THE KINDLE REVIEW!!!

Oh I am jealous!!  I keep telling myself that the cost is too much to justify but then I read a review like this and... darn it, I want one!!

Does the Kindle only read kindle books?  Or can you read PDF files on it?

I have put this thread as a fave cause I want all the input you are putting here. Like Penn, I can't do it right now ... but....... I do want to get something like this for when I travel.  I can't imagine not taking 10-15 books with me in the suitcase.  Another possibility was mentioned in the blogs as a SONY book reader.  I hope more people stop by that have either the Kindle or the Sony or other products so we get a lot of input.

Jeannie

I read how to do all that and told my son I want to load audilbes to mine so he will help me next time he's in. Sometimes it's just easier to listen when I need to do those mundane things. I read on Amazon that the wait is now about six weeks or more as they are so in demand. So hopefully that will bring the price of downloads down for everyone.

I recieved a Nokia 770 over Christmas, does pretty much the same thing as a Kindle or Sony Reader, but smaller. And I can surf the internet on it. I love it, fits into my purse, and no more dragging books around.

Yes.....mine is in Masters Program at Columbia. She works part time teaching but I still pick up the credit card bills and front her money when she needs it.

Your's seem a bit better off Deb...... how long do I get to keep them before I get the Kindle? LOL

Kim - about the Nokia 770 - is it a mini computer or PDA? can it hold database info like from Access?  I have been thinking of getting something like that to stop the duplicates. I have quite a few so far and have not even gone upstairs... sigh....soooooo many books.

Jeannie

I have a Dell Axim Pocket PC which does have a very small screen. But that's OK usulaly since I can change font size as needed. What I haven biggest problems with is glare. Even with the backlight on the lowest setting it can be without going dark, it gets to me after a while. But I manage pretty well in spite of that.

I'm sure Alwsoprano can verify this, but a couple of you talked about the PDF's or MOBI's and uploading bundles from Harlequin---

You can NOT upload either Adobe or Mobi if they are protected to the Kindle!!!

All forms of ebooks that come from Harlequin are protected!!!!

I know, I have emailed Harlequin on this because first I tried the email convert that the Kindle talks about with one of the books I'd bought in Adobe and was informed from Kindle that they can not convert protected files.  I then bought five books in MOBI thinking I could upload those to the Kindle and wrote to Harlequin hoping to get my other books from them changed into a MOBI---Harlequin very nicely pointed out that it does say clearly in the Kindle description page that the Kindle is NOT compatible with uploading protected work in either Mobi OR Adobe.  

Obviously I was very disappointed.  I love buying the bundles and specials from Harlequin or Brava or any of these places.  Essentially it meant the book had to be listed on the Kindle Amazon site if it was protected for me to read it on the Kindle. 

Unprotected PDF's or MOBI's can be uploaded... I tried that and that does work.  You can convert the PDF's yourself if they are not protected to MOBI and upload the story to the Kindle.  But MOST of anything I buy is protected.  I'm for the author having their work protected so its kind of a catch.   

Anyhow, I just wanted to pass this on so that others don't get in the same bind I did or have expectations that aren't going to work.  I think the Kindle is looking to be a great product... but has some gliches yet.  Like I stated in another post, I wish it was a PDA with a Kindle screen.

Cole 

glad to be of assistance Nicole. I never heard of the MyPal befor eyou mentioned buying it. I'm not in the market for a new PDA since mine's only a year or so old, but I am curious about the one you got so I'll have to look at it.

We bo't my mom an eBookwise last year.  We love it.  ChrissieSue bo't one during their year-end sale and her initial reaction was less than stellar so you might go see her and see what she thinks now.

I use my dh's older Palm PDA.  I like it fine.  I was worried about the small screen b/c I'm a fast reader but it hasn't been a problem.

I wrote several blog entries last year during the challenge about my steps into the 21st century and when I get time, I'll copy them over to new blog entries and update them (for example, when we bo't my mom's eBookwise, I didn't consider one for myself b/c they didn't sell harlequins for it but now they do). 

