Quote:
Originally Posted by scgf
I might wait to see what happens with Amazon and the UK Kindle.
The reason I am interested in a Kindle is that I feel Amazon can supply the content and at a reasonable price. I also have an iPhone and an iPod Touch and love the way I would be able to continue reading on whichever device I choose. The downside is that I am concerned about being locked into the Amazon DRM system which gives them enormous power. I did have a Sony 505 but returned it because the display was terrible in full sunlight. I got quite adept at converting to and from different formats because I could only find the books I wanted in certain stores which used specific forms of DRM.
Should the need arise in the future, I assume it would be possible to convert Amazon ebooks into another format?
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Sony 505 terrible in full sunlight? I'm sorry to disappoint you: Kindle 2 and Kindle DX are the same. I'm fine with all of them. But if you didn't like Sony 505....
Amazon is using two formats: .azw, which is identical to .prc (Mobipocket) and .tpz (Topaz).
.azw easily can be stripped from DRM and converted in whatever format you please, for example using "calibre".
.tzw can't be stripped yet, but is only (my rough estimation) about 10% of Amazon's books. What I really don't like (else being a fan of Amazon's business model): You don't see which format you'll purchase, whether it's .azw or .tpz.
Concerning the content, you're absolutely right. About 10% of my books I only found on Amazon and usually they are about 15% cheaper than the others.
Comparing the unit AND the bookstore, Kindles 2 and DX easily make my top 3 respectively top 5. The unit standalone only would be mediocre (still ranking before BeBook and even with Cybook)....
If it's mainly about the bookstore, I'd suggest purchasing a cheap Kindle 1 via Ebay, stripping the files and converting them to whatever unit you prefer.
About the iPhone app: It really IS great, using your content without any additional costs for a quick read. (You can't "continue reading", because your boooks won't be in sync between Kindle and iPhone without Whispernet, but that's no biggy in my opinion.)