# Kindle - but which one?



## Gary Compton (Aug 9, 2012)

As a few people on Chrons know, I struggle to read books because of dislexia. 

And yet, I can read stuff online much easier and for some strange reason I can read my own words with absolute ease. I think that's because they are very personal to me.

So, I'm thinking of trying a Kindle but which one. There's the basic at £89 The Kindle Touch at £109 and the Kindle Touch 3G at £169

Anyone got any recommendations?


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## Alex The G and T (Aug 9, 2012)

When I bought my "basic"; it had the keyboard like the "Touch."  I never use the keyboard.  (Oops, never mind; they changed the line again.)  I know nothing about the touch screen.  

No need for the "Keyboard" model, says me. I read. I don't write notes or twitter my reading habits.

Don't bother with 3G; unless you live a highly mobilized, 3g lifestyle.  The wi-fi works fine for hermits and Cafe denizens.  Amazon claims the 3g is free; but there are fees for e-mailing books, or other data transfer. (Like pdf docs from your home office.)

I wouldn't buy the "Fire," with the lcd screen  The whole thing about the e-ink screens is that they are as easy on the eyes as a paperback book.


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## Vertigo (Aug 10, 2012)

Can't help on the Kindle specifics as I don't have one, but I do find the convenience of a touch screen much more useful than I expected, especially for quickly looking up a word. Agree with Alex on the 3G I certainly wouldn't bother with it.


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## anivid (Aug 10, 2012)

Yeah - stay with the basics, and get your experiences there, before progressing further into the jungle of unknown problems and expenses. Just bought a basic - new things to learn - but I just succeeded in downloading a book through USB - don' t have wi-fi - don't intend to 
Got some English & French dictionaries with it (and Italian & etc. for the dictionary lovers).
Now I'll upscale the letters a bit and go having fun reading my book at the terrasse.


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## Pyan (Aug 10, 2012)

I've got the basic one, and honestly, for the amount of typing I do on it, the pop-up keyboard is perfectly adequate. The suggestions list is very good, often bringing up a list including the name of the author that I want after only two or three letters being entered.

One thing I _don't_ advise, though, is emulating the young lady in the Amazon TV ad and use it lying on your back floating in a swimming pool on a li-lo. I doubt that Kindles float, and I daresay they're not waterproof, either...


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## Alex The G and T (Aug 10, 2012)

It's hard to find an electronic device that functions in R'yleh, eh Pyan?


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## Gary Compton (Aug 10, 2012)

pyan said:


> One thing I _don't_ advise, though, is emulating the young lady in the Amazon TV ad and use it lying on your back floating in a swimming pool on a li-lo.



Li-lo? 

Only time I did that was when me and my mates took the lead off the church roof when we were young. We had to li-lo for a bit.


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## Brian G Turner (Aug 10, 2012)

Still no sign of the Fire over here, but the touchscreen version looks interesting - the basic cursor version I have felt a little clumsy to get used to.


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## Perpetual Man (Aug 10, 2012)

I've had three different Kindles, the Keyboard, the basic and currently the Touch. 

I did actually use the keyboard on occasion, but it was not really something that I needed. The current basic model was much like the keyboard only without the uhhh keyboard. You could call up a digital one if required, but it was awkward to use and half the features that came with the Keyboard version were missing - playing music, text read back etc.

The Touch has most of these - the keyboard is easy to use because its touch operated and it has most of the features that come with the keyboard. To turn a page you just touch the screen simples... 

The only real problem I've seen is finding the master menu button. Clue the black thing that looks like a speaker on the front is not a speaker...

As for 3G, why? I have mine running through the home internet connection,and work and there are plenty of free wireless points around... and if not it is not too hard to use a mobile to download a book and transfer it across - and that's without connecting to the internet on your kindle through your mobile...


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## Moonbat (Aug 10, 2012)

I have the keyboard 3g Version, I have never really used the 3g except to pick up a paper on the train.
My Fiancee has the basic version, but she prefers my keyboard one. I think there is something better about the keyboard one, and it isn't just the keyboard. It is slightly bigger and feels better in the hand, it might just be my preference but I think the kayboard one is nicer than the basic. As for 3G, I agree with Alex, don't bother with it unless you're really mobile and will need to download books/mags/papers whilst on the move, using mine at home is good enough for me.


