A bit more kindling

 

     I don't mean to go on about the Kindle forever, but I know some people are considering getting one so I thought a few more observations on it might be of some use.

     The discovery that I can read and knit at the same time has been great, but confining ourselves to the point of the thing, here's what I've found:

I've left the text size and number of words per page at the default setting which gives, as you see in the picture, a few paragraphs per 'page'. This seems to aid concentration; there is less to focus on, the eye isn't drawn to a word elsewhere or on the facing page, there is no temptation to skip ahead to see when the chapter will end - all to the good as fewer distractions mean I make the most of my reading time.

    Bookmarking, highlighting passages and making notes in the text is all very easy to do, and - always the note-taker - I'm using these functions a lot. If you have the Kindle app for PC, iPhone, etc., you can refer to all your notes (and read the book itself, should you wish to) on your computer or phone; use the 'Sync & Check for Items' option in the Kindle menu and your notes and marks will be transferred, as if by magic, to your other devices (I have found there is sometimes a delay with this, but that hasn't bothered me).

    The search facility means you can easily refer back to any passage just by typing in a relevant word, so if you have forgotten a detail you can go back and remind yourself of it, or indeed look ahead should you want to know if something (a name, a place, an activity, say) occurs again later in the text.

    You can sample any book you're thinking of getting; that comes free and can be sent to your computer rather than the Kindle itself if you have the app. and want to read it that way. I'm resisting cluttering myself up with lots of tempting chapters before I'm ready to acquire my next book, but it's great to be able to have a good look at a book before you buy it.

    Speaking of buying, there is so much material available for nothing or for very little that, depending on your tastes, you could read a great deal at minimal cost. For example, I paid only 74 pence for The Country of the Pointed Firs whereas the cheapest paper edition of the book is quite a lot more than that, and 'new' books are less expensive than their paper versions, too.

    If there's anything else you'd like to know, please just ask, or for those who are old hands at the Kindle, do share your tips if you have any. As you can see, I'm loving it!

Comments

[Harriet Smart]

Ours arrived this morning and I am rather in love with it. It seems to have taken the sensibilities of book lovers into account - for example the black and white, steel engraving effect screen savers. And now have just discovered that you can get all the classics for free, it seems a bit utopian, to say the least.
Next purchase will be a nice leather cover.
Well done with the reading and knitting at the same time. That does seems quite an achievement.

[Cornflower]

Aren't the screen savers lovely?
I'm resisting the urge to load mine with lots of classics all at once, but what a resource to have at your fingertips!

[pauline barclay]

Thanks for this. It's really helpfull and I'm more than ever wxcited that we have ordered one! We've been told ours should arrive tomorow and I can not wait. If you fancy a little smile,:-) my new character,Peggy Stanton as just added a blog about Kindle or Sticks! Take a peek when you can. http://PeggyStanton.blogspot.com

Will let you know how we get on once we get ours.
Enjoy all your reading. Hugs x

[Barbara]

Thanks to Dark Puss's advice via your blog, I uploaded the app for the PC. Thanks for the tip about transferring notes; that could be really useful. I feel the need to go and practise!

[Dark Puss]

I'll provide my experiences with the larger "DX" model, and in particular how it works with files other than "Kindle" formatted books, in about a week or so. I hope it may be of use to some of you.

Peter

[Dark Puss]

I'm glad to have been of some assistance Barbara.

[GeraniumCat]

Mine arrived while I was away last week so I've only been able to play with it since yesterday morning. I want to experiment with other files so I'll be very glad to hear what Peter has to say about that. About to download the PC app, as like Karen I want to be able to use the note-taking functions (what a gift for reviewing!) but I'm immensely impressed that you can read and knit. I shan't be attempting that myself.

[Harriet Smart]

I think it is just amazing to think you can stick the whole of Jane Austen in your handbag. Incredibly reassuring in fact.
On the self puffery front I have enjoyed getting the samples of the two novels I've got in the Kindle bookshop, and feeling just a little bit smug about it...

[Cornflower]

What I can't seem to do - which is a pity, and please correct me, someone, if I'm wrong - is copy text from the app. (either the book's or my notes) which I would then paste into a post. Still, it's an amazing device!

[David Nolan (dsc73277)]

It's interesting to see how many book bloggers have been won over by various e-book devices, though I suppose book bloggers are, by their very nature, unlikely to be died in the wool technophobes.

I was suprised to see that one famous bookseller (if I say the one that does not sell Kindles you'll have a pretty good idea which) seems to be selling new e-book titles for more than hardback versions of the same thing. Admittedly, the hardbacks in question are currently heavily discounted. I've often found it frustrating having to wait twelve months for paperback versions of new books that are getting a lot of media attention. I had thought that the advent of the e-book might do away with the need to wait. This would seem particularly useful in relation to books about current affairs that tend to be past their 'best before' date by the time the paperback is released. I suppose its early days yet.

