Kindle in the Boonies ( Canada Boonies)

[Calebo]

Hi, I am interested in the new Kindle, and have a couple of questions ( probably dumb ones), so please be forgiving.
I live in rural Saskatchewan Can, so am not in any direct spot for the coverage map for the Kindle.
1. I do know I can download books from Amazon.com with my usb cable, does anyone know how long of a download this would be for an average size book?
2. When I travel and am in a district that appears in the coverage map, can I download books wirelessly anywhere? Or do I have to find a WiFi Hotspot?

The Kindle I am interested in is the one being offered now for 189.00

Thank you for any assistance.

[notatoad]

1. books are tiny, amazon says the 3G download takes 60s, so a computer download should take <30s. transferring from PC to Kindle should be just about instantaneous.
2. with the $189 (3G) kindle, you can download books from anywhere in the coverage map. with the $139 one you have to find a hotspot.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Calebo

I do know I can download books from Amazon.com with my usb cable, does anyone know how long of a download this would be for an average size book?

The download is in two phases. First you download the ebook to your PC via any web browser, then you copy the file to your Kindle via USB. The USB-connected Kindle looks just like a USB memory stick to your PC. As notatoad says, the USB phase is very fast. The speed of the Amazon to PC part depends on your internet connection, but the typical ebook is perhaps 500KB or less (although some are a few MB) which is not very large.

Often the boonies means dial-up at best, but if you have any kind of high speed internet connection at home then adding WiFi is very inexpensive and probably worthwhile. It allows direct downloads from Amazon to the Kindle.

[nachtxeule]

189$ is for "3G" which means 3rd generation... and by that they mean 3G towers

these towers are mainly in big cities only so you should probably only get the 139$ one which has wifi... you could connect at home or any hotspot, however you wouldn't be able to download lets say... on a bus or in a car. (it doesn't matter really)

if you do not have wifi at home, or there is no hotspot nearby (like a coffee place) then simply use usb connect.

you're not going to miss much from going from 189$ to 139$ besides 3G, you can still browse wikipedia, gmail etc with the wifi version... again just not on a bus or car.

189$ = 3G, WiFi or USB
139$ = WiFi or USB

easy decision, get the 139$ version!

edit: don't worry about the size of the downloads like the guy above mentioned, they are tiny... it's just text in black and white. open notepad on your mac/pc and write a bible, you'll see it takes no place in your harddrive. both versions offer 4GB of space which supposedly holds 3500 books (you won't read that many any time soon)

[jphphotography]

Hey Calebo, just thought I'd let you know that I live in Saskatoon and just picked up the new Kindle 3G. Since there is next to zero user reports for Kindle users in Canada and even less for Saskatchewan I thought I'd share my findings.

So far I've only used it in Saskatoon where we have 3G but I can confirm that I'm getting unrestricted browsing (ie not just limited to Wikipedia). If 3G is not available it drops down to "Edge" connectivity which still works well enough to check emails etc.

I've yet to determine which service provider Amazon is partnered with for SK but I'd assume it is Sasktel. Where exactly are you located?

As for USB downloads, as stated it is quite fast, if I'm at home I don't even bother because I can email the book/document to my @free.kindle.com address and it'll deliver whenever the kindle comes into wifi range.

If you're going to spend the majority of your time using it at home I'd just go for the wifi version but if you travel in areas with coverage quite a bit I'd say the extra $50 would be worth it.

Hope this helps

James

[SensualPoet]

James, Calebo:

Amazon's Whispernet partner in Canada is believed to be Rogers which operates the only 2G GSM (EDGE) network and also offers 3G HSPA up to 21 mbps. If you have access to that signal where you are, you will have access to the Kindle 3's 3G mode.

That 3G works in a lot of places ... I was in St John's, NL not longer ago and it worked perfectly well. I also have roots in Weyburn ... but that looks 2G to me. Nonetheless, the wifi is actually faster and -- if you are like me -- wifi is "on" at home 24/7. For this reason, I saved $50 and bought the Kindle 3G with wifi only.

