Should I get Kindle3 in Germany or USA?

[oecherprinte]

Hi,

I am considering to buy the new Kindle3 3G. I have the option of
either getting it in the US by having it sent to friends, open up a US Kindle Account and pick it up the next time I visit them. Or I could order it in Germany. When I get it in the US I could save arount 70 Euros including paying the German tax when I import the device.

However, I have a few questions that you could help me with:

- Can I open up a US Kindle Account? I ordered several books using amazon to a US address and some to Germany and I even have a social security number? When I order the Kindle, is the device already locked to some amazon account?

- Will the free 3G access also work in Germay even if I have a US account? Are there limitations? Will the wikipedia and the web browser also work in Germay? Will there be any additional 3G costs when I use the US account?

- Will there be limitation regarding the German books I can buy when I use the US account?

- I heard that some US blockbuster books cannot be purchased with a German account. Is that true? Are the books more expensive when I use a Germany account? In Germany we have a "Buchpreisbindung" which does not allow stores to sell books at a lower price.

Thanks and best regards,

Jens

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by oecherprinte

Hi,

I am considering to buy the new Kindle3 3G. I have the option of
either getting it in the US by having it sent to friends, open up a US Kindle Account and pick it up the next time I visit them. Or I could order it in Germany. When I get it in the US I could save arount 70 Euros including paying the German tax when I import the device.

However, I have a few questions that you could help me with:

- Can I open up a US Kindle Account? I ordered several books using amazon to a US address and some to Germany and I even have a social security number? When I order the Kindle, is the device already locked to some amazon account?

- Will the free 3G access also work in Germay even if I have a US account? Are there limitations? Will the wikipedia and the web browser also work in Germay? Will there be any additional 3G costs when I use the US account?

- Will there be limitation regarding the German books I can buy when I use the US account?

- I heard that some US blockbuster books cannot be purchased with a German account. Is that true? Are the books more expensive when I use a Germany account? In Germany we have a "Buchpreisbindung" which does not allow stores to sell books at a lower price.

Thanks and best regards,

Jens

You can open various accounts.
I mainly purchase in the US one, but occasionally in the UK one as well.
All of that with my German credit card.

3G for free works, whatever account you use for purchase.
In the past you had to pay fees if you had the US Kindle and have been purchasing in Europe. That's history though.

There are only few German books in the Amazon bookstore (yet?).

There are regional restrictions. Some books will be available only in certain countries. But as you can switch between accounts/countries back and forth, that's no problem.
BTW: Amazon of course is aware of that. Same for iTunes for example. They easily can track your IP. Of course you could use VPN, but that's not even necessary. On one hand, those merchants are happy about such "backdoors", so they informally can sell their content globally. On the other hand, there's no real solution for them at hands. If you sell a Kindle "global wireless", you have to expect that for example US customers will purchase books when traveling overseas as well. If you have to provide a solution for such frequent travelers, there's always a backdoor for others as well.

Prices sometimes/often differ in the various accounts. You can check search engines like inkmesh to compare availability/prices/formats...

It doesn't matter where you buy it. It's the same globally anyway.

Your reader will be registered to the account from which you buy it. Bu of course you always can register to another account.

[oecherprinte]

Thanks for the answer.

Just to get it right:

- whispernet:

So it does not matter whether I get a US or international version of the kindle? Whispernet is always free no matter where my device is from? Will I automatically get the US version when I order the kindle to be shipped to a US address? Can I use the "experimental browser" for free on any device in any country?

- Book purchase:

So I understand that I can open several amazon accounts having different home countries and load my ebooks from these accounts onto a single kindle. Is that correct?

- Charger:

When I get the US version there is probably a US charger included? Can I use any USB charger (e.g. the one for the Iphone) for the kindle?

Thanks,

Jens

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by oecherprinte

Thanks for the answer.

Just to get it right:

- whispernet:

So it does not matter whether I get a US or international version of the kindle? Whispernet is always free no matter where my device is from? Will I automatically get the US version when I order the kindle to be shipped to a US address? Can I use the "experimental browser" for free on any device in any country?

- Book purchase:

So I understand that I can open several amazon accounts having different home countries and load my ebooks from these accounts onto a single kindle. Is that correct?

- Charger:

When I get the US version there is probably a US charger included? Can I use any USB charger (e.g. the one for the Iphone) for the kindle?

Thanks,

Jens

There is no US version anymore. My first 2 Kindles (2 and DX) had been US only and I've imported them to Germany. I couldn't use Whispernet on them (still can't) because of the different frequencies (US vs. EU).
That's history.
There's a single model, which is working globally.

You get your delivery from the US. But you define your country, so you get the respective charger.

You can load books from various accounts onto the very same Kindle.

There's way less troubles concerning the accounts/countries than you might expect:
I've ordered from my US account (>90% of my purchases are with the US account) and let Amazon deliver to my German address. They pre-register your Kindle (you always can change that later), in my case my US account very well knowing about the German address.

Some users report, they've got eMails from Amazon. Something like "you've defined an account for US, but we see you're elsewhere. Please document your residency". I didn't have that problem. But first of all, you could circumvent this via VPN. Right now this would mean sideloading via PC - less convenient but still workable. And in my case it would be easy: I actually have a valid US address (though it's not the one from my account. But I always could say I have been moving). And I'm working for a US company, I probably would find a way to use their address.
AND: I didn't read the fine print. But to my understanding, they require a valid US address. As far as I know, they don't insist on you permanently living there.

[mrzerga]

yes there is US version, which includes US wall adapter, and then there is other International version, which does not include US wall adapter. That would be the only difference. me being in europe, succesfully order US version, with the US wall adapter, which supports european voltage. I only need a 50c connector for European sockets.

[rgeorg]

Someone here posted that the 3G SIN card is also different between US and Intl versions (the EU version used Vodaphone). This could limit access?

[HarryT]

See the "International 3G" thread. Some people (eg those of us in the UK) appear to have unrestricted web browsing, while others (eg in Germany) do not. I guess it depends what kind of an arrangement Amazon have with the local telecoms operator. What is interesting is that a UK Kindle appears to have unrestricted web access throughout Western Europe, even when "local" Kindles do not.

You're really not missing that much, though; the web browser in the Kindle is not great. An Internet-enabled Smartphone is a lot better for web browsing.

[al35]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You're really not missing that much, though; the web browser in the Kindle is not great. An Internet-enabled Smartphone is a lot better for web browsing.

People keep repeating this, but the web browsing in K3 IS great, for a very simple reason -- it's completely free! Many people (me included) don't have a $40 (?)/month 3G connection via their cell phone, so I really appreciate K3 connectivity. However slow it is. For me, the only reason to pay the extra $50 for the 3G K3 version is the browser, so it is annoying to find out that it doesn't work in some countries.