Amazon Kindle -- A Year Later?

Malor wrote:

I'm slightly embarrassed by how long it took me to get that joke.

Hah, I hadn't even remembered what was being talked about and so my first thought was, "I don't write on my Kindle...."

Malor wrote:

I'm slightly embarrassed by how long it took me to get that joke.

Me too whoops

What part of on did you not understand?

The remarkable is fantastic to write on. I don't know how to describe it other than it's like firm but slightly more forgiving under the pen than paper. Otherwise it has about the same tactile feel as a mechanical pencil I'd say.

Amazon has found a cache of unsold original (2010) Kindle DXs, and they are on sale for $199 each. Note that these likely have the original batteries, meaning you'd have to use them with the cord at all times, but I know at least one person here will be interested.

They seem to be going quickly as of today. They come with the free 3G wireless, too.

They die as soon as the battery dies. You can't use them without a working battery, so I'm not going to order one.

Damn shame.

edit: they may already be sold out, I don't even see any on the site.

My regular Kindle is from 2010 and it's still working. That means its been getting re-charged over the years while I guess these have just been sitting around and draining the whole time, but a ten year old Kindle is not necessarily dead.

No, but it'll be close. Lithium batteries age whether or not they're being used.

I'd jump on one if I thought I could get another ten years out of it.

You can buy battery replacement kits for about $40, for the DX.

Robear wrote:

You can buy battery replacement kits for about $40, for the DX.

Absolutely. And none of them work. I tried either three or four, forget which, newly-purchased batteries in my DX, and every one of them failed.

They were all made 10 years ago. It's all old stock. There are no new DX batteries.

Do they have micro usb?
You could get a battery pack and use it that way...

They do. With a device that large and a smallish battery, it's less absurd than I would have thought.

You can get decent battery packs that are a little bit bigger than a sharpie. So it doesn't seem like it would be that awkward...

fangblackbone wrote:

Do they have micro usb?
You could get a battery pack and use it that way...

It does have micro-USB, but the Kindle DX does not work, at all, without a working internal battery. I would have been more than happy to turn mine into a tethered device.

It won't even boot unless the onboard battery reports good status.

Malor wrote:
fangblackbone wrote:

Do they have micro usb?
You could get a battery pack and use it that way...

It does have micro-USB, but the Kindle DX does not work, at all, without a working internal battery. I would have been more than happy to turn mine into a tethered device.

It won't even boot unless the onboard battery reports good status.

This. I have a DX in near-mint condition, and I can't get it to take a charge or boot. This is entirely due to neglect for many years before I found it again, but it's still disappointing. I haven't quite reached the point of recycling it yet, but I'm close.

Woot is having a sale on refurbished Kindle Voyages for $50.

These are (I think) similar to the more recent Paperwhites. While the Voyage is not waterproof, it does have a 300 dpi display that is flat/flush. No raised bevel.

The Voyage has one notable leg up on Paperwhites, though: it has excellent page-turn buttons with haptic feedback.

I post this mostly because I love my Voyage, which I got second-hand from LeapingGnome through this forum! I also have to say, the goofy-looking origami magnetic covers are actually really useful for reading while laying down in bed!

Speaking of! My wife upgraded and we have her 9th gen Kindle Oasis for sale. This is the model before the current one that is $250. Has all of the accessories and original box, great condition and ads removed. $120 shipped if anyone is interested. I will probably post it in the trading thread in a day or two.

firesloth wrote:

I also have to say, the goofy-looking origami magnetic covers are actually really useful for reading while laying down in bed!

Hands down the best cover they've ever had. If you take any of your meals solo and like to read while eating, it's absolutely perfect. Will hang on to mine forever as my "work Kindle," in the event I ever get to go into an office to work again, and eat lunch in peace.

Mr Crinkle wrote:
firesloth wrote:

I also have to say, the goofy-looking origami magnetic covers are actually really useful for reading while laying down in bed!

Hands down the best cover they've ever had. If you take any of your meals solo and like to read while eating, it's absolutely perfect. Will hang on to mine forever as my "work Kindle," in the event I ever get to go into an office to work again, and eat lunch in peace.

One of the things I appreciate is how simple it is to remove the case. When I'm just holding the kindle up on its own, I don't usually want the extra weight/bulk. With the magnetic attachment, it's straightforward just to slide it off. And yet it doesn't come off too easily.

