If you own one I would like to know how you like it, what you paid for it etc. I don’t know much about them so any information will help. 
We just use our Palm PDAs, with the free reader downloaded from Ereader.com (or free Adobe reader, for books from the library). It’s probably not as good an experience as a dedicated reader (e.g. Kindle) but it’s a device we have with us all the time for other reasons (games, address/phone, etc.) so saves hauling another piece of hardware.
Hopefully others will pop in and talk about dedicated devices, which I imagine is what you’re more interested in.
I seem to be the first Doper with an Amazon Kindle. I like it. It can read all sorts of free documents from the Net as well as the copy-protected ones from Amazon. It is ready to go right from the box and has a really neato screen.
That being said, the selection of books is still not there. Heck, you can’t get obscure titles like The Lord of the Rings. We can only hope that situation will improve.
Further, the gadget itself is a bit awkward. Too many buttons make it hard to hold, the cover sucks. Still all in all, I like it.
Of course if you wait, the next-generation gadget will be better.
I’ve been curious about the Kindle since I saw it. What formats can it read? Can it read any actual e-book formats besides Amazon’s? (Like Mobipocket, Microsoft Reader’s .LIT format, Palm’s .pdb files, etc.) And IIRC it has some kind of cellular modem in it so you can access Wikipedia and download Amazon titles right to it, correct? Is there any kind of monthly fee for it? I’ve heard conflicting reports about fees for use.
I am still playing with it.
It has a wireless connection, but there is no monthly fee, it is included in the $9.99 per book. It has a darn basic internet connection, for free for now.
As for formats, I have had good luck with DOC and TXT, it also takes Amazon’s protected format.
I don’t quite understand. Do you buy a book for ten dollars and get to read it once, or is it yours to read as often as you like? When you buy a book do you download it or have to transfer the book from a PC?
Hot Crackers! The price is $400.00 plus tax! :eek: I think I’ll wait awhile before buying one.
I have a Sony Reader
Things I love:
- The screen - looks like paper.
- Lightweight, holds about 80 books, never have to worry about hauling library books to and fro on trips.
- Cost, about half the price of the Kindle for me.
- A special deal to get 100 free classics (I got all of Jane Austen, which is pretty cool).
- Can play MP3s, Word docs, holds B&W pictures, easy to drag and drop info to the Reader.
- Long battery life, also very easy to charge.
- Form factor - just a great looking piece of technology.
Room for improvement:
- Sony Connect bookstore - clunky - really not fun.
- Unlike the Kindle, no way to use a keypad to word search on specific words.
- Unlike the Kindle, no way to automatically download blogs/magazine subscriptions.
- Really need more titles! I wanted to load up some “tried and true” favorites and was really surprised at the books not available at the Sony Connect book store (Gone With the Wind, Shogun, Lonesome Dove?? Really not available?).
- Page forward button is not very comfy, wish it were more thumbshaped and more distant from page backwards.
There is a slight “flicker” when the page is turned which bugged me for 5 minutes, but I don’t notice it anymore.
I debated back and forth between the Kindle and the Reader, but the cost was a big component for me. Right now, the Kindle has a much larger selection of ebooks, but Sony has recently partnered with Borders and should have a much wider range of electronic titles available when Borders.com launches early this year.
With the Reader, I download the books to the harddrive of my PC, into my Sony library. Then, I can drag and drop the books to my Reader (or delete them from my Reader as desired) and read them as many times as I like. Each etitle is about 20-30% off whatever it is retailing for. A massmarket paperpack might sell for 5 bucks, a trader paperback would be 9 bucks, a hardcover would be 20 bucks. Not a huge savings (especially considering I normally use the library) but still significant.
For the Kindle, I thought the basic “free” internet service only went to Amazon and Wikipedia? No real browsing capability?
When you buy a book, it goes on your Kindle and you can read it forever. Also, it ‘exisits’ in the ‘cloud.’ That is Amazon has a copy in case you loose yours. So if you buy a book and then delete it, or if your Kindle is stolen or whatever, you still have the book when you get a new Kindle.
The internet is limited. You cannot seem to do your e-mail on it. I can get to certain (ahem) adult text sites. It does not handle images well.
But on the other hand, the Kindle seems pretty friendly to the technically stupid such as myself. It comes with an easy way to get lots of books.
Still, the books available on Amazon is quite limited. Before you buy one of these things, make a list of (say) ten books off your wish list or something, then look to see if they are available in Kindle format. You will be shocked. Selected is still quite limited.
Any other questions?
Can it read PDF files and/or play MP3 files? I believe the Sony Reader can.
Oh, and does it have any card slots like the Sony Reader does? I think the Reader has an SD slot and a MemoryStick slot.
It has some sort of memory card slot. I think it is an SD card. Or something else. I got one at Office Depot.
It plays MP3s through earphones only. People say it only plays music in random order. If true (I use an iPod for music), it would seem to be a software issue, I expect it be solved with an update sometime soon.
I am not sure if will handle PDFs or not. I would point you to the discussion at the Amazon Kindle Forum.
All in all, it works for me. I like it.