About the Kindle Touch

[Julien Pham]

Hi,

I'm the owner of a Kobo I'll probably give to my wife as she likes now reading eBooks. So I'm searching for a new eReader.

I'm interested by the Kindle Touch, in 3G version (hey, free 3G, it is fine), so I could have a connected eReader. With sync between Kindle and my iPhone. And so I would like your advice about this reader. Is it true the contract is not good in comparison with others? I have read the page color is more greenish, in comparison to the more white color of the Kobo.

If someone knows both and can compare...

How is the Kindle touch, is it a good, solid, fine looking device?

Does Amazon often update this reader? Do we have dictionaries in several languages, french, english, and translation dictionaries?

So is this Kindle a good choice?

I mostly have ePubs but I have read we can convert ePub to mobi with ease. I have non DRM ePub.

Oh and btw if we buy a book on Amazon it is pushed to our reader. But can we as well save it on our computer? Perhaps by connecting the reader through USB then take the files from the device?

Thanks

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by Julien Pham

Hi,

I'm the owner of a Kobo I'll probably give to my wife as she likes now reading eBooks. So I'm searching for a new eReader.

I'm interested by the Kindle Touch, in 3G version (hey, free 3G, it is fine), so I could have a connected eReader. With sync between Kindle and my iPhone. And so I would like your advice about this reader. Is it true the contract is not good in comparison with others? I have read the page color is more greenish, in comparison to the more white color of the Kobo.

If someone knows both and can compare...

All the e-ink screens are reputed to be the same. Before you get too happy about 3G, it's restricted to the Amazon store and wikipedia.

How is the Kindle touch, is it a good, solid, fine looking device?

People seem to like it.

Does Amazon often update this reader? Do we have dictionaries in several languages, french, english, and translation dictionaries?

Yes and yes. There was an update just last week and there are a variety of dictionaries available.

So is this Kindle a good choice?

Probably.

I mostly have ePubs but I have read we can convert ePub to mobi with ease. I have non DRM ePub.

The free library management program calibre is very good at this.

Oh and btw if we buy a book on Amazon it is pushed to our reader. But can we as well save it on our computer? Perhaps by connecting the reader through USB then take the files from the device?

Sure, there are options to download the book to your computer from Amazon, or if you are using calibre you can hook up the Kindle to your computer and copy over the book that way.

[Julien Pham]

Yes I know the 3G is just restricted to Amazon. In fact I see the 3G to be able to buy and download books whereever I am, so this will does the job, right?

Can we have access with our Amazon 5 Gb storage space with the 3G, and so can I convert books, push them to Amazon storage, then download them through 3G?

Thanks

PS : Synamon, you're not a kindle user, right?

What I find funny is that I always hated the kindle and its proprietary format, but with free 3G, sync and look, now I start to like it

And there are more accessories for the Kindle than other readers, for instance I like the look of this one

[HarryT]

You can send your own books to the cloud storage, but there's a charge (of, from memory, 15c per MB) to download them via 3G. WiFi downloads are free, and of course there's no charge to download what you buy from Amazon.

[soulfuldog]

I'm sure one of the Kindle Touch owners will be more helpful (I've still got the Kindle Keyboard), but in the meantime....

Is it true the contract is not good in comparison with others?

If you've heard anything like this about the screen quality it'll relate to the Kindle NT not the Kindle Touch. It's screen is similar to the rest - Kobo Touch, Nook, PRS-T1. Here's a photo showing the Kindle Touch alongside the Nook from the customer images on the Amazon Kindle Touch page:

Oh and btw if we buy a book on Amazon it is pushed to our reader. But can we as well save it on our computer? Perhaps by connecting the reader through USB then take the files from the device?

When you buy a book from Amazon it will give you the choice to either download it directly to your Kindle (either using WiFi or the 3G connection) or download it onto your computer. If you do the latter you can then load it onto your Kindle by connecting it with the USB cable and dragging and dropping it into the documents folder on the Kindle. If you wanted to save the book onto your computer having had it sent to your Kindle directly from Amazon, there's nothing to stop you copying the file from your Kindle onto your PC, but you could also re-download the book from your Archive on the Amazon website (and choose to save it onto your computer), as any book you buy from Amazon is stored in their cloud.

[Casey57]

We have both the K3 in 3G and the Kindle Touch in wifi. The Touch is, in many respects, very much like the K3 except for the (visible) keyboard. If you are comfortable with touch technology, you will enjoy using this reader. The screen is virtually identical to that of the K3, IMHO. The Touch is a little smaller than the K3, but feels quite solid and substantial.

