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Old 05-23-2009, 08:36 PM   #2
sirbruce
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Posts: 1,859
Karma: 505847
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Columbus, OH
Device: Kindle Touch, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, iPhone 3GS
1. You buy them in the store and updates are delivered wireless to your Kindle throughout the day. There is only a narrow selection of blogs, but Amazon recently added the ability for anyone to add their blog to Kindle. Amazon sets the pricing; typically $1 - $2 a month. You can't auto-subscribe to any blog on the net; you have to wait for it to be offered through Amazon. Calibre has it's own thing where you can turn any RSS feed into a periodical for your e-reader; however, now that Amazon charges $0.15 + $0.15 per MB over 1 MB for wireless emails this may no longer be a desirable alternative to wirelessly deliver of blogs via Calibre. (Blogs delivered by Amazon are not subject to that charge.)

2. It depends entirely on how much you read per day, how fast, and at what font size. Power is used on page turns, so if you prefer a larger font you'll use more power reading the same amount of text. Typically, it's 2 days with wireless on, and 7 days with wireless off. But you could see up to double that. Actual reading time with wireless off, 15 - 45 hours? I have not had a problem with the battery not working but as with all electronics that can happen.

3. If it's under warranty, you send it back to Amazon and they replace it for free. If it's not under warranty, you send it back to Amazon and they replace it for $45.

4. It's only 1.4 GB of useable space, but that's enough for 1,500 books or so, which is more than enough IMHO. It can be cramped holding more than one or two audiobooks, though. People who miss the SD Card slot mainly do so not because of space concerns but because they could use their cards to organize their library since the Kindle doesn't have folders yet.

5. The Kindle may crash if it runs out of space, but it comes right back. You can delete books, or move them off via USB. If they're books you bought from Amazon, you can redownload them again at any time from Amazon. If you bought them from someplace else you'll want to keep a backup copy on your computer.

6. The three Bibles I have are 5,793 KB, 5,790 KB, and 1,764 KB. (Not sure why the last one is so much smaller.)

7. I like the keyboard, but most non-alphanumeric characters can only be accessed from the special symbol key, which is annoying because there's a shift key right there but shift-2 won't make a @, for example. I find it too easy to make errors (you can type faster than the Kindle can register at times) so I don't use it much. No opinion on how it compares to touch screen.

8. It's pretty primitive; they are stored in text files you have to copy to your computer via USB.

9. Books with images are nice quality but the images are usually too small to really enjoy on the Kindle 2. Kindle DX should be less of a problem. I haven't used Amazon's own conversion service with PDF or DOC files so I can't say how well it handles images in those.

10. The devices are very similar in look and feel, but with Kindle 2's wireless support to download books, plus the ability to easily add books to it via USB without special software (it works on Windows, Mac, etc.), means that there is really no comparison between it and the Sony devices.

11. I don't, but I would find this a hassle with Kindle 2. Kindle DX will make reading PDF files much easier. DOC and HTML have to be converted; with Calibre that's easy.

12. Absolutely no refund will be offered, and I very much doubt the price will go down, and if it does, probably by no more than $50. So if you're waiting on price, don't bother.

13. You'll absolutely want a cover of some sort (basic Amazon cover, $30) and the 2-year warranty (covers one accidental breakage, $65), so be sure to factor in an extra $100 to the price tag. If you drop it and break it (easy to do) without the extended warranty, Amazon will charge you $200 to replace. If you plan to read the Kindle 2 in direct sunlight, be advised that some Kindle 2s have an issue where the screen fades during page turning in direct sulight, making the text difficult or impossible to read. Amazon will usually replace such a defective Kindle 2 for free, but you may have to go through several returns to get one that doesn't have this issue. Some Kindles have had creaky or misaligned buttons; again Amazon will usually replace it for free. Amazon will ship you a new one overnight and then you can send the defective one back in the box they send. Within 30 days of initial purchase you can get a full refund of your money; after 30 days you'll only be able to exchange for another Kindle if you still have a defective one.
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