dictionaries. It also reads PDF's if needed. The big difference is that he could get books from anywhere, not just the Sony store. He can also put the Sony store app on his ipod and download books.

So that is the one I got him...not sure if he will like it
or not.

You can get a lot of the books free on Amazon. Keep your eyes open because a lot of the books are free for a short time as well. I have the Amazon app on my itouch. I agree though that you can get caught up in buying books from authors you like. I really enjoy having a book reader since hospitals and doctors offices are not carrying magazines in the waiting room due to the spread of infection.

I just did a search here at the KT for previous threads on Kindles/Nooks/e-readers, and here are some of the replies I've posted:

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Posted by lindsey_ca on Sat, Sep 18, 10 at 23:27

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 sorts 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.
------------------------------

Posted by lindsey_ca on Sun, Sep 19, 10 at 1:34

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.
--------------------------------

Posted by lindsey_ca on Sun, Sep 19, 10 at 16:51

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.

---------------------------------

Posted by lindsey_ca on Sun, Sep 19, 10 at 19:52

"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.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

OK, back to the present time...

Amazon is going to introduce the "lending" feature for the Kindle. (So you can loan one of your Kindle books to another Kindle owner for 14 days.) Don't know the release date.

Thanks so much, I'm going to order one now!!!

I guess I'm old fashion. I like going to the library and getting a book. It takes a few extra days if I need to order one but it's always exciting when it comes in.

SamKaren
your resident DJ

well i'm convinced on getting the Kindle over an iPad and for $139 if something far more advanced comes in 2 yrs i don't mind getting the next thing. i'm not going to bother w/ the 3G, my DH is concerned as 4G becomes wiespread it won't be compatible... will order sometime this wk! ~ liz

I just love to read John Grisham's books, I do hope I can download them. I use to read a lot but due to arthiritis in my hands, it bothered me to hold the book and turn the pages. Really looking forward to reading again. I can sit in the den with my DH read my books on Kindle while he watches his ballgames.

ARoseGirl, right now the #1 paid-for Kindle book is The Confession by John Grisham. It's $9.99 :-)

Other Grisham books available for the Kindle include:

The Partner - $7.59
Ford Country - $7.34
The Innocent Man - $7.59
The Rainmaker - $7.59
The Pelican Brief - $6.79
The Firm - $7.99
The Client - $7.59
The Testament - $7.59
The Associate - $7.89
The Appeal - $7.59
The Broker - $6.79
Bleachers - $6.27
The Street Lawyer - $7.59
A Time to Kill - $7.59
A Painted House - $7.59
The Last Juror - $7.59
The Brethren - $7.59
The Summons - $7.59
Playing for Pizza - $7.59
The King of Torts - $7.59
The Runaway Jury - $7.59
The Chamber - $7.15

Thank you so much Lindsey. I see where I'll be spending my dollars..

My daughter just bought me the Sony reader touch edition day before yesterday. She has already downloaded a book from the library. It's free ~ all you need is a library card. I can also load my grandson's pictures, read newspapers and magazines. You have to buy from Barnes and Noble with the Nook. With the Sony you can read books, newspapers and subIscribe to magazines.

Because of my poor vision I haven't been able to read a book for years either so I am excited.

Here is a link that might be useful: Read and compare about all three

I love my kindle! I do a search on Amazon at least once or twice a week to see which kindle books are free. I also keep a "wish List" of books that I know are available in Kindle mode. Then when I finish reading a book on my kindle, I look at my wish list to see which one I want next.

"With the Sony you can read books, newspapers and subIscribe to magazines."

And with the Kindle you can read books, newspapers, and subscribe to magazines. You can subscribe to newspapers, too. You can even choose from newspapers from around the world, not just from the USA.

I bought the Nook because you can get library books on it but you can't on the Kindle. You can also loan books to another Nook owner.

Lindsey...can you tell why it is that Canadian have a limited use of the kindle? This has even been on our news lately because Canadians have bought it and discovered this afterwards. Only certain publishing houses will allow, so if your author has that publisher your out of luck. I also like the library idea too.
I'm so on the fence as to what to buy. We have warranty issues too if bought at Amazon.

Lindsey, what a font of information you are!! Thank you so much for putting all that up here. My sister and sister-in-law have Kindles and just love them. I guess I have been putting off getting one because of the two shelves of books I have waiting for me to pick them up and read, read, read!! I'm guessing, though, that if I had a Kindle, I would just pick it up anytime, rather than sitting through tv shows I'm not really interested in. Maybe Santa will bring me one for Christmas.......................

There are many of us at GW that own the Pandigital Novel ereader. I own it and absolutely love it, would not trade it. Over on the computer help forum we have several long threads about it, many of us that own it have posts there.
the PDN is much more than an ereader, it is wifi enabled so you can go online, surf, email, every thing you can do on a pc pretty much, plus you can listen to music and watch your videos, it takes an SD card up to 32Gig in size so you can load tons of stuff on there. It is full color touch screen.
I got mine at Bed Bath and Beyond, they currently have it with a $20 rebate and you can use their 20% off coupons which brings the price way down. I got mine for right at $100. It uses epub books which you can get all over including many of the free sites, plus you can use the library epub books. It is linked to the Barnes and Noble bookstore. I love being able to read in the dark with no lights on because it has the built in backlight, I read in the night view mode, the font sizes are changeable. there is no flashing of page changes like there is with the kindle and those type readers. I can not say enough good things about it.
Pandigital® Novel 7" Color Multimedia eReader

Pandigital Novel 7-inch Color Multimedia eReader
the actual user reviews at those sites speak highly.