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## mohk (Aug 10, 2012)

I have a third generation Keyboard 3G. It's really, really great.
Feels much more comfortable in the hand than the new ones. I think it's because you have a bit to holy on to without overlapping the screen (and also, quite possibly, because I've held mine a lot more and am used to it).

Had a passing fiddle with a Touch the other day. It might be that it was a demo unit in a reasonably large Tesco, and so susceptible to abuse, but the screen felt very un-responsive and took a long time to register gestures. Not even CLOSE to the sort of reaction you get on a touchscreen phone.

I'd say the Basic, or even better, a third generation Keyboard (with or without 3G, depending on what you do).


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## Vertigo (Aug 11, 2012)

I think that lack of response is not due to the touch screen but due to the slow response of the eInk screen. Phones and such like use 'normal' screen technology that refreshes very quickly. eInk screens are much much slower to refresh. That's the price you pay for the very low power consumption and better biewing comfort.


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## Parson (Aug 11, 2012)

My wife has the key board Kindle (we bought it from my daughter) and I used it before we bought it. I have the basic and can tell you I actually prefer the basic. I am not a touch screen advocate, but I use it so seldom that the smaller size (fits in my pants pocket --- Okay Brits here --- jeans pocket) is more than worth it. I have not used the Fire, but it looks to big to carry around unless your female or carry a man purse.


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## Perpetual Man (Aug 11, 2012)

Is the Kindle Fire more a tablet PC than an e-reader? 

Just wondering, I had a little look a while back, and that is what I seem to remember


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## Parson (Aug 11, 2012)

It is precisely a tablet PC, but a lower end one compared to the I pad et. al.


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## Ursa major (Aug 11, 2012)

I bought the basic version, but only because the keyboard versions were sold at at all the stores I checked. But I'm glad I bought the one I did, and not just because it was cheaper. For one thing, it feels just about the right size. If I wanted a bigger one, I'd still want the screen to fill up the entire top surface. (Unless one is buying something in the Kindle store, or annotating something, the keyboard is just a waste of device acreage.) And for another, if one uses the pop-up keyboard, it prevents you from going mad and buying too many** books.


** - Yes, I know: one can never have too many books; but I'm sure you know what I mean.


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## Perpetual Man (Aug 11, 2012)

My wife has signed up to something on Facebook, where Amazon offers a few free ebooks each week. She complains that she has too much to read but keeps picking up some of the offers!

And she's got me doing it too now...


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## Triceratops (Aug 12, 2012)

The basic was fine for me. I was afraid of the expense for anything more high tech, and the problems associated with working it. It was really needless worrying though. I might get the latest model.

chris


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## anivid (Aug 24, 2012)

Hi Gary, did you buy a kindle as of yet ??


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## chrispenycate (Aug 24, 2012)

fredbear said:
			
		

> Yes, I know: one can never have too many books; but I'm sure you know what I mean.



When one is planning a major change of domicile one can most definitely have too many books; that is one of the major justifications of a Kindle.

Mine is the simplest model possible, partly due to my present economic status (which also explains its lovingly constructed cardboard, felt and packing tape case) but partly for size. It is unfortunate that one can't use it during takeoff and landing, air travel being somewhere it excels, and that Amazon's distribution policies have so far rendered it impossible to buy books for it (probably the wording of international contracts rather than Amazon's choice, I would think). Buy books from Amazon, that is, at least until next year when I am installed in the UK again; I've been getting them elsewhere, particularly Baen and Gutenberg, and it's a bit like wandering round a second-hand book shop, except for the smell.


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## Snowdog (Aug 24, 2012)

I have the non-touch basic version. The on-screen keyboard is easy to use and the smaller size (without the physical keyboard) makes it more comfortable to hold.

As for the touch, it's a matter of choice. I had a touchscreen tablet once and I hated it, but that may be my age. With the touch you're going to get fingerprints on the screen all the time and the buttons you'll use most on the basic - page forward and back - are in such a position you won't even have to move your hand. Mind you the touch version may have these as well, I don't know if they do or not. I made the right decision for me and wouldn't swap for the touch version.


