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1. 

   Surio
   

   Sorcerer
   Joined: Dec '10
   Posts: 601

   OK, since this is a long term investment for the future usage, so I have been thinking for a long time now.

   First, there's the Amazon Kindle priced at ~$166 -> Rs. 8550+ shipping, duties...

   There's also an Indian knock-off: Infibeam Pi2 priced at Rs. 10,000 -> ~$200. (grayscale screen. Other Specs can be found on the link provided. Formats supported: PDF, EPUB, HTML, TXT, RTF, MOBI, PRC, DOC JPG, BMP, PNG, GIF MP3)

   Nowadays, India is seeing an invasion of tablet PCs.

   Here's one such thing: Binatone home surf supposed to be Rs. 9000+ (same range as that Pi2 above) another link

   High-end tablets and the iPad are priced in the Rs. 30,000 range ($600)

   I would appreciate some thoughts from your end on the following questions:

   My questions are:

   1. Since the Kindle is just a grayscale display like the Pi2 how good is it as a purchase (Let us avoid the pricing angle for now)? If a colour kindle is introduced in the near future, obviously the price of the colour kindle would be very high to begin with, and such a purchase is ruled out until new users have subsidised the costs for scrimpers like me. Your thoughts please.
   2. What about supported formats on kindle? Can I simply buy an ebook, download on my PC and use the Kindle PC reader to read it? Can I convert the amazon mobi book into an ePub and load it on a tablet pc/other readers?
   3. Would a tablet PC be a better investment under the circumstances? I can do much more with a tablet PCand also read books, so does it reall make sense to invest in just a pure e-reader today, than say 2 years ago when there was no choice really.

   Please add your thoughts, in case I missed something else.

   All thoughts, ideas and suggestions are welcome, and appreciated.

   Thanks in advance.
   Surio.

   Posted 1 year ago #
2. 

   bigato
   

   Master
   Joined: Mar '11
   Posts: 922

   Surio, it's not grayscale vs color. The kindle has no light coming from the screen. Your eyes don't get tired from reading. You can download things and put them here, converting if needed. Amazon format is azw and you have a software from Amazon to read it on pc's. A real ereader and a tablet are two very different things. If wanna read, buy the kindle.

   Posted 1 year ago #
3. 

   Surio
   

   Sorcerer
   Joined: Dec '10
   Posts: 601

   @bigato,
   Thanks for setting the ball rolling, man.

   +1 on the backlighting feature. Of course the tablet PC will have backlighting .....thereby making it useless in daylight. That was a big plus when they were marketing the Infibeam thing in India.

   What about PDFs? Can the Kindle support PDFs?

   Posted 1 year ago #
4. 

   rcamp
   

   Apprentice
   Joined: Aug '11
   Posts: 65

   So .. having both Kindle and tablets at the fortress of frugalitude ...

   1. I'm personally happy with what is now my third Kindle. Bought first gen, then DX, then downsized to 3rd gen Kindle wifi/3g.

   I only sold the DX since it crossed, for me, a threshold of weight in my hands ( not comfortable to read in bed more than a few minutes at a time )

   Wife uses Kindle app on the iPad, I have it on my android tablet. You can read anything you have on your Kindle account. The desktop/pc/mac version can also read these excepting books you borrow from Amazon via the Prime program. Library books via overdrive however can be read on anything.

   2. Supported formats. Well, in short, if you obtain an ebook that isnt supported on the Kindle, a quick trip to use Calibre will handle conversion ( there are other programs, for Windows Linux etc ). This has never been an issue for us.

   3. Yes, awkwardly. PDF's usually have some kind of page layout defined, that the Kindle or any reader app has to handle. Short answer is .. its awkward, and if its a PDF I intend to keep around - I convert it out of PDF to epub, etc.

   Tablets <> eReaders. I'd propose you examine your use cases. If you want a general purpose tablet that can have multiple ereaders - then thats the way to approach to your purchase. if you want a dedicated ereader, that may or may not do some other minor functions .. there you go.

