Kindles

I got a Kindle for Christmas last year ....I love it.......and the only downfall I have found is Amazon one click buy its too easy.
My thumb joint used to be very stiff with reading in bed and trying to hold up heavy books, it has not ached since the Kindle.
I only have the basic Kindle, but if purchasing now I dont think I would have any need for all the extras on the new model, but its down to what you need from it.

I would not swop it, been one of the best Christmas presents I have ever had.

Gagagran your words could be mine! I thought I would never want a Kindle as I love the feel and smell of books and I love to browse in bookshops. However my daughter in law lent me her kindle and downloaded a book for me to try. I loved it and immediately bought myself one. Like glassortwo I have the basic one and it has everything I need. I think the main advantage is that it is so light- brilliant for reading in bed and great to carry about in handbag. I have been doing a lot of hospital visiting and waiting about lately and it has been great to have it in my bag. The ability to change the print size is useful too. The one click buying of books is wonderful (though can be expensive!) and it means you are never stuck for a book. The only problem I have with it is guilt as I still like browsing in bookshops and want them to be there for me! I still order books from my local library as new hardbacks are expensive to buy on kindle but they do seem very heavy!

Basic kindle is fine. Great for train journeys and holidays and when I can't wait for the latest book & it's too expensive from Amazon (even on kindle!) I order it from the library (using the forthcoming books at Amazon or fantaticfiction for help there). My advice; go for it gagagran; glass and wisewoman are both wise!! . My tip have a book you really want to read as your first book and you'll be hooked

I have basic one, leather cover and light. The light means you can read in the dark and if you nod off, it turns itself off.
DH has new one with a backlit screen - gave it a try but it seems to create a strange reflection in my varifocal lenses.

And, best of all it means only one suitcase for holidays instead of one for clothes and things and one for books.

My Kindle 3 is now at least two years old (I lose count these days), and it is my constant companion. With all the free books available as well as the ones you can purchase, I'm never without a library in my pocket. A real plus, I find, is having the dictionary lookup - I enjoy 19th Century authors, like Trollope, Dickens and Jane Austen, and sometimes the vocabulary can be a touch unfamiliar - but a couple of clicks gives me the definition, and another click puts me back on the page I was reading. Magic!

MiceElf I agree about holidays. We used to have a case full of books for a two week holiday. DH has been persuaded by my experience to get a Kindle as well so holiday luggage will be much lighter in the future.

I also love books and was wary about getting a Kindle but got one when going on holiday for the first time alone (no-one to carry the heavy suitcase with all the books). It is brilliant - go for it, you won't regret it.

What more can I say? Tell him ''yes, please''. Wonderful for the old arthritic thumbs.

Oh yes - couldn't agree more. I bought mine to go on holiday but use it all the time. Several bookshelves worth of books are in my archive now. Just at the moment I am reading 'Bring up the Bodies' in hardback because - oddly - it was cheaper on Amazon, but you can't snuggle down under the duvet with it the way you can with a Kindle.

I can add no more to all the positive comments above. Hospital waiting rooms are now a place to enjoy my current book, likewise train journeys - no longer things to dread and to frustrate. My Amazon habit is spiralling out of control and I shudder to think what I have spent since last Christmas but I would probably have succumbed to the "3 for 2" deals at the station WH Smith and finished up throwing at leat one away. Mine too is the most basic - light, small enough to fit into a handbag - best Christmas gift ever!

I was like you gagagran and always insisted there was nothing better than holding a real book and turning the pages. However I ran out of books to read and my DH suggested I borrow his Kindle. Very reluctantly I did, expecting to hand it back after a few minutes. Two books later and I'm still "borrowing" it! He is buying me the Kindle Fire HD for Christmas so he can have it back, although I think he is hoping I will keep his and he can play with all the lights and whistles on the new one!

I love my kindle with a passion - it is so exciting to realise that you have a whole world of books at your fingertips! Sne kindle has daily deals for 99p and there are loads of free books, so it need not cost a fortune.
I have the basic kindle and see no need for anything else. I like the grey tinge to the screen - the newer ones are brighter white andf I do not want that.

They have mothballed the Kindle Touch which has the grey screen but touchscreen technology - bit of a pain really as that is the one DD wanted from us all for Christmas.

More expensive ones have touchscreen and all sorts of bells and whistles - I have no need of all that.

Thanks for all the tips and advice everyone. I have lots to mull over now. It's so good to be able to get unbiased views!

I received a Kindle for Christmas last year and from a practical point of view it is fabulous. I went away on holiday and that was all the reading material I needed to take with me. It lives in my handbag and I have read it in doctor's waiting rooms, railway stations, when trains are delayed and other odd moments when i have had unexpected waits.

The one problem I have, and I have yet to meet anyone that shares it. I find it very difficult to read a book on it that I havent first read in book form. The reason for this is that when I first read a book I read quite fast and tend to go forward and back in it, seeing what will happen, re-read what has happen. I do not do a first read in a linear fashion, which you have to do with any electronic book.

Once I have read it in paper once I really enjoy re-reading on Kindle, I read in much more detail and pick up hints and cues in the text that I missed when I read a book. One of the first books I downloaded was the full works of Jane Austen, all of whose novels I have read time without number over the years, yet when forced to read Kindle style, line by line, page by page I found all sorts of sentences and background comments that I must have read but never noticed before.

I love my Kindle, but share Flickety's problem with wanting to go backwards and forwards. I don't like it at all for non-fiction. For me, living abroad, it replaces the library and bookshops for quick reads and instant gratification!

love my Kindle but not for anthologies-can't flip through to find a poem or story at random. also I have a dark grey cover-frequently left it in the tray at airport searches until I put a key ring with a bell on it.

Love my kindle for travelling and places like hospital waiting rooms or train journeys. Would also agree about the difficulty with flipping back and forth in a book, although I do sometimes add a bookmark every so often, so that I can flip about a bit more easily.

It doesn't replace books, but is a very useful addition. Buy now with one-click is definitely dangerous, but where would we be without a little excitement?

I loved my Kindle - loved because I dropped it and it has a horrible shattered looking screen.It's no longer under guarantee and I haven't replaced it because I can use the Kindle account for my IPad.My daughter got through 3( all replaced at no cost ) in a year. Just a warning for clumsy people like us

I let mine fall off a bannister post. Had the same effect as Grannylin's. Amazon did replace it for half price, and it came downloaded with all my books on it which was pretty fair I guess.

Had a scare last night. Dozed off while reading it in bed and it nearly slipped onto the floor.

Mine was out of guarantee too.

If you can't remember who a character is, you can type their name into the search at the bottom of the page and it takes you to where they first appeared in the book. And subsequent appearances. That's quite good.

Ooh! That was cheeky JO.Did you speak to a nice young man, think I'll try it

My main worry about a having a Kindle would be dropping it. I do this so often reading in bed at night and the book falls on the floor. A kindle would make reading dreadfully expensive. Besides I like browsing the library.