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Kindle--does it matter where you buy one?


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My 15dd has saved her money and wants the $79 Kindle. Just wondering if it really matters if we order it from Amazon or just go to a big box store and pick it up for her tonight?

 

Any big reasons to go to the more expensive ones for reading books? She does have an Ipod if that matters.

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My 15dd has saved her money and wants the $79 Kindle. Just wondering if it really matters if we order it from Amazon or just go to a big box store and pick it up for her tonight?

 

Any big reasons to go to the more expensive ones for reading books? She does have an Ipod if that matters.

 

On Amazon you don't have to pay sales tax, so that's a nice perk. I think the $79 should be just fine for you!

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My dd purchased her $79 Kindle from Best Buy. She is happy that she did because she is on her THIRD since Oct. Yes, the first two just suddenly would not turn on. She was thrilled to be able to immediately exchange the defective one. She is hoping the third one is the charm.

 

I'm sure Amazon would exchange as well, but I'm glad I didn't have to fool with return shipping twice.

 

That said, I have heard rumors that Best Buy is going belly-up.

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That depends on where you live! In NY (and several other states, I believe) we pay sales tax at Amazon. :glare:

Now that is a bummer. Remind me never to move to New York. :001_smile: I don't know much about buying from other sources, but Amazon has had amazing customer service with mine, and I've had it over a year.

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Now that is a bummer. Remind me never to move to New York. :001_smile: I don't know much about buying from other sources, but Amazon has had amazing customer service with mine, and I've had it over a year.

 

Tip of the Empire State iceberg. :tongue_smilie: :glare:

 

I definitely would say go Amazon for the customer service. I've never had Kindle troubles, but they have always been great with other orders! :)

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I would go for Amazon - I have had nothing but good customer service on the things I have had to do with them.

 

Last year I decided to buy a laptop at Best Buy, mainly BECAUSE they were local & I figured it would be easier to get problems resolved if I went there. It was a NIGHTMARE - truly! Dratted laptop I saved and scrimped for gave me headaches after the first week & was in and out of Best Buy (with terrible customer service) for the first several months. I will never EVER go back there to buy a major piece of equipment again.

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My 15dd has saved her money and wants the $79 Kindle. Just wondering if it really matters if we order it from Amazon or just go to a big box store and pick it up for her tonight?

 

Any big reasons to go to the more expensive ones for reading books? She does have an Ipod if that matters.

 

I started with a Kindle 3 (now the Kindle Keyboard). The day Amazon started selling the new $79 Kindle (I call it the Baby Kindle), I ordered one for my wife, forgetting that she liked to play Scrabble and other games on my K3. The Baby Kindle has no physical keyboard, which makes it a poor choice for those who want to play games, take notes, etc. So I traded her my Kindle 3 for her new Baby Kindle. We're both happy now. She has a physical keyboard, and the K3 is excellent for reading books. The Baby Kindle is even better for reading books (smaller physical size makes it very easy to hold one-handed), and since all I use the Kindle for is reading books I'm actually happier with it than I was with the K3.

 

The only downsides to the Baby Kindle other than the lack of a keyboard are the lack of speakers (I don't use audiobooks, so that's no disadvantage for me) and the fact that the Baby Kindle has a battery half the size of the K3, which means I have to charge it twice as often. Even reading very heavily, that just means I have to recharge the Baby Kindle once a week or so versus every couple weeks or so.

 

The other options are the Kindle Fire, which sucks for reading books compared to any of the eInk Kindles, and the Kindle Touch. I ruled that one out completely because it has no physical page turn buttons. You have to move your finger to turn each page, and the screen ends up smeared. If Amazon had left the physical page turn buttons on the Touch, I'd have gone for it. But without them I think the Touch is the least suitable for heavy reading other than the Fire.

 

Incidentally, I hate and despise ads, but those on the ad-support ($79) Baby Kindle are not in the least intrusive. You get a full-screen ad when you put the Kindle to sleep (as opposed to turning it off, which blanks the screen), and a tiny little box at the bottom of the screen that lists your titles. In my case, the ads are even less intrusive because there aren't any. I keep WiFi turned off to save battery life and transfer all books to the Kindle via USB. After a few days without a WiFi connection, the old ads on the Kindle expire and the screensaver screen is a semi-abstract image of old-fashioned movable type.

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Thanks for all the input. We might check out best buy, otherwise order from Amazon but she wants it TONIGHT.........she is out working hard scooping poop and then we are building a run in for the horses today.......all in her attempts to earn an extra $20 and a ride to the store.

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If Amazon has a "store" (warehouse or offices) in your state you'll have to pay sales tax. Actually everyone is supposed to, but those who aren't charged by Amazon are supposed to report it themselves.

 

I heard that if you don't buy from Amazon you'd have a harder time returning it if something went wrong, however I found that to be untrue. I bought my Kindle at Target. When the keys started to fade, I called Amazon and they sent me a new one immediately, along with a paid shipping label to return the defective one.

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We do too in KