Richard10002
Well-Known Member
Most of the books I've bought on Amazon over the past few months have been less than £3, (some are only 60p or so). The Millenium Trilogy were about £2.50 each IIRC.
Amazon Kindle to free up shelf space
- Thread starter SHUG
- Start date
Most of the books I've bought on Amazon over the past few months have been less than £3, (some are only 60p or so). The Millenium Trilogy were about £2.50 each IIRC.
DaveRo
Well-Known Member
A couple of free books I've recently enjoyed on the Kindle:
Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
Mark Twain (which means '2 fathoms') became a riverboat pilot before he was an author. This autobiographical book describes how he 'qualified'. An old-fashioned style but lots of interesting detail on navigating the Misisippi.
A Voyage to New Holland by William Dampier
You may have read 'A Pirate of Exquisite Mind' about William Dampier - if not I recommend it.
A Voyage to New Holland is Dampier's own account of his voyage to Australia in 1699. Some interesting, and familiar, observations on the problems of anchoring. He was also one of the first to make systematic observations of magnetic variation.
Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
Mark Twain (which means '2 fathoms') became a riverboat pilot before he was an author. This autobiographical book describes how he 'qualified'. An old-fashioned style but lots of interesting detail on navigating the Misisippi.
A Voyage to New Holland by William Dampier
You may have read 'A Pirate of Exquisite Mind' about William Dampier - if not I recommend it.
A Voyage to New Holland is Dampier's own account of his voyage to Australia in 1699. Some interesting, and familiar, observations on the problems of anchoring. He was also one of the first to make systematic observations of magnetic variation.
ean_p
Well-Known Member
how do they 'read'.......are they easy on the eye ? can you flick backwards and forwards a couple of pages to re-read or check something as easy as you can a book? can you crawl up with one in your bunk like you can a book?
they sound good but I'm not of a generation that enjoys reading from a screen normally so will I get along with one?
they sound good but I'm not of a generation that enjoys reading from a screen normally so will I get along with one?
vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
I'm probably from the same generation, or maybe the one before! My son and his partner each gave the other one for Xmas and we saw them in use over the holiday. We are pretty impressed and intend buying one. Very easy to read, font size can be increased as required, page movement seems simple and they seem lighter to hold than most books.
SHUG
Well-Known Member
Well well, ....as the original poster I am most impressed by the response....rave review all round. It is most unusual, but there seem to be no negative comments at all apart from the "get an i-pad" enthusiasts.
I see the basic Kindle is £111 on Amazon and £150 for the 3-G version.
I will now check the piggy bank to see if I deserve a present!!..of course I do!!
Cheers
I see the basic Kindle is £111 on Amazon and £150 for the 3-G version.
I will now check the piggy bank to see if I deserve a present!!..of course I do!!
Cheers
Blue5
Well-Known Member
Bought one for SWMBO for Christmas, as she normally reads at least one book a day it was cheaper than a bigger boat to take her library when we head off cruising......
matt21
Well-Known Member
out of print
What swung it for me was being able to read Shrimpy - the Kindle will support the pdf version but its better once converted to kindle format.
What swung it for me was being able to read Shrimpy - the Kindle will support the pdf version but its better once converted to kindle format.
macd
Well-Known Member
After using a friend's Kindle at Xmas I've just bought one. One boat-friendly benefit that has since occurred to me is that any manuals, catalogues etc and even pilot books available in pdf format can aso be transferred to it.
Next question: how do you clean oily marks off a Kindle?
Next question: how do you clean oily marks off a Kindle?
Roaring Girl
Well-Known Member
Just got one, (yesterday) precisely because of the reading outside. A kindle and ipad are not comparable: they do different jobs.
BTW: someone said
Problem for me is modern books (ie ones still in copyright) cost. And how! Remember, no production costs, no transportation, no storage, no shop overheads, no nothing but a one-off digitization which only applies to pre-digital age books of course, and yet it costs the same as a real book!
Authors - the creators of the content - still need to be paid! You're right to challenge the business model of production and distribution, but publishers are also responsible for marketing, and the writer will have (often) years of work invested in your enjoyment.
BTW: someone said
Problem for me is modern books (ie ones still in copyright) cost. And how! Remember, no production costs, no transportation, no storage, no shop overheads, no nothing but a one-off digitization which only applies to pre-digital age books of course, and yet it costs the same as a real book!
Authors - the creators of the content - still need to be paid! You're right to challenge the business model of production and distribution, but publishers are also responsible for marketing, and the writer will have (often) years of work invested in your enjoyment.
Carmel2
Well-Known Member
The 3G side of things is quite impressive ( well to a Luddite like me it is ) So I was wondering if you could use as a modem to your laptop? Any thoughts?
Roaring Girl
Well-Known Member
Don't believe you can use it as a modem - the 3G conects yu the amazon whispernet. But if you use your laptop to download books and then transfer to your kindle, you will only be using whatever you're paying for your laptop connection anyway.
