How does it work buying the Kindle as a gift?

[ficbot]

My stepdad has been lately very interested in my ebook reader and I am thinking of buying him one as a retirement present. He has arthritis and complains he often finds it hard to hold a book. Also, he plans to spend a few months of the year in Florida so I think having something portable like this that he can read at home and then take with him would be a huge help. The Kindle interests me because of the wireless, if he is renting vacation homes in Florida he may not have access to a computer to load books. He did say he plans to take a laptop with him, but we'll see if that happens. I also like the idea that he could subscribe to a newspaper from home and get it wirelessly delivered to him when he travels.

Stepdad is on board with the idea and is very interested, but is nervous about ordering something from the internet that he can't see and touch first. He says his hands are very sensitive and it would be a must for him to try it first and make sure it is comfortable for him to hold it and to push the buttons. I have a Sony he can try, but there is nowhere to get a retail Kindle!

I am just wondering what would happen if one buys the Kindle as a gift. Let's say I buy it and pay for it and give it to him and he likes it. Can I then transfer the Kindle to an account for him rather than leaving it 'attached' to me (I am assuming it will come attached to me if I buy it)? Or if he tries it and decides he does NOT like it and I decide to either sell the Kindle or keep it for myself (which is a possibility), can I re-assign the Kindle back to myself?

I have just heard stories about how you can buy the Kindle and play around on the website with sample chapters or iphone content etc. and when it arrives, that will already be downloaded into the new Kindle for you by the wireless while it is in transit to you. So if he decides to keep it, I want to be able to assign it over to him. And if he decides not to keep it, I want to be able to re-home it with a minimum of hassle, either to myself or to someone else.

He's a good six months or so away from being ready, and by then there might be other models out. But if it's something he can't look at in a retail store, I would hesitate to buy it unless it's something I might want myself, because if he decides he doesn't like it, I would have to either keep it or sell it myself.

[GoneNova]

I don't have a Kindle, but I bought one for my mother. When it was sent it was already registered to me. They sent me an email telling me how to deregister it if it was a gift. I did, and when my mother opened it, it was ready for her to register it to her Amazon account.

I don't think there would be a problem if your stepdad didn't like it. He'd just deregister it, then you could put it back on your account.

That said, since he has arthritis, you'll need to open the box for him. I had some trouble opening it for my mother. It has a nasty pull tab down the side of the box. I had a hard time getting a grip on it to get it started.

At first my mother was intimidated by it. She charged it up, but didn't turn it on for a week. I finally harassed her into it, she got it registered, bought a couple of books, and now she's fine. I hope.

[daffy4u]

You might want to look into finding a Kindle 1 on eBay. The buttons on the K1 are easier for someone with hand issues, plus a thicker reader might be easier to hold. You just need the serial number for registration to your or his account.

[Connallmac]

My K2 went to my father-in-law after I got my KDX. After he had a chance to play with it a bit and he decided that he liked it and wanted to keep it I simply de-registered it from my account and he added it to his account. It was actually quite simple and I walked him through it over the phone.

[Mike L]

Ficbot,

Just to add to the good advice you've already received ... You won't have any trouble at all.

I bought my Kindle before they were available outside the US, so I purchased via a third-party. The Kindle arrived at their address pre-registered to themselves. They had to de-register it (they did that via the Manage Your Kindle page on the Amazon site, but could also have done it on the Kindle itself). I was then able to register it in my name.

In your case, you would keep the Kindle registered to yourself while you step-dad was evaluating it. You could then either send it back or have it registered to him.

By the way, I think a Kindle would make an excellent retirement present. I hope he enjoys using it as much as I do mine.

[drofgnal]

I bought myself a Kindle for Christmas that is to arrive Monday.

Question, if it is already registered to me, can I order a book now. Is the 16 digit device ID already in my name? I can order a book and specify deliver to computer and upload via usb tomorrow??

[Mike L]

Drofgnal,

By default, your Kindle will be registered to the Amazon account that you used to purchase it. You can check that now by logging onto the account and going to the Manage Your Kindle page. You should see the device listed under Your Kindles, with a default name (something like Drofgnal's Kindle).

If so, you can go ahead and order books. I'm not sure whether they'll actually appear in the Kindle when you take it out of the box, but they'll show up under Your Orders in Manage Your Kindle, from where you can initiate a new transfer to the device if necessary.

One question. If you bought the Kindle as a Christmas present for yourself, will you have to wait until 25 December before opening it? And did you remember the gift wrap? (Sorry, didn't mean to sound facetious.)

[Connallmac]

Originally Posted by Mike L

Drofgnal,

By default, your Kindle will be registered to the Amazon account that you used to purchase it. You can check that now by logging onto the account and going to the Manage Your Kindle page. You should see the device listed under Your Kindles, with a default name (something like Drofgnal's Kindle).

If so, you can go ahead and order books. I'm not sure whether they'll actually appear in the Kindle when you take it out of the box, but they'll show up under Your Orders in Manage Your Kindle, from where you can initiate a new transfer to the device if necessary.

One question. If you bought the Kindle as a Christmas present for yourself, will you have to wait until 25 December before opening it? And did you remember the gift wrap? (Sorry, didn't mean to sound facetious.)

