Kindle

[ostuni]

My wife and I have a Kindle each - they're both linked to the same Amazon account, which means that we can share books, but with the added advantage of both being able to read the same book simultaneously, at our own chosen speed. And in a font size/line spacing to suit our own, differing, preferences/needs.

True, Flosshilde (#7), you can't physically flip back through the pages. But you have something better: a searchable text. So when you forget, for instance, just when a character first appeared, you bring up the search box, insert said character's name, and bingo: all the page references are there (and clickable, of course).

And when you're going away from home, on a budget flight with only hand baggage, it's wonderfully reassuring to know that you're in no danger of finishing all the books you came with, and being forced to read the Danielle Steel that the last visitor left behind...

[Dave2002]

User experiences seem to vary. Some take to them very well, others not. Also, if you live in an area where there is no 3G coverage it may be only worth buying a Wi-Fi model. I know someone for which this has been an issue, and since he does not intend to download while mobile, has elected to have the cheaper non 3G model.

They are great for reading out of doors, where other gadgets, such as iPads don't work so well. We have one Kindle and a couple of iPads. The iPads have colour, and changing font size is easy, but they do cost considerably more. I can also confirm that Amazon's download service to the Kindle works even in remote areas, such as villages bordering on Indian jungle. For books downloaded from Amazon it's not only a gadget, but also a system. The system will attempt to synchronise the pages you have read across different devices.

The Kindles can also be used for documents, such as PDF files, which may be good if you are working, and they can also be used for email, and maybe even for web browsing.

Kindles have a much better battery life than devices such as iPads. Note, though, that battery life even for Kindles, is severely reduced if all the wireless facilities (3G and Wi-Fi) are turned on.

Our own use of the Kindle has reduced since getting another iPad. However, with the neat reading light (worth having!) it is still used for reading in bed.

The Kindle is also great for reading on trains (though so is an iPad), and in the event that it gets nicked or damaged, is much cheaper to replace.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

And when you're going away from home, on a budget flight with only hand baggage, it's wonderfully reassuring to know that you're in no danger of finishing all the books you came with, and being forced to read the Danielle Steel that the last visitor left behind...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

No mention of the Sony Reader, which is rather good.

[salymap]

i don't want or need a Kindle but is there such a thing as a paper-back page size magnifying glass? I find a small round glass makes it harder than ever to read. I need to enlarge a page at a time?

[Norfolk Born]

i don't want or need a Kindle but is there such a thing as a paper-back page size magnifying glass? I find a small round glass makes it harder than ever to read. I need to enlarge a page at a time?

Amazon.co.uk sell a Full Page Magnifier Sheet for £3.30 new (s/hand even less). It looks as if it might be what you need.

[salymap]

Amazon.co.uk sell a Full Page Magnifier Sheet for £3.30 new (s/hand even less). It looks as if it might be what you need.

Thanks a lot, I'll get someone onto it for me.

[PatrickOD]

salymap, far be it from me to be pushing Kindles, when I'm looking for advice myself, but one of the advantages emerging seems to be the
facility for enlarging text. At the moment it's not a problem for me, but I imagine that being able to set text size is more satisfactory than using a hand held or page enlarger. It's something that I place on the plus side.

Many thanks for all the positive suggestions
.
Thinks..... must have another go at getting the thing working.

[Dave2002]

Salymap

Not sure how well some magnifiers work. There are some quite big ones, and some have a light built in. Some of the sheet thingies are made from plastic and probably don't work too well with fine detail font. The glass lens ones should have better optics but may be awkward to handle.

The fonts on the Kimdle can be made quite large, while the iPad fonts are almost continuously variable in size. However the iPad can be really infuriating for text entry. The **** thing seems to think it knows better than "you" do what you want to type. I quite like mine despite, not because of, this. The Kindle is really good value if you like reading, and there are loads of free books. Not sure if the Kindle will manage scores though, such as the PDFs which I download from places such as IMSLP for my iPad. Examples include DOG (Dream of Gerontius)' the manuscript of Brahms' violin concerto etc. You might still find that a Kindle helps you out, though the keyboard is a bit small and fiddly but it's not too bad.

PS: some public libraries sell magnifiers, including those plastic sheet ones.

[salymap]

Thanks Dave,I've just seen this. I don't buy on line but a cousin has ordered the whole page thing from Amazon for me. At £3.30,even if it doesn't help it's not too terrible.

I may think about a Kindle in time but want to read the particular books I have, long out of print,not their choices. bws