Wireless around Planet Earth

oddeyed · 03-01-2010, 01:05 PM

Hi all,

I am in the market for a reader, but am unsure what to do...

From everything I've read about the Kindle, it looks rather nice [I like the keyboard, Wikipedia access, Whispernet et al], from the standpoint of someone in the US. I however, am NOT in the US, and so this gives me a little bit of grief.

I know (after you lovely members all helped me

) that the Global Wireless Kindle shipped to the UK cannot surf, cannot access links from documents (like the feedbooks guide and newspapers) and all around is a bit not-as-good-as-I'd-like.

There are few things that I still don't know though. The first is about buying books - does it really cost extra to order books over here [in the UK]? (I mean bank fees etc).

The other thing that I don't know if is it's still worth it! So, Kindle owners around the world, I pose you a question: is the Kindle without surfing, feedbook newspapers and internet still good? Do you regret it?

So, thats all for now.

oddeyed

poshm · 03-01-2010, 01:25 PM

Hi oddeyed

I don't regret getting a Kindle 2 at all. I almost was put off buying one for a number of reasons which included the fact that I wasn't comfortable buying one all the way from the US and incurring extra import fees to boot.

However, I saw one for a good price on ebay uk which was an unwanted gift - the seller had longstanding good feedback so I took a chance and got it from there. I remember that some people here on mobileread (a minority I admit) seemed to poo-pooh the idea of me buying a Kindle off ebay and not from Amazon. However, I haven't regretted that choice at all. No I don't get a year's warranty with it like you would if you bought right from Amazon but that is a risk I have taken.

It is my favourite "at-home" ebook reading device. I love the fact that I can sit in my chair and I can order ebook samples galore which is a brilliant feature that lets you try the first part of an ebook before buying and then purchase ebooks all without moving. I love the physical keyboard and I find it very easy to use it to take notes on what I'm reading. Even though some people say the selection for the UK isn't great - I still think Amazon have hands down the best selection overall available to the UK and the prices are fine for me. I rarely buy what they term as bestseller books anyway.

Yes you do incur slightly extra fees buying those ebooks from the UK - $2.35 I believe. Some of the classics are completely free $0.00 to the UK. And then you will be charged a little extra by your credit/debit card for purchasing abroad. I use barclaycard for my Amazon purchases and I pay about 25p for a $15 ebook purchase.

Personally I don't care about surfing the web on a kindle. I love surfing the web on my ipod touch which is fast and in glossy colour with an amazingly responsive touch screen. E-ink devices are slow for web browsing anyway.

So I would recommend it

WT Sharpe · 03-01-2010, 01:31 PM

If the wireless weren't an option, I would still consider the Kindle. Its keyboard makes taking notes in books a breeze. Underling, which also pastes the underlined text to the My Clippings file along with any notes you've made, is a breeze. The My Clippings file is a .txt file that can easily be transferred to your computer via the USB port for off-Kindle reading and editing. Plus you've got so many buying options. I haven't come across an e-book yet that wasn't available in a Kindle format or a format that wasn't easily convertible to a Kindle format.

The only downside I can see is the extra costs for e-books purchased from Amazon outside the U.S.

That's my opinion.

oddeyed · 03-01-2010, 01:40 PM

Cool, thanks for the responses guys [and gals].

Just occured to me - do any of you think that the new 'Kindle Active Content' will make any difference to anything? Will you use extra apps, or is the Kindle your sacred shrine where none other than books can stand?

To me it wouldn't make the difference between a purchase and a not-purchase, but was just wondering. Seems to me like there isn't enough usage for that beautiful physical keyboard.

WT Sharpe · 03-01-2010, 03:25 PM

The last time I visited the site, no apps had been added that appealed to be, but that was right after the apps were announced. I'll go back soon, and if I see any that interest me, I'll download them.

oddeyed · 03-03-2010, 05:07 PM

WT Sharpe - fair enough, I would probably be in the same boat at this point.

New developments - I was on the Kindle book store [in my browser], and at least the top 3 books on the Kindle 6" page ("The Lost Symbol", "I, Alex Cross" and "Pirate Latitudes: A Novel") were all 'not available for customers from: United Kingdom'. All the other books I've checked seem to also say this too, which is really REALLY annoying.

