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Old 01-28-2011, 10:28 PM   #16
tofubean
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I'm from singapore too and i use a K3 too. I do not think K3 can withstand a lot of knocks etc. You better get a sturdy case. Think of it as insurance for your kindle. With regards to getting cheap covers for K3, you might want to consider ebay. After you omit all the sellers that do not ship to Singapore, you can probably find a decent cover for about SGD$20 including shipping. More or less. If you have someone in China or HK or Taiwan who can buy the cover for you, you can get it for less than $10. They have more variety of covers too than those offered on ebay which look almost identical to each other except for the colors.

As for K3 chinese support, you might want to consider using the font hack after you get it. It makes reading chinese files a better experience, especially if you don't like the kindle's default chinese font.

As for heavy usage of K3... I was originally disappointed with my K3's battery after lightly using it for a week and found that I have to recharge it already. But after a few times of getting the battery low indicator and recharging, now my K3 can last for 2-3 weeks with my usage. That is i read about 2-4 hours per day, including several more during weekends. I keep wifi off mostly unless it's to sync the new books that I bought.
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Old 02-02-2011, 12:23 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by krysjez View Post
Hello all,
[clip]
  1. Kindle page on Amazon has a significant number of negative reviews, mostly listing complaints about poor build quality and the Kindle freezing up. Because I'm located outside the US, it means I won't be able to send a broken device back to Amazon for replacements.
  2. ...and no user-replaceable battery, same issue
  3. The battery life is apparently nowhere near the full month Amazon touts - about two weeks, at best
  4. To buy anything on Amazon, I'll have to use a VPN with servers in the US and be extra paranoid when using Amazon.com lest they find out I'm not from an 'authorized country'.
  5. Kindle doesn't support ePub! which my local libraries use
[clip]
  1. Thrifty student (can't afford more than US$150, probably)
  2. Heavy reader - hours at a go, so need a good e-ink screen with no glare, which I heard Sony Reader's touchscreen has.
  3. Live in Singapore
  4. Read a lot of free ePub, PDF books from Project Gutenberg and Archive.org - it'll be useless to get an eReader which can't read my books
  5. Poor eyesight (I wear progressive addition lenses for 500 deg myopia and 100 deg astigmatism) so adjustable contrast and font size is a plus
  6. Need a fairly strong/durable reader that can withstand knocks from being carried around in my schoolbag. How well does the Kindle hold up without a case?
  7. Fairly tech-savvy, so setting up a VPN is all right, just really troublesome
  8. Need Chinese character support
  9. Have WiFi set up at home
[clip]
Here are my thoughts. In response to your first list:
1) Don't worry. Poor build quality: yes. I have found that the kindle is cheap (actually had to return 2). But Amazon honors warranties and gives next day shipping even if the problem is the fault of the user.
2) No user replaceable battery: not a problem. I read mine a minimum of 2 hours a day, normally 3+, and the battery lasts more than a month (never turn it off). I doubt that it will ever degrade noticeably.
3) Not true, unless you leave the wireless on all the time. Battery life is much more than the month that Amazon claims.
4) Don't know.
5) I have heard this complaint from a lot of people but really, I work at a library, and the collection of ebooks is honestly abysmal (tiny and bad books). I would suggest another site as much better to borrow ebooks (kindle compatible): http://ebooklendinglibrary.com/

Second list:
1) Honestly, if you are a thrifty student, buying a kindle will not save you any money at all. Greedy textbook manufacturers charge the same for kindle texts as hardcover books and you can't resell them. I am a student and I suggest that you do not buy this if that is your goal.
2) Same here. The glare is worse than I expected, but the benefits far outweight that. As a very heavy reader I love my device.
3) No comment.
4) Project Gutenberg has started to offer some ebooks in mobi and most ebooks in txt format. Txt format can easily be read on the kindle, though it does lose italics and other special formatting. But most Project Gutenberg books are also available for free in the kindle store with formatting (though plenty of typos). If you read those classics you won't have any trouble finding them for kindle.
5) Has it, though I am disappointed with the font selection. But size is great. I also have very poor vision and frequently change sizes while reading. Reflow is very quick.
6) Does not hold up well without a case. I would suggest a cheap velcro case from Timbuk2. It does get damaged easily, as I mentioned earlier, but Amazon is quick to respond to any problems.
7) No comment. I'm also tech-savvy, no problems.
8) No idea. Can't and have never tried to read Chinese characters.
9) My kindle receives wifi signals far better than my (even newer) laptop.

Sounds like you are the perfect candidate. Highly recommend.
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Old 02-05-2011, 03:35 AM   #18
krysjez
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dmacmart View Post
My first cover for my eInk device was a journal purchased from a dollar store, removing the pages, and used fabric hair bands to hold it in place. It did the job till I found a leather one for a price I was willing to pay. (from eBay I think)
That sounds like a good idea. I have found an old outdated journal that fits perfectly and am going to try turning it into a 'fake book' when I have a free weekend.

Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
That depends WHERE outside the US you are. It really couldn't be easier if you live in the UK, for example.
Ah, yes, forgot about that...it's difficult enough in Singapore though :S

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fbone View Post
I guess it's too late now. But I was going to ask you to look at Singapore's Library and see if they have what interests you. With 16,000+ titles and a thrifty student ...
The library requires some kind of PID thing from MobiPocket Reader to download MobiPocket books (I don't even know if they're the same thing as Mobi books).

Quote:
Originally Posted by lunixer View Post
Here are my thoughts. In response to your first list:
Sounds like you are the perfect candidate. Highly recommend.
Thank you for the detailed response!

I have already received my Kindle and am enjoying it so far. After reading about how much like real paper the screen was I guess my expectations were a bit too high and I thought it would have zero glare. There is still a little, but it's a hundred times better than trying to read on, say, an iPhone.

So far I have loaded in some PDFs and free books from PG. I must say that the Kindle is really good for reading art instruction ebooks - it's much easier to be able to reference the material without having scroll up and down a page all the time on a laptop's small screen. It just works, for some reason, though the laptop screen is still larger than the Kindle's.
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