A key issue for me is annotation. How do the iPad and Kindle compare if you’re trying to jot down notes, and then refer to them later?
The Kindle store is certainly a better option than Apple’s iBookstore at the moment, because as far as I can tell there’s no way to read iBookstore material on your computer itself - only on the iPad (and in a few weeks, with iPhone OS4, on the iPhone/ iTouch). On the other hand, I have a couple of Kindle books (without owning a Kindle!) that get synced between my iPhone and my computer. However, I’m unable to annotate/ highlight on those two devices - or to copy text to another application on the computer, which is a bit of a drag for research/ writing purposes.
You’d think Apple would introduce a way to read their material on the computer sometime soon, although maybe not, seeing as how my iPhone has all these cool games that are also on my computer, but unplayable there.
An iPad seems like a great idea because it’ll let me do lots of other things. An Kindle seems like a great idea because it WON’T let me do lots of other things, so I may be able to actually finish a damn book once in a while.
On the Kindle you can open the book and select the “Notes & Bookmarks” option. It also puts these in a “My Clippings.txt” file which is usable on your computer. The Kindle apps for computers and phones are missing a lot of these features as you’ve found.
As per advice from the other amazon thread, I’ve just downloaded a kindle book on PC but am having trouble getting the text to read function activated. Is this ‘read’ function only available on a kindle?
Well,it just occured to me that I could use this kindle like a leap-pad for my younger one, who’s just beginning to take on chapter books, and the best part is that, there’s a whole wide range of books to choose from with this choice. But being new to this e book technie , I guess I would tape record the books for now and see how the kid takes on to this format of reading.Thanks again.
So the Kindle just dropped in price from $279 to $189 thanks to some healthy competition from Barnes and Noble’s Nook.
My 8 month old Kindle (same model that Amazon is selling now) just dropped in price to $100 ($3200 NT) for anyone who wants it. I’ll post an update here when it’s sold. So if you don’t see an update, assume it’s still available.
Depends on your personal preference. The Kindle offers the following benefits over the iPad:
Much smaller and lighter
Much better battery life
Screen is better on your eyes during long reads
Screen is much better outdoors in the sunlight.
Text to speech function
Built in dictionary
The main benefit the iPad offers is that since the screen has its own light, it can be used at night without a separate light. And then of course the iPad has plenty of non eReader functions, but is double the price of the Kindle.[/quote]
Another benefit I found using the Kindle in the US is that it’s a cheap way to check email. In the US, I have to hunt for Wifi hotspots, which is surprisingly difficult in places like New York City, Chicago, and Boston With my Kindle, I can jump onto Gmail Mobile using its free Whispernet service. It’s far from perfect, and at times agonizingly slow (it’s one of the experimental functions), but it can be a delight when you’re stuck waiting in lines. Going online does sap the battery pretty quick though.
Just thought I’d update this with info about the new Kindle. You can preorder it and it should get shipped at the end of August. They’re offering a new Wifi only version for $139. The article says that it’ll ship to US and UK, but when I went to Amazon, it appears that you can preorder for any country.
Wow, they even undercut the Nook in price by $10 for the wi-fi only version. I think I’m going to definitely get an e-reader in the next year or two. I live near a library, but the selection doesn’t come close to what’s available online.
I already placed a preorder for delivery here in Taiwan, shipping is $30 (including the $10 duty fee) for 3-4 day shipping, pretty reasonable IMO. Very much looking forward to getting it!
The new one looks really nice and is about the right price. I may have to finally get one. I’m OK reading on my phone, but this would be really nice for power reading.
Quick rant/question: In May, I ordered my wife a Kindle 2 (wish we would have waited) and once it got to customs, there was a delay and all I had to do was send in a passport copy and the UPC #. I just ordered a new one (Kindle 3) for myself and it arrived in Taipei (by DHL) yesterday morning. Knowing they would want all the info, I gave the power of attorney, full disclosure, UPC # that I found on Amazon’s mobile site, since I couldn’t find it anywhere else. Long story short, in the last 36 hours, I’ve sent multiple emails to Ashley and Mika at DHL and been on the phone a couple of hours (mostly wait time) with Amazon trying to figure out what the model # and what the UPC # are for the new Kindles. Looking around, the new 6" Kindle is one of the only items I’ve seen that does not have the product number on the page.
Taipei customs said that the UPC I gave them 0892685001256, which if you search for the new Kindle 3G, that is the number that comes up and if you search that number, Kindles is all you’ll get. So, I called up Amazon at 9pm (+8 time), put on hold for combined total of 45 minutes, went from USA, to India, to England (I think) and the lady on the other end gives me the model number used for Amazon, which I’m not sure will work. I asked her why the UPC number wasn’t on their website and she wasn’t sure.
tl;dr Have you ordered a new Kindle (3) and had problems? I feel like Taiwan hasn’t put the new numbers in for the new Kindle, but wanted to make sure.
I just ordered a K3, but I will pick it up when I go home for a visit next month.
After hearing a variety of problems getting mailed/shipped packages through customs, I generally try to bring things myself, or have someone I know who will travel soon bring it for me.
[quote=“CraigTPE”]I just ordered a K3, but I will pick it up when I go home for a visit next month.
After hearing a variety of problems getting mailed/shipped packages through customs, I generally try to bring things myself, or have someone I know who will travel soon bring it for me.[/quote]
I’ve had no problems with any other item, but I think it is the 3g wireless thing that is causing the problem.
Shouldn’t have anything to do with the 3G part, since I ordered the Kindle 2 last year through UPS without a problem - had to send them my passport info / POA, but didn’t have to find the UPC code or anything, so I’m not sure what that part is about. I think they charged me around $800 NT in import duties.
The new one is smaller with wifi - but so many devices have wifi, so not sure why that would make a difference. Maybe some import rules were changed or something. Let us know if you get it resolved in the end.
With my Kindle, I can jump onto Gmail Mobile using its free Whispernet service. It’s far from perfect, and at times agonizingly slow (it’s one of the experimental functions), but it can be a delight when you’re stuck waiting in lines. Going online does sap the battery pretty quick though.