Sandbox's Kindle / e-reader thread

I am mulling over getting a Kindle now that they are getting very cheap and very lightweight. I have a question about the 3G version of the Kindle Touch. Apparently you can shop at Amazon (meh) or tweet from it - but I'm MUCH more interested in just getting or sending email from it. Does it let you see or send emails? That would be super, if it did.

you can but it's through the experimental browser which kinda sucks - can't imagine trying to write emails on the new keyboardless kindles either

I just got a Nook simple touch yesterday. My first ereader! So far I like it quite a bit. Decided not to go with the Kindle touch because I like the physical buttons.

Don't have any interest in other stuff like email the like so I can't help you with that Aimless. I figure my phone does what I need in that regard but it sucks for reading books.

I have the Nook color, I love it. I can post to ilx or twitter from it as well as reading books.

n/a otm. You could do it, but it's clunky.

word of warning for what it's worth on the e-ink models; I have been through 2 kindles in the last 5 months. The first time I went through an airport x-ray screening, got on the plane, and found that the pixels on the screen had gone haywire - it looked like a grey sunrise and was completely unreadable. this last time, it was just hanging out in my bag next to my iphone for about a half an hour before I pulled it out and saw similar damage.

warning duly noted. and thanks n/a for the info. i'll have to figure out what the experimental browser is capable of and if it might solve a specific sort of (temporary) need.

yeah, i've had to return two kindles because the screen went bonkers on me. but i think it was because i was keeping em in my backpack which i tossed around without care.

I need an e-reader that lets me receive manuscripts by email, annotate the MS whereby you can see the notes on the page (or at least the existence of a note) attached to specific bits of text, and then email it back with the notes on. Needs to be readable indoors, outdoors and ideally in the bath, but I accept that we might not be there yet with the waterproof tech.

Reviews never mention annotation. Anyone got any recommendations?

Kindle lets you annotate to your heart's content. If you get a non-touch one, you can just stick it in a ziplock to take it in the bath. The e-ink is the most comfortable I've found to read in various lights.

fwiw, I've had my Kindle2 for 3 years and never had any trouble with the screen. Mr. Jaq dropped his right before the 2 year warranty expired and got an all-black section, but Amazon replaced it overnight at no charge.

Oh, and you can email content to it. Each Kindle gets its own email address. The browser is very slow, if you want to send out webmail, though.

So I can load any old rtf or pdf file onto it and it'll play nice, and I can email my annotated copy on to people? That's the critical thing. I'm not happy about being tied in to Amazon but I expect I could suck it up if I can crit manuscripts on it.

sometimes pdfs don't play so nice on the smaller Kindles, but I've sent mine rtf and txt files without any formatting issues. Another (potentially) cool thing - if you install the Kindle software on your pc and sync your Kindle, all your annotations turn up and it remembers what page you were on.

I don't know about sending your annotated copy to others - will check into that.

Thank you ever so!

I have no problem with paperbacks, you see, but critting MS's for people and giving e.g. editorial feedback is a royal pain when you either have to take a laptop everywhere or a big sheaf of printed pages. I dream of being able to read people's second drafts whilst pressed into someone's armpit on a superheated tube train. Really I do.

word of warning for what it's worth on the e-ink models; I have been through 2 kindles in the last 5 months. The first time I went through an airport x-ray screening, got on the plane, and found that the pixels on the screen had gone haywire - it looked like a grey sunrise and was completely unreadable.

― calstars, Wednesday, November 30, 2011 4:14 AM (12 hours ago) Bookmark Permalink

i was just reading about this somewhere - apparently x-rays don't harm kindles, but the belts on the x-ray machines can build up a ton of static electricity that can fuck them up. pretty weird.

i dropped my first kindle on its screen and it froze a portion of the display, but amazon replaced it, even sending my replacement before i had shipped the broken kindle back to them.

so I got my new kindle today (my 3rd since the spring) and tried to d/l a book from the archives and got a message saying I have accessed this book from too many devices and would I like to purchase it again? lol

My hand has been hovering over the $99 Touch screen version. It must overcome the natural resistance I display toward any new technological gizmo that replaces a familiar and comfortable analog item. Shit. I've been reading books for 50 years and could be happy reading them for another 40. The hand still hovers.

I've been reading ebooks on handheld devices for almost ten years, and I don't miss paper books one bit. A PDA/smartphone/bookreader that you use all of the time feels much more personal and human than a collection of dead trees that you put aside after you're done with.

(At least to me.)

the new kindle- is there a 3G model?

Yes. You get 'free' 3G service for the life of the device included when you buy it, but then Amazon greatly limits what you're allowed to do with it - mainly they want you to use it to buy e-books from Amazon, but I think they allow facebook updates, too.

even just for d/l books from amazon- lady at work wants me to recommend her one or t'other and she needs 3g to make it worthwhile at all

Is it standard on the new model so? Thks for info.

3g means you never have to mess with wireless - it is just there. That's why I got the 3g model for my mom, who doesn't have a wireless network set up in her house. You can browse the internet (slowly) over 3g, connect to the Kindle store, get your newspaper and magazines delivered automatically, as well as email files to your Kindle and have them turn up. You can share annotations on FB and Twitter, maybe elsewhere - I haven't messed with this.

What you can't do is download books you check out from the public library via Overdrive. For that, you have to connect the 3g Kindle to your PC with a usb cable and copy the files over with Windows Explorer.

Oh, and the newer 3g models come with wi-fi standard too. The version 2 Kindles didn't - it was one or the other.

i have the larger model with 3g myself, just couldn't find the spec on the newer ones confirming it

I'm possibly getting a kindle for xmas off my housemate, I'm just gonna go for the new wifi touch model I think. No point going for the colour one, it isnt even eink. Ihave am iphone for that, I want my kindle for reading and thats it. And no point getting the 3g because afaik, it doesnt really work in Aus but I could be wrong there.

I read kindle books on my phone. Save a cybertree! ;-)

Todd

iBooks finally got a full screen mode to get rid of all the crap simulating real book. But they still have the annoying page turn animation.