[Amy]

I'm happy you are enjoying it! I really love mine as well :)

[jodi]

I have been researching this as a Christmas present. The main difference that I can tell between the 2 versions is that the less expensive one does not allow you to download books anywhere but home. Am I correct in this assumption?

[Dark Puss]

Jodi, there are three currently available Kindles. Two small ones, both with WiFi with the more expensive one having 3G connectivity too, and one much larger (and much more expensive) Kindle "DX" which only has 3G.

The WiFi should work with any access point, but probably you'll pay for many other than some in cafe's, pubs, and similar places.

[Cornflower]

The more expensive one gives you the option of using mobile phone networks where there is no WiFi, so potentially you have a much greater area in which you can connect to Amazon (or the web as a whole).

[GeraniumCat]

I tried this earlier - from the app page on the PC I went to the notes and clicked Edit, selected all the text and cut and pasted it into Notepad. I didn't try pasting into Word as Blogger doesn't like Word formatting much (and who can blame it?) It wouldn't let me copy highlighted text from the book, though - it's still going to be retyping for those, although at least being able to use a split screen should make it less laborious compared to trying to anchor the book open on the desk to copy from.

I'm very pleased that it's possible to cut and paste from my notes, though, because I've been making copious (for me) ones on my first Kindle read, The Glass Demon by Helen Grant, which is very enjoyable.

[Cornflower]

Thankyou for that - very helpful!! (Off to look up The Glass Demon now).

[Fran]

Gradually I am coming round to the idea of an e-reader. As I often travel for work I can see it may help my baggage allowance considerably! Usually I like to see before I buy so the Sony versdion has been checked out already. All your recent posts and comments here Cornflower have given me much to think on..something tells me Kindle may be the one to go with.

[dovegreyreader]

Love my e reader, but I also love the idea of the Kindle features you mention Karen...hmm...
Can I also wave to Harriet Smart while I'm here... Harriet we met at a Persephone Conference at Newnham many years ago I think and you very kindly sent me signed copies of your books.

[Dark Puss]

Hello, I've been using my Kindle DX (for work) for a few weeks now and very soon I'll write up my impressions on my weblog. I thought perhaps a number of you might like to know, if you are not already avid readers, of this weblog which has a great deal of interesting information on all of the Kindles and also on some other eBook readers too.

[Wendy Lister]

Personally I prefer to read literature the old fashioned way! I admire the technology and the fact that it is handy to put in the handbag for travelling, but quite honestly to relax with a paperback or hardback is much more thrilling! Having the clutter of hundreds of books in the home is a warmth in itself! I fear too much technology of this type will surely take over the real thing in time?

[Sunflower]

Karen

Any more news of your experience of the Kindle? Are you still a fan?

[Cornflower]

I am! I'm reading Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety on it just now, and that's a long book (I'm only half way and have other books on the go as well) and progress is quite slow, but I do like the annotating functions, etc. and the ease of handling - especially appreciated with such a big book.

[Dark Puss]

Dear GeraniumCat, despite my promise to write about the Kindle DX on my weblog I have failed to do so. However it seems only fair to reply to your request for more information so here goes!

Software - if you are using the Kindle for anything other than .pdf or .azw (Kindle format) files may I strongly recommend you use the excellent software Calibre. Best to convert from MS Word via html rather than rtf into .mobi (Mobipocket) format which the Kindle will read without issue.

Use in practice - it's almost perfect, the large screen and the pdf viewer mean that a whole page of text (and figures) from a typical scientific paper can be read at once. The smaller Kindles would not in my view work at all for such documents. I also use it for documents produced at work which I either read in .pdf or convert to .mobi. The latter less well preseves things like tables, embedded figures, but does allow you to annotate if that is important. Size, weight, battery life are all fine and no doubt there are fancy leather covers available for the DX if you have money to burn; I just use a padded envelope to protect mine when I travel with it. The lack of wifi in the DX has not proved to be a problem as I have found that Kindle e-books (free ones only so far) download very fast via the 3G connection which is of course much more available when I'm on the move. Everything else I dowload via USB. There is a rudimentary web browser which is actually quite useful on occasion.

Hope this is helpful for you; in my view the DX is the only solution other than a laptop or tablet if you have documents to read, although no colour the 16-level grey scale works remarkably well for many graphs and figures that I have looked at on it. However the huge price difference (factor of three compared to the 3G only "normal" Kindle) means you probably wouldn't choose it just for reading novels.

Do let me know, via a reply to this, if you have any specific questions you would like me to answer. That invitation applies to any other Cornflower reader too of course.