Why did I wait so long to upgrade to K2?

[Sydney's Mom]

Got my K2 today (ordered it Friday night) and I have to say I am amazed! I never thought it was worth upgrading, cause I loved my K1, but it was ruined on Friday during my 3 airport screenings. I just got the K2, and the thing I like the most is the Archived Items, Instead of carrying all those Amazon books around, I can call them up as needed. And I don't need a computer to do it!

It really does feel nice. Much more solid than the K1. This is something I will want to hold without a cover. (But I did order a purple skin and a matching purple clip on light!).

I know something else will come out that will make this seem antiquated, but such is the deal with electronics. Meanwhile, I am thrilled, and just bought another one for my FIL (gave my MIL one for XMas, and she was complaining she had to fight him for it!)

[WT Sharpe]

Congrats on the K2.

Are you going to spring for another Oberon cover?

[daffy4u]

Yay! One big happy family.

I still have my K1 which is my actual "library". All Kindle books are downloaded to the K1 automatically (those are backed up on Calibre). I keep very few books on the K2 because it's so easy to pull htem from the archive.

Now thanks to DesertGrandma, I have the freebie Dropbox account. I keep all my Calibre books there so I can even pull the non-Amazon books from the cloud with Whispernet (of course everything is backed up 7 ways from Sunday, just in case).

Congratulations on your new Kindle 2!

Edit: So far I have not been able to download from Dropbox via Whispernet. I aplogize for posting untested information. I'm still going to keep trying.

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Congrats on the K2.

Are you going to spring for another Oberon cover?

I was going to, and then I thought I would prefer holding it without a cover. And I was right. But I did email Oberon and ask what it would cost to convert my K1 cover, which is just a few weeks old, to a K2 cover. Luckily, the covers are the same size, and I assume that is the bulk of the cost.

[Anarel]

Sorry to be a bit off topic, but what is Dropbox?

If you store your non-amazon bought books there, you can really download them to your Kindle using the Whispernet?

**Edit; ok, just figured it out, and it looks great! Only thing is, I'm having a bit of difficulty downloading the files from my Kindle's browser I'm logged in, and can view the files on my computer's web browser, but now on my Kindle's....

[desertgrandma]

Its a great free site to store and share books, files, whatever,with selected people.

Or, just for your own use. Plus, whatever you put there is automatically backed up, up to a certain point with the free option.

https://www.dropbox.com/

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by Anarel

Sorry to be a bit off topic, but what is Dropbox?

If you store your non-amazon bought books there, you can really download them to your Kindle using the Whispernet?

Dropbox. And I spoke too soon. I've been using Dropbox to move files around from computer to computer (in Explorer) but I hadn't actually tried using Whispernet to download a book. It's a bit convoluted and I think I have to move the private folders to a public folder to download them.

I'm going to play and start a separate thread with instructions and pictures if I get it to work properly.

[daffy4u]

Okay, I go it to work but it's so incredibly painful that it may not be worth your while.

The only way to get it to work is to put all of the books in the Public Folder and save the direct link for each and every book (not folder but book). You may not want to do this for every book. Maybe just select titles or non-Amazon purchases.

Here is a sample you can try from my Public Folder (it won't be up all day). The book 1633 from David Weber was a freebie from Baen. You have two choices from Dropbox:

The full url:

--link goes bye-bye

or they will generate a tinyurl address which is much easier to type on the Kindle:

--another link bites the dust

[poohbear_nc]

I tried something similar with SugarSync - and was ultimately unsuccessful - apparently the storage site adds additional characters (unique to your account) onto the end of the file name of your stored book, so that your Kindle doesn't recognize the last letters as an acceptable file format it will download. Eg., instead of MobyDick.prc your stored copy would be MobyDick.prc.xxxxxxx - with the 'x' string unique to your storage locker. You would need to develop a hack that would strip the file name end down to a recognizable file format that Kindle will download and read: prc, azw, mobi, etc.
If you store HTML files, the Kindle will open them directly on screen, but I couldn't get them to download either - presumably b/c of the lack of recognizable file extension.

[daffy4u]

Dropbox has a user forum so I left a question about how to use it with Kindles. I'll report back if I get a better solution. With many of the new ebook readers getting 3G or Wi-Fi, this site will come in handy.

I know Calibre has a server but I can't get it to work. It requires port forwarding which I don't know how to do. I've tried and ended up having to reinstall my router several times because I screwed it up.

I have a website and I can easily put the books in their own FTP folder but that folder won't stay in sync the way Dropbox does.

Later today, I'll try downloading from my Carbonite backup but that's a costly way to go for some.

[tlrowley]

Daffy4u,

If you can find someone to help you through the port-fowarding issues, I think it would really be worth it. Calibre on the Kindle simply rocks! I think this is something that really sets the Kindle (with a browser) apart from the nook or Sony (can shop wirelessly, but not visit other sites.) IMO, browsing on the Kindle is not for playing WoW, but for downloading from sites like your personal Calibre library, or mobileread, or manybooks, or feedbooks (did I miss any?)

I maintain my library using my laptop. The library is synced (using Dropbox) to my iMac, which is always on and, therefore, much more useful as a Calibre server than the laptop.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by tlrowley

Daffy4u,

If you can find someone to help you through the port-fowarding issues, I think it would really be worth it. Calibre on the Kindle simply rocks! I think this is something that really sets the Kindle (with a browser) apart from the nook or Sony (can shop wirelessly, but not visit other sites.) IMO, browsing on the Kindle is not for playing WoW, but for downloading from sites like your personal Calibre library, or mobileread, or manybooks, or feedbooks (did I miss any?)

I maintain my library using my laptop. The library is synced (using Dropbox) to my iMac, which is always on and, therefore, much more useful as a Calibre server than the laptop.

I've found port forwarding software but I don't want to spend $30 on it. I've searched the help files for my router and various places on Google but I can't seem to get it right.

I also want to find a solution that doesn't require my desktop to be on all of the time (though it usually is ).

Is there a port forwarding for dummies site I can try?

[tlrowley]

You certainly don't need to buy software to do this. What router do you have?

But you would have to leave the desktop on - no desktop/no server

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by tlrowley

You certainly don't need to buy software to do this. What router do you have?

But you would have to leave the desktop on - no desktop/no server

I have a D-Link DIR-655. I also own a Linksys 610N that I'm not using.

[fugazied]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

https://www.dropbox.com/

I use that site everyday. It has a great app which integrates well with my macbook pro. So backing up is very very easy and fast.

As for the K2, yes it is a nicer finish and feel but no SD slot which is why a lot of people held back. My close family are loaded up with K1s thanks to me (my old Kindle + I bought some refurbs).

So we are a Kindle family too hehe. I may be an Apple tablet user soon though, depending on what happens this month.