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Kindle for Christmas? Reviews? (previous owners, chime in too!)

Hedgehogs4

By Hedgehogs4,
in K-8 Curriculum Board

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Hedgehogs4

Hedgehogs4

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I'd love to know who got Kindles for Christmas. I know we have a ton of bibliophiles here, so I'd like to know how / if you like it so far. My dh and I both got one, and so far I like it. I keep thinking it needs a touch screen, though. Then I remember I bought it to be an e-reader and not an ipad...i'll get that later (mwahahaha!)

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justamouse

justamouse

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I'd love to know who got Kindles for Christmas. I know we have a ton of bibliophiles here, so I'd like to know how / if you like it so far. My dh and I both got one, and so far I like it. I keep thinking it needs a touch screen, though. Then I remember I bought it to be an e-reader and not an ipad...i'll get that later (mwahahaha!)

 

btw, my techie friend who has both says that though she loves her ipad, she still reads the most on her kindle. And yes, I keep going to touch it too and realizing I need to press the button:tongue_smilie:

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meet me in paris

meet me in paris

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btw, my techie friend who has both says that though she loves her ipad, she still reads the most on her kindle. And yes, I keep going to touch it too and realizing I need to press the button:tongue_smilie:

LOL - I did that at first, too, since my phone has a touch screen. You'll break the habit soon. :)

 

I've had my Kindle since the middle of Nov and I love it! I got my girls each an e-reader that's more like an iPad for Christmas, and I played around with them yesterday. They're nice for web surfing, but I much prefer reading on my Kindle. It's easier on the eyes, and much easier to download books.

 

Make sure you check the top sellers (the "free" list) on Amazon on a regular basis since they offer lots of freebies that aren't public domain - but it changes all the time. I try and check at least once a week, and I always find something new to download. I think I have about 75 books on there now, and I've only paid for 2. love it.

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Hedgehogs4

Hedgehogs4

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I got one and I've been downloading tons of free classics! My husband gave me a gift card to buy a cover or sleeve, and I simply cannot decide which one to get. Can anyone share their favorite?

 

DO NOT BUY THE NON-LIGHTED AMAZON KINDLE COVER. we both got one with our kindles and they have a design flaw that causes the kindle to short out, randomly reboot, and do weird things. we called amazon and they immediately refunded our money and gave us a $25 promotional credit on our accounts. we used it to get the cover with the built-in light, which apparently does not have the same problem. hth. i got the apple green one. very snazzy. very visible. can't wait until my new one comes.

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Hedgehogs4

Hedgehogs4

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so far, i love my Kindle. i did pay for one book...and downloaded 25 other freebies. FYI, FWIW...the book i paid for was the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and every moment away from my kindle / book is like living in an sub-par reality. I love it so much, I keep wanting to go back and be with those people in that place, despite the conditions and the time. I think maybe I could be making new friends, but wait...they're fictional...it's THAT good. I love this book, from the very first sentence.

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nukeswife

nukeswife

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DO NOT BUY THE NON-LIGHTED AMAZON KINDLE COVER. we both got one with our kindles and they have a design flaw that causes the kindle to short out, randomly reboot, and do weird things. we called amazon and they immediately refunded our money and gave us a $25 promotional credit on our accounts. we used it to get the cover with the built-in light, which apparently does not have the same problem. hth. i got the apple green one. very snazzy. very visible. can't wait until my new one comes.

 

I actually have those covers and when I updated my software, to version 3.0.3 I didn't have the problems anymore, I may just have to call them though.

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sagira

sagira

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I got one! I was playing the free game, Every Word all morning (I'm sick with a cold in bed). I haven't downloaded any books yet.. I'm thinking of getting some classics, but I already have many on my shelves. I'm also thinking of subscribing to Reader's Digest, as I loved reading it as a teen. Oh, and I also got, with it, the blue cover with the light. It's great!

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nukeswife

nukeswife

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I have this cover. No problems with it - it's not lighted, but I haven't found that to be a problem. I love that you can fold the front cover back and pull the elastic over it to hold it, and it has a nice feel to it.

 

That's the covers I have, and didn't have problems in the beginning but wouldn't you know it after reading about the problems here tonight mine started acting weird again, and my son's was acting up too. He got his Kindle for xmas. I called Amazon and they refunded my purchase price and gave me a $50 credit so I could buy the lighted ones instead.

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Hedgehogs4

Hedgehogs4

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I have this cover. No problems with it - it's not lighted, but I haven't found that to be a problem. I love that you can fold the front cover back and pull the elastic over it to hold it, and it has a nice feel to it.

