Setting up Kindle: To register or no? Wifi or no?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Junket

And the indexing all starts anew if you add a handful more books.

Never has for me, on any of my Kindle models. Only newly added books are indexed.

[Junket]

Kindle likes you more than me then.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Junket

Kindle likes you more than me then.

Possibly it has something to do with exactly how one sideloads and in what format the files are. I use Calibre and azw3, almost exclusively, and have for many years. That's the most problem-free way to sideload, in my experience. Admittedly none of my Kindles have been jailbroken.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Never has for me, on any of my Kindle models. Only newly added books are indexed.

Same. Unless the books on the device are modified or replaced, of course. Then that triggers a re-index for the modified book.

[Junket]

Anyone who annotates books, likes bookmarks or syncs a set of books to read is going to end up with a lot of modified and replaced books. So lots of re-indexing if I use Kindle the way I want to.

As indexing causes so many issues, for me at least, I am happy that disabling it seems to work. Personally have little need to search for book titles via random quotes.

YMMV

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Junket

Anyone who annotates books, likes bookmarks or syncs a set of books to read is going to end up with a lot of modified and replaced books. So lots of re-indexing if I use Kindle the way I want to.

Bookmarks, reading position, highlights, notes, etc. are kept in the bookname.sdr directory. The book file itself is not touched, so none of the above trigger re-indexing.

[Junket]

That may be so but re-indexing happens nonetheless. Probably triggered from the books being moved then. I find it much more time efficient to periodically delete all of the books on the device and sideload a new set from Calibre (PC). Which often overlaps the old set and those books do re-index.

Even if they did not though, Kindle can only seem to index ~ 80 books an hour. So moving ~2,000+ books to Kindle is high theater. The processor will run in high gear for ~24 hours to index the new books. And that is if you tether it to a wall outlet all day. If you actual try to use the device on battery - which is the whole point, the indexing will run the battery flat within a day. Not very impressive.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Junket

That may be so but re-indexing happens nonetheless. Probably triggered from the books being moved then. I find it much more time efficient to periodically delete all of the books on the device and sideload a new set from Calibre (PC). Which often overlaps the old set and those books do re-index.

Even if they did not though, Kindle can only seem to index ~ 80 books an hour. So moving ~2,000+ books to Kindle is high theater. The processor will run in high gear for ~24 hours to index the new books. And that is if you tether it to a wall outlet all day. If you actual try to use the device on battery - which is the whole point, the indexing will run the battery flat within a day. Not very impressive.

For me, the global search option is worth it. And I have other ereaders I can use while one of my Kindles is indexing. Not a problem. Besides, I've never dumped 2000 books on a Kindle all at once. 500, yes. Even 1000, yes. So I'm done with 3-4 batches, usually.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by Junket

at least in the past, occasionally delete a book that they don't think you should have.

I find it amazing that the people that didn't experience this incident go on endlessly about it. Stop beating the dead horse. All of us who bought 1984 and had it taken from our accounts were refunded our money with an explanation as to why this was done. It's done, it's over, it was years ago. Ok, we can now return to our regularly scheduled program. Sorry if it sounds grumpy.

To the OP: if you have issues with Amazon, don't register your device at all. Then you have nothing to worry or complain about. Use Calibre to assemble your series and just load a couple of hundred books so you don't have to endlessly scroll. There haven't been any software updates in about a year that have been significant. But be sure that when you buy the Oasis that you either buy it locally or list it as a gift or they will register it before shipping to you. I don't think most features that use wifi will work without registering the device.

[BookCat]

I registered mine purely for Collections and to download Amazon books to my computer. Amazon need to know which kindle the book is for. I now have two paperwhites and want the choice of putting the books on either.

But if this isn't important to you . . .

[Richwood]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you are not going to be buying from Amazon, then why get a Kindle? You'll be getting ePub and having to convert all the time. You'd be better off with a Kobo as you won't have to convert for every ePub you get.

A Kindle without Amazon is not worth the cost.

IMO not necessarily. Many older Kindles are cheap on ebay and from other sellers I have looked at, with the exception of the DX. I have only ever bought one that could not be registered as the original owner had reported it as lost and I managed to get a refund from the seller for it. Also Kindle is dominant enough in the USA market that many independent ebook sellers such as Smashwords, TOR and Baen offer book downloads in Kindle compatible formats, and without DRM. Most Smashwords books are available in 4 or 5 different file formats, all DRM free. Any more I check many Amazon offered books for availability on Smashwords as a better source. Once purchased on Smashwords the book can be downloaded in all available formats without an additional purchase.

If you side load books then independent ebook sellers can be a great resource.

[Barbara1955]

I have mine Registered But don't Directly Download ebook on it ... too much junk in the titles. So I change that then use SEND to Kindle & I have nice titles with series & number in them. Easy to find & read them.

I do the same But Side load on the Kobo.

Collections work great as they are Registered! Also I get updates on both my PW4 & Kobo Clara

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Richwood

IMO not necessarily. Many older Kindles are cheap on ebay and from other sellers I have looked at, with the exception of the DX. I have only ever bought one that could not be registered as the original owner had reported it as lost and I managed to get a refund from the seller for it. Also Kindle is dominant enough in the USA market that many independent ebook sellers such as Smashwords, TOR and Baen offer book downloads in Kindle compatible formats, and without DRM. Most Smashwords books are available in 4 or 5 different file formats, all DRM free. Any more I check many Amazon offered books for availability on Smashwords as a better source. Once purchased on Smashwords the book can be downloaded in all available formats without an additional purchase.

If you side load books then independent ebook sellers can be a great resource.

But if you buy a Kindle on eBay, you have a rather good chance of it being blacklisted. That means it can never be registered with Amazon and the chanecs are that it's been stolen. Do you really want to risk buying a stolen Kindle from eBay? If you are in the US, have a look at Woot for a used or refurbished Kindle.

[BookCat]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But if you buy a Kindle on eBay, you have a rather good chance of it being blacklisted. That means it can never be registered with Amazon and the chanecs are that it's been stolen. Do you really want to risk buying a stolen Kindle from eBay? If you are in the US, have a look at Woot for a used or refurbished Kindle.

I agree that a refurbished Kindle would be better. However, I bought a PW3 just after Christmas from ebay. The seller I used had a 30 day return policy, enough time for me to ascertain whether the kindle was blacklisted. It wasn't.

I looked into the details before buying, including discovering if I'd be paying the return postage. I would, but that's better than paying out £60 for a blacklisted device I can't return at all.

As it turned out, the Paperwhite is fine, with just some wear to the battery and scuffs on the bezel. The latter is covered by the type of cover I use: a Fintie Folio type which wraps over the bezel.

But your mileage may vary.