Does Kindle 2 work in Europe

[sirbruce]

Because legally they're not allowed to sell it to you.

[tlc]

Also, there are issues setting the time. And possibly a bug in displaying "Most recent first" without wispernet.

[Mike L]

Wallcraft,

There have been reports that a credit card is now needed, but it does not have to be a US credit card (only a US address).

I think that's right. The point is you need a credit card to enable 1-Click. 1-Click is not specific to Kindle purchases, so the card does not have to have a US address.

At the time you make a purchase (Kindle or otherwise, 1-Click or otherwise), it checks the address to decide whether it's compatible with the item being purchased (for example, books can be purchased from anywhere, but electronic goods are often restricted to US, or US and Canada).

But, if you have a positive gift card balance, that doens't apply because it never gets as far as checking the credit card. It automatically takes the money from the gift card.

On second thoughts, I'm not 100% sure the above is correct. As far as I remember, I was able to make a 1-Click purchase before registered the credit card. But I might be wrong..

[SteGar]

I guys,

I have looking into the thread and let me confirm that I was in the US last week and I was able to purchase a book and a newspaper with the 1 click function taking the money out of my GC account. It also does it when buying from Amazon on my computer... I guess once you have the US address, the rest is rather easy to bypass.

I would like to add that I was also able to register my device wirelessly once I was there. I'm all set up !!

[Mike L]

SteGar, thanks for confirming what I was almost sure was the case.

I'm looking forward to being able to properly register my Kindle on my next trip the US. (To be precise, you can register the device on the Manage Your Kindle page from anywhere in the word, but the device has no way of knowing that you've done that until you have Whispernet access.) If nothing else, it should enable me to finally access the Settings screen.

[kuliand]

For people who have imported a kindle to the uk if any how much did you pay for it over the US price and where did you get it from?

Im tempted to try and buy a DX once there released in the US as the large is screen is exactly what i need.

[Mike L]

Kuliand,

I paid exactly the same for mine as if I had bought it in the US. I arranged with a business associate to purchase it for me and to send it to me. I also paid the carriage - I don't remember how much that was, but it wasn't very much. And there was a small amount of import duty plus VAT to pay on delivery.

I'm still hoping that the Kindle will become officially available in the UK some day. By that time, I might be ready to buy a second one.

[kuliand]

I don't know anyone that lives or goes to the US often so mine would probably have to be imported through ebay. ye hopefully they will get and release it over here or sony will come out with a large screen device soon.

[Mike L]

Kuliand,

A possible option for you would be to use these people;
http://www.shopanyamericanstore.com/

They'll buy it on your behalf, and send it out to you. Of course, they'll charge a fee for their trouble. You should ask them in advance how much that will be.

If you do use a third party, be sure to get them to deregister the Kindle before they send it to you. By default, the Kindle is registered to the person who purchases it. Amazon will send them an email advising of this fact, and telling them to deregister it if it's a gift, but not everyone will notice that.

Mike

[jjesske]

Originally Posted by Mike L

Harry,



You set up two accounts at Amazon. Account 1 is the one to whom you register your Kindle. Account 2 is just an ordinary account - no special requirements as far as method of payment or country of residence is concerned. Each account has a different email address.

Account 1 enables 1-Click, with a US address. A credit card is not needed at this stage.

Account 2 purchase a gift card, and mails it to Account 1. Account 1 applies the card to his/her account.

Now, whenever you want to buy a Kindle book, you log in as Account 1, and make the purchase via 1-Click. Since you have a positive gift card balance, it does not prompt for a credit card number. It just takes the money off your gift card.

That's about all there is to it.

Thanks much Mike.

[Mike L]

Jjesske,

The advice given earlier in this thread is out of date. The Kindle is now fully available in Croatia. You can buy one for your friend from Amazon in the US, and have them send it to Croatia in the usual way. Your friend will then be able to register it, and will not need gift certificates to purchase books.

That said, he might still be up against geographic restrictions on the books he wants to read. If so, he could perhaps register to your Canadian address, and use gift certs for the books.

If you just want to give him gift certificates as a gift, that should be fine too. Regardless of where his Kindle is registered, he should be able to use them to buy Kindle books or any other Amazon products from the Amazon US site (but, if you buy the certificates from Amazon in France, Germany or the UK, he will have to spend them in those countries).

[ProfCrash]

The K2 International, which the vast majority of K2's are and is the only version available from Amazon as a refurb now, is designed to be used outside the US.

Books are not available in every country because different publishers have different rights and that dictates where they can sell a book and how they can sell a book. Amazon would love to sell you every book they could, they cannot break the law in order to do so.

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Amazon would love to sell you every book they could, they cannot break the law in order to do so.

That's true. But just to be clear: it's not a question of breaking the law. There is no legislation anywhere regarding geographic restrictions on the sale of ebooks. It's a matter of agreement between the parties involved.

Of course, that doesn't invalidate your comment, ProfCrash.

[enkov]

In Bulgaria, I could confirm, my Kindle 2 International 3G works fine, connects to 3G/GPRS via the MTel GSM network and I have bought some books just from the Kindle store in Kindle itself via 3G connection. I don't have US Credit card (Bulgarian bank VISA Electron debit card - Amazon accepts it fine). Only for Kindle 2 I had to install font hack and to jailbreak first, as Kindle 2 doesn't have native cyrillic (Unicode) support as Kindle 3 does. But the hack/jb goes fine, fw 2.5.4., I can browse the web, use wikipedia, use everything with 3G.

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by Mike L

That's true. But just to be clear: it's not a question of breaking the law. There is no legislation anywhere regarding geographic restrictions on the sale of ebooks. It's a matter of agreement between the parties involved.

Of course, that doesn't invalidate your comment, ProfCrash.

Amazon has to follow the laws that each country has established regarding copyrights. The problem is that each country has different laws and that Publishers do not sign authors to global contracts. Amazon cannot violate the terms of those contracts.