   In our case, we absolutely use everything of every device we have. The kindle sits near my favorite reading chair, and I toss it in my bag occasionally for long trips etc. When near my chair it sits on the 1-3 library books I have out at any given time. I dont really prefer to read on the tablet, whereas the wife does ( via ipad ).

   Definitely seek out friends, neighbors, in store demos and handle the device your interested in ( save the India device ).

   Regarding android tablets - steer clear, IMHO, of ones that arent running honeycomb ( v3.0 and up ). One of the two you mentioned is running ( eww ) v1.6 of android.

   Let me add to you potential list : the now aborted HP touchpad. If it can still be found ( effectively on fire sale ) - that can take a port of CM7, and those devs are working CM9 as well. Saw a cube neighbor with it yesterday and I was impressed.

   Posted 1 year ago #
5. 

   m741
   

   Master
   Joined: Jan '11
   Posts: 734

   I recently picked up a Kindle (the $79 model in the US). I'm extremely happy with it. It's perfect for reading. I wouldn't try web browsing with it, though. It's certainly not a tablet/laptop/computer replacement.

   With the free software Calibre you can load basically any ebook format into it. PDF is different (it's difficult to convert PDF to a standard ebook format). The two formats that are currently popular are .mobi, which is the Kindle format, and .epub, which is the open B&N format.

   Posted 1 year ago #
6. 

   Chad
   

   Expert
   Joined: Jul '10
   Posts: 1,004

   rcamp provides some very good advice. I would go farther and say to stay away from Android tablets all together. Maybe some newer tablets and updated Honeycomb have fixed the lag problem (when you touch the screen for an action), but that annoys the heck out me.

   I own an iPad, but no Kindle. I don't like having multiple devices for the same thing.

   The Kindle e-ink screen is nice to read on. However, I don't really have any trouble reading on my backlit iPad screen for a few hours and I only read in direct sunlight 2-3 days a year, so it's not a deal breaker in my mind.

   Plus, I do research for work and I research the hell out of everything I plan to buy or do, so that only leaves me the option of a tablet if I want to do it in bed or on the couch with a good browser/internet experience.

   Keep in mind that the iPad 3 will be out next year and will probably be a significant jump in tech. While, the iPad 2 is really just a refined version of iPad 1. I'm not an Apple fanboy, but in my mind the Android and to a lessor extent Microsoft are still behind Apple's software.

   They are definitely behind in apps for their devices. Android is catching up in total number, but is still a little behind in quality. This is where the tablets really shine. I use Flipbook every day (news aggregator) and Instapaper is great for when you know you are going somewhere and won't have internet access (saves internet pages to your device to read later).

   It should be noted that the iPad does not support Flash, which was a semi-big deal and theoretically a selling point for Android. However, Adobe just came out and said they won't be supporting Flash anymore, so it will be dead in a year. So, don't worry about this point.

   For me the extra money for top of the line is worth it, but not for everyone.

   Posted 1 year ago #
7. 

   jforest
   

   Novice
   Joined: Jun '11
   Posts: 26

   @chad I think it again comes back to use case.

   I have an ipad (my boss bought us all them) but I never use it. It's too heavy/awkward to use in bed for any length of time. It's great at consuming video, but I find it bulky/awkward to read on.

   I got a 79 dollar kindle and love it so far. The best for me is that I take public transport to work. So I have about 1.5 hours a day total to read, and the kindle is perfect for that. it's small, light, easy to read, holds a charge forever.

   The ipad is just not good for that use case. It all depends on what he wants to do!

   Posted 1 year ago #
8. 

   JasonR
   

   Master
   Joined: Feb '11
   Posts: 334

   Nothing useful to add, just reading along.

   Minor point: Adobe is stopping support for Flash for Mobile, not Flash. They will be supporting AIR (so far) which still allows porting of apps and Flash content. So I agree that you don't need to worry about Flash (I know you were waiting with bated breath), but for a different reason.

