Anyone own or have used the Amazon Kindle?

I have one and I absolutely love it. I do miss the tactile experience of books from time to time, but I no longer carry paper books when I’m travelling.

It’s harder to thumb through and find a passage and I wouldn’t recommend tackling big books on it (i.e. Tolstoy, Rushdie), but for reading to pass time and immerse yourself in the world of a book it’s pretty great.

I have one and I love it, as well – it’s a great way to test drive books and then if you love ‘em, you can get paperback/hardcover for your shelves and you can get hundreds of e-books for free – the books download within a second (both free and ones you buy from Amazon) and the battery lasts a long time. These days it’s much cheaper than when Alex got it for my b-day so there is no reason you shouldn’t get it now. I highly recommend it.

@Mamradpivo @Simone_De_Beauvoir Thanks for those glowing reviews. Do you two have the Kindle, Kindle 2 or Kindle 3D?

@Akua Kindle 2

I have a Kindle 2 as well and I love it. I’ve never used the Nook or any other reader. The free books they offer are really nice. I’ve been able to read some classics that I haven’t had the opportunity to read yet. I have a little reading light so that I can read at night and it works really well. Whenever I would travel in the past, I would take several books with me. It’s nice to only have my Kindle and access to just about any book I want. It’s also nice because we move quite a bit and it can be a pain packing tons of books ever few years I have recommended it to everyone I know.

I have used and loved the Kindle as well. One caution however if you buy a book for your Kindle and Amazon subsequently loses the rights to sell that book, it will disappear from your Kindle and you will not receive any kind of refund. It is my understanding that this is not the case with the Nook and that it is just as good as the Kindle. Here is an article that talks a bit about the issue.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir @Seaofclouds I am thinking of getting the Kindle 2 also. It’s has more features that the original but costs less than the Kindle 3D. @SuperMouse see this is why I knew it would be a good idea to ask for information on this site because I had no idea that Amazon’s rights to sell a book could be challenged and I could lose money if this were to happen. They don’t even mention that on the Amazon site. The only thing they mention is that if you lose or delete the book by mistake you can re-download it for free for a lifetime because once you pay you own it. Does Amazon regularly lose the rights to see books?Does this sort of thing happen frequently?

I love my Kindle. It’s not great for reference books because you can’t flip through it, but for fiction it’s awesome. Pretty much everything @Simone_De_Beauvoir said. I also have the Kindle 2. Plus, I’ve figured out how to convert other formats for my Kindle, so if the Nook store has a book that Kindle doesn’t, I can still get it.

@SuperMouse There are some ways to make sure that doesn’t happen to you.

I have a Kindle 3 and love it. I owned (and sold) the original Kindle because I thought it was too slow, but this new one is great. And for $138 ( $40 less if you get Amazon’s Visa card), how can you go wrong. Plus you can returned it, no questions asked, up to 30 days. (Forget the Nook, Sony or any other current e-reader. Kindle beats them all, hands down.)

@papayalily please explain how I can avoid something like that happening.

Thanks @Austinlad. I’m sold. I can’t wait to have my Kindle in my hands. You said $138? The Kindle 2 is $138 the Kindle 3 is a lot more. Close to $300 I think. You sure you have the Kindle 3 and not the Kindle 2?

I was looking into buys an eReader too and Consumer Reports gives Kindle a much higher recommendation than the the Sony, the Nook, or the iPad. The Kindle 3 (6 in screen) is going for $139 the Kindle DX (9” screen) is the one that is going for $300.
As far as your question about loosing the rights to sell the book, no this does not happen often I believe it only happened the one time for a few books and I am sure Amazon will not make that mistake again.

@Akua I think you can avoid it simply by renaming the file, although I’m not sure – I’d have to check. Personally, whenever I get a new book, I copy it onto my computer in a separate folder – not the one Amazon sets up for you for Kindle for PC, but one I’ve created myself. Then I strip the DRM, and convert it to mobi format (I can teach you how to do both if you like). Then I have a copy of the original as well as a non-protected mobi version should anything happen. Then, I can read the mobi on my cell phone, or loan it to a friend, or whatever. It takes me about 15 minutes, but I’m kinda uptight and into insane amounts of backup and organization, so you could probably do it in 5.

