Advice please on Kindle etc .....

After Christmas, I would be interested in buying a gadget for reading books.
I am very 'green' on this - so do you have one, are they worthwhile. Is there a good range of books available, as I would like to read 'older' books, particularly biographies.
Advice would be much appreciated .....

Re: Advice please on Kindle etc .....

Since getting mine about 4 years ago I haven't paid for a book so many free ones especially classics. Can really recommend them. Also oddly some books are free or very cheap (£1-£2) but £6-£7 as a paper version. So well worth buying.

If you buy a kindle I wouldn't get one with keyboard (I have an original they all came with keyboards). Because the keys or so tiny I need a magnifying glass to see the letters !

Also unless internet access has been improved don't bother with that either.

Re: Advice please on Kindle etc .....

Thanks Julie - just want purely for reading ..... Would not want keyboard either ......

Re: Advice please on Kindle etc .....

The new Kindles are extremely good and show pages very well and would say one of the best to purchase. I have recently purchased an Apple iPad which is better much more expensive.

But better for access to the internet and of course can be loaded with Kindle, Kobo, reader applications.

If you just wish to have it for reading books this is not quite so good ie more strain on the eyes

Re: Advice please on Kindle etc .....

Mine broke down just after a year and the response from Amazon was
"sorry it's out of guarantee there's nothing we can do"

£89 well spent I could have bought a lot of books for that amount of money

Re: Advice please on Kindle etc .....

I have the original Kindle with keyboard, and the built in wifi is pretty good. I can go on to my Amazon account and see what books I have, what I've ordered, and if they've been downloaded or not.

However, I don't use it that much as I can download all my Kindle books onto this iPad or onto my netbook. Plus still reading other material (library books and mags/papers).

Research the different ereaders. Kindle doesn't take all formats of books so you're kinda limited. Battery life on the Kindle is excellent and the pages are easy on the eye.

Now the Kindle fire has been released which of course gives colour images and is much better. Who'd have thought, when I first bought the Kindle, that it would have been improved?!

Hope you choose something you will like.

Re: Advice please on Kindle etc .....

I have heard better stories from Amazon re broken devices! Go into your account and look at the forums, see if anyone else has had bad customer service. But if you buy another, your purchases will still be on your account.

Re: Advice please on Kindle etc .....

I have to say mine broke about 18 months after I got it, just froze, I contacted them thinking it may be able to be fixed and was amazed and very happy they replaced it for just the postage cost. Very good service I thought.

Re: Advice please on Kindle etc .....

I love my Kindle. I have the original type and it works fine for me. I also forked out for a cover with an attached led light, again it works well. My sister also had the earlier version and again it was well used. She now has the Fire version which she thinks is marvellous, mainly owing to the fact that mid novel you can shoot off to the internet to find out more facts or view various associated videos. As far as I know the new Fire version doesn't need any additional lighting either. Once again she loves it.

There are God knows how many books available for the Kindle with all the old classics available for free, new books are normally a lot cheaper to aquire too. It is a marvellous system if you ask me in that you simply download whatever you want instantly after reading an introductory few pages.

I use mine every night .

I will say though that my brother in law has one and he has managed to break the screen a number of times, but his household is not known for being gentle with electronic devices.

Money well spent if you ask me.

Re: Advice please on Kindle etc .....

Where did you buy that one Julie ?

Thanks Mark for your input .....