   Posted 1 year ago #
9. 

   Chad
   

   Expert
   Joined: Jul '10
   Posts: 1,004

   Yes, it was Flash Mobile. I should have been more specific. Thanks (not sarcastically).

   @jforest
   I agree it's about what he wants it for (I'm not entirely sure).

   I do 80% of my reading in bed and have no problems with the weight. I don't see an issue with public transit either.

   The only way I see value in a Kindle type device is if all you want to do is read.

   Posted 1 year ago #
10. 

    BPA
    

    Apprentice
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 92

    Recently bought myself a Blackberry Playbook for $199 and I'm loving it. I quite like reading ebooks on it. I suspect that my love of cheap overrides any other considerations. :)

    It is heavier to hold than my Kobo was. I do like that I can dim the brightness to prevent eye fatigue when reading.

    Posted 1 year ago #
11. 

    bigato
    

    Master
    Joined: Mar '11
    Posts: 922

    Hey Surio, lots of different opinions on the thing.

    Another thing to add. People say that the Kindle is not good for web surfing. But if what you're gonna surf on the web are blog posts or news articles or anything else that resembles an article, there's a resource on the kindle that can convert the web page to an article on the Kindle screen, making it possible to you to change the font size at your will, or even the Kindle could *read* the page for you. You have male and female voices, and they are pretty good.

    But may I give you an emotional advice without more rational arguments? More like an order? Will a rational person hear that?

    Just buy the Kindle, man. Go there and get the thing. Just do it. I promess it is exactly what you want.

    Posted 1 year ago #
12. 

    Surio
    

    Sorcerer
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 601

    @people,
    Seriously, this was such a great set of responses. More than I could have come up with myself in such a short time.

    Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! ... and Thank you once again!

    I will post individual responses to keep the posts simpler to comprehend. :-)

    Posted 1 year ago #
13. 

    Surio
    

    Sorcerer
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 601

    @rcamp,
    As Chad pointed, clearly you have a great deal of practical experience, and it reflects in the wonderful reply. Has been informative to put it in the least.

    @jforest, @m741,
    Thank you both for sharing your experiences with the Kindle and with the iPad too.

    My Use Case — FWIW:
    -------------------------------------
    a] I prefer to maintain compartments in my life -- to enforce mindfulness more than anything else. Also, it is something from childhood that my mother drummed into me via a poem (*). So, when reading -- read, working -- work, internalising -- do that, relaxing -- just relax, etc. Of late, by becoming over-reliant on the PC, I have become an orangutan in deeper Borneo, i.e., swinging hither and thither, getting massively entertained and being entertaining, but not capitalising on anything.

    b] Therefore, I need an ereader to move away from the damn PC and catch up with the reading in peace -- without the need to "look up this or that", or "multi-task (leading to no-task!)", or all those roads to hell paved with good intentions.

    c] From the replies, I am clear now that I have been afflicted by "The Paradox of Choice"! I am interested in an ereader first and foremost. There, I got it off my chest. Looking at every Raja, Rani and Jacky here in India wave one of these things ("oooh look at my new tablet", "oooh look at my shiny mobile that launches N-bomb also"...etc.,) under my nose got me confused and paralysed.

    d] IMO, I have too much clutter in my life already and do not want to add to it in any form anymore. Thanks for detailed usage pattern, Chad. Based on the pattern, I can see that the tablet/iPad is clearly going to only zone me to distraction even more..... Appreciate the write-up. So, clearly no tablet/iPad/multi-functional gizmo for me now.

    Thanks to you all, for slapping me out of the headlights.

    (*) The poem in question, in case anyone is interested:

    Work while you work,
    Play while you play;
    That is the way
    To be cheerful and gay.

    All that you do,
    Do with your might;
    Things done by halves
    Are never done right.

    One thing each time,
    And that done well,
    Is a very good rule,
    As many can tell.

    Moments are useless
    Trifled away;
    So work while you work,
    And play while you play.

