Aussie e-reader advice...

[viviena]

Originally Posted by Alison C

Battery life: the Sony salesman I spoke to said that the 650 had a much longer battery life than the Kindle (but he would, wouldn't he?!). From what Solicitous has said, that's not fair comment?

Fibbing or ignorant. The Sonys have good battery life (I never find myself running flat), but even with the wireless connectivity (which can be turned on and off, IIRC), the K3 still has pretty much the best battery life out of all the current-gen e-ink devices.

[Alison C]

Small world, Pingu! Maybe we should toss a coin, and whoever loses has to buy the Kindle first and show it to the other one!

Viviena, thanks for that helpful reply.

Regards

Alison

[Jcas]

Finally, could I ask whether your Kindle is your preferred mode of reading, or would you rather read a physical book, all other things being equal? If I thought I'd use the Kindle a lot at home as well as on holiday, I'd be just about ready to take the leap!

(I think I am the world's worst procrastinator - it took me ages to talk myself into buying an iPod, and I wouldn't be without it now.)

For me the Kindle has rekindled my passion for reading, i don't have the problem what to do with the growing number of already read paper books and if i go anywhere, i can take my entire collection on the Kindle, it is definately my preferred method of reading now.

If by any chance you get one and find you are not using it , they are bringing excellent prices on ebay, but i really doubt you would want to part with it once you have it.

[lene1949]

Buying a reader from Amazon, you'll have it in less than 5 days (includes weekends)... Buying a reader from Australia, you're looking at 2 weeks... I just don't understand it...

[Solicitous]

Originally Posted by Pingu

Excellent thanks.

So to confirm

-I can instantly download books without being connected by cords to a computer with just the Wifi version as long as I am in a Wifi zone..
-if I want to download anywhere, anytime I need the 3G.
-forget using the internet browser section of a Kindle, it's of no consequence.

Another thing I'm pondering. If the Aussie dollar fell really badly against the US dollar then I'm going to be paying more for books for as long as that situation lasts. I mean, it's great now because the dollar is awesome, but do I set myself up for paying more if things go the other way?

I have also read that I can use other places to buy books and put them on a Kindle using Calibre. Is this correct, and is it easy to do?

You guys rock, thanks soooo much.

Yep, you will after buying your ebooks have them (within reason) instantly on your Kindle. I tend to buy my ebooks on my computer through Amazon.com, and by the time I hit the Buy button and walk to my Kindle is is either in the process of or has finished downloading it. You can also email files to your Kindle (free over wifi, small fee over 3G). And you have the option of using a cable if you prefer, or if you want to load MP3s onto it (not sure if you can download them via wifi).

The web browser I would forget using at home as you'd have access to a PC so that is the most appropriate option. If you go for the 3G model then it is usually enough to get you out of trouble when you are out and about. Don't forget, the Kindle is an e-reader, not an internet tablet.

Originally Posted by Alison C

Many thanks, Julie and Solicitous, for your very helpful replies.

I have managed to avoid the "not available to you" on every book I've tried, so either I've just been lucky, or Amazon definitely thinks I'm still in the UK - good news either way!

I found the small print on returns, and not only is it 30 days from receipt, but this period is extended over Christmas: so for any Kindle bought from 1 Nov, you have until 31 Jan to return it. Sweet.

Battery life: the Sony salesman I spoke to said that the 650 had a much longer battery life than the Kindle (but he would, wouldn't he?!). From what Solicitous has said, that's not fair comment?

Finally, could I ask whether your Kindle is your preferred mode of reading, or would you rather read a physical book, all other things being equal? If I thought I'd use the Kindle a lot at home as well as on holiday, I'd be just about ready to take the leap!

(I think I am the world's worst procrastinator - it took me ages to talk myself into buying an iPod, and I wouldn't be without it now.)

Thanks again. I'm so glad I found this forum.

Alison

Battery life is a questionable issue. According to Amazon the Kindle can last upto 4 weeks of average reading, Sony say 10,000 pages or upto 2 weeks on the PRS-650. These are rough indicators I suppose. My wife's Kindle lasted 29 days on the first charge, she read around 1-2 hours a day and I did some tinkering with the wifi (if you leave wifi on it is estimated to be 3 week). Your mileage will vary but a 3 hour charge of the Kindle once very 4 weeks does not eat into my reading time at all.

Now preferred mode of reading? Well my first ereader was a 5" Astak Pocket Pro I bought bit over 12 months ago. Some people like the feel and smell of a book, I myself wasn't all that attached to the feel of a book. The reader did initially feel small and light, and the biggest "issue" for lack of a phrase to overcome was with a paperback I could feel the thickness of the pages I'd read and get an approximate feel for how far I had gone through the book. The ereader took that away from me. After about 4 hours of getting use to it I absolutely loved it. Then I got my Kindle a bit over a month ago and love that even more.

I have read the odd paperback since getting my first ereader, but I find the Kindle so much easier to hold, I read faster on it, can set the appropriate font size to my liking (I don't like large print/hardcover books). It is my preferred reading method. Now on top of that keep an eye on this forum, on regular occasions Amazon have free ebooks (usually for a limited time).

