Tell me about Kindles. Do they light up? Can you enlarge the print? Are books free?

I have a Kindle and love it. I have the cheapest model you can get, but I have the Kindle app on my tablet. I do all my reading on the tablet. It is back lit, and I see fine with it. The font size can be enlarged on any Kindle model.

I got my daughter a Kindle Paperwhite for her last birthday, and she loves it a lot. The screen is back lit. It has a touchscreen. It operates over wi-fi. You hook it up to your home wi-fi router, and you’re good to go.

Amazon offers literally millions of free books, and there are some really good ones. Remember though, they are in business to make money, so they want you to buy books. They don’t make it easy to find the free books, which are mostly classics since they’re out of copyright protection and in the public domain.

Some local libraries offer books over the Kindle. Of course, those are free.

If you have trouble reading in low light, I recommend you ask your friends who have a Kindle to let you take a look at theirs and test your reading ability.

The Kindle Paperwhite is what I recommend the highest.

Yes the kindle paper white has an internal light which works really well. You can make the print bigger or smaller. The battery life is pretty good. I recharge it maybe once every ten days or so. I read a lot!

You do get some books for free and one a month to borrow for free if you are a Prime member of amazon.

For the past few months I have been downloading books from my local library directly on to my Kindle paper white. It is the greatest thing ever. now I don’t even have to go to the library or purchase all my books.

I have about 100 books in my kindle that I have purchased from amazon and I still have plenty of room left. I think you would like it.

Whether it lights up depends on the model. There are some free books, but generally you’ll have to pay for them. Electronic books tend to be cheaper than regular books. My library allows me to check electronic books out of the library. You might want to check with your local library.

Also, if you have an ipad or other tablet, there isn’t any need to buy a kindle. You could just download the app.

I cannot thank you guys enough! Over time I’m losing interest in most tv shows and I’d love to read at night!

@Aster I love mine especially for the night reading. I don’t have to have a lamp on and bother anyone. not to mention I save on my electric bill since I’ve been know to stay up really late to read one more chapter of a really good book.

I have a Kindle Paperwhite and love it! Just like reading a well-righted book… only better because it’s so light (and bright).

The Kindle Paperwhite is back-lit, other models are not (except the Kindel Fire, which is a tablet rather than a straight e-reader). Yes, you can adjust the font size. You can actually make the font ridiculously, impractically large. There’s a huge selection of free public domain books available, but with a little caveat: they’re often copied and put into e-book form by small, unpaid teams so there’s no incentive for them to do a quality job. Free books are often riddled with typo’s and other errors and often lack basic e-book features such as a working TOC that links to every chapter or the ability to quickly skip over chapters. In other words: you get what you pay for.

And I absolutely cherish my Kindle.

I have an old style kindle, the sort that doesn’t light up, but I recently switched to an Android tablet with a Kindle app and I read all my kindle books on there. There’s loads of stuff you can get free, mostly old classics that are out of copyright, but some new writers publish free too.

I have a kindle fire. It lights up, and is in color. You can get free books, or you can buy them for a small fee. Also, there is a way to rent, like borrowing from a library, but I have never done it and don’t know much about it.

I bought my aunt a kindle and she can download library books for free. You would need to check if your library has that option. She can check them out for three weeks at a time I think. I don’t remember how many at once. I want to say ten.

Amazon has some free books. I don’t know what the selection is like.

I use a Kindle Fire and it is quite easy to read anything on it. I would also suggest you take a look at the lights sold on Ottlite.com. I am sitting here with one of their floor models by my side. I have one of their task lamps on my kitchen counter. You would not believe the degree to which an OttLite clarifies anything you want to see clearly.

Kindle Paperwhite is backlit and zooms. Battery life is good. I don’t really have many vision problems, but I found it measures up well to the experience of reading a book. It’s also light. Sometimes it’s better, as some books are hard to read lying down because they’re so heavy.

I want a Kindle Paperwhite but my s/o bought me a tablet and he says I can ‘just download the ap.” What? Am I a technological genius?

I’d have him cancel that order if he can. If all you want is an e-reader then the tablet’s a pretty poor choice. For one thing the tablet is just like any computer screen, in that it refreshes constantly, so there might be eye-strain if you’re trying to read on it. the e-readers don’t refresh until you turn the page. Not to mention that the tablet’s gonna be a bunch of extra stuff you might not necessarily want or need.

@Darth_Algar nothing to cancel. He bought the tablet for Christmas and has not ordered the Kindle and probably won’t.

With your tablet, log on to Amazon . Com and go to the “Kindle Books & E-readers” click on that and then click on “Free Kindle Reading Apps” follow the directions.

@Darth_Algar is right. A tablet is no substitute for an e-reader. They serve different purposes. You can get a PaperWhite for under $100.

Fair warning:

If you tend to fall asleep whilst reading, paperback novels are much kinder to the bridge of your nose than a Kindle or a tablet computer. It’s not a fun way to wake up.

@bolwerk “You can get a PaperWhite for under $100.” Really?? Run over by a truck or lost in an alley?

@Aster: mine was $99.00. Amazon uses them as a loss leader, so they aren’t that expensive. If you make sure to only pirate books or purchase from third parties, you can make sure Amazon loses money on the sale!

Pretty much what @bolwerk said. Amazon doesn’t market the Kindle to make money from it, they market it with the idea that they’ll make money selling content for it.

Did you know Amazon is trying to make you pay to put your PDFs on your Kindle account now?

I’m SO mad about that.

@Seek_Kolinahr

How do you mean?

Last time I tried using my Send to Kindle thing for a couple of PDFs, it wanted me to pay a buck apiece for them.

Hmm. I’ve just always loaded stuff like that onto my Kindle via USB.