Is 3G worth it in Canada?

[rand]

I am planing on getting a k3 in the near future, mainly due to the fonts. I have a 505, but due to my eyesight getting worse (46 now), I think the Kindle will suit me better. I already have most of the books I want, so I will not be using the G3 to buy books, mostly for the internet, I will mainly use it for checking emails and reading newspapers. I do plan to do some travelling with it, mainly in the states and the Caribbean. I would be grateful for any advise from the experts!!



p.s. I live 2 hours away from Toronto, if that helps

[montalex]

Originally Posted by rand

I am planing on getting a k3 in the near future, mainly due to the fonts. I have a 505, but due to my eyesight getting worse (46 now), I think the Kindle will suit me better. I already have most of the books I want, so I will not be using the G3 to buy books, mostly for the internet, I will mainly use it for checking emails and reading newspapers. I do plan to do some travelling with it, mainly in the states and the Caribbean. I would be grateful for any advise from the experts!!



p.s. I live 2 hours away from Toronto, if that helps

I live in Montreal, and I have really gotten use from the 3G on my Kindle 2. While on vacation in the Laurentians, and in the Lac St. Jean region, I was able to get my NYTimes delivered to my Kindle. I also purchased the New York Review of Books while sitting in a tent on a rainy day up north. I was then able to go to Amazon to buy one of the books reviewed. More recently, I was in the Dominican Republic, and was able to get my newspapers delivered as I sat on the beach.

However, the browser on the Kindle 2 is much too slow to make use of for email. It is O.K. for looking up things in Wikipedia, but I haven't used it more than a couple of times for emergency emails. Maybe Kindle 3 is better. But for the extra $50 that the Kindle 3G will cost you (over the wifi only K3), it is well worth it.

[travfar]

3G is the only reason I have a Kindle. I use my iphone to read books on.

If you are buying one used, make sure to get the GSM aka international one. The US one runs on Sprint and is thus useless outside of the US. It may work in Canada though. My Sprint phone works even up in Edmonton.

[carld]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think all K3's are international aren't they? My K1 ran on Sprint, but my K3 runs on AT&T.

Edit: meant my K1 ran on Sprint

[ProfCrash]

All of the Kindles are international but the US Kindles us an AT&T chip while the international ones use a Vodafone chip. Or something like that. They all work across the globe but you might get better service using the product that matches your countries cell phone infrastructure.

[abookreader]

I was under the impression that the only Kindles to use the Vodafone chip were the UK Kindles - but I really know nothing about it so don't take my word for it.


Where do you live in Canada? I've taken my K3-3G (bought in the US) up to Vancouver and it worked fine there. I would imagine that would be the case at least in the areas close to the US Border.

[Snapply]

I'm in guelph and it works dandy

[cmargm]

I took mine to the UK when I was on holiday and it worked beautifully. I am also from Canada.

[rand]

Thanks for the responses, it looks like 3G for ME!!!!

[bZkindle]

Originally Posted by rand

Thanks for the responses, it looks like 3G for ME!!!!

you won't regret it....totally worth it.

[Snapply]

I use my err day

[travfar]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

All of the Kindles are international but the US Kindles us an AT&T chip while the international ones use a Vodafone chip. Or something like that. They all work across the globe but you might get better service using the product that matches your countries cell phone infrastructure.

Nope. The K1s and early K2s were US only. They work on the Sprint CDMA network. The later K2s and K3s are International and are GSM. You can tell by looking up the model numbers.

[ikar]

I have US version 3G B006 and I live in Poland and 3g works without any problems.
Here is amazon's information:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custom...eId=200375590&
http://client0.cellmaps.com/tabs.html#cellmaps_intl_tab

[MichelRenaud]

I brought my Kindle DXG up in northern Quebec when I visited my family last weekend and when I showed it to my sisters, I tried to access the Kindle store (first time I was doing it - I usually just order from the computer) and to my surprise I was able to access it (I didn't buy anything though.) I was under the impression that Rogers supplies the Kindle service in Canada, but Rogers doesn't have coverage in that area. Odd...

[montalex]

Originally Posted by MichelRenaud

I brought my Kindle DXG up in northern Quebec when I visited my family last weekend and when I showed it to my sisters, I tried to access the Kindle store (first time I was doing it - I usually just order from the computer) and to my surprise I was able to access it (I didn't buy anything though.) I was under the impression that Rogers supplies the Kindle service in Canada, but Rogers doesn't have coverage in that area. Odd...

In Quebec, you have a choice of Bell or Rogers. Bell was default setting on my Kindle 2i, but I can switch to Rogers. Now how did I do that? I'll search and get back to you (or someone more knowledgeable will jump in).

From the settings menu, press 611. You can see which server you are using. Also from settings menu, 311 switches your server (assuming there is another one available)

Actually, I think I am wrong about the default server. I think the default setting lets Kindle chose the best available server -- so there isn't much use in switching to another one, I guess.