    --M.A. Stodart
    

    Posted 1 year ago #
14. 

    Surio
    

    Sorcerer
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 601

    The only thing that the Indian device has going for it against the Kindle is the expandable memory slot (upto 32GB). Again, if I am being objective, it simply means more clutter and more orangutan like behaviour, so I am going to pretend it doesn't exist. :-)

    Unfortunately, quite a few of my books are in PDF format (legacy! don't ask -- I don't want to re-live the time!) that I intend to devour. Having spent more time researching the Kindle (Thanks bigato :-) More later.) I came upon this for the Kindle keyboard:

    "Built-in PDF reader with pan and zoom"

    You can read your PDFs in their native format, view them in landscape mode, or zoom in up to 300% to view small print and detailed tables and graphics. You can also convert your PDF document to the Kindle format so that it reflows like a regular Kindle book.

    From what I understand from the replies, it won't be easy but worth a try to use Calibre to convert it into an ePub or an azw, right?

    Oooh, text to voice!!! Now when did I miss that.... That is an even more interesting feature... Listen to the book while doing the dishes (there I go again... multitask to no-task!)

    Questions:
    ------------
    1] The website mentions text-to-voice, audio (mp3) support for the $99 kindle. Can the $79 kindle-wallahs :-) kindly help me out by clarifying if these options
    a) mp3,
    b) web page-read-aloud,
    c) Built-in PDF reader with pan and zoom
    are also available in the $79 kindle as well?

    These three features are very important in determining the pricing option for me so your responses are eagerly awaited.

    Posted 1 year ago #
15. 

    Surio
    

    Sorcerer
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 601

    @bigato,
    Thanks for the friendly push towards the kindle, hombre.
    I think you are right. The kindle has many things going for it. Fundamentally,

    One thing each time,
    And that done well,
    Is a very good rule

    And the Kindle does it well. If the $79 does prove to be sufficient for my needs, then it works out much cheaper than the Indian device also! (Pretending still the memory slot is not important. ;-))

    So in keeping with the seasonal spirit,
    Kindle wins, Kindle wins,
    kindle wins all the way! ;-)

    Oh what fun it's to read a Kindle along the way, Hey!

    Sung to the refrain of "you guessed what". *ducks quickly to avoid things being thrown at him*

    @everyone

    Sincere thank you from me for participating and sharing your thoughts and impressions of the kindle experiences so far......

    Best,
    Surio.

    Posted 1 year ago #
16. 

    bigato
    

    Master
    Joined: Mar '11
    Posts: 922

    Pdfs can be read (but it's not so good) and can be converted (no big problem converting, except for multicolumn layouts). Memory slot is worthless. You can carry much more books on this thing than you can have on your shelves.

    Posted 1 year ago #
17. 

    bigato
    

    Master
    Joined: Mar '11
    Posts: 922

    Sorry, one correction: the kindle won't read web pages for you, only books. Unless you convert the html to some book format first on you computer.

    Posted 1 year ago #
18. 

    Surio
    

    Sorcerer
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 601

    Hey bigato,

    From amazon website: "Only e-reader with text-to-speech, audiobooks and mp3 support" -> $99 kindle

    So, when you said no web page read aloud were you talking about the $79 kindle?

    EDIT: I got it. No web page read aloud, but kindle will read ebook (and PDF?) formats?

    Posted 1 year ago #
19. 

    bigato
    

    Master
    Joined: Mar '11
    Posts: 922

    Only ebook. I have the kindle keyboard. I don't think they restrict that feature on the cheaper one, but someone with that version could tell us.

    Posted 1 year ago #
20. 

    bigato
    

    Master
    Joined: Mar '11
    Posts: 922

    Of course if you convert the pdf to ebook format it will work the audio reading.

    Posted 1 year ago #
21. 

    jforest
    

    Novice
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 26

    the 79 dollar kindle does not have speakers or a microphone jack, so it cannot read to you. but pdf does work, I find it somewhat clunky as well. but it DOES work.

