Amazon Kindle
The 6 Inch Kindle had since grown on me. The feature I like other than just reading a book was the ability to subscribe to Newspaper such as New York Times for a fee. The newspaper subscription sent to you via Whispernet while you sleep. So when you wake up, it’s there. It’s formatted for the Kindle.
If you are abroad, I’m currently in Indonesia, Kindle Global Edition works here in Indonesia. No added subscription, no extra monthly fee for the wireless to work and it works with all the operator in Indonesia from CDMA to GSM, 3G to EDGE to 1xRTT to EVDO. So it’s a convenient to check your Facebook account, your email, your rss feed with Google Reader, any newspaper site. All the sites have to be mobile formatted. So if you go to your Facebook account, you won’t see the whole orientation like that on a PC. Instead, you’ll get the mobile format, which is enough for any of us.
You can also change the size of the text on the web browser or in any book. You can change the orientation to landscape if you want while browsing or for reading a book. If you want the Kindle to read to you to simulate books on tape, you can. But Kindle won’t read your web pages to you while you are browsing. Either with a headphone or through it’s built-in speakers. You can also put MP3 music in there so you can listen to music while reading.
The Kindle also have a built-in PDF Reader. Plug-in your Kindle to the USB and transfer it to the document folder. It will show up in the Menu of your Kindle. But if it’s image heavy, you might want to change the orientation to landscape. If that isn’t enough, you can also send yourself the PDF to the Kindle. First you have to go to your account on Amazon and setup your authorized email address (Learn More). This is for your safety so no one can just send you an unwanted PDF at your expense. Fees Information. But if you want a free one, you can still send it to your Kindle, for example, if your Kindle email address is Jay@Kindle.com, send your attachments to Jay@free.kindle.com. But the free one doesn’t work internationally, so you have to opt for the $.99 per megabyte when you are roaming. Learn more about Transfering PDF’s to your Kindle.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
1. Wireless Works Anywhere in the World
2. With Wireless off, the battery last 2 weeks, I turned mine off when I just got to Indonesia to avoid roaming charges for my newspaper subscription.
3. Has built-in PDF Reader
4. The ability to send a converted PDF to your Kindle wirelessly
5. Nice to be able to play MP3
6. Reads your books to you
7. Light and Thin
8. The ability to take Notes and Highlights of your books, without bringing your highlighter with you
9. Screen is nice, no glare
10. The button placement is perfect. Next Page button on both sides of the Bezel
11. The ability to change orientation to landscape
12. Text Size can be changed to your needs
13. No more bringing your big bulky books.
14. Cost Cheaper than the Apple iPad
15. Has a Physical Keyboard
16. Easy on the Eyes
Cons:
1. Battery last 2 days with full use of surfing the internet and reading
2. Not enough room for all your MP3, but good enough for just a few songs.
3. Slow, eventhough it’s 20% faster than the older version, navigating with the 5 way navigation gets tired especially if you have a lot of links reading from your Google Reader.
4. I’m afraid to drop it, though the built quality is nice, it’s still not a book where you can just drop kick it, body slam it, sit on it, use it for elevating yourself if you’re a short person, etc.
5. Roaming Charges can add up fast! Especially since Amazon charge you per day. So if you have a newspaper subscription and you’re going abroad, either turn off your wireless or turn off wireless sync on your account page. Learn More. I would just go to my account page and download the subscription via a PC and plug the Kindle to the USB and transfer it that way.
6. Not Color like the Apple iPad
7. You will not be able to read in the dark.
Software: MobiPocket Creator is to convert your Word Doc or PDF to Kindle Format for free.
Offline RSS Reader: For RSS Reader, I would suggest going to Feedbooks.com and set your RSS feeds in there and use your kindle to download the feeds for offline use.
Online RSS Reader: I would suggest going to the mobile version of Google Reader. Point your Kindle Browser to http://www.google.com/reader/m
The one thing I really like most is the wireless data connection is free! So if I travel anywhere, I can just bring that, no need to set it up, and check your email among other things.
The most disappointing that’s happening to me is the ability to send PDF to my Kindle wireless while I’m in Indonesia, it just doesn’t work.
Just recently, the Auto Connect to any Data Network Provider has gone Wonky on me, so I had to switch it manually by typing 311 while on the Settings page under Menu.
Anybody else have the same problem that they would like to share?
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Dear Jane: Is there any way around the whispersync charges on Amazon? | Dear Author
June 19, 2011 at 2:00 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
[...] This applies only to books purchased at Amazon, though. For use of the personal document delivery service, Amazon is charge$.99 USD per megabyte. (See e.g., the account of this Indonesian Reader) [...]