LeapingGnome wrote:

Speaking of! My wife upgraded and we have her 9th gen Kindle Oasis for sale. This is the model before the current one that is $250. Has all of the accessories and original box, great condition and ads removed. $120 shipped if anyone is interested. I will probably post it in the trading thread in a day or two.

Ha...nice timing! I can vouch that everything was exactly as LeapingGnome said it would be. And I'm still using mine 4 years later.

I am tempted by the Oasis, but it doesn't have the cover to let me read in bed!

There are origami covers for the Oasis on Amazon.

Note: those the Voyage doesn't have bluetooth like the newest Kindle models, so you can't use them for audiobooks.

Also note: Kindle Unlimited is currently free for 3 months for Prime members (or was last week anyway). I don't recall if I'd used it before, but I jumped on that to get some comics.

Upgraded from my Kindle Voyage to a new Oasis on prime day. Love this thing! It’s just that little bit nicer again. The waterproofing is a big deal for me for bath reading. The Voyage will go to a good home with my mum, so I’m glad it will still get a lot of use.

Hi all,
I was wondering if you might be able to help. The quantity of physical books I keep can sometimes be a stressor between my wife and I. Nothing major or anything but she does think I hold onto too many ( I think the current count is about 300) I accept my relationship to physical books is odd, I don’t have any physical computer games anymore and try and keep my board games down to what I play a lot. I think my probably irrational attachment to the physical book comes from the escape they offered me from school bullying which is ridiculous really given that is now 25 years ago. It’s certainly why a good chunk of that 300 are battered terry pratchet and Douglas Adams paperbacks! I also really hate reading from a proper screen having just spent 10 hours doing exactly that for work. As such I have steadfastly refused to engage with an e reader of any kind. The general feeling I get though is that the kindle is close enough to an actual book that the last part is less of an issue these days.

Have any of my fellow goodjers had a similar issue and found the jump to an e reader not that bad. I’d really like to try and do it to allow a bit of space back but I can’t get past my internal prejudices. Worth noting I do use a library where I can already.

Is there anyway of avoiding the amazon machine with something other than a kindle?

Thanks so much if you have any thoughts!

I used to have the same problem but I moved halfway across the country eight years ago and moving all those books was just not feasible. I sold or donated all but a dozen or so meaningful or rare books and have exclusively used an ereader since and don’t miss physical books at all. Amazon is the largest outlet but Barnes and Noble has their own branded ereader as well. It’s not quite as good as the kindle but it’s still a good device and the B&N storefront is pretty close to Amazon in terms of selection, really only missing the self-published stuff. There a number third-party ereaders/storefronts as well but I don’t really have any experience with those.

bbk1980 wrote:

Have any of my fellow goodjers had a similar issue and found the jump to an e reader not that bad. I’d really like to try and do it to allow a bit of space back but I can’t get past my internal prejudices. Worth noting I do use a library where I can already.

I was in a very similar position when the Kindle first came out. I had over 1,000 books. Most were Sci-Fi/Fantasy mass market paperbacks and all had been well read. Most twice and some many more than that. Not being someone who worships at the altar of "the book", they all had broken spines and dog-eared pages. So, a room of shelves full of tatty paperbacks.

I bought a 1st Gen Kindle on a whim, thinking I'd soon be back to my paperbacks. Yeah, not so much.

13 years later I have 550 books on my Kindle and no paperbacks.

One underrated advantage of a Kindle is the immediacy. We were visiting friends one time and the conversation turned to a book they had read - The Uncommon Reader: A Novella by Alan Bennett - and were highly recommending. During the conversation I pulled out my Kindle; looked up the book; bought it; and had it downloaded before the conversation about it had ended. Not a bad read, either!

So I don't think you'd regret trying. The newer readers have much better screens than computers or phones for reading and are considerably lighter. Waterproof as well. Speaking as someone who had dropped books into the bath tub before now, quite a bonus!

I think the actual reading experience is unquestionably better on a Kindle than a regular book. If you want to avoid Amazon, you can go for a Nook like Rukh suggested, or a Kobo is another popular choice. Be aware though that Amazon is definitely the most well supported platform and a lot of libraries default to lending through Amazon for their ebook collection.