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## biodroid (Aug 24, 2012)

I got the small one with the keyboard and the screen is almost as big as a paperback which i like. Free 3G anywhere in the world is nice too. Do yourself a favour and run the upgrade files. Be sure to read the online tutorial on Amazon on how to do it, its a bit tricksy but it will help your kindle perform better. Hope you have fun with it. I really love mine. Oh and you must get a cover its essential to protect it. Check out Marware, cheaper than the other brands but similar quality.


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## anivid (Aug 24, 2012)

There's a great difference in the use of a basic Kindle when one uses wi-fi, and if one uses it just with the USB.
I do the latter, and did use many hours trying to find out how to download own documents from the computer to the Kindle device.
It showed I should have called the Help before I did, because when only using it as a USB device, one needs a special address for sending the pers. docs to - and a special subject line should be stated too.

Normally one should be sending own docs to ownname@kindle.com - but when not using wi-fi it should be send to ownname@free.kindle.com , and if stating "convert" in the subject field - the Kindle service actually will convert even word docs to the proper format for using on the Kindle device.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Aug 24, 2012)

You didn't ask about the Kindle Fire, Gary, but that's what I have and I'm enjoying it so far.  Mostly, I'm using it to watch movies and old mini-series.  It's cheaper than buying the DVDs! I rarely get out to a movie theater, and if I didn't buy DVDs even less often I couldn't afford all the books I want, so this feels like an incredible luxury for me. 

As far as books go, it has the same advantages that I would look for in a cheaper version:  getting samples of books so that I don't have to risk not liking them if I buy them in paper-and-ink (which is by far my preference), and being able to get Kindle versions of books that are not readily available otherwise.


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## Gary Compton (Aug 24, 2012)

I'm not sure the Fire is available in the UK Teresa. Anyone know?

No Anivid, haven't as yet. At my age now the thinking process takes along time, the execution of the decision, takes even longer.


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## allmywires (Aug 24, 2012)

I've got a Kindle Touch and love it. It's very responsive and easy to navigate - but I prefer touch screens for navigation rather than the original (which my mum has) - I find it's a bit cumbersome to scroll and select. The only problem I have with the Touch is occasion double-tapping, which means it'll skip a few pages ahead, but it's easily remediable.


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## Kylara (Aug 24, 2012)

Hehe I have a first gen Sony e-reader :wink: don't want your nasty new kindles! I have "classics" on it a couple of excerpts/freebies that came with it. It is wonderful, especially as I'm here in Sweden (for 9 weeks, but last week next week!) and so couldn't bring all my books, I have Moby Dick (eugh) to get through, and I'm jumping in and out of Crime and Punishment and some of the bigger books (War and Peace) without having to have huge heavy books in my bags


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## Teresa Edgerton (Aug 24, 2012)

I bought the collected works of Charles Dickens because I couldn't resist, even though I already have all of my favorites.

And I bought collections of works by R Murray Gilchrist, Vernon Lee, Clark Ashton Smith, and Algernon Blackwood.  I already have most of the stories, but in many cases the books that contain them have been packed away and not found yet although I have looked for them. Finding things is always a problem in this house.  If the books turn up, I'll read them instead.  If they don't, I have them where I can find them.

The rest were OP books that I was able to buy free.


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## Cayal (Aug 25, 2012)

Kylara said:


> Hehe I have a first gen Sony e-reader :wink: don't want your nasty new kindles! I have "classics" on it a couple of excerpts/freebies that came with it. It is wonderful, especially as I'm here in Sweden (for 9 weeks, but last week next week!) and so couldn't bring all my books, I have Moby Dick (eugh) to get through, and I'm jumping in and out of Crime and Punishment and some of the bigger books (War and Peace) without having to have huge heavy books in my bags



God bless technology. You'd weigh down a plane with the physical copies of those books.

As for me, I have the 'normal' kindle with the keyboard. I am not too thrilled with the touch but thankfully got my kindle before the touch came out/was available in Australia.


