Kindle for the Brits
Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m a keen e-book fan for their space saving qualities and the fact that you can make the text/ font larger for more easy reading. Along with audio books, e-books are beginning to become my number one format of book consumption.
At the moment, I’m reading e-books on my various PCs using the Mobipocket desktop reader and also the Kindle PC reader, which are both free applications. They are great for reading books while I’m munching at my sandwich lunch at my desk at the office, say, or sitting in an armchair with my laptop on my … er.. lap. But a more easily portable device would be great for commuting and lying down to read.
So, I’ve been watching the e-book reader battles over the last year or so between different devices and manufacturers. I’ve discussed the various pros and cons of the myriad of devices elsewhere on this blog. (See Going Shelfless and a href=”http://www.fusionview.co.uk/2009/10/a-thousand-books-in-my-pocket/”>A Thousand Books in My Pocket)Recently, the main battle seems to have been between the Kindle and the iPad. I’ve been quite taken by the Kindle over the iPad because it’s smaller and lighter. At the same time, the iPad is a multi-function device and having a colour touch screen makes the whole user interface so much more attractive.
The downside of the Kindle - up till now - was that you could only get it by ordering from the USA. But in the last week or so, it has finally come to Amazon’s UK store. It comes in cheaper than the iPad - £109 for the WiFi version
Here’s a YouTube video review of the Kindle, which shows how thin it is!
You can also add notes and upload pdfs as well as surf the net (albeit in a limited way). There is a text to audio feature which can read the books to you (though I expect a computer generated voice might not be the most soothing of ways to digest a book..!).
So if you’re in the UK and fancy getting one, you can click here to go for it
- Posted on
Mon, August 9th, 2010 - Author
Yang-May Ooi - Category
- 4 responses
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August 9th, 2010 at 5:25 am
I’ve not heard of the Kindle PC reader before, so I’m totally downloading it that. My colleague who’s a Kindle addict swears by it while my Macpals love the iPad. I think the backlighting on a Kindle is better for long periods of reading though, less glare.
Oh I am so tempted by all these devices… :P
August 9th, 2010 at 9:50 am
As you know, I really like my Kindle. Just finished my fifteenth book on it since I got it for Christmas last year. I like the way I can read the same book on my iPhone and Kindle and just pick up where I left off each time because it keeps them both in sync.
I’d probably buy the iPad for other reasons rather than as an ebook reader but I have a few other purchases higher up the priority list right now!
August 18th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Hi Mark - I agree re the Kindle Sync: I have my Kindle books synced to my laptop, home PC and work PC. I’m waiting for the Blackberry app to be available to UK users so I can read on the go.
What are your other purchases that rank above the iPad?!
Kenny - let me know what you make of the Kindle for PC reader when you’ve had a go on it. I love being able to get a book immediately as opposed to having to wait for a delivery (or shock, horror, having to go to a shop to buy it!)
November 2nd, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Only just lighted on this. I’ve been using the Kindle for most of this year. It wasn’t obvious from their blurb but Amazon actually supported both the Kindle 2 reader and 3G connectivity for most of 2010.
I’m WOWED by mine; like you I love the ability to carry round many books and find myself reading stuff I would never have had the time for. I also love the ability to connect to the internet anywhere in the world free of charge (as long as there’s 3g and I often manage it even when I don’t get a phone signal!!) and download books: not just buy new ones from Amazon but also free downloads from Gutenberg etc. I’m currently revisiting Somerset Maugham and can just dip into the books as and when. The icing on the cakes is the ability to load PDFs so I can now read technical documents without having to print them off. This always seemed such a waste especially if they are hundreds of pages and I only need to skim them once.
Have you seen Calibre (free e-book manager: http://calibre-ebook.com) it’s a real gem.
My only regret is that although the screen size is the same, the current kindle is smaller and would fit in all of my jacket pockets instead of just one or two!!
You may be interested in my article: http://southcot.co.uk/WP/2009/05/26/how-useful-are-e-books.