Penn, who must go now to get the troops ready for the day 

I forgot about your 2007 blogs on this - I do remember reading them, just didn't do anything with the info.  I will ask ChrissieSue if she likes her ebookwise now.

ElleJay led me here. What a great discussion. I talked about getting in to ebooks last year on my blog. In October, after much research, I choose to get the Palm TX. I was worried about the small screen but that has turned out not to be a problem. I love the size, the weight, the ease of download. I have Mobipocket, Adobe Reader, and Palm reader. I haven't figure out how to use the Adobe Reader yet. The Palm reader works well, especially the look-up dictionary feature. You can purchase extra font packages for it for $9.99. But it doesn't display the covers. The Mobipocket is the one I use most. 

And I'd like to say thanks to eH customer service—before purchasing my Palm I had bought several titles in Adobe Reader to read on my lap top. They kindly changed those titles in my bookshelf to Mobi so that I could load them on my Palm. The Palm does so much and I was able to find it for $260 at Amazon from Beach Camera in NJ. List is over $300. Beach Camera sent the hard case with it, which is a $40 accessory, at no extra charge. The Palm has an MP3 player so you can do audio books. It has a picture/movie viewer. You can log on to the web if you're near a hot spot/wifi and you can do email. But I can't log on with my pass word to eH. The Palm syncs to your computer so your contact list is always the same on the Palm and your computer. You can set appointments and alarms to remind you, even if it’s turned off. There are a lot of second-party programs you can down load. I use Diet & Exercise Assistant daily. And games-I have Bejeweled on mine. They also have models with a phone. 

I can't say a whole lot about the eBookwise yet. I've read one book and got over some of my initial concerns about it. I still think it's kind of heavy. I like the features but haven't taken the time yet to learn everything about it. I purchased it for the larger screen and I like the back lit screen. (I confess, I'm a tub reader, especially in winter, and I like having the room lights off. Someone on the ebook discussion suggested putting it in a zip lock bag and that's what I do with the Palm and the eBookwise.) I checked out the books eBookwise had for sale before I bought the reader and found several Harlequins, including two on my shopping list.

I meant to just post a brief description but when it comes to the Palm TX I can go on and on. I love it. I wouldn't be surpirsed if, in the future, Palm comes out with an eInk technology screen. 

Just a little more about the Palm TX (and other models). It has a calculator, a world clock with a world map showing day and evening. Tap anywhere on the map and it tells the time in the nearest big city. It has Microsoft Office which can be scynced with your computer. It has character recognition, which means you can write with the sylus and it becomes type. It has a pop up (on the screen) QWERTY keyboard. I've written several scenes for my current MS when they've come to mind and I'm not near my lap top. I can then up load them. You can view the screen in portrait or landscape mode. You can track your expenses, handwrite notes (like sticky notes), list tasks (to do lists). You can beam files to another Palm or your computer (I haven't tried this). It takes an SD card for more storage. I have a 2GB card. It's Bluetooth capable. The manual in preloaded so you can look up features whenever you like. AND… it has a full color, very fine image screen. Did I say I love this little computer?

Yes - you can adjust the font, no - it can't bake bread!

The main font is similar to this but comes in two sizes and two weights, plain and bold. 

The Office program has font sizes 10 to 72 pt. And seven fonts. It includes Word, Excell, PowerPoint and text, which can be read by other word processing programs.

Mobipocket has three fonts, sized 10 to 24 points. I haven't fiddled with that much as the 10pt is fine for me. I thought it would be too small, but I like having more words on the screen at one time. The page advance is instant without any blackout or whiteout or ghosting of the previous page. Then there's lots of preferences within Mobipocket, too. Sometimes the look up feature will freeze a page but when it does I just hit the bookshelf icon then go back to the book and it opens where I left off. I'll have to see if I can find out why it does that. Maybe because my dictionary isn't a full version. The battery will last most of the day unless you are on the web a lot. That takes more power. I charge mine over night, it actually takes about 3 hours to charge. I've had two minor crashes where I've had to press the reset button. I've read that if you have a major crash you have to do a hard restart and you will lose your info stored within the internal memory. So, save often to your computer, and save to the SD card if you're nervious. My ebooks are on my computer so if I lost them from the Palm I could redownload them. 