    Posted 1 year ago #
22. 

    JohnnyH
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jul '10
    Posts: 1,366

    A tablet is more practical, especially if you are a casual reader... But reading on them is a far shot from the joy it is on an e-ink screen.

    I got one of the $150 TouchPad's (dual boot Android) and do like it for daily RSS reading, email, music in bed/bath, displaying pictures, watching videos while traveling, reading color PDFs while working on something. I am finding it to be more useful than I thought I would. With the small size and cost, I think I will keep it. LOL, the new 64gb ipad is almost $1000 dollars; insane... Tablet market is reaching saturation, if you're on the fence, I'd wait 6 months and you will likely be able to get an excellent tablet for $100-150.

    If you read a lot of PDFs you might want to try and hunt down a PRS950. The 7" screen's aspect ratio matches that of PDF publications much, much better than 6" screens... Complex PDFs with margins clipped by Briss are PERFECT, no reader can match it.

    Posted 1 year ago #
23. 

    Surio
    

    Sorcerer
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 601

    *Checks the price of PRS 950 on the internets — promptly faints — DW revives him; sits back to type :-P *

    @JohnnyH,
    Appreciate the points you make. Thanks for chipping in.

    a] However, as I explained earlier, I am a serious reader and I realise that I am sitting way too long in front of the PC for my own good.

    b] I live in the tropics, so even indoor lighting can be quite bright. The tablet would start straining my eyes very fast.

    c] And the boys' review of the ereader has reminded me that it is definitely a book reader I have in mind and the tablet was a classic case of "paradox of choice" scenario for me.

    > The 7" screen's aspect ratio matches that of PDF
    > publications much, much better than 6" screens...
    That is the same resolution as a Kindle keyboard!

    @jforest,
    Thank you for clarifying that point for me. I have now moved into the $99 kindle on my inventory now ;-)

    Re: the kindle, my thoughts....

    The way I understand it, if I am looking for some future proofing, it is really a tossup between a $99 kindle or a Kindle keyboard. Based on the PDF comment by JohnnyH, it might be the keyboard.....

    The Amazon blurb says lot of positive things about the kindle keyboard, but bigato who owns a kindle keyboard was not gushing about PDF support either. I just have to try and convert the PDFs into a clunky epub or mobi; if not, I live with what I got. :-/

    > You can carry much more books on this thing than
    > you can have on your shelves.
    @bigato, my hero! You sold the kindle to me 4 times successively in a span of 24 hours! I love you! (I am also somewhat hating the fact that I have to spend money now :-\)

    Posted 1 year ago #
24. 

    bigato
    

    Master
    Joined: Mar '11
    Posts: 922

    I hear about the sony ereader being better for pdf's without conversion. I didn't try it. If sometimes you read pdf's with multicolumn layout or with technical drawings, you may want to research at the sony prs or bigger kindle dx.

    If you go with the kindle, mine came with free internet. I don't know if it will be available for ones you buy now. It is useful. I'm typing from it now. You can also look up terms on wikipedia whlie reading a ebook.

    Posted 1 year ago #
25. 

    Koogie
    

    Novice
    Joined: Oct '10
    Posts: 29

    Love, love, love my ASUS EEE Pad transformer. And they just dropped the price of it today to $299.00 (doh...)

    Mind you, I think they're coming out with the ICE version soon.

    Posted 1 year ago #
26. 

    JohnnyH
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jul '10
    Posts: 1,366

    @Surio: I think you've made the right choice... Ereader is probably my single favorite piece of technology.

    As far as screen resolution all the Kindles except the DX have: (90 × 120mm) 6" 600 × 800 pixels, 167 ppi.

    The PRS950 screen is: (90 × 154mm) 7.1" 600 × 1024 pixels, 167 ppi.

    Almost all of the published PDF books I have are 6 units wide by 9 units long... After adding a strip for the status bar the PRS950 is perfect for this size, once the excess white has been clipped. These same PDFs are hopelessly broken on 6" readers because they break the page, then render an incomplete page for the entire book.

