Kindle

My friend got hers (basic, I think) from Amazon and it was £89. It's just a case of downloading from the Kindle itself and she says it's really easy. I sort of fancied one, and then I thought how much I love the 'feel' of a book! Never say never,though!

I love my Kindle. I have last year's model, but not the 3G one. You can order a book on Amazon - one-click - and, as long as your Kindle is on line, it is downloaded almost instantaneously. When you are on line, you can also go straight to the Kindle store on your Kindle. It's worth knowing that you can download a sample of any book free of charge to see what you think of it.

mishap Prices go from free up to over £10, but most are about £2 - £5. You can also get thousands of free books from Project Gutenburg, but most of those are out-of-copyright ones, excellent for classics and "literature" but also for quirky works you would never have come across in a bookshop. I believe there are other free sources, but I am still browsing Gutenburg so have not tried these.
Downloading from Amazon is a piece of cake - possibly too easy, as you can find yourself with a queue of titles waiting for you to read, and several chunks of a few pounds soon add up. As Annobel says, downloading a free sample chapter first is a good move. When you get to the end of that you can buy the rest very easily, and if it doesn't appeal you have wasted nothing..

Mishap You don't need a Kindle to browse the Amazon Kindle Store and see what is available, and what the prices are like.

Incidentally, Kindle ebooks are in MOBI format, if you are searching elsewhere.

You can adapt books not in Kindle format using an application called Calibre - download free at www.calibre-ebook.com.

I love my kindle, especially for travelling, though I totally agree that it isn't the same as a book. At home, I'd usually choose a book over the kindle. I've used it to buy some classics that I haven't read but fancy trying - if they only cost about 99p I don't feel as if I have wasted money (much!) if I don't enjoy them.

Its excellent for holiday beach reading, you really can manage the screen all day unlike a computer screen and its fine even in bright sunshine. And you can sit on the beach and buy a book you fance reading without moving from your sunbed!

I actually prefer reading on my Kindle because I can adjust the font sizes and read without my glasses. Had mine over a year now and would hate to be without it.

Many many thanks to you all for your useful advice - I suspect that a Kindle is coming my way from OH for Xmas!!

I love my Kindle. It is so easy to use. However, I don't think it eeds to be one or the other. Books OR Kindle. I still get library books etc.

xx

I am also thimking of buying a kindle but does anyone know how often it needs recharging and does it let you know if the battery is low.

My son has just bought a 'used/refurbished' Kindle on Amazon and discovered that they are despatching brand new ones which are now the last of the more expensive ones that have been replaced by the new £89 Kindle. Seems they have massive amounts still in stock and need to unload them, Sounds like a great bargain.

i got a refurbished Kindle which turned out to be defective. I'm sure that the one they sent me as a replacement was brand new. I got the information about refurbished Kindles from the Moneysavingexpert web site.

Yes, that's where my son heard about them Annobel

The battery last for simply ages elderflower and there is a symbol on the top of the screen to show just how much charge is left, just like a mobile phone.

Thanks yogagran I was worried it might be like my nintendo ds which gives very little warning before it dies.

Ilove love love my kindle. They stay charged for ages. One word of warning, it is very easy to buy by mistake when browsing on your kindle. There is a way ofdeleting the item,but I always browse and buty on the computer.

If you don't have a case for your Kindle 3, then go to Ebay where people are selling them (new) for 0.01p plus postage. Hundreds of sellers have been caught out by the new smaller one.

elderflower the battery can last weeks depending how often you are reading, lasts less time if you leave the wireless on which I'm always doing by mistake. If you do let it get very low before charging, you can still carry on reading and charging at the same time.

If you let he battery run low, you receive a message advising you to recharge it, so it never dies on you.

Thanks for the information everyone. I have just ordered my Kindle and am off to the Amazon Kindle store to select my first books.

i am also thinking of buying a Kindle, but i do love books so much and enjoy my visits to the library where i can browse and enjoy meeting people.as i have many personal interests and hobbies, i have many books on my bookshelves for research,it then made me realise i could use the Kindle to store research books and for my liesure reading i can still visit the library.i can't wait to get my Kindle.

i recently got a kindle, without 3G as have good wireless access, great to download from Amazon and free sites, but was very disappointed that my library which now has e-books, doesn't have kindle compatability. I wish i had known and would have gone for a Kobi. i prefer the real book at home, especially when I can get 10 day loan speed reads of the newest and latest popular titles from the library, but it is going to be good to travel with. Now i just put it in my bag and if find myself waiting around for something or someone, I always have something to read.

I also love my kindle. I have the basic £89 from amazon and it is so easy to download books. Someone gave me a disk with 500 books on it, mainly men's books but I downloaded a few for myself. My DH also has one and we are on the same Amazon account so we can read each other's books if we like.

marti, I've downloaded Calibre (free) from calibre-ebook.com/ which converts from a large number of formats to a large number of formats. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm told it works well.