I too had bookshelves full of books years ago, and I miss them sometimes and have the desire to some time in the future have a home library lined with my favorite collections. Not to read, but just to have them and take joy from seeing them or browsing, since, like you, books have been a big part of my life. I just can't justify it though because a Kindle is SO much easier and better. Maybe when we settle down into a house we'll have for a long time I will build one. I also miss browsing used book stores and picking up books for a dollar or two, never knowing what you will find. In contrast, in the ebook world Kindle Unlimited is an amazing deal and I get a lot of books from there.

I suggest trying it out. Get the current Kindle Paperwhite and read books on it for a few months and see how you feel. If you don't like it, you can always sell it and probably be out as little as $50. A low risk way to try something that might be a big improvement to your life.

I concur that for me the reading experience on the Kindle is superior to that of physical books.

You can also dabble by buying a used Kindle.There are plenty out there, even newer ones, I'm sure. I'd look for one of the new ones that have a flat face, no stepped bezel.

I love my Kindle. I used to carry huge books on planes, which was getting ridiculous (carrying two books from Game of Thrones because I was about to finish one...ugh). The Kindle makes travel reading spectacular.

I get many, many of the books I read from the library, which works seamlessly with the Kindle. (True story: I was able to download a library book to my son's Kindle while we were riding a train in Sweden...) Most of the books I purchase from Amazon I buy when they are on sale for <$3. I'm sure Amazon has predicted my next underwear purchase from analyzing my reading habits, but this is going on no matter the company / setting these days.

One strategy that works for me has to do with pictures and illustrations, particularly if they are in color. If there are no pictures whatsoever in a book, then Kindle is the obvious choice. There is nothing that I will miss by reading words in an e-reader vs. reading the exact same words on a piece of paper. In fact, considering the tiny fonts on the paper, the Kindle is much easier to read.

If there are black and white illustration, then Kindle is probably still the obvious choice unless there is some problem with them, such as diagrams that Kindle cannot resize enough to read or study them. If that's the case, then physical book is probably better.

For color illustrations and most especially if the book is "pretty" then physical book is probably going to work better for me. While I can read the Kindle versions on my tablet to get the full effect (and I do have some books loaded with color pictures and diagrams on Kindle because I got them on sale), it's probably not enough in and of itself for me to prefer the e-reader.

Another factor is for reference books. Is it easier for me to look up information in the physical book or do an e-reader search?

And then of course for some books, I have both a physical copy and an e-book.

The result is that it's cut down a lot of my physical books that were just low-quality mass-market paperbacks and the like, leaving space for higher quality physical books as well as physical books that are just attractive in some way.

Advantages of digital books / e-readers:
* Buy them without leaving home, and start reading virtually instantly.
* Borrow them from a library without leaving home.
* Change font size to suit your preference.
* Read in the dark by turning on the very unobtrusive backlighting.
* Carry hundreds of books with you in a form factor that's smaller and lighter than one book.

Advantages of physical books:
* You can use them for kindling I guess?

Spoiler:

Fun fact: Did you know if you borrow a digital book from your library and then enable Airplane Mode on your e-reader, the book won't disappear at the end of your loan term? I'm still reading a book that was "returned" back to the library pool a few weeks ago. I just can't take my Kindle online again for even a second, until I'm done with it.

bbk1980 wrote:

Have any of my fellow goodjers had a similar issue and found the jump to an e reader not that bad. I’d really like to try and do it to allow a bit of space back but I can’t get past my internal prejudices. Worth noting I do use a library where I can already.

You've already had some great responses. I think there's two major aspects to your question: the reading experience and the owning experience. In terms of the reading experience, the KIndle (and let's be honest, the Kindle Paperwhite is really probably what you should be considering) is lightyears better than reading a tatty paperback. Others here have already spoken to the convenience of having a large library and ease of purchase on a small device. All absolutely true.

That said, I vastly prefer a good quality hardback book in certain situations. When I'm home and want to really immerse myself in reading, I'll get one of my hardback books out and make a nice pot of tea. There's just no substitute in my mind for the tactile experience.

So I propose this solution to your dilemma: if you would read it in paperback form, then read it on a Kindle (or other similar device), as your experience will be far better. If it's a book that's meaningful or something you'll know you want to return to again and again over the years, buy it in a good-quality hardback.

The advantage to this scheme is that your physical book collection will be smaller but much higher quality, and will be nicer to look at as a bonus!