Any other questions I'll be glad to answer, I might just learn something.

G'night ChrissieSue!

I've done some late night shopping and wanted to ask you if this is the same Palmie that you are talking about.  I'm in Canada so prices are different.  But I found this one at Costco.ca:  http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=10298668&whse=BCCA&Ne=4000000&eCat=BCCA|84|3101&N=4008627&Mo=4&No=4&Nr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&cat=3101&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-CA&Sp=C&topnav=

I also found a Palm TX at Dell.ca - and it is on sale for $270.  I'm not going to rush out - I think I need to do some in store shopping too.

Thanks again,

Thanks Nicole - what to do? what to do?

Well, I guess I better get out there and do my own research to see what suits me the best.  Since I'm in Canada the Kindle is out completely (thank goodness!) so right now its between the 2 PDAs. 

I do appreciate all the information.  I certainly wouldn't have thought to look into all the little extras the PDAs offer but I know I will use.

ElleJay, I just looked up the MyPal PDA. It looks really nice. You have a though decision to make. Try to find a place where you can handle them, that's the best way. If you look at the Palm Tungsten (less $$) be aware that the screen is much smaller. 

I ordered the Case Logic PDA case that was on the page with the MyPal. My Palm came with a metal case, which is nice, but it's slippery and I've dropped it so many times the latch is now broken. I like the pocket on the inside of the CL case, too.

Here's a link to the MyPal

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Windows_Mobile_PDAs/productd...

Good luck finding the one just right for you. 

Anna I hope you don't mind the continued discussion on the readers!   

Chrissysue -- I bought a case for mine too --THAT CASE you point her to!    I am really glad I did.  The PDA does come with a case but its not enclosed completely nor does it have room like the case logic does to store a couple things in, like the pointer(or whatever you call it).  

Ellajay -- I agree with Chrissysue... look them all over.  Maybe in the end you would find that the ebookwise or sony woudl be right for you--- that's the main thing.  I wrote out a list of things and basically said, which features are REALLY important to me and went down the list.  Compatibility and flexibility were number one on my list. 

The screen on the PDA I have isn't too small, but then if you compare it to the Kindle... it seems small.  Now, it doesn't seem small when I'm reading on it... but whenever I think of how big that Kindle is... then I THINK it seems small.  

And you are soooo right on whichever ereader you get--people around here are very helpful!  I've been getting help and can't say enough nice things about everyone on the Harlequin loops.  Everyone keeps helping me!    Even with the programs!  Just this morning Penn was helping me learn more about the Mobipocket.  I can't wait to go try her suggestions.

So have fun!  Let us know what you get in the end!

Cole 

The Sony eBook

I don’t think I’ve read any posts here about the Sony eBook reader. 

I bought the Sony about two months ago. For me it is perfect because I only wanted something to make the type size bigger.  I wanted this done with a page size the same as a paperback book. I also did not want to have to scroll down the page to read it all as I do on my computer when I read Adobe eBooks. This requires the eBook reader to re-paginate the book when you change type sizes. I also wanted a very clear screen like the page of a book and not like a computer monitor. I didn’t want backlighting as it uses way too much power and makes the reader hot. I also wanted the reader to look like a book and be about the same size as a paperback book. I also like having the battery last through many books without having to be charged.

The Sony eBook Reader does all the above. I do not care that it can also show slide presentations or play mp3 clips. I don’t use these features. I also did not want any other features to make it more complicated. I don’t need a PDA.

If all you want to do is read eBooks, I think the Sony has the best interface. The only problem is you have to buy your books from the Sony store if they are protected. Sony does not have all the deals that  eHarlequin does nor does Sony have all the Harlequin eBook titles. However, prices are very competitive. And so far all the best sellers I looked for were available at competitive prices. Also the reader with a memory card will probably hold over 500 books! Take that on vacation.  Best yet, no one can see how outrageously large your TBR piles is growing. “It’s just one book” as far as the rest of the world is concerned.

Thanks,

Vince