Will you buy the Kindle 3G or Kindle WiFi?

[rlparker]

Originally Posted by Kevin2960

2 x (3G & Wifi) 1 Each,

Still can't believe my Wife has been so generous, I had only Dreamed !

Congratulations to you AND your wife!

I opted for WiFi only; it will actually be an improvement for me because 3G signal is weak/nonexistent where I live. I'm also really looking forward to improved dictionary lookup compared to my K1. And, of course, the Pearl display.

[mattbiernat]

Originally Posted by digiridan

I'm not sure, is this it?
Source

yes you do have coverage. look at the map. it will not be a high speed but it will allow you to download book. i would go for 3G.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by TomF

Most people will find that they will use Wi-Fi most of the time and only use the 3G for buying a book if they're out of Wi-Fi range, like on the beach, etc. Once people see the Webkit browser on a Wi-Fi network they won't use 3G for browsing the Web unless they absolutely need to.

I wonder. I do take your point about browsing. OTOH, if I'm at home, why would I use the K3 to browse? It would only be away from home that the possibility would have any real existence.

But when it comes to buying books & reading, I have an iphone with wifi & 3g. I leave it on 3g, even at home where I have wifi, even if I'm downloading, unless I hit the 10 MB limit. Why? Because despite my understandible image as a technological whiz kid, super achiever, ladies' man and go-getter, I'm really a lazy SOB. I don't bother to drill down through the settings menu to change back & forth. (Hmm. Why isn't there an app for that? It would live on the App Bar. It would, with one touch, switch. Will someone who really IS a tech whiz please get to work on this?)

My K3 will default on 3G because that's where syncing lives on a full time basis. And my experience with 3G is that it downloads ebooks in about as much time as it would take me to fiddle around switching over to wifi for downloads. Given that, why fi?

[rlparker]

Originally Posted by Harmon

...why fi?

Good one.

I ordered wifi because the 3G signal sux where I live. And to answer your question about browsing while reading: when I first got my kindle, I was thrilled to be able to hop over to Wikipedia to look up something I was reading about, often for a little historical, biographical or geographical context. But because my 3G is so flakey, that didn't usually work very well. Eventually I just quit trying. So wifi will actually be a big improvement for me and I'm really looking forward to it!

Also--rhubarb pie to you too!

[TomF]

Originally Posted by Harmon

I wonder. I do take your point about browsing. OTOH, if I'm at home, why would I use the K3 to browse? It would only be away from home that the possibility would have any real existence.

But when it comes to buying books & reading, I have an iphone with wifi & 3g. I leave it on 3g, even at home where I have wifi, even if I'm downloading, unless I hit the 10 MB limit. Why? Because despite my understandible [sic] image as a technological whiz kid, super achiever, ladies' man and go-getter, I'm really a lazy SOB. I don't bother to drill down through the settings menu to change back & forth.

The reason that your iThing defaults to 3G is because your carrier wants you to stay on their network rather than use Wi-Fi. And they make you go through a process to switch it. They want you to use their bandwidth so they can justify charging you for it. I'm so lazy, that if I'm sitting on the couch reading my Kindle and I want to look up something quick like on Wikipedia, I can't even be bothered to get up and walk the 10 ft to where my laptop is open and waiting on kitchen table. Because then it's just one more time-sucking distraction. And true, if I truly want to browse, I'll use my laptop. I don't lug my laptop everywhere I go but I do usually take my Kindle and more likely than not I'm probably going to be in range of a Wi-Fi spot.

Originally Posted by Harmon

My K3 will default on 3G because that's where syncing lives on a full time basis. And my experience with 3G is that it downloads ebooks in about as much time as it would take me to fiddle around switching over to wifi for downloads.

I'm not sure why you would want to do that because the K3 defaults to Wi-Fi. If there's a Wi-Fi network in range it will automatically connect. You won't have to switch anything. One of the reasons that Amazon introduced the Kindle 3 Wi-Fi is so that they don't have to keep paying 3G bills. And I really think that they expect most Kindle 3 3G+Wi-Fi owners to use Wi-Fi most of the time so they won't be footing quite as large a 3G bill for those as earlier gen Kindles. Amazon improved the browsing experience by offering Wi-Fi and Webkit because people wanted a better browsing experience. So they're giving it to them.