[jphphotography]

I just couldn't resist having a real "hitchhikers guide to the galaxy" so I opted for the 3G version When I bought it I was under the impression that I'd only be able to access Wikipedia but to me it was still worth it, now that I can access any site (for FREE) I'm very happy.

I too leave it on WiFi at home, however the 3G is nice when I'm at work because our company uses an "enterprise" wifi connection which the Kindle does not support.

Anywho thanks for the info regarding the carrier.

[Calebo]

Thanks all for the replies,
Was also wondering if the prices are a whole lot different to download books from Canada, (from Amazon) am thinking that it would be just the difference between the Canadian dollar and U.S dollar?

[Dwayne_Matheson]

The Amazon Kindle store is only on the Amazon.com site. There is no Kindle portion to the Amazon.ca site, so anything you buy is charge to your credit card with exchange for the American pricing. There are many ebook sellers but they all seem to be based in the USA.

So far, it hasn't been that bad. My 99 cent books cost $1.05 and a $2.99 cost $3.15. Unless the dollar tanks again (liberal government, cough, cough) then it is very affordable.

[popoia]

One thing about living in the boonies, as I do, is that the Kindle (WiFi only) cannot be registered unless you head towards a WiFi hotspot. Until the Kindle can be registered, collections cannot be created.

All of which means that since I don't have high-speed, a mere 35 minutes north of Ottawa, I will have to head to a café with WiFi, and register the Kindle before I can organize it the way I want to. It's no big deal; it's unfortunate that the Kindle can't be tethered.

[abig]

I too am in Saskatchewan (Regina) and own the 2nd Gen Kindle. If you have Rogers cell phone coverage in your area you should be able to download books with 3G, I haven't had any issues yet. The $189.00 version has both 3G and Wireless, so if you don't have 3g you can find a wireless connection to use. My son has the wifi only and it works well at home. The other option is simply using your computer to download the books and then using the usb connection to put them on your kindle. The user guide that comes with the kindle explains everything fully.

I was in Yellowknife, NT last week and was able to get a connection, I was in Iqaluit NU prior to that and was not able to get 3G.. but that goes without saying.

I would definately recommend a kindle over something like a kobo or a nook but that's just my opinion

Books are in USD but right now the exchange rate is pretty close. Since I've had my kindle I have only paid for one book, the rest have been the free classics... eventually I will breakdown and buy a new release.

Just for your info - in Canada.. at least in Sask - Amazon appears to be partnered with Rogers as it has the exact same coverage area as Rogers... plus up until a month ago Rogers was the only 3G offering in Saskatchewan.

[Calebo]

Am I understanding this correctly? The Kindle can't be registered by computer? I don't mind the fact that I can only download a book by computer when at home, but I do travel to Regina or Saskatoon quite often, as well as holidaying in the States.
I just checked out the Rogers coverage map, and we're not in it, we're in the Gravelbourg area.

[ATDrake]

You can register your Kindle for the purpose of purchasing books off the website from the computer.

But if you want access to the web browsing and being able to buy books via the wireless function, then yes, you have to register from within the Kindle itself.

[jphphotography]

To further assuage your worries about extra fees for purchasing books in Canada I can attest that other than USD>CAD exchange rate I have not been charged any extra fees. I know when I was first looking into getting a K3 I was a little concerned with what I'd heard from some of the international customers, some were being charged an extra $2 or more per book and it sounded like that was apart from any exchange rate costs.

As for the registering part, you only have to do it once so I wouldn't let that discourage you from picking one up.

[ATDrake]

They used to have a $2 Whispernet surcharge that was included in the list price of every non-freebie title, but thankfully Amazon has done away with that for Canadians.

Now all you have to worry about are geo-restrictions making the book you want unavailable to us.