Pandigital Novel eReaders

I do recommend getting the white version not the black one they are different and the white one has better features and reviews. The early first models they put out had to be recalled but the ones available now are great.
It is an android based mini tablet pc which can be tweaked to do so much more.

here are some of our discussions over at GW computer help area
Pandigital Novel (new thread)

new ebook reader available soon does much more

for the price and what it will do it was just the right choice for me. And my husband is really wanting one too.
It has games preloaded on it and he is a solitaire addict, so am I, I can now play anywhere!

Fran1523 -- Nook owners can lend each book only ONCE, for a period of 14 days. And if you "make the offer to lend" a book but the recipient doesn't accept it within 7 days, or rejects it altogether, you cannot lend it to anyone else. You cannot retract an offer to lend once the offer has been made.

The lending feature will be available to Kindle owners very soon, so it is no longer an "advantage" for the Nook.

Taigen -- The following is from the Amazon web site:

"We are excited to now ship Kindle to Canada. Customers in Canada will enjoy:

Books in Under 60 Seconds: Think of a book and you could be reading it in under a minute.

Free Wireless: Free 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle. No monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots. For non-U.S. customers, there are also no additional charges for wireless delivery in or outside your home country. See Coverage Map. See Wireless Terms and Conditions

Growing Selection: Over 530,000 English-language books to choose from; plus U.S. and international newspapers and magazines are available for your country. Because publishers give us eBook rights on a country by country basis, available titles for your country will vary from our current U.S selection. We are actively working with publishers to get the rights to all titles for every country and adding this selection every day. Check the Kindle Store to see available titles.

Low Book Prices: New York Times® Best Sellers and New Releases are $11.99, unless marked otherwise. You'll also find many books for less - over 135,000 titles are priced under $5.99"

I don't think it's that any particular publishing house won't allow any of its books to be sold to Canada (or any country other than the USA), but it's more on a book-by-book basis. It's just a matter of time before all books available in the USA will be available in other countries. But, as it says on the Amazon web site, you can check the availability of books at any time, so if you're thinking of getting a Kindle, look to see if books you'd want are available.

Nooks cannot be sold to anyone outside of the USA, so even with limited e-book availability, the Kindle is obviously the better choice.

Nook owners keep mentioning the ability to get library books on their Nooks. I've searched for information on the Barnes and Noble web site, but cannot find anything about this. So, the only comment I can make is that if you have to go to the library to "borrow" the book onto your Nook, I don't see any advantage to that at all. It's so nice, with the Kindle, to be able to download books wherever you are at any time of the day or night. And I would imagine that you only get to have the library book for a specific period of time, and I don't like that at all. When you buy a Kindle book (or download a free Kindle book), it's yours forever. Even if you delete it from your Kindle, you can still download it again for free because it's in your Amazon Kindle account.

Kindles in the USA have a one-year warranty. Kindles sold to folks in Canada have a one-year warranty. Canadians would have to send their Kindle to the USA for warranty service. I'm in California, and I'd have to send my Kindle elsewhere in the USA for warranty service, so we're even on that one. :-)

Murray's Mom -- LOL! We have at least 800 physical books here in the house (hardbound and paperbacks; and, no, we haven't read all of them), but that didn't stop us from getting Kindles! We have the 2nd generation Kindles, so ours hold approximately 1,500 books each. The latest generation Kindles hold at approximately 3,500 books each. It's a heck of a lot easier to carry 100 books with you on a Kindle than it is to haul 100 physical books around with you! In fact, that's one of the driving reasons when I bought a Kindle for my husband. We both love to read, and when we go on vacation, we both always take books with us. But Hubs pretty much only buys hardbound books, and he tends to buy HUGE (thick) books. Try hauling four big, heavy, hardbound books in a carryon when you're flying somewhere. Ouch. Carrying a Kindle is a breeze.

You can pretty much always have the Kindle with you, so you can read whenever you have a few minutes free - like waiting for a meeting to start, or while waiting for a bridge to "do its thing." We have two bridges in Sacramento - the Tower Bridge is a vertical lift bridge, and the I Street Bridge is a metal truss swing bridge. If you get stopped at the I Street Bridge as it begins "its thing," you're going to be there for at least 15 minutes. The Tower Bridge takes about 7-8 minutes.

Many medical offices don't have magazines in waiting rooms now because of the risk/potential of passing germs, so if you have your Kindle with you, you get to read what you want to read while you're waiting. :-)

I also have the Pandigital Novel that Ravencajun is talking about and it is great. You do not have to go to the library to get e-books. You download them from the library website. The link below gives some more detailed information.

Here is a link that might be useful: E-Books from libraries

Lindsey same here, I bought the PDN and I have over 400 HB books in my personal library and no I haven't read them all either, but wanted a new toy. I keep reading the same ones all over again. I printed off all of Raven's threads in the help forum about the PDN in case I needed it.