Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

^ same here... it's value added :D

oh, those of you got the kindle 2.0, please don't buy any of the price bloated jackets? The Amazon one cost $30 and can't close. The latest ones cost $100 :eek:

Anyhow, i got my Kindle 2.0 jacket for $8 from Target. All you need to do is rip out the blank journal pages and use mounting tapes. Well, i won't be able to take out the Kindle w/o remounting, but hell, i don't see any reason why i ever need to take it out of the jacket... Oh yeah, like open the back cover and put a SD card. But why? I'm not gonna use it for pictures, mp3...

Between now, the free books i got before are no longer free, but a new set of books are free :D I'm building a quite library in my Kindle for free.

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

I do have the Amazon cover for the Kindle 2, and they've done a very nice job with it. The hinge clip system works very well, and I have no problems with the cover falling open when it shouldn't.

There are other covers available besides the $100 Cole Haan covers and the $30 Amazon cover, some of which have very nice closure systems, some of which use the hinge system. Any of which I personally would prefer to cutting apart a cheap journal cover and gluing my Kindle to it permanently.

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

^^^ obviously you never saw my $8 Kindle 2.0 jacket :D

Trust me, it's much much much more professional looking than one of those insanely priced jackets ($30 is the lowest). I have a magnetic button to keep the jacket closed ;)

Oh, it's not glued to the jacket permanently... i guess some people don't have or like crafty hands?

I think the term is "inexpensive" not "cheap." Trust me, a good looking blank journal books is not CHEAP. I happen to find one that was on clearance. The material is very good, black leather, no nasty residues like one of the jackets they sell on Amazon. The magnetic button is a big bonus. As for the spine and overall size, it holds the Kindle 2.0 perfectly!

So yeah, that's a saving of $22 for books (discount from $30 Amazon jacket). I feel sorry for those buying the $100 jacket, but then again, they got money to burn... Remind me again why some people need to be bailed out?

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

The Babysitter's Code (Kindle Edition) is FREE, FYI... the author got 4 stars ratings.

The other free books are:

Assassin's Apprentice (Kindle Edition)
by Robin Hobb
Kindle Price: $0.00

Red Mars (Kindle Edition)
by Kim Stanley Robinson
Kindle Price: $0.00

His Majesty's Dragon (Kindle Edition)
by Naomi Novik
Kindle Price: $0.00

Blood Engines (Kindle Edition)
by T.A. Pratt
Kindle Price: $0.00

Settling Accounts Return Engagement (Kindle Edition)
by Harry Turtledove
Kindle Price: $0.00

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

Free Kindle Books

Sorted by price, the free ones first and then the penny ones...

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

The Kindle books are also free on Sony's website too. FYI...

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

Yeah, I saw those on the sony website, but after reading the description, they really don't seem like my type of thing so I haven't downloaded them yet. I've still got 7 or 9 free books from the last time they had some free stuff, and haven't gotten around to those either.

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

I played around with the Mobiopocket creator software a bit and wow, all of sudden, more books for my Kindle! Granted that the imported books will not show up in my Kindle account (i.e. my registered iPod touch will not see the imported title), but still, totally awesome!

I've been testing Chinese pdfs using both the software and Kindle's document conversion service (free, if you use your Kindle e-mail account), but that didn't go well... Kindle can't do Chinese for the moment :(

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

Mobipocket creator is great. I've converted a bunch of the PDFs that come with my technical manuals, the manual for my camera, Word documents that I've created from technical websites. . . .

I just wish it worked on Macs, as that's mainly what I use at home, and where most of my documents are stored.

For more free books, check out the Baen Free Library if you are a sci-fi/fantasy fan. They even have an option for emailing directly to the Kindle if you don't want to have to load the file via USB, and don't mind the $.10 charge. (Note that I have not seen ANY reports of Amazon charging anyone yet.) If you get a book from Baen that is missing some metadata-the one I downloaded didn't have the author listing-you should be able to fix that using mobi2mobi software.

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

^ yeah, the missing or incorrect metadata bugs me to no end :mad:

i have to fix it whenever i see the wrong title, author on the Kindle (even though the reading material is fine). i guess i'm being anal...

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

p.s. i'm loving my Kindle more everyday, it's truly an awesome reading device :)

no more bookmarks (i don't know how many bookmarks l lost over the years, not a deal breaker, but from time to time, i do search for the damn bookmark when i have to get off the train)

no more flipping pages to find my place (don't happen all the time, but annoying when it does happen)

no more carrying multiple books in series because i'm almost done with one and don't wanna go home to continue my reading (oh, i hate it when i have to carry two Twilight hardcovers with me).

dictionary, just place the cursor on the word!

no more numb hands/arms from holding a hardcover on the train (usually i don't get a seat) i can turn the page w/o losing balance too!

no more disappointing trips to the library, hooray!

i can jump between books with ease, it was a new experience, totally! i can read a short story if the time is short and savor the long novel later.

book conversations, did you read this or that? oh, not yet, but i'm sending a sample to my Kindle now ;) (totally wow'd people)

best of all, i have my favorite books with me all the time (well, if i carry the Kindle or iPod touch that is)!

i haven't use the MP3, audio book portion of the Kindle, but it's a bonus i don't praise much (Text to speech is horrible).

i haven't use memos and highlighters yet, but they can be very handy later on.