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## Erin99 (Aug 25, 2012)

I have a 3rd-Gen keyboard, wifi, e-ink Kindle (it's my second one, cos the screen on the first leaked after just under a year). It's been brilliant for 2 years - lightweight, easy to use, great for reading my own writing on while editing, great for taking small notes while reading my work, etc.

I worried that the built-in keyboard would be hard to work, but it's as easy as... well... it's actually annoying to type in your wifi password with, but that's its only downside. I always buy ebooks using the Amazon website, not using the Kindle, so I have no hassle with the keyboard since it's rarely in use.

I wouldn't like the Touch version because, as someone else said, they're not as nice on the eyes. E-ink was designed to be gentle and produce no eye strain, and I can vouch for its effectiveness. Also, I love the ergonomic forward and back buttons on the side of the reader - I don't feel I need a touchscreen. 

If I had to pick another Kindle to buy out of the range available now, I'd choose the basic. It's cheaper than I paid and it does everything it needs to without adding features which would distract me from reading. 


And nope, the Fire isn't available in the UK. Last I heard it was a couple of years away, if Amazon *did* decide to sell it here (the UK had issues with Amazon's Cloud service, IIRC, which the Fire uses.)



If you do buy a Kindle, Gary, make sure you don't press the screen too hard, or leave the machine near a strong electromagnetic source. Phones, radios, speakers, microwaves, etc, can damage your screen - or so I've been told by Amazon.


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## Gary Compton (Aug 25, 2012)

Leisha said:


> If you do buy a Kindle, Gary, make sure you don't press the screen too hard, or leave the machine near a strong electromagnetic source. Phones, radios, speakers, microwaves, etc, can damage your screen - or so I've been told by Amazon.



I'll have to re-calibrate my pacemaker then, Leisha


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## anivid (Aug 26, 2012)

Gary Compton said:


> No Anivid, haven't as yet. At my age now the thinking process takes along time, the execution of the decision, takes even longer.


 
Oh lala Gary, as I’ve told you before : we have approximately same age J
YES Gary I DO understand that, started my own thread about it 8 JAN 2012 http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/534745-kindle-books-versus-oldfashioned-ones.html - after the idea had ruminated in my thinking cap for a couple of years.
Ultimo July I bought the Basic One, starred at it a couple of days/weeks, ran into problems because wi-fi so far is an unexplored country in this household – adapted the negative that’s- what-I-thought-attitude, checked the return-before-date (you can return it within a month J) - but finally decided to call the HELP line.
That really did the trick – and yes remember to download the free Calibre – read about it in my thread J


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## Stephen4444 (Sep 4, 2012)

My wife and my son both have the kindle fire and are very happy with them. My son uses the touch screen keyboard with no effort at all. My wife says the screen gives her absolutely no trouble with eye exhaustion and has so many settings to adjust font size and lighting that she is able to easily change it and reads on it for hours at a time. She also uses it a lot for recipes in the kitchen. My son streams netflix on it. My wife started with the touch and did not love it and traded it up for the fire and says the fire is much easier to read on.


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## anivid (Sep 9, 2012)

*NOW - the **Kindle Fire** has arrived in EUR *
- with orders released 25 OCT.

*This included a drop in price on 20% for the basic Kindle *


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## billhafan (Sep 9, 2012)

I Have a Sony Reader, and also a Kindle touch. I'd thoroughly recommend the Kindle Touch - the wifi is essential, books download in seconds, anywhere there is a hotspot you can log onto. Also has usb connection for transferring. Recommend Calibre for book management on your pc- its free and the best. Battery life is astounding - measured in weeks/months (though make sure you turn wifi off when not in use) - and the screen can be read easily in direct sunlight - something you can't do with the Sony, which actually fades out in sunlight! Another good feature is the read mode - which will read the book aloud - and I'm certain would be a wonderful feature for the visually impaired. The male voice is pretty good.; the woman's sounds very synthetic - in my opinion.
The built in dictionary is excellent, too, as is the bookmarking features.
Regarding the Fire, I understand, as others have pointed out, that it is actually a colour tablet - and battery life is 11hrs max.
How good is the Kindle Touch? Bought one for my wife for holidays (and she actually hates technology), and yet she loves it - and uses it every day, now. Nuff said.


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