    While conversion has come a long way (Calibre's heuristics are making great strides), I do not know if there will ever be an ideal solution for converting complex PDFs to EPUB/MOBI... Many text PDFs can be made into near perfect EPUBs, but any scientific or heavily diagrammed PDF don't even try because the results will be basically unreadable.

    The best looking PDF on a 6" screen involves converting it to an image and is not ideal. I discuss this more in my review on the PRS950/K3 here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1C6G1E95SHP2B/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

    The bad being the PRS950 has surged in price, and I have a terrible suspicion the 7" e-ink screen might be discontinued by Sony altogether... I hope I can get a backup in case they do vanish.

    Posted 1 year ago #
27. 

    HSpencer
    

    Master
    Joined: Jul '10
    Posts: 770

    Surio

    Thumbs up for your research prior to obligating on a product. I am one that also does that since being burned a few times. I can't really help you on the differences of Kindle vs pad, but I can really relate a story that made a difference of astounding proportion to me:
    Screen size--yes to me it's that important.
    Being a computer user with a 22" LED screen, and an XBOX user with a 26" TV attached, I could NOT STAND the tiny screen of the Play Station Portable (PSP) game console I was given as a gift. It seems as if I was playing the games on something as tiny as a wrist watch. The PSP had a 7" screen.
    I was NEVER going to like it. In short I gave it to my grand daughter.
    Saying this to focus on screen size. Were it me, I would get as big and brilliant as budget will allow. I think this point makes sense, at least to me. Some of these readers and pads are small. The larger ones are expensive to say the least. The bright well colored ones are "purty 'spensive"
    I am going to break down and admit an interest in these pads things as well. While I have no technical report for you, I can sense what I would want would be in the $600.00 arena. However, I am not going to play the game of them and obligate myself for a long series of constant upgrades and living in fear of my $600.00 investment going obsolete in six months. What I am saying is this: Part of me wants one, but part of me is "opting out" at this point. I have referred this consideration of a tech purchase to committee and have moved it well into the 2012 budget, say midyear. $600.00 will have to prove it's value prior to obligation of funds. But, what the hey, I still want one as they are neat and purty.
    However, if I have not made a purchase by "Dec 21, 2012" it will probably be too late anyway, won't it?
    Your the man Surio old pal, just duck your head and go for the gold!!!! (As an aside, when your injected with your RFID chip after 12/21/12, you may be able to wifi your way without a pad?) Time will tell.
    Cheers

    Posted 1 year ago #
28. 

    riparian
    

    Master
    Joined: Oct '11
    Posts: 341

    I have the $79 kindle and it did amazing things for my living space. I got rid of a dozen boxes of books which is a lot when you live in a small cabin!

    It is good for PDFs when you turn it sideways in landscape mode. If the PDF uses columns, it's seriously inconvenient, and if it uses columns + pictures things often get messed up beyond readability. But for most PDFs it's great. I might be doing something wrong, but I've been unsuccessful at converting about half of my PDFs with calibre. It is an extremely useful program tho, especially if you get some of the plug ins.

    Posted 1 year ago #
29. 

    Surio
    

    Sorcerer
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 601

    @HSpencer,
    Thanks for the encouragement. I have been saving for an ereader all year (What a terrible notion -- too much frugal fatigue, I know!). With the Kindle keyboard in mind, my budget has slightly overrun already. Agree the tablets are both big and purty, but unfortunately, I have neither a justifiable use-case, not a lingering desire to digitise and connect my life any more than it is now.

    Speaking of "RFID chip after 21/12/12", did you know that Jeff Bezos of Amazon, kindle, "whispernet" and who is already tracking digital reading patterns with a vengeance is actually a Bilderberg group member? So as the old sleuth would say, "Watson, the game's already afoot!" 21 December is merely going to be an eye-wash. :-P

    @riparian,
    That is one of the intentions. the e-reader should de-clutter my digital (and in general) life.