No. It seems like the nook is better though

@Aesthetic_Mess Would you care to elaborate on that second part?

@papayalily if you have 2 copies of all your books doesn’ that really increase your memory space?

My dad has the Nook and he loves it.
I heard that with the Kindle you can only buy books from Amazon, is that true?
But I know that the Nook isn’t back lit, so you’re less likely to strain your eyes and I am pretty sure you can buy the e-books for the Nook anywhere except Amazon.

The Kindle isn’t back lit either. If you want to read in dimmer light you need a book light. That should be your deciding factor, where do you want to buy your books? I am an Amazonian through and through because it has been my experience that they have a much wider selection and are usally $1—$2 cheaper. For example I just looked up The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. Amazon pb price is $6.99 and kindle edition is $6.64 BN pb price is $10.64 but eBook is $6.64 also so it’s really up to you where you want to shop. I am actually surprised they are the same.

I have a Nook that I absolutely love. I did comparisions with other eReaders before deciding on the Nook because I liked the wi-fi capability and the fact that I can borrow library books. I also like that B&N has a lot of free eBooks.

I have a Kindle DX. Much of what I read is in PDF format, and the DX has a large enough screen to render PDF documents legibly. The keyboard is ridiculously small—not much larger than what you find on a phone. Navigating around the page is so tedious that highlighting and annotating are hardly worth the effort. If not for the PDF requirement, I’d look for a touch screen.

There are several promising contenders just around the corner.

@Paxan8 I keep the two copies on my computer only. Technically, it does take up twice the room, but less than 1MB on a computer with several hundred GBs it’s not really a big deal.

@amazingme Yes and no. You can’t shop on your Kindle at any other stores. However, it will read any .azw (it’s native format) or .mobi that is either unprotected or that it has proper DRM authorization. This means that you can shop at other stores, and simply strip any DRM and convert it to the proper format.

All ereaders have “their” format that ebooks need to be in in order for them to be able to read it.
The Nook “makes” you shop at the Barnes & Noble store, just like the Kindle makes you shop at the Amazon store, so it’s really whichever store you prefer.

I have a couple of friends with Kindles. I decided to go with the iPad. It’s back lit, so you don’t need a light, it will self adjust the brightness, to the light in the room, or you can manually adjust it. There are many Aps with books, besides the Apple store. I download books from my library. I can peruse books and put a hold on them. They notify me when one is available, and I download it. I have only been downloading free books. You can “flip” through the pages, like a book, go back to the contents, touch a chapter and it will go there. Touch a word and a dictionary will open up. The colors are terrific. I love making the font large enough for me to comfortably read. You can have the book appear as one page, or turn it and have two. You can lock the position, so if you’re reading in bed, at a weird angle, it won’t flip back and forth on you. You can bookmark where you left off and it will go back to that place. I got the cover that hugs it like a skin, but will fold back on itself, so it props the book up ( I was concerned about my wrists) It fits right in my purse. It has all the features, like internet, e-mail, videos, movies etc., besides being an e-book reader. I sure don’t mind having to wait anywhere anymore. I like the touch screen. When I turn it horizontally, the keyboard is almost as large as my Macbook. You can put all sorts of Aps on it, design it to fit your needs and interests. I am going to get one that the reviews say is excellent as a GPS, and I can get it with voice directions, besides maps, much cheaper than on a phone, and the screen is such a great size. I can pay bills, do banking, look things up, on the internet. I’m very pleased with it as a reader and it’s multi uses. I no longer look in a phone book for the number to a business and call them to check their hours etc., when I’m out and about, I just put in the business name and get their webpage with all their info. Same thing, like deciding to go to a movie, you can get the times and listings, saves time and hassle. The people at the Apple stores are for service and education for their customers. They are so helpful and patient. I’m an Apple convert.