Amazon Announces 4 New Kindle devices...

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by afv011

Sounds like you guys want a nook touch

I think you have a good point. A pearl touch screen with page turn buttons and ePub support. Since Kindle/Mobi->ePub is essentially a lossless conversion (when done right), switching away from reading Mobi files isn't a problem.

If I was buying a new eReader now, it would be high on my list.

Hmm... especially at £84.56, refurbished:

[snarkophilus]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

Amazon have said: "A single charge lasts up to one month with wireless off based upon a half-hour of daily reading time"

That is 15 hours of reading.

I wouldn't equate daily reading time and total battery life like that for all cases.

A friend and I both have a Sony PRS-350. I read for about two hours a day, he reads for half an hour a couple of times a week. Both of our batteries last about 3 weeks in practice before running flat.

Cheers,
Simon.

[replica145]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I think you have a good point. A pearl touch screen with page turn buttons and ePub support. Since Kindle/Mobi->ePub is essentially a lossless conversion (when done right), switching away from reading Mobi files isn't a problem.

If I was buying a new eReader now, it would be high on my list.

Hmm... especially at £84.56, refurbished:

Just remember it only allows 240 mb storage for side-loaded books if you convert your mobi to EPUB. But of course it supports micro SD also.

I found this out researching the device for the same purposes. I wish Amazon would just go EPUB but I caved and got a K4 anyway.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by replica145

Just remember it only allows 240 mb storage for side-loaded books if you convert your mobi to EPUB. But of course it supports micro SD also.

I found this out researching the device for the same purposes. I wish Amazon would just go EPUB but I caved and got a K4 anyway.

Though you are correct on the 240Mb, it has also been overblown. I have over 100 books and I'm using about half that space. But yes, I'm with you that I'd rather B&N didn't split the storage into B&N stuff and my sideloaded stuff, I'd prefer to have just one partition for whatever I wish to place there.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I think you have a good point. A pearl touch screen with page turn buttons and ePub support. Since Kindle/Mobi->ePub is essentially a lossless conversion (when done right), switching away from reading Mobi files isn't a problem.

If I was buying a new eReader now, it would be high on my list.

Hmm... especially at £84.56, refurbished:

... plus shipping and VAT .

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by HarryT

... plus shipping and VAT .

Ouch. I didn't bother signing up for the checkout. That would make it over £100.

[Nyssa]

Jack is posting pics and describing the new K4 -KSO version here!!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Ouch. I didn't bother signing up for the checkout. That would make it over £100.

Way over. VAT alone will take it to about £105, and shipping's probably going to be somewhere in the £20-30 range.

[replica145]

Originally Posted by afv011

Though you are correct on the 240Mb, it has also been overblown. I have over 100 books and I'm using about half that space. But yes, I'm with you that I'd rather B&N didn't split the storage into B&N stuff and my sideloaded stuff, I'd prefer to have just one partition for whatever I wish to place there.

Yea, I don't wanna defame the device; I just wanted to point that out since I was considering the same idea and it was one the factors that led me not to switch.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by SCION

I'm sure many prefer a 7" screen and/or the Amazon ecosystem.

Well, I can see the 7" screen being a draw for some people. Personally, the iPad is too big for my tastes, too. But I'm not buying the argument about the ecosystem. Is Amazon's video or music store bigger than iTunes? I haven't read an analysis of them both lately, but I think iTunes is still bigger. If the rumor about Amazon including Amazon Prime (for longer than 30 days) turned out to be true, I think that might have put Amazon over the top, but I think it's still an uphill climb for them the way things stand. Granted, it's a much steeper climb for anyone else making a tablet, but it's still a steep climb for them.

[carld]

The Amazon ecosystem isn't bigger than the Apple's, but it's big enough, and that's probably what counts.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by carld

The Amazon ecosystem isn't bigger than the Apple's, but it's big enough, and that's probably what counts.

"Big enough" is tricky. Lots of companies have tried to introduce tablets w/ their own ecosystems. (Archos is the one that comes to mind most readily, but I have a Craig tablet that also has its own market). That seldom goes well. Like I said, their ecosystem is bigger than, say, the HP TouchPad's, but I think quite a bit will depend on how easily the Kindle Fire can be rooted. Let's face it: That's what the first adopters are going to want to do with it.

[geoffwood]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

I think quite a bit will depend on how easily the Kindle Fire can be rooted. Let's face it: That's what the first adopters are going to want to do with it.

At an estimated loss of $50 per unit Amazon is doing this to push profitable content through their ecosystem. If large numbers of people root them the whole business model breaks down

[DiapDealer]

At an estimated loss of $50 per unit Amazon is doing this to push profitable content through their ecosystem. If large numbers of people root them the whole business model breaks down

Then why have they already admitted that they're not interested in actively preventing users from rooting the device?

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by RDaneel54

The current Kindle with Special Offers doesn't rotate ads like that on the Home page and other Kindle device content pages. If the new ones do that, it is kind of annoying and more of a battery drain if the Kindle is just sitting on the Home page. The ads aren't in the actual book pages, though.

It COULD be just a way to show all the various ads rather than what really happens.

Honestly, without the rotation shown here, the banner at the bottom is almost invisible after you first notice it - kind of like the flash at page turns becomes invisible.

The image is just FUD to make the ads look worse than they are. You can't refresh only part of an e-ink screen, and when e-ink refreshes (as we all know), it doesn't look like this video.