    Posted 1 year ago #
30. 

    Surio
    

    Sorcerer
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 601

    @JohnnyH,
    More interesting data. Thanks.

    a] Great review of the Sony reader..... I am having a terrible feeling over this, but I too have "over 100s of PDFs from academic papers, to technical reference books, to books loaded with equations, pictures and tables". But like I said, it is waaaay over my budget for at least another year. Remember I save in Rupees, but I have to pay in dollars ($1 = Rs. 52 today)!

    b] Aaaahh...Brisso! What more can I say. Thanks for that tool pointer.

    c] Agree that Calibre has come in leaps from original avatar, but I just have to go with the landscape mode on the kindle (as @riparian pointed earlier) and live with it!. The Sony reader is 4 times over my original budget, and short of a windfall from a non-existent uncle, I just can't buy it.

    My knowledge on these devices has gone up by peaks in the last two days, and you are one of the persons to thank for that.

    Posted 1 year ago #
31. 

    Surio
    

    Sorcerer
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 601

    @rcamp, @jforest, @Chad, @JasonR AND @bigato,
    Seriously guys. Can't thank you all enough. My awareness on mobile platforms has gone up from naught to 40 in the last two days thanks to your replies.

    Thanks once again.

    But, I cannot resist referring to this latest hot cake Indian meme (*) : Why this Kolaveri towards Android operating system, people?

    (*)I find it total rubbish, but then again, I am an ERE regular since 2007!

    Posted 1 year ago #
32. 

    Surio
    

    Sorcerer
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 601

    Turns out the only Kindle Amazon has in stock (will deign to ship) for India shipment is the $99 model (but actually priced at $109 for India -- Foul!)

    I am thinking of asking one of my ex-colleagues in USA to buy a Kindle keyboard for me, while returning home when the USA winds down for Christmas. I don't think Internet connection would work for India anyway (except Wikipedia), so I don't think I will miss much in terms of functionality. Other than this already known issue, can anyone think of any other problem that I cannot think of immediately?

    @bigato,
    "If you go with the kindle, mine came with free internet. I don't know if it will be available for ones you buy now. It is useful. I'm typing from it now."

    Only Wikipedia for India, I think. Also on top, if I buy it in USA and use it in India it might go into somewhat restricted operational mode, I think. This is what it says on the India page: " Access Wikipedia via Whispernet on the experimental web browser. Access other websites like Google via a Wi-Fi connection."

    So, if I have wifi internet at home (which I have) then I ought to do forum reading on the kindle too. We'll see once I get my hands on one.. :-)

    Posted 1 year ago #
33. 

    Shandi76
    

    Journeyman
    Joined: Jan '11
    Posts: 111

    @Surio - Have you considered the Kindle DX? I think the standard size Kindle is a bit small and awkward for using to read PDFs, or any books really. The DX has a much bigger screen and I find it provides a much nicer reading experience. The DX is a fair bit more expensive than the Kindle Keyboard but to me it was worth it. It's still much lighter and easier to read from than a tablet PC.

    Posted 1 year ago #
34. 

    Surio
    

    Sorcerer
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 601

    * Checks kindle DX prices; suffers mild panic attack instead of fainting; DW revives him as usual *

    Oh... the humanity! That's slightly more than twice my original intended budget....

    I am going to sleep over it :-/

    Posted 1 year ago #
35. 

    bigato
    

    Master
    Joined: Mar '11
    Posts: 922

    The normal size seems perfect to me, unless for unconverted pdf's.

    Posted 1 year ago #
36. 

    rcamp
    

    Apprentice
    Joined: Aug '11
    Posts: 65

    @Surio your welcome happy to help

    Posted 1 year ago #
37. 

    Surio
    

    Sorcerer
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 601

    Brief update:

    In the end, I went with this one, as it gave me all those in a Kindle DX/3G, but at a very competitive price.

    http://www.pocketbook-int.com/ge/node/2028

    Posted 1 year ago #

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