I like both equally. I do not use the keyboard on the K3 except to research/buy books, so an e-reader without a keyboard is not a deal-breaker to me. The Touch is easy to use and a fine e-reader.

[Julien Pham]

Thanks. In fact in france we do not have much choice for the Kindle. For a long time we just had the basic Kindle one, the one at 99 euros. Now we have the touch wifi and 3G, and that's all

On my kobo I use the touchscreen for changing page but this is because the kobo has no mechanical button. I near never buy a book from the kobo, usually I prefer using a computer.

I guess with a kindle I'll use my iPhone to buy a book and then have it pushed to the Kindle. So I guess a reader without touchscreen is not a problem for me as well. I never take notes.

Oh though I think the touch screen is easier to use to select a word to search the dictionary, don't you think?

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by Julien Pham

Oh though I think the touch screen is easier to use to select a word to search the dictionary, don't you think?

Absolutely. It's one of my favorite uses of the touch screen.

[Julien Pham]

And what about the ePub vs Mobi War? I mean, some say the mobi is an outdated eBook format, and that the ePub allows better formatting and better eBook look, so your opinion?

And btw I wonder why the Kindle is heavier than the Kobo or the Odyssey. It looks like metal but the Kindle is in plastic, right? And same size... perhaps a bigger and heavier battery?

Oh and I have read a customer review which say we cannot download more than one dictionary, and so we have to choose. Is it true? I would like a french dictionary if I read a french book, an english one if I read an english book, and translation dictionaries as well. We cannot have all this together?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Julien Pham

Oh and I have read a customer review which say we cannot download more than one dictionary, and so we have to choose. Is it true? I would like a french dictionary if I read a french book, an english one if I read an english book, and translation dictionaries as well. We cannot have all this together?

You choose one dictionary PER LANGUAGE. So you can have one dictionary for English, one for French, one for German, etc. The Kindle will automatically use the dictionary that's appropriate for the language setting of the book.

[Julien Pham]

Ah ok thanks. A customer review says as well that there is no page up/page down on the library page so if you have hundreds of books in the library on the Kindle it is nearly impossible to find them, as the kindle only shows 8 books...

I guess this user missed some important thing but I would like to be sure

Thanks

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Julien Pham

Ah ok thanks. A customer review says as well that there is no page up/page down on the library page so if you have hundreds of books in the library on the Kindle it is nearly impossible to find them, as the kindle only shows 8 books...

I guess this user missed some important thing but I would like to be sure

Thanks

The customer obviously hasn't bothered to read the user guide.

On the home page you swipe left/right (or up/down) to turn pages. In addition, you can tap the "page x of y" marker at the top right, and either enter a page number, or a letter to jump directly to titles or authors (depending on what sort option you've chosen) beginning with that letter.

Or, of course, you can find books using the "Search" facility.

[Julien Pham]

So I have ordered my Kindle touch 3G. I could have bought it in a Virgin store and so could have it tomorrow, but I preferred buying it on Amazon, better buy it to the one who made it And with Amazon I have 30 days to test it ^^

Oh btw is it easy to activate/deactivate wifi and 3G? Or should I go through menus and sub menus? And does it activate/deactivate both? Or I have to do it for wifi and 3G separately?

[ixtab]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You choose one dictionary PER LANGUAGE. So you can have one dictionary for English, one for French, one for German, etc. The Kindle will automatically use the dictionary that's appropriate for the language setting of the book.

Yes, and no. You can even have multiple dictionaries for the same language, and pick a default one. From what I read somewhere, the logic is then to look up the particular item in the default dictionary, and if it isn't found, to consult other dictionaries (don't know in which order, though).

This could for instance be helpful in a setup like this. Suppose you're french, with pretty good, but not perfect, english skills. Dictionaries:

french: Larousse (or whatever french-french dictionary)
english: English-French (default), Oxford (english-english) also installed.

While reading an english book, look up some word. If a translation is found, you get the french translation. If no translation is found, the english-english dictionary is searched, hopefully giving you a definition of the word.

Just one sample use case, but it hopefully illustrates the potential usefulness of having multiple dictionaries for the same language. Of course, the same logic could also apply to multiple english-english dictionaries, etc. You get the idea.

[applesauce]

now now a nice husband would keep his ebook reader and buy his wife the new one hehehehe

applesauce