 

this is the one that was causing tons of people problems. lucky you if you're not having an issue, but just be aware that if you do, you can get a refund.

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BBG580

BBG580

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I also received a Kindle for Christmas and keep trying to touch the screen because... I also have an iPhone!

 

I have downloaded 3 paid for books and a myriad of free stuff. I like it so far, I need a light to go with my snazzy red cover so I can read in bed and not bug my DH.

 

Too bad I would never read with it in the tub. That is one of my favorite places to relax with a book! I will still be using my library for most of my casual reading though so I guess those books will work for that. :)

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Amira

Amira

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Too bad I would never read with it in the tub. That is one of my favorite places to relax with a book! I will still be using my library for most of my casual reading though so I guess those books will work for that. :)

 

I know people who put their ereader in a ziploc bag so they can read in the tub.

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GypsieFamily

GypsieFamily

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Ds9 and dd8 have kindles. Dd5 has been promised mine once she has read little house in big woods. They have 1400 free books from Gutenberg. They also have 70 Enid blyton books and the Roald Dahl books. Reading older books and classics have given them fantastic vocabularies. They have iPods for audiobooks too; we use audible and librivox. Dd8 amazes me wig how well she 'reads between the lines', and how well she comprehends. I am sure it's from having access to so many classic books.

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jelbe5

jelbe5

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I received on a couple of weeks before Christmas. This is a great site for finding Ambleside Online books to download to the Kindle (most are Free):

 

http://nlhome.weebly.com/

 

This is the cover I purchased from Target for my Kindle . . . I am really happy with it . . . the Kindle clips into the case easily. There is a flap in the front cover that comes out that makes the case and Kindle stand up like a picture frame which I find nice if reading at the table while eating . . . I purchased mine at Target but it is made by Speck

 

http://www.target.com/dp/B0049P1YI4/ref=sc_qi_img_viewdetails?ie=UTF8&title=view%20full%20details

 

Adrianne in IL

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Corraleno

Corraleno

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OMG, I am in *love* I have downloaded 100 free classics (and some new novels-free) in the last few hours.

 

WHY did I hold off so long? *Why*? I must have been totally stoopid.

:iagree:

I avoided getting one for a long time because I thought the screen would be too small, too much of a hassle to download books, I love "real" books, etc. The main reason I got it was because of the thousands of free classics, and the fact that I've totally run out of book shelf space. I already had over 300 free classics in my Kindle wishlist before my Kindle even arrived, and I've only looked at the first 1600 or so books out of the thousands available!

 

I love love LOVE my Kindle and wish I'd bought one ages ago. I love the "read to me" feature so I can keep "reading" while I cook dinner or knit, and I love that I can also download audio books from Audible.com to it. Plus, the idea that I can get a brand new book for free while lying in bed at 10:00 at night (or lying in the bathtub) is just too cool. :D

 

ETA: I love the "New Yorker" covers — I have this one.

 

Jackie

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abrightmom

abrightmom

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DO NOT BUY THE NON-LIGHTED AMAZON KINDLE COVER. we both got one with our kindles and they have a design flaw that causes the kindle to short out, randomly reboot, and do weird things. we called amazon and they immediately refunded our money and gave us a $25 promotional credit on our accounts. we used it to get the cover with the built-in light, which apparently does not have the same problem. hth. i got the apple green one. very snazzy. very visible. can't wait until my new one comes.

 

Is this ALL covers that are non-lighted and purchased from Amazon? I bought a red one in November with my Kindle. So far so good but now I'm concerned. Is there a recall or something? :001_smile:

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abrightmom

abrightmom

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I have this cover. No problems with it - it's not lighted, but I haven't found that to be a problem. I love that you can fold the front cover back and pull the elastic over it to hold it, and it has a nice feel to it.

:001_smile: I have this cover in red. It's lovely and I'm totally happy with it . . . but still wondering about the weirdness with the other covers.

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GypsieFamily

GypsieFamily

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Please share where we can download these! Thanks.

 

http://www.goanwap.com/ebook-0-0-0.html is where I got the Enid blyton books. According to the ascertain on the page, they are public domain. I have seen thus contradicted. I am not sure which is correct, but as I wish them to be public domain, I believe that is true.

 

Roald Dahl were purchased as a birthday present from the kindle store.

 

My daughter wishes she could have the Borrowers series by Mary norton, but it isn't available in Australia for kindle.