DaveRo
Well-Known Member
We got a couple of wifi-only Kindles, thinking that we would download new books or newspapers over the wifi connections in marinas. But our son reported some difficulty connecting to wireless hotspots in the US which require authentication via a browser. This is where the wifi is unencrypted but you have to enter a username and password to start internet browsing. Often a window or tab is left open which you can use to logoff if your usage is time-limited. This system used in many marinas in my experience.
The Kindle does include a rudimentary browser, so this ought to be possible. Does anyone have experience of using a Kindle with such a system?
The Kindle does include a rudimentary browser, so this ought to be possible. Does anyone have experience of using a Kindle with such a system?
Grehan
Well-Known Member
Kindle and images
I know the Kindle is 'black print on white "paper"' and therefore not great for colour photographs, say. But how well - or badly - does it display images?
macd's comment has got me thinking . . I am planning to make my French-Waterways website available as a pdf download - maybe. Would the Kindle render the many photos unreadable, or just 'not so hot' in black and white?
I know the Kindle is 'black print on white "paper"' and therefore not great for colour photographs, say. But how well - or badly - does it display images?
macd's comment has got me thinking . . I am planning to make my French-Waterways website available as a pdf download - maybe. Would the Kindle render the many photos unreadable, or just 'not so hot' in black and white?
Carmel2
Well-Known Member
I was talking to one of my neighbours and she was saying a colour version is on its way.........................Once we have all bought the black and white version no doubt.
MASH
N/A
Kindle is hopeless for PDF files, which includes many useful things like maintenance manuals. It cannot expand the scale and have the result fit the page - instead it expands a box of text which will be less than a line's width and you ahve to move the box to see the rest o that line, then back agai n for the next one, a bit like reading through a toilet roll tube.
B & W diagrams work fine.
If PDFs, colour guides and maps are what you want than suggest you spend a bit more and get an ipad that does everything properly and in colour. It will save a lot of bad language.
B & W diagrams work fine.
If PDFs, colour guides and maps are what you want than suggest you spend a bit more and get an ipad that does everything properly and in colour. It will save a lot of bad language.
BlueChip
Well-Known Member
I flew back from Alicante yesterday and sitting in the lounge waiting to board the aircraft I could see at least 10 people reading Kindles. I would say that most of them were middle aged women.
I bought SWMBO one for Christmas and I'll have to buy one soon for myself.
A tip for Kindle users that I couldnt find in the manual is that to reboot a Kindle you need to slide and hold the power switch to on for about 30 seconds and then wait for a minute or so. SWMBO's lost its display this morning and was just showing a blank screen, rebooting fixed that. Excellent Amazon support from a freephone help line.
I bought SWMBO one for Christmas and I'll have to buy one soon for myself.
A tip for Kindle users that I couldnt find in the manual is that to reboot a Kindle you need to slide and hold the power switch to on for about 30 seconds and then wait for a minute or so. SWMBO's lost its display this morning and was just showing a blank screen, rebooting fixed that. Excellent Amazon support from a freephone help line.
macd
Well-Known Member
As MASH reports in a post after yours, the Kindle is a bit clunky for many PDF files. Essentially, it works well only if the page layout in the PDF is similar in size, shape and text volume to the Kindle screen. Most aren't, but a few are. So if you were to make a pdf availabe for Kindle owners, it would need to take that into account.
Kindle image displays are so-so, best for b&w, obviously...images work best if high contrast. The screen technology, after all, is designed to work with the highest contrast of all -- black characters on white pages -- which is precisely the device's unique strength. (Well, not quite unique...books do it pretty well, too.)
coromar
Well-Known Member
cost of ebooks
Re the cost of ebooks, I looked on e-bay and bought 16,000 ebooks on 2 disks for £9.99.
Also the is a web site where you can buy all the books by an author for as little as £1.49 a disk.
I bought all Wilbur Smiths books for £5.49.
It said on the site (and on e-bay0 that this was a legal item to sell, and as the web site is still going I asume it is.
Audio books are also available very cheaply.
I hope this is of interest
Re the cost of ebooks, I looked on e-bay and bought 16,000 ebooks on 2 disks for £9.99.
Also the is a web site where you can buy all the books by an author for as little as £1.49 a disk.
I bought all Wilbur Smiths books for £5.49.
It said on the site (and on e-bay0 that this was a legal item to sell, and as the web site is still going I asume it is.
Audio books are also available very cheaply.
I hope this is of interest
MASH
N/A
So please, post the link!!!!
macd
Well-Known Member
This may be of particular interest to Grehan.
I've just learned of some free software, Calibre, which converts PDF to MOBI (usable by Kindle). Evidently it works pretty well "unless the PDF has lots of pictures/diagrams...and is not laid out in columns." Of course most manuals have lots of pics and diagrams. And columns.
The download's at http://calibre-ebook.com/download_windows
Once I've tried it, I'll report back.