Originally Posted by Harmon

Given that, why fi?

Yes, good one! I like cleverness. I do, I really do. And I'm not just saying that. Really.

[Logiedan]

I'm not sure which I'll be getting yet. Two factors that I think strongly influence the decision and are so far unknown are:

1. The new Webkit-based browser and
2. What types of apps come out, whether they use 3G, and what they use it for.

Edit: I'm now leaning towards WiFi only, but I'm still going to wait to see the reviews before making my final decision.

[Susianne]

I've ordered the G3, having origially ordered only wifi, but changed my mind, reason being that we travel to the US for holidays, and have also been to plenty of places in the uk where the wifi is non existent. I love the idea of being able to download a book wherever I am, and for an extra £40 or so, I would just kick myself if I found later that I really needed the G3. I am so looking forward to getting it, am reading every forum/discussion I come across about the Kindle. I think I have Kindle fever - and am still waiting for it to arrive.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by TomF

The reason that your iThing defaults to 3G is because your carrier wants you to stay on their network rather than use Wi-Fi.

No, it doesn't default anywhere. It stays on whichever I put it on.

I'm not sure why you would want to do that because the K3 defaults to Wi-Fi. If there's a Wi-Fi network in range it will automatically connect. You won't have to switch anything. One of the reasons that Amazon introduced the Kindle 3 Wi-Fi is so that they don't have to keep paying 3G bills. And I really think that they expect most Kindle 3 3G+Wi-Fi owners to use Wi-Fi most of the time so they won't be footing quite as large a 3G bill for those as earlier gen Kindles. Amazon improved the browsing experience by offering Wi-Fi and Webkit because people wanted a better browsing experience. So they're giving it to

The places I am likely to want my K3 to sync are actually places where wifi is not available - or what's worse, is only sporadically available. Like on the train.
So I hope 3G is sticky if I'm downloading or syncing on it.

[nitrocuadam]

Can I use the 3G support of Kindle to reach wikipedia or other services or is it just for buying books from Amazon.com

Thanks

[SteveEisenberg]

Re nitrocuadam's question immediately above, see:

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireles.../dp/B002FQJT3Q

"Kindle also includes free built-in access to the world's most exhaustive and up-to-date encyclopedia, Wikipedia.org."

How good the Kindle 3 WebKit browser is remains to be seen.

I have a locked-down employer-supplied AT&T 3G BlackBerry, on which most Wikipedia searches yield a message stating that the page is too large to load. Given Amazon's statement about their new device supporting Wikipedia, this should not be a problem.

P.S. The Amazon.com Kindle 3 advertising puffery would be arguably correct if the Wikipedia access only worked on WiFi, not on 3G. I just assumed that they wouldn't do this.

P.P.S. The Kindle 2 can bring up Wikipedia pages over the cell phone network, so the Kindle 3 should be at least as good at it.

[901hw]

Is it true that the webkit browser was made available to kindle 2 users through the latest updates? Because then there should be some feedback if it is better or not?! Thanks

[carld]

Originally Posted by 901hw

Is it true that the webkit browser was made available to kindle 2 users through the latest updates? Because then there should be some feedback if it is better or not?! Thanks

No, we'd have heard all about it if that were true. It may come to K2's in the future, we'll have to wait and see.

[Sandra Edwards]

I ordered the 3G + Wi-fi...because...honestly...I can't stand thinking there's an option out there for the K3 that I don't have. lol

Sandy

[TomF]

Originally Posted by Harmon

No, it doesn't default anywhere. It stays on whichever I put it on.

The places I am likely to want my K3 to sync are actually places where wifi is not available - or what's worse, is only sporadically available. Like on the train.
So I hope 3G is sticky if I'm downloading or syncing on it.

My point was that with your phone you have to manually switch to the connection you want, either 3G or Wi-Fi. The K3 will default to Wi-Fi if there is one in range and automatically switch to 3G if no Wi-Fi is available. It would seem silly to not use Wi-Fi if available because it will be faster connection. Probably not noticeable if buying a book, but for spur of the moment Web browsing it would be.

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by rlparker

I'm also really looking forward to improved dictionary lookup compared to my K1.

When I first switched from a K1 to K2, I was looking up everything - I wonder what the official definition is of that word? Now, I just use it to translate some British sayings (I knew jumper, but ran across another one).