Kindle - 3G only for shopping Amazon?

[stickybuns]

Originally Posted by blue_skies

That is great to know Stickybuns! I do not have a smart phone and really have no interest in one. My only cell phone is a very old one that I used to just keep in the car for emergencies or for the rare occasion that my internet and therefore VOIP phone went down.

I used it so rarely that I didn't even bother to get a car charger for it since I always made sure it was fully charged. That was a mistake, because with the electricity knocked out, the cell phone drained much faster than I ever imagined, and I couldn't use my car to charge it. (I have one now though.)

Now I just need to decide which Kindle to buy.

I really appreciate all of the replies and advice here!

Well, I would definitely recommend getting the 3G version if you don't have 3G access on your phone. Pay an extra $50 over the cost of the wifi only version, and you have a great safety net for emergency situations (as well as for non emergency situations).

The next decision is whether you want the 6" screen or the 9.7" screen. I find that the 6" screen works just fine for my needs, but my eyesight is good enough that I can still read PDFs that have been shrunk down to fit my screen.

[bZkindle]

Originally Posted by blue_skies

But I could save various text files from my computer with various information that I may need to access?

If I wanted to type notes to myself on the Kindle, they would all go in the same blank "book"?

Yes to the first question.
On the second: you could have multiple "books" if you wished. I don't see why not. I'm not too clear on this myself as I have never actually done this.
Now that I think about it though, I'm pretty sure that all notes (including the blank book) would be stored in the 'my clippings' file.
Somebody else would be able to answer this better for you I'm sure.

But just to clarify, you do mean "notes" separately from annotations, correct?

http://ilmk.wordpress.com/2010/10/11...-as-a-notepad/

[blue_skies]

Originally Posted by bZkindle

But just to clarify, you do mean "notes" separately from annotations, correct?

Yes.

I am so glad I waited to buy a Kindle. I now feel it's worth the extra money for the 3G, which is something I never even considered before.

I do like the larger text size, so the DGX may be worth the extra money. (That is pretty pricey though, especially considering I just had a whole lot of expenses due the storms.)

I would also like to scan my own books that are not available as ebooks. Is there any issue with Kindle regarding that? I guess I would just have to convert to mobi with Calibre after I scan them. I already have Calibre installed.

ETA: Thanks for that link bZkindle! That is exactly what I was hoping for.

[carld]

Originally Posted by blue_skies

Thank you for your response. I'm glad to read the browser worked well for you. So I guess that means I would be able to use it to send and receive email if I use web mail. That would be great in a power outage situation.

Does anyone have any idea about the next generation of Kindle? If it will only be a few months, I may end up waiting for that.

It does work pretty well. I had to get a flat tire fixed and had forgotten my phone at home. I pulled out my 3G Kindle, connected to my gmail account and sent an email home explaining what was going on. It wasn't a critical situation or anything, but I was happy to have the option.

I'm not sure how soon we'll begin to get rumors of a K4. Maybe for this holiday season, but that seems pretty soon.

[blue_skies]

Originally Posted by carld

It does work pretty well. I had to get a flat tire fixed and had forgotten my phone at home. I pulled out my #G Kindle, connected to my gmail account and sent an email home explaining what was going on. It wasn't a critical situation or anything, but I was happy to have the option.

It really is terrific to have that option when you need it! Thanks for sharing that.

[jocampo]

I own a wifi Kindle 3 and thinking in selling it and buying the 3G one. When I traveled to South America I was having issues finding a good wifi hotspot or one that was free. We do have 3G coverage there.

The Kindle browser provides a very basic browsing experience, mostly for pure text pages or email, but it's a life saver.

I do not think the same about my iPad though, lol ... because I have to pay and it is not so portable like my Kindle. Main reason why my iPad is wifi only.

[bZkindle]

^ here's another one. this is what I was thinking of originally. I have it on my kindles but never use it:
http://www.edukindle.com/2010/09/not...r-ideas-handy/

With scans, it's always a little sketchy since if you're going to convert them you have to OCR them first and pray that it works okay. Then pray again that they will convert okay.
And that's another nice thing about the DXG: you can skip that last step and simply scan them as a PDF.

[stickybuns]

Psst... Kindle Notepad.

[bZkindle]

Originally Posted by stickybuns

Psst... Kindle Notepad.

Hey, that's pretty sweet! Interesting that it's 'active content'.
Now only if I could get it in Canada..

[ProfCrash]

I have the DXG and the K3. The K3 web browser is much better then the DXG. I treid the browser on the DXG and gave up 5 minutes in. The K3 browser was much faster and easier to get around in.

[bZkindle]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I have the DXG and the K3. The K3 web browser is much better then the DXG. I treid the browser on the DXG and gave up 5 minutes in. The K3 browser was much faster and easier to get around in.

I'm of the opposite opinion myself.
The K3 webkit browser looks nice, but do you really need to see websites as they normally appear?
I prefer the way the DXG browser strips websites down to the bare text.
Webkit is faster though.

[blue_skies]

Originally Posted by bZkindle

I'm of the opposite opinion myself.
The K3 webkit browser looks nice, but do you really need to see websites as they normally appear?
I prefer the way the DXG browser strips websites down to the bare text.
Webkit is faster though.

Huh. I didn't realize the browsers were different. I would have thought that the browser that strips web pages to the bare text would be faster... but it's the opposite? That's kind of surprising.

I own a wifi Kindle 3 and thinking in selling it and buying the 3G one. When I traveled to South America I was having issues finding a good wifi hotspot or one that was free. We do have 3G coverage there.

The Kindle browser provides a very basic browsing experience, mostly for pure text pages or email, but it's a life saver.

I do not think the same about my iPad though, lol ... because I have to pay and it is not so portable like my Kindle. Main reason why my iPad is wifi only.

Jocampo, it really is a lifesaver, isn't it? I would not want it for a tablet either, if I had one, because I am cheap and wouldn't want the monthly bill. The free 3G makes the Kindle a bargain, even though I would probably rarely use it. It's great to have the option to use it when you need it.

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between 3G and 4G? Is that just the speed of the data transfer? What I'm wondering is whether or not the 3G capability will become obsolete now that 4G seems to be becoming more prominent. Is that a possible issue, or does a 3G device use the same network but just download slower?

[bZkindle]

Originally Posted by blue_skies

Huh. I didn't realize the browsers were different. I would have thought that the browser that strips web pages to the bare text would be faster... but it's the opposite? That's kind of surprising.

The DXG runs an older firmware that's the same as the kindle 2.
Not only are the browsers different but the DXG also lacks certain features that are present on the k3.
Such as: annotation on PDF, font selection and more.

[stickybuns]

On the K3, you can switch to "article mode", which switches you to a (mostly) graphics free version of the web page you're looking at. If I can remember how to do a screen shot (help?) I'll post a picture of a website in regular vs. article.

[blue_skies]

Originally Posted by bZkindle

The DXG runs an older firmware that's the same as the kindle 2.
Not only are the browsers different but the DXG also lacks certain features that are present on the k3.
Such as: annotation on PDF, font selection and more.

Oh, that's disappointing. Have they announced plans to update the firmware with the K3 features? I thought they came out at the same time.

I also noticed that the DXG has an auto-rotate feature. Would I be able to turn that feature off so I can read in bed while I'm on my side, with the Kindle turned to the side but not rotated into portrait mode?