[mary-lyn]

Hi, I am looking/deciding like Pingu too as to which reader to buy,and also live in Perth! My Qs are these. If I buy a Kindle from US can I only buy and download from an Aussie site? or is it poss to buy books via the US site? and I have heard one needs to send a Kindle back to Amazon to get the battery changed. Does the battery ever need changing? Does the Sony reader have batteries we can change.
I love technology....but it seems so hard to decide sometimes.
cheers
Mary-Lyn

[Pingu]

ML, what is with us Perth people! When I look at the Amazon ebook store it has my region set as Australia, and thus only shows me what I can buy. I did a search last night and had Amazon open and the Kobo store open. Every book I looked at for my preferences was available in Amazon Australia, and was cheaper than the Kobo store. I found one book I wanted that neither store held as an ebook.

Does the Aussie dollar value dropping worry anyone else? I guess the thing is if it drops, then you buy from say the Kobo store here and convert the format. Is that right?

[mary-lyn]

Hi Pingu!
Have you bought a reader yet? if yes and you bought a Kindle were you charged import tax or whatever they say you will get charged. I am presuming the postage would be about $30 but dont know about these taxes. They have them on ebay at the mo for about $250 inc postage, that is for the $139 model.
cheers
ML

[Alison C]

Hi, Mary-Lyn, and welcome to the Perth club! As it happens, I can help with your query, because I have just ordered my Kindle. I've been swithering for weeks about whether to do it, and this forum has been astoundingly helpful. Renewed thanks to everyone in this thread for their patience in answering my questions. I will deffo report back when the Kindle arrives; unfortunately, the delivery estimate is between 8 and 21 December. Must be the Christmas rush.

Anyway, Mary-Lyn, the good news is that there's no extra duty for Australians to pay. I ordered the Kindle wi-fi at US$139, plus the power cable at $9.99 and a cover at $34.99; postage was $32.96, so the total is US$216.94. NB you have the option to pay in US$ or AU$ - I chose the US$ option, because the exchange rate they are using is worse than the one my credit card uses. Anyway, the bottom line is that it's cheaper than eBay.

You also asked about buying books. As I understand it, it's possible to get books for the Kindle from sources other than Amazon. There are squillions of posters here who know more about this than I do (not difficult!), but I came across this link elsewhere on this forum:

http://www.thekindleworm.com/search/...20get%20ebooks

That also might help with Pingu's concerns about future fluctuations in the exchange rate - especially the free e-books!

Thanks again to Pingu, Julie, Solicitous and Viviena for helping me to make my decision.

Kind regards

Alison

[Pingu]

Alison, yay!!!

Why did you go for Wifi only? That is my next big question.

Which cover did you get?

Pingu

[Jcas]

Congrats on your purchase, now for the waiting part ...

[Figlilly]

Hi Pingu. New Kindle user here though I had lusted after one for a long time. I have had mine since the beginning of October. I have the WiFi version. All up, including cover, it cost around $200 to Canberra. I chose the Amazon cover without the light. My son in Brisbane got the 3G version because the WiFi in his house is a bit flaky. He has found though, that the 3G was overkill for his purposes. He mainly plugs his into the computer to access the books he downloads. I deal with Amazon and he tends to go for the indi books. A work colleague has a Sony. It is very nice and has a touch screen but was quite a bit dearer than the Kindle. She actually admits that she mainly clicks the buttons when reading a book anyway. The Kindle is a wonderful little gadget. Amazon made it very easy to set up and use. I can also vouch for the battery lasting. I have only just recharged mine after over a month of use. I usually read for a few hours a day but I do switch the WiFi off.

[Alison C]

Hi, Pingu. I chose Wifi because I'm a cheapskate! - I didn't think I'd get enough value out of the 3G to make it worth the extra $50. We have a wireless network at home. I aim to be organised enough to load the Kindle with reading material before I go away, and if there's anything I decide I want while I'm away it can wait until I either get home or hit a wifi network. I tend not to bother accessing emails or the web while I'm on holiday, so I think this will work for me. The phrase that Figwit has just used sums it up: I felt 3G would be overkill for my purposes.

I chose Amazon's standard cover, without the light (I never read in bed). Most of the other covers weren't available for shipping to Australia.

I'd be happy to show you the Kindle, but it would be after Christmas, and you might not be able to wait that long!

Thanks for the congrats, Julie!

Regards

Alison

[Pingu]

I am buying it as I type. So nervous! Until a few days ago it was going to be a Kobo, now I've swung the other way!

Perth-ites, let's have a coffee with Kindles in the new year!

I am throwing caution to the wind and getting 3G

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by FF2

The one issue not addressed was the idea of SHARING your kindle with your kids - nice idea but you will not be able to all read at the same time whereas when schlepping books, heavy obviously, each can be reading their own book.

Actually you can share books. It is very easy to share a book on the Kindle. Most books allow for 6 copies of the book to be read on any device. So if you hav emultiple Kindles in your family, you can be reading the same book, at the same time, on different devices. This works for all of the Kindle apps, Kindle of PC, Kindle for Android, Kindle for Apple products, Kindle for Mac ect...

It is one of the nicest thing sabout the kindle, you can share an account and books at the same time.