General Chat

Robert I promise if you persevere there will be no looking back :-)

~~~~~ JBA :-) <3

if we stop reading real books
I think trees will become redundent

and nobody will plant any more :-( :-(

Thanks, DetEcTive and Mersey

Will take your advice.

Thanks Mersey :-D <3

The "eBook readers" are nothing more than customised Android tablets. Indeed most of them (*) can be adapted to run standard Android OS with full access to the PlayStore AND Amazon and so on. Amazon do not like this.

Standard print resolution in magazines etc is 300 dpi whereas Kindle paperwhite for example has only a bit over 200 dpi. Higher quality print will have 400dpi. Trad. litho print is analog and there is no resolution issue. It is IMPOSSIBLE for consumer level electronics to properly display fonts - that is why Apple have designed their own.( yes, without getting deep into geekdom I am treating dp/pixels as the same thing even though they r not ).

This difference matters and is one reason why a lot of people don't like using eBooks ( or computer screens ) for long periods of time. Retina burn in or out.

The advantages of using an eReader rather than just a notebook or Android tablet are basically low power consumption and hires screen. However there are now plenty of tablets running AppleOS and Android with excellent resolution and fair power consumption.

With a standard tablet just install Kindle, Nook app and off you go with the bonus of a stack of stuff not accessible from the gated products of Amazon et al.

Tesco have a new budget tablet called the Huddle. It is fairly good at £ 120 and unbeatable at £ 60 with Tesco vouchers.

I find them ok for reading on the go and when travelling but pointless at home unless yr home was designed by Ikea and you are very short of space.

There are 1001 ways of coverting between eBook formats, dealing with geographical locations, dealing with DRM and possessing both print and digital books without shelling out twice ... however discussion of how to is against the T&C. Suffice gentle reader to know that it can be done.

I guess it just depends on how many bits of electronics all losing value at speed you want to drag around. A friend uses a giant Samsung for just about everything .... but imho it looks weird as a phone.

I have settled on a Samsung S4 Mini phone with 64MB SIM (free on contract) and a DELL Ultrabook which runs Kindle just fine with the xtra that it does movies and can even be used for work (!). It fits in a briefcase but would probably be a big ask of most handbags ( but not my OH tote bag which was invented by BBC special effects).

good luck

(*) Apple no way, Microsoft Surface with Intel CPU, yes.

Mau hope you get things sorted and find what you want....

Thanks for the link Det is great for those who are struggling to download , and just starting out with their kindles....

Bought a tablet a few weeks ago in order to download books, but having trouble getting the hang of it.
Discovered last week that I could download a Kindle app to my PC, which I did & I haven´t looked back.
Would prefer a proper E Book because reading on the laptop is awkward, but better than nothing until I can get this ruddy tablet to work.

The local charity shops are likely to run out of 'books' fairly soon.

And what are Libraries to do with all their empty shelving?

Thanks Marie .. I see a trip to PC world very soon :-D

Robert you can get help from Amazon themselves....

Once you get started you will not be able to stop, I am addicted to downloading :-)

Awwwh :-0

Firstly, you do need to have an account with Amazon. Then look at this link to see how to register your kindle

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201242220

Instruction 1 refers to the options on your Kindle.

Another link with instructions is
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200769670

I have a Kindle which I don't use because I don't know how to download books from Amazon!!!

Like other people on here, I can get through about 3-4 ‘lightweight’ books in a week. I used to buy them from charity shops but could never part with them. Consequently, much to OH’s irritation, the books ended up being double stacked on the bookshelf unit.

Sitting next to a young lady on a train, she was kind enough to allow me to try out hers. As that convinced the rest of my family that I could get on with it, I was given one two Christmases ago and have only bought a couple of paper books since. I wouldn’t be without it now. I rarely pay for downloads, having a weekly trawl on the Kindle ‘free’ releases. Consequently I’ve been introduced to various authors and genre which I won’t otherwise have contemplated. If something is ‘free’ you tend to be more willing to take a risk.

A friend has recently acquired a note pad type of thing. Both I and her son are trying to persuade her to use it to read electronic books, on the basis that it will lighten her luggage when she goes abroad. She won’t have it, saying that she doesn’t mind paying charity shop or local fair prices then passing them on to her sisters!

Depends what you want to do with it Mau, if just reading then the Kindle paperwhite is good (but I have a Kindle Touch going spare!)

If you want to use it as a tablet then the Fire HD.

The first time I learnt about the Kindle was when Ann in Glos mentioned on a thread (a good while back now) that she owned one.
I was interested and went on-line to read all about Kindles.......then told my family about them. At the time it was news to them, and they said "noo we love books"!
Now they've all got one lol and I haven't :-( thinking about Kindle Light? or perhaps ask santa for a tablet? have recently had a 'play' with sister in law's. Which would you recommend please.

Mau

I'm sure you'll enjoy it Mersey.

I swore blind that I'd never have a Kindle, nothing could beat the feel and smell of a real book. Yes, I now have a kindle (in fact I have two).

Florence, the screen is not like a computer screen and I actually find it easier on the eyes when reading in bed (plus it doesn't disturb Mr Celeste as I don't need the lamp on (which costs money)). The minimal cost of charging it is far outweighed by the number of FREE books (not counting those that cost 20p to £1).

Well I have gone and done it I have pre ordered my Kindle Fire HD which comes out on the 24th!!!! yaaaaaaaay :-D :-D

I love my kindle.

Our local library isn't very good, the nearest bookshop is miles away.

I have three bookshelves stuffed with paper books, no space for any more!

The only paper books I can see (in the study) are 'phone books, some travel info & maps & a couple about genealogy.

I buy one magazine every month....... paper........ I wouldn't like that on kindle.

It does not sound boring at all Florence we are all different and have different views....

:-)

If you're happy with mp3 then youi'll be happy with a kindle, nook or whatever.

An eBook reader sure takes the boredom out of flying and all the hanging around or even the time going at 000kph with the frequent Eurostar breakdowns or stuck on a ferry. Great for visiting inlaws. No problem with pulp fiction either.

But at home ?

With a real book the typeface, paper and binding are all part of the art just the same as the cover art and sleeve notes are an integral part of the major vinyl albums from the 70s/80s.

My guess is that eBooks will gradually kill off pulp fiction (*) but real print will remain - at a price. Now is the time to get collectable stuff eg early editions of John Fowles.

(*) the technology in the labs is for a reader as thin as and as flexible as paper which will made the existing tablet style gadgets look very retro just like 70s over the ear cans.