I would go ahead and get the 3G. Even though the web browser is pathetic, my understanding is that you can use it on 3G service. Checking your email anywhere you go that has cell service seems neat, especially if you don’t have a smartphone.
I should add that I’m amazed that Verizon charges me $30 for a data package for my phone but using 3G on the Kindle is absolutely free.
Mine came in the mail today! (No, I’m not using it right now, but I will be soon!)
It’s not remotely a comparable amount of bandwidth.
Okay, I’m convinced. I’m ordering a Kindle. I never thought I would, but in another thread (maybe not on this board) someone described it as another reading option, not a book replacement, and that got me thinking. Then, what was stopping me was the lack of library ebook downloading. But it looks like Calibre handles that.
So, I’m ordering one (and the green case with light). What are people’s opinions about the extended warranty?
I never buy an extended warranty on anything. Consumer Reports has said that they just pad profits (in general, not specific to Kindle).
The Kindle comes with a one-year warranty. The Amazon extended two-year warranty costs $45 for a device that costs $140. It covers accidents as well as defects, but still this is a good deal only if you think that chances of wrecking your Kindle in the first two years are greater than 32%.
(I don’t know if I’m typical but I have not broken a consumer electronics device that cost over $100, and only once have I had one that I had to have fixed out of warranty.)
I did order my Kindle yesterday and it will be here today :D. I didn’t get the 3G version after all. I don’t do a ton of traveling and really, I figured I am pretty much the type of person that overdoes everything anyway. So if I have to go somewhere I would probably load the thing up with tons of books.
I already found several freebies and $.99 books so ordered those too. I hope I love this!
I don’t think this site has been mentioned yet in this thread ( I found it in a previous thread about Kindles) but manybooks has tons of free stuff.
You’ll have to download the books to your computer then transfer to your Kindle with the USB cable.
I have had a first-generation Kindle for more than three years. It is reasonably durable - I have never had any major issues. I have had to replace the battery and the case - that’s it.
There’s essentially one fragile point on the Kindle. The screen is sensitive to pressure or sudden hard knocks. The glass substrate can be broken with enough pressure. There are stories on the kindle forums of somebody thinking the screen is a touch screen, and picking it up and pressing on it, and pressing HARDER when it doesn’t respond, and cracking the glass substrate (the thin glass layer is under the plastic layer; a crack in it shows as a black line usually).
Keep it in a case when not in use, that mostly fixes the problem.
While on holiday in the US I bought a Kindle and then accidentally ended up with two (first order didn’t go through, then it did). The one without a case cracked within a day and has to go back. The one with a case is still fine, but is also much easier to read - it feels more natural in your hand, and the light is fantastic.
The one we got was 3g with ads, the special offer one that’s $139 (significantly less in dollars than it is pounds, ergo less than half the UK price). The ads don’t bother us at all, and the 3g is faster than on any smartphone I’ve used, plus the size of the screen makes it much more readable than smartphones.
We used it to look up the location of a restaurant, and then the map to get there; the map stayed on the screen in the downtime too, not using up any power but still visible, even in bright sunlight. I’ve used it to check email (but not reply as yet - just double-checking I haven’t had urgent messages), facebook, the BBC news page… basically like a simple smartphone but with no online charges. The 3g also means my daughter can read the fanfics she loves. I wouldn’t use it as a replacement for a laptop or anything where I wanted to type a lot or view videos, but for some practical online tasks it works really well.
So basically I’d say get one with 3g and a case. It’s way, way better than I was expecting, and I was expecting it to be good.
I’ve started reading a couple of books on mine (in just a few days) and already I love it. Very lightweight, easy to look up the definition of words, haven’t lost my place within a book yet, and I love knowing that when I finish the book I’m currently reading, I can immediately purchase the next one in the series.
I did find myself attempting to “turn” the page quite a few times though.
Finally got my Kindle today. Bloody hell, it is many shades of awesome.
I took Mikkel’s advice and downloaded Calibre. I had no idea I could subscribe to so many newspapers/magazines, for free. The Kindle will pay for itself in no time.
This, does of course mean, I have sold my soul to Amazon. Fortunately, it feels good o.O
Welcome to the dark side 
The nice thing is, you don’t HAVE to sell your soul… not just the free stuff but with Calibre… and perhaps some unauthorized third-party plugins (ahem), you can purchase from pretty much any ebook store and convert to read them on whichever device you own.
I never fail to be annoyed at Amazon (and I guess B&N as well) selling ebooks for MORE than the paperback price. WTF, dudes!!!
Don’t be annoyed at Amazon: it’s the publishers who set the prices for ebooks.
Huh - I assumed that the retailers had some input. I guess the publishers either don’t care that they’re shooting themselves in the foot, ebook-wise, or there are enough people who are price-insensitive enough to buy it even at the higher price. I’m too much of a cheapskate, personally :D.
Mine was shipped Tuesday and is in transit. Hurry up, you bastiges, so I can get used to it before my surgery next week, and load it up with good reading material for the hospital and recovery.
My kids got me a Sony Reader last Christmas. I do like it, and I don’t use it enough.
Unfortunately, the Sony Reader does not have the magazines and newspapers the Kindle does, and I really would like that feature. I live out in the middle of nowhere, and I miss a daily paper. Not having the house buried in old newspapers is a nice thought as well.
The horrendous charge for e-books is a real turnoff, especially when the magazines and newspapers are such a bargain. Most of the books I’ve researched cost just as much or more in ebook than paperback. I’ve been buying paperbacks and feeling guilty.
The Reader is wonderful for placing in the rack on an exercise bike! And you can change the font size to make it easier to read while sweating away.
Don’t tell my kids, but I’ll probably get a Kindle eventually.
But bottom line: no matter which ereader you decide upon, you’ll love it.
~VOW
Check to see if your library system has electronic books available for download. Ours does. As I’ve said before, the selection rots, but it’s certainly better than nothing. I’m pretty sure the Sony supports this.
Also check other purveyors. Ereader.com (which is now owned by Barnes and Noble) sometimes prices books differently - they used to be consistently a bit cheaper than Kindle. The books come in .pdb format which is the Palm database - however Calibre makes short work of those if they’re not DRMed, and just takes a few minutes for one-time setup if you want to convert DRMed books. I think that the newer Ereader purchases are non-DRMed, at least everything I’ve gotten there this year was not locked down.
For the most part, their selection isn’t as good as the bigger stores (and some books I bought there years ago aren’t available anymore, though I can download them because I already bought them). However every now and then, you’ll run into something you can get there that isn’t at the bigger shops (a couple of Lois McMaster Bujold books that weren’t on the Cryoburn CD), for example).
/sniggers at Mama Zappa’s dirty plug in talk.
VOW - I am an ebook nOOb, but are you sure you can’t get newspapers and magazines? If you only got your Sony at Christmas, I presume it is part of the PRS line? If so, Calibre (where I get my papers & periodicals freeeeeeee) certainly supports it.
I had trouble downloading the software from the Calibre site, and eventually installed it through cnet :
If that works for you, once you have registered, just go to the “Fetch News” tag to choose your reading of choice.