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

Glad to see you "get it" instead of complaining that you cant make phone calls..text ..or take picture with it...
its an awesome e-reader for all the points you have mentioned

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

Why the hell people want the Kindle to make phone calls or taking pictures? It's too bulky and unnatural for that! Well, it's not a Transformer you know ;)

Actually, the #1 reason for me is "easy on the eyes." People say i'll miss the fresh smell of inks from the real books. Well, i told them "i don't know about you, but i don't like the smell of my books let along the inks." Who the hell smell their books, seriously :lol: I collect hardcovers and i really enjoy reading them and looking at them, but never smell them...

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

exactly..that was the main reason I got one last year (I have a kindle 1). The e-ink technology makes reading a pleasure again..my eyes seme to get worse every year..plus i dont like tryign to find more room for bookshelves..
yea you know people..since its 300 some bucks they expect it to do everything up to and including making morning coffee for them :)

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

wow, i'm impressed with your reading attitude :)

Both Kindle 1.0 and 2.0? So do you use both (can you?) or you detached the 1.0 from your Kindle account and give it to somebody else?

If there's a Kindle 3.0, i wish Amazon have some kind of trade-in promotion, so that those of us want to upgrade can get it cheaper... I'm surprised that they didn't offer this for the 1.0 users.

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

no I dont have a Kindle 2..just a Kindle 1..

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

oh, gotcha... sorry, i misread your earlier post. Well, it was difficult to secure a Kindle 1.0 in the beginning... As a matter of fact, people on the Kindle 1.0 waiting list were automatically upgraded to Kindle 2.0 (duh, they don't make Kindle 1.0 anymore).

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

i just find out that the Kindle is an excellent manga reader :)

http://foosoft.net/mangle/

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

the Kindle 2 is..the Kindle 1 did not do graphics all that well

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

^ didn't know that, but the mangle program is for Kindle 1.0 as well. Well, BW manga pages should be fine. Before the mangle thing, i just couldn't get the pages "max'd" up. They're centered and "fit" to screen with plenty of white spaces to pan out.

Anyhow, it's great... The screen is not perfect, but way better than the PSP and Touch,

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

I just learned another cool thing to do on the Kindle. This, by far, the best "feature." It's truly remarkable when it's used with the free Whispernet :)

Credit goes to mobileeread of course...

On your Kindle's browser, just enter the following:

http://www.feedbooks.com/kindleguide


Save the file... Once that's done, go to the Main Home menu, you'll see the new Feedbooks document. Viola, more free books for your Kindle, download them virtually anywhere, no computer required :)

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

Mobileread also has it's own list that also allows you to download straight to your kindle: http://www.mobileread.com/mobiguide

Feedbook's list has some good organization and categories (so it's pretty easy to find stuff). Mobileread's list big advantage is tons of books, and they get new ones every day.

Once you've got them, each list also contains a link so you can get the latest version of the list (and just delete the old one).

The only reason for me to actually connect my kindle to my computer now is for library books.

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

oh, thanks! Even better :)

i'm years behind my reading now...

As for library ebooks, i don't know how that works (i know they expire after certain date), where can i get more info? Thanks in advance...

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

Sorry, AFAIK you'll need a Sony Reader to take advantage of free online borrowing from electronic libraries. :shrug: I don't think the Kindle handles the formats required (secure Adobe or Mobipocket). So, no trips to the library with the Kindle, but no access to online libraries either! :P

Re: Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"
 

^ thanks DrMoze, i have enough reading materials for now, so i can wait for the library thing (it's a matter of time).

anyhow, i just had my first real frustration with the Kindle 2... Helps appreciated!

It seems that there's a picture bug in the Kindle 2. Any pictures in the full display format will not be displayed properly (i.e. blank screen). However, if you press the Home or Menu button, the picture mysteriously appears... Then again, if you press the next page button, nothing! This is annoying since the picture part of the Kindle is very useful. Home made picture books, family photo slides, and of course, manga...

The solution was to reset the Kindle and try not to press any text buttons while browsing the pictures (and try not to do it full display mode too). It's a lot to remember and the part not to use Full Display is a killer!

Anyway, do any of you ever reset the Kindle 2? You know, hold the slide button for 15 secs or so? What happens if you do a reset? Do you lose all of your bookmarks, footnotes and such?