You are correct, books can be bought for it and will be downloaded on your new Kindle the first time you turn on the whispernet. I had purchased several books while awaiting my Kindle and as soon as I turned the wireless on they plopped right onto it!

[TallMomof2]

I have arthritis, too and as long as I keep my K2 in a cover, M-Edge makes some ones, I have no issues with grip. Out of the cover the K1 is better to hold but I gave my Mom the K1 when I got the K2. I deregistered the K1 before I sent it to her and it was a snap to reregister it.

[drofgnal]

Originally Posted by Mike L

Drofgnal,

By default, your Kindle will be registered to the Amazon account that you used to purchase it. You can check that now by logging onto the account and going to the Manage Your Kindle page. You should see the device listed under Your Kindles, with a default name (something like Drofgnal's Kindle).

If so, you can go ahead and order books. I'm not sure whether they'll actually appear in the Kindle when you take it out of the box, but they'll show up under Your Orders in Manage Your Kindle, from where you can initiate a new transfer to the device if necessary.

One question. If you bought the Kindle as a Christmas present for yourself, will you have to wait until 25 December before opening it? And did you remember the gift wrap? (Sorry, didn't mean to sound facetious.)

Well I may be waiting till after the 25th by default. It is scheduled for Monday delivery, but based on the UPS tracking info, I'm not sure it will get here. Its in a city 90 miles away and if they don't work till Monday, it won't get here for delivery on Monday. I leave Tuesday morning till the 27th, so it may be I wait till after Christmas!!

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by ficbot

I have just heard stories about how you can buy the Kindle and play around on the website with sample chapters or iphone content etc. and when it arrives, that will already be downloaded into the new Kindle for you by the wireless while it is in transit to you. So if he decides to keep it, I want to be able to assign it over to him. And if he decides not to keep it, I want to be able to re-home it with a minimum of hassle, either to myself or to someone else.

He's a good six months or so away from being ready, and by then there might be other models out. But if it's something he can't look at in a retail store, I would hesitate to buy it unless it's something I might want myself, because if he decides he doesn't like it, I would have to either keep it or sell it myself.

The way Kindle manages books is the same as the XBOX manages DLC; they are locked to the User Account and the registered devices tied to that account.

Transfering a Kindle is trivial but DRM'ed books won't travel with the devce but rather with the user account.

If you gift a Kindle straight through, it will arrive un-linked. Then your step-dad can register it to his Amazon account (or create one from the Kindle itself).

If you send it to yourself and want to load it up before transfering it, make sure you register it to his account before downloading any DRM'ed books. And, bear in mind that you can use gift cards to buy ebooks so you can buy the Cards with your account and then tie them to his account before buying any DRM'ed books. Also, don't forget the Kindle supports drm-free mobipocket so there are plenty of sources of DRM-free books to start him out with, depending on his tastes. (Baen, Munseys, Fictionwise, Manybooks, Mobileread...)

Odds are he will like it; the K2 is not the most feature-rich ebook reader on the market but what it does, it does well.

[ficbot]

I forgot about the gift cards. That is a good point, then at times like his birthday or whatever, I can send him gift cards by email for his gift

My mother is loudly declaring that she does *not* want an ebook reader and this does not interest her at all, in the slightest, nosireebob, it does not. My techie sister and I will laugh so hard if she gets her hands on the stepdad's ebook reader and sees the error of her ways...

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by ficbot

My mother is loudly declaring that she does *not* want an ebook reader and this does not interest her at all, in the slightest, nosireebob, it does not. My techie sister and I will laugh so hard if she gets her hands on the stepdad's ebook reader and sees the error of her ways...

The lady doth protest too much.
The louder they protest, the harder they fall; the things are seductive.
My mother *swore* she was fine with her twin EB1150's...
(ten minutes with my BeBook later...)

Just toss in a few of her favorite genre books and watch her eyes pop.

[ficbot]

I think when she realizes she can subscribe to her local paper, then go to Florida and wake up every morning to find it has been auto-delivered to her to read over breakfast, that might change her mind. But we'll see.

Can Kindle accounts share newspaper subscriptions too? I know you can register up to five devices per account and share books, but if they both wind up with Kindles and he gets the newspaper, will it go into her Kindle too?

*sniffle* Now _I_ want a Kindle. No fair!

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by ficbot

I think when she realizes she can subscribe to her local paper, then go to Florida and wake up every morning to find it has been auto-delivered to her to read over breakfast, that might change her mind. But we'll see.

Can Kindle accounts share newspaper subscriptions too? I know you can register up to five devices per account and share books, but if they both wind up with Kindles and he gets the newspaper, will it go into her Kindle too?

*sniffle* Now _I_ want a Kindle. No fair!

They cannot share a subscription but if you're willing to set up a subscription for them with Calibre, they can have a better paper with pictures than the kindle version (each can have it customized to their reading tastes).

The cost will much less as well, 15 cents per 1 MB x 2 (for each of them) per day which is $4.50 each ($9 for both) as opposed to $10+ per month for only one subscription. Calibre can be set up to download and email to each of their Kindles everyday.