[firecop54]

I am a very avid reader sometimes reading 2-3 books per week. Right now I have 3 unfinished books laying by my recliner, which I bounce from one to the other. I am considering purchasing the Kindle, but would like to hear the true, ups and downs of Kindles.

Looking forward to hearing from any and all

Jim

 

[Bacardi Jim]

*sigh*

Welcome and howdy.  Don't expect to hear a lot of downs, as many here are insanely devoted to their Kindles to the point that they have given up real books entirely.  But get ready for a lot of gushing about how it's the greatest thing since sliced bread... better than sliced bread, even.

 

[Linda Cannon-Mott]

Welcome Jim! There is nothing I don't like about my Kindle, absolutely love it. Please go to The Intro/Welcome Board to introduce yourself. As Jim stated I don't think you will here many downs about a Kindle here. We are all avid readers and share a passion for our Kindles.

 

[MamaProfCrash]

The only thing I dislike about my Kindle is that I cannot create folders to store my books in a manner that makes sense to me. Other then that, I love my Kindle. It is easy to use and light weight, unlike many of the tomes I enjoy reading.

Why?

My reading has greatly increased since I was given the Kindle because it is so much easier to buy books. I don't have to go to the store and hope to find something I like, special order a book that I want, or wait in line at the library for the book that I want.

The books that I have bought have been under $10 a pop. There are only two books that I have purchased over that price point and both of those were new releases. Had I waited a week, they both would have fallen to $9.99. Even when I paid $15, it was still $10 less then what I would have paid for the hard back.

I love that I have all of my books with me where ever I go. Right now I have 47 books. I know that there are people here with thousands.

Why Kindle and not Sony?

I like that when I buy a book through Amazon, Amazon stores it for me. If I delete that book, I can re-load it for free. Essentially, Amazon acts like a library for all of my Amazon books. I do not know if Sony has this option.

I like the Whispernet. I really don't use it that frequently, I order most of books online while at work so I use the Whispernet mainly for downloading the books onto my Kindle. I like the idea that I can be sitting in an airport in most of the US and I can browse and download a book very quickly. I could not do that with a Sony.

 

[Triv]

Youkneek said it all, and better then I could have.. Though that whispernet, while really nice, has increased my book budget by more then I think my wife is happy with *laugh* Though, she says on the upside I don't have books taking over the bedroom anymore. I also wish that you could make folders for books, but its more an annoyance then anything else..  But I'd highly recommend a Kindle to any avid reader.

 

[TM]

I am an avid reader - love my Kindle and would never give it up. it is so much easier to read... now i really have a hard time trying to read a DTB. I love the convience of getting new books via whispernet...

The only downsides I have found are very minor and I am sure will be fixed at some point. I, like many, would love folders to orignize my books. There are still quite a few books i would love to have on my Kindle but aren't Kindlized yet... a couple i want are not formatted well. As i said, they are very minor...

 

[rla1996]

For me there are many wonderful features of the Kindle.  My favorite is whispernet.  I love that when J finish a book I'm reading, no matter where I am or what time it is, I can turn on whispernet and have another in less than a minute.  No getting up no getting dressed, no trips to the library or book store (though I live in a city apparently I live in an area that doesn't read -its a half hour drive or more for me to get to an actual book store) I don't even have to leave my chair. 
Like you I'm a multi-book reader as well.  This led to books being left all over the house, and the "great hunt" to find the particular one I wanted.  Between me sitting them down and my husband relocating them because "they were in the way" -then not remembering where he put them, I was always looking for them.  With my kindle that is no longer a problem.  They're all there in the same place.  I can switch from one to another whenever I want no hunting needed .  Having the ability to carry them all around at once is also awesome if you're one of those people that takes a book with them where ever you go.  If you're like me, when you leave the house, you always have to carry more than one for fear that you'll finish the one that you take with you then will be stuck somewhere with nothing to read.
So far I've only found 2 downsides to the Kindle.  The first is that I'm not brave enough to read mine while in the tub, or pool -even in waterproof bag. And the other is that you froget your kindle at work or your mom's house you feel naked, tortured, and depressed because you have nothing to read.  Yet I've found that both of these problems can be survived by resorting to dtbs again -at least temporarily.

rla1996

 

[Wells83]

I also read about 2-3 books per week.  My biggest issues with the Kindle are the fact that I have too many DTBs already that I haven't read, so I cannot devote all my reading to my Kindle (sometimes I'm just in the mood for an old fashioned book anyway, so I guess it's not a huge problem) and also that, in my opinion, some of the Kindle books on Amazon are too overpriced.  The latter issue has not caused me too many problems because if I think a book is too expensive on Kindle, I just won't buy it on Kindle.  I have a good number of books on my Kindle that I haven't read yet anyway, so it hasn't caused me to want for more material. 

So overall, my two biggest issues have in no way negated my love for my Kindle. 

 

[drenee]

The only downside I have about the Kindle as opposed to a DTB is that it's a little more difficult to go back and find a section I've previously read.  In reading along I might read something that doesn't seem important at the time, and then later want to refer back to it.  Takes a bit more time paging through.  I often remember the chapter, and can go directly to it, but if it's something like what was that name, where was that place, then I don't have enough information to actually search it.  Not a big deal.  It's actually making me read more carefully. 
Just my opinion.  But I still wouldn't trade my Kindle for anything.  Not even version 2 or 3 or whatever.  I like this one very much. 

 

[Andra]

In my opinion, the only serious drawback right now is the fact that there are lot more non-Kindle books than there are Kindle ones!  New books in a series are often on the Kindle, but not the older ones.  As we grow in numbers and the demand increases, I bet we get a larger selection of e-books.  I checked a lot of the authors that I regularly read before I purchased my Kindle to make sure I could get new books from favorites on the Kindle.
Thanks to the folks here, I have branched out to new authors and genres.  So that's great too.
I would also like some better ways to manage my Kindle library and some way to edit the metadata on the DRM books to correct author names and add comments to the titles, but that's minor.  I've found ways to make the existing options work for me.
I love to carry an entire library around with me.  And it's hard for people to know what I am reading at any given moment!
I wasn't absolutely sure when I placed my order, but I think I had it about two days when I knew it was the right decision.  Amazon does have a return policy so if you should get one and don't like it, you can always send it back (or sell it to someone else).

 

[Gertie Kindle]

No real downsides that I can think of. 

I can be reading one book or ten books at a time and not have them lying all over the house.  The dictionary feature is wonderful for looking up exact meanings.  I often use the search feature, as well. 

I just started using notes and highlights, which is especially good for our Book Klubs.  You might want to check those out in The Book Corner. 

Practically hands-free reading, although there is an auto page turning feature that I haven't tried, yet. 

Loads of free public domain books available.  If the formatting from one site isn't good, you can delete it and download a better version from another site.  Amazon frequently has free and bargain books, and our alert Kindlers post them in The Book Corner.

One of the best features is a free sample so you can decide if you want the book or not.  Most of the samples that I have gotten cover two or three chapters.

Helpful people and good discussions here at Kindleboards. 

 

[Mikuto]

Instead of gushing about how much I love my Kindle (which I do!) I'll give you my only downside to it.

I can no longer buy used books at the library for 25 cents, so my book budget has expanded greatly. Other than that, it's a wonderful device and worth every penny.

 

[firecop54]

Thanks for your responses......Now more than ever I cant wait to get my Kindle

Jim