Is this the same case on the Kindle itself in the UK? Are there practically no books available? Because nearly every book I've looked at tells me the same story. Cos I already feel that Amazon hate foreigners enough without this too...

So yeah, thanks for reading!

--oddeyed

EDIT: OK, so I now see there is a dedicated UK ebook store. So now I guess I'll just ask: do all Kindle titles appear in the on-device store, or only the UK-available books?

poshm · 03-04-2010, 02:08 AM

If you get a Kindle and you are in the UK you will only be directed to the UK store on Amazon.

It is not Amazon's fault that there are fewer titles available for non-US countries - Amazon are bound by geographical restrictions and laws etc. It would be the same shopPing for ebooks in any store unless you tried to bypass the system in some way.

I suppose it depends what kind of ebooks you're after. It doesn't really affect me as I just pick from what IS available- and Amazon has the best selection for the UK anyway IMO.

WT Sharpe · 03-04-2010, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oddeyed

WT Sharpe - fair enough, I would probably be in the same boat at this point.

New developments - I was on the Kindle book store [in my browser], and at least the top 3 books on the Kindle 6" page ("The Lost Symbol", "I, Alex Cross" and "Pirate Latitudes: A Novel") were all 'not available for customers from: United Kingdom'. All the other books I've checked seem to also say this too, which is really REALLY annoying.

Is this the same case on the Kindle itself in the UK? Are there practically no books available? Because nearly every book I've looked at tells me the same story. Cos I already feel that Amazon hate foreigners enough without this too...

So yeah, thanks for reading!

--oddeyed

EDIT: OK, so I now see there is a dedicated UK ebook store. So now I guess I'll just ask: do all Kindle titles appear in the on-device store, or only the UK-available books?

I have no idea how Kindle works in the U.K. I've tried going to the Amazon UK site to look for ebooks for folks here who are British, but I can't find ANY Kindle books in the UK store. Is there some kind of geographical restriction that is prohibiting me from accessing the Kindle store there, or is the situation really that dire with Amazon UK? I really don't know.

poshm · 03-04-2010, 11:04 AM

Ebooks on Amazon for the UK are currently accessed via Amazon.com

When I log into amazon.com I automatically see kindle ebooks which are available to me in the UK. I don't know how you would access this if you aren't actually living in the UK.

03-01-2010, 01:05 PM	#1
oddeyed hi there! Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: London, UK Device: Kindle 3rd Generation - 3G + Wifi - Graphite	Wireless around Planet Earth Hi all, I am in the market for a reader, but am unsure what to do... From everything I've read about the Kindle, it looks rather nice [I like the keyboard, Wikipedia access, Whispernet et al], from the standpoint of someone in the US. I however, am NOT in the US, and so this gives me a little bit of grief. I know (after you lovely members all helped me ) that the Global Wireless Kindle shipped to the UK cannot surf, cannot access links from documents (like the feedbooks guide and newspapers) and all around is a bit not-as-good-as-I'd-like. There are few things that I still don't know though. The first is about buying books - does it really cost extra to order books over here [in the UK]? (I mean bank fees etc). The other thing that I don't know if is it's still worth it! So, Kindle owners around the world, I pose you a question: is the Kindle without surfing, feedbook newspapers and internet still good? Do you regret it? So, thats all for now. oddeyed

03-01-2010, 01:40 PM	#4
oddeyed hi there! Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: London, UK Device: Kindle 3rd Generation - 3G + Wifi - Graphite	Cool, thanks for the responses guys [and gals]. Just occured to me - do any of you think that the new 'Kindle Active Content' will make any difference to anything? Will you use extra apps, or is the Kindle your sacred shrine where none other than books can stand? To me it wouldn't make the difference between a purchase and a not-purchase, but was just wondering. Seems to me like there isn't enough usage for that beautiful physical keyboard. Last edited by oddeyed; 03-03-2010 at 05:16 PM. Reason: what may have been construed as sexism

03-03-2010, 05:07 PM	#6
oddeyed hi there! Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: London, UK Device: Kindle 3rd Generation - 3G + Wifi - Graphite	WT Sharpe - fair enough, I would probably be in the same boat at this point. New developments - I was on the Kindle book store [in my browser], and at least the top 3 books on the Kindle 6" page ("The Lost Symbol", "I, Alex Cross" and "Pirate Latitudes: A Novel") were all 'not available for customers from: United Kingdom'. All the other books I've checked seem to also say this too, which is really REALLY annoying. Is this the same case on the Kindle itself in the UK? Are there practically no books available? Because nearly every book I've looked at tells me the same story. Cos I already feel that Amazon hate foreigners enough without this too... So yeah, thanks for reading! --oddeyed EDIT: OK, so I now see there is a dedicated UK ebook store. So now I guess I'll just ask: do all Kindle titles appear in the on-device store, or only the UK-available books? Last edited by oddeyed; 03-03-2010 at 05:14 PM.

