Exclusive: Amazon Kindle 2 official images + price + release date

[tompe]

Originally Posted by astra

Still have to do it.
2 unrelated reasons that might or might not coincide.
Reason 1.
Before I spend my money on a book, or anything else, I spend some time on research to make sure I don't feel cheated out of my money later.
Reason 2.
Any ebook requires some editing. Some ebooks require hours of editing. So, I definitely make some research before I decide whether I want to read a book or not.

So, for me, not much has changed from pbooks times, except my backup is much lighter now

Seems unrelated to me. I probably have around 1000 unread paper books that I have bought to be read. But that does not help when selecting what you want to read the next couple of days. And if you have enough books on your reader you can always choose another book if you do not like the formatting. Personally I will not spend hour of possible reading time to format a book for reading.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by lovebeta

I hear ya. And I had that ambition when I first got my e-reader. (So I lied, I actually understood why people wanted expansion slot that much.) Then I came to understand that it was a portable reader and it was not designed to handle your whole library, not in the current gen anyways. If you put too much stuff on it, it will crash the menu, make the full-text search very slow and result very noisy. So I just keep the best of the best works on my reader and leave everything else in the "cloud". Usually a google search can delivery more relevant information about my request. And that's also why I prefer Kindle to Sony reader.

I agree that it is a personal thing and it is always better to have options. The point I want to make is that: it sucks if Kindle 2 doesn't have SD slot, but it may not be as disastrous as you think.

And, I am very certain that Kindle 2's built-in memory can hold 400 books.

So far I haven't found any slowdown OR crashes....I do, however, plug it in about ever other night to charge while I sleep....I don't use the whispernet very much at all, download books from my computer.

I load books to the SD card, and if I'm looking for something to read, I just start at page one and stroll thru the 24 pages, one at a time.

Once I actually do get enough books to slow it down, I"ll just load the SD card with the ones 'for later,', and remove it. I'll keep it in the little pouch in my m-edge cover, and still have all my books with me!

I guess I have issues..............

400 books? PAH! lightweights!

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by lovebeta

I think it is related to the American super-sized-everything consumerism.

Sorry, but what a silly thing to say.

There are plenty of reasons why more storage would be desirable, even if you personally don't want or need it.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by andrys

A lot of people organize their SDs by subject matter and when you take out the SD card, you remove screenfuls of book names that can be fatiguing to go through on the 'Home' listings.

What would be nice is if you could flag a book to not show on the home page but still be on the kindle using content manager. If I could do this then I would use an SD card and keep alot more stuff on the Kindle.

But, as it is I like to keep my home screen under 3 pages long.

BOb

[dalfiuss]

I've got to believe the Kindle 2's software will support folders or minimally tagging so you can set the home screen to display just about whatever you want.

Also, as far as the memory concerns go, according to the original BGR post with the first shots of the K2, they mentioned the device listed 1403MB free, which ends up being about 9(?) times as much as the K1. The average book from Amazon seems to be about 600KB, so you are talking over 2000 books worth of storage, plenty of space if you ask me.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by dalfiuss

I've got to believe the Kindle 2's software will support folders or minimally tagging so you can set the home screen to display just about whatever you want.

Also, as far as the memory concerns go, according to the original BGR post with the first shots of the K2, they mentioned the device listed 1403MB free, which ends up being about 9(?) times as much as the K1. The average book from Amazon seems to be about 600KB, so you are talking over 2000 books worth of storage, plenty of space if you ask me.

First, we have to wait and see exactly what is being offered. No solid facts are available yet.

Then, if what you say is true, what if I want more than 2000 books? Regardless of the reason, I should be able to insert a memory card and have as many as I choose, not Amazon.

[Boston]

Like some others, I don't use an SD card because I remove books once I've read them.

The SD card in Kindle 1 was not easily accessible. Making it easily accessible would be my first choice. If not, then I'd rather have the additional memory built on board rather than use an SD card.

So I don't see see having more built in memory versus an SD card as a compromise between the Kindle 1 and Kindle 2.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

What would be nice is if you could flag a book to not show on the home page but still be on the kindle using content manager. If I could do this then I would use an SD card and keep alot more stuff on the Kindle.

But, as it is I like to keep my home screen under 3 pages long.

BOb

I would like that. It would be nice to be able to make tags, set viewing options for them and use them to narrow searches.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by andrys

First, there's no reason why Amazon would not be using, for the Kindle 2, the new e-Ink screen (same size but with 8 levels of color, which makes quite a difference in photos and with faster refreshes so that the black or reverse-image flashes are no longer so annoying and it's faster in general). This should be good for image-loading too, which is very slow on the Kindle 1.

The 8 levels of color alone, over the Kindle 1's 4 levels will make a big difference in illustrations in books and daily newspapers.

I believe it's the controller that governs this. They are using the new controller, but as I said that is not quite enough to tempt me to upgrade.

[Alexander Turcic]

Update: Kindle 2 accessories posted over here.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Regardless of the reason, I should be able to insert a memory card and have as many as I choose, not Amazon.

If there is no SD card slot, perhaps they will let you put your own files/books into your media library so you can access them over Whispernet. Of course, that doesn't help people that live out side of Sprint network.

BOb

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by andrys

First, there's no reason why Amazon would not be using, for the Kindle 2, the new e-Ink screen (same size but with 8 levels of color, which makes quite a difference in photos and with faster refreshes so that the black or reverse-image flashes are no longer so annoying and it's faster in general). This should be good for image-loading too, which is very slow on the Kindle 1.

The 8 levels of color alone, over the Kindle 1's 4 levels will make a big difference in illustrations in books and daily newspapers.

It's not a new screen. It's the same 6" Vizplex screen that the Kindle 1, Sony 505, and Sony 700 have. What is probably going to be different is the screen controller. And yes, 8 native shades does make a difference vs. 4. But, what also helps is some good dithering routine built into the display software. The 505 does a really nice job dithering using only 8 shades. From the photos I've seen of the Kindle 1, I was definitely not impressed with its ability to dither.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by andrys

They do stress you can carry a large library around with you.

Great for reference and the ability to read the book or magazine/newspaper you'd like to at any moment when waiting somewhere.

A lot of people organize their SDs by subject matter and when you take out the SD card, you remove screenfuls of book names that can be fatiguing to go through on the 'Home' listings.

Audio books can be useful and are used by friends of mine but they take a lot of storage space. So do mp3's, relative to text books. I have a 60-gig iPod (it's old) but if I can have all I need by taking one electronic piece with me when I go out, why not?

Using the audio player capability of the Kindle will drain the battery pretty fast. So if you don't mind draining the battery like that, feel free to listen to audio books.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

I don't keep my whole library on my Reader, just mostly books I haven't read. Once a month or more I delete what I've read off of it. I don't usually reread books (too many I want to read!).

I delete books as soon as I've read them unless I've put in bookmarks and need to go correct something.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

First, we have to wait and see exactly what is being offered. No solid facts are available yet.

Then, if what you say is true, what if I want more than 2000 books? Regardless of the reason, I should be able to insert a memory card and have as many as I choose, not Amazon.

I'm with you, DG. I would not buy a reader that did not have separate storage, no matter how much internal storage it had. Call me stubborn and unreasonable if you must, but there it is.