 

Ds9 and dd8 are veery careful with heir kindles. It's made a huge difference to how much ds reads.

 

Other favorites from Gutenberg for both are l frank baum's oz books. Frances hodgson burnett's little princess is another favorite for dd. Anne of green gables, all creatures great and small, peter pan are other favorites. Jacob Abbott, famous men of ... and he Marshall are favorites for non-fiction. Dd also likes flowers fables and garland for girls by Louisa may allcot and poor little rich girl. Anything king Arthur and robin hood are popular with ds.

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pooh bear

pooh bear

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http://www.goanwap.com/ebook-0-0-0.html is where I got the Enid blyton books. According to the ascertain on the page, they are public domain. I have seen thus contradicted. I am not sure which is correct, but as I wish them to be public domain, I believe that is true.

 

Roald Dahl were purchased as a birthday present from the kindle store.

 

My daughter wishes she could have the Borrowers series by Mary norton, but it isn't available in Australia for kindle.

 

Ds9 and dd8 are veery careful with heir kindles. It's made a huge difference to how much ds reads.

 

Other favorites from Gutenberg for both are l frank baum's oz books. Frances hodgson burnett's little princess is another favorite for dd. Anne of green gables, all creatures great and small, peter pan are other favorites. Jacob Abbott, famous men of ... and he Marshall are favorites for non-fiction. Dd also likes flowers fables and garland for girls by Louisa may allcot and poor little rich girl. Anything king Arthur and robin hood are popular with ds.

 

Enid Blyton's books are not in the public domain. She wrote most of her books between the 1930's and 1950's. For a book to be in the public domain, they have to have been written before 1923.

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GypsieFamily

GypsieFamily

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The majority of public domain works were written prior to 1923. There are also many pre1964 books in the public domain due to expiration of copywrite and the author nit exercising the option to renew copywrite. In Australia and some other countries, it is life+50, so it is irrelevant when the book was written, only when the author died. The Australian Gutenberg site has books available that are not available on the US site because of this difference in copywrite laws.

 

 

(I am aware Enid blyton is not covered by life+50).

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Melissa in CA

Melissa in CA

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That's the covers I have, and didn't have problems in the beginning but wouldn't you know it after reading about the problems here tonight mine started acting weird again, and my son's was acting up too. He got his Kindle for xmas. I called Amazon and they refunded my purchase price and gave me a $50 credit so I could buy the lighted ones instead.

 

Ok, can someone pleas explain to me how a cover can cause problems?? I am soooo confused!? That is the cover I got my DH with his Kindle (not the pink one of course) and it's not like it's connected to the device...it's just a cover to keep it safe. I don't get it. :confused:

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MeganW

MeganW

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Ok, can someone pleas explain to me how a cover can cause problems?? I am soooo confused!? That is the cover I got my DH with his Kindle (not the pink one of course) and it's not like it's connected to the device...it's just a cover to keep it safe. I don't get it. :confused:

 

I wondered the exact same thing! (I got a Kindle, plus the exact linked pink cover for Christmas.)

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MeganW

MeganW

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Not wanting to kill a perfectly good, brand-new Kindle, I wrote to Amazon asking for the failure rate & if the skew numbers from my new cover were among those having problems. Their (useless) response is copied below. Why would customer service be telling some people there is no problem, and giving other people credits??? Really, how hard is it to use the cover???

 

--------------------

 

Hello Megan,

Thank you for writing to us, if an approved Kindle cover is used correctly, it will not cause any damage to the Kindle.

For more information about using your Kindle cover, please visit this Help page:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200390460

I hope this information helps! Thanks for your interest in Kindle.

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Melissa in CA

Melissa in CA

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Well, my friend has had a Kindle and the lime green NON-lighted cover for a good 4 months now. She uses it every single day and takes it with her everywhere she goes....and she has not had any issues with her Kindle or it's apparently haunted cover. :lol: I don't think I would borrow trouble as you may have no issues at all. If trouble arises THEN worry about it. ;)

 

Not wanting to kill a perfectly good, brand-new Kindle, I wrote to Amazon asking for the failure rate & if the skew numbers from my new cover were among those having problems. Their (useless) response is copied below. Why would customer service be telling some people there is no problem, and giving other people credits??? Really, how hard is it to use the cover???

 

--------------------

 

Hello Megan,

Thank you for writing to us, if an approved Kindle cover is used correctly, it will not cause any damage to the Kindle.

For more information about using your Kindle cover, please visit this Help page:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200390460

I hope this information helps! Thanks for your interest in Kindle.

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