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03-01-2010, 01:25 PM	#2
poshm Fanatic Posts: 581 Karma: 1003580 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Cambs, UK Device: PocketBook 360, Sony Reader Touch, Ipod touch & Kindle 2	Hi oddeyed I don't regret getting a Kindle 2 at all. I almost was put off buying one for a number of reasons which included the fact that I wasn't comfortable buying one all the way from the US and incurring extra import fees to boot. However, I saw one for a good price on ebay uk which was an unwanted gift - the seller had longstanding good feedback so I took a chance and got it from there. I remember that some people here on mobileread (a minority I admit) seemed to poo-pooh the idea of me buying a Kindle off ebay and not from Amazon. However, I haven't regretted that choice at all. No I don't get a year's warranty with it like you would if you bought right from Amazon but that is a risk I have taken. It is my favourite "at-home" ebook reading device. I love the fact that I can sit in my chair and I can order ebook samples galore which is a brilliant feature that lets you try the first part of an ebook before buying and then purchase ebooks all without moving. I love the physical keyboard and I find it very easy to use it to take notes on what I'm reading. Even though some people say the selection for the UK isn't great - I still think Amazon have hands down the best selection overall available to the UK and the prices are fine for me. I rarely buy what they term as bestseller books anyway. Yes you do incur slightly extra fees buying those ebooks from the UK - $2.35 I believe. Some of the classics are completely free $0.00 to the UK. And then you will be charged a little extra by your credit/debit card for purchasing abroad. I use barclaycard for my Amazon purchases and I pay about 25p for a $15 ebook purchase. Personally I don't care about surfing the web on a kindle. I love surfing the web on my ipod touch which is fast and in glossy colour with an amazingly responsive touch screen. E-ink devices are slow for web browsing anyway. So I would recommend it

03-01-2010, 01:31 PM	#3
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	If the wireless weren't an option, I would still consider the Kindle. Its keyboard makes taking notes in books a breeze. Underling, which also pastes the underlined text to the My Clippings file along with any notes you've made, is a breeze. The My Clippings file is a .txt file that can easily be transferred to your computer via the USB port for off-Kindle reading and editing. Plus you've got so many buying options. I haven't come across an e-book yet that wasn't available in a Kindle format or a format that wasn't easily convertible to a Kindle format. The only downside I can see is the extra costs for e-books purchased from Amazon outside the U.S. That's my opinion.

03-01-2010, 03:25 PM	#5
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	The last time I visited the site, no apps had been added that appealed to be, but that was right after the apps were announced. I'll go back soon, and if I see any that interest me, I'll download them.

03-04-2010, 02:08 AM	#7
poshm Fanatic Posts: 581 Karma: 1003580 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Cambs, UK Device: PocketBook 360, Sony Reader Touch, Ipod touch & Kindle 2	If you get a Kindle and you are in the UK you will only be directed to the UK store on Amazon. It is not Amazon's fault that there are fewer titles available for non-US countries - Amazon are bound by geographical restrictions and laws etc. It would be the same shopPing for ebooks in any store unless you tried to bypass the system in some way. I suppose it depends what kind of ebooks you're after. It doesn't really affect me as I just pick from what IS available- and Amazon has the best selection for the UK anyway IMO.

03-04-2010, 11:04 AM	#9
poshm Fanatic Posts: 581 Karma: 1003580 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Cambs, UK Device: PocketBook 360, Sony Reader Touch, Ipod touch & Kindle 2	Ebooks on Amazon for the UK are currently accessed via Amazon.com When I log into amazon.com I automatically see kindle ebooks which are available to me in the UK. I don't know how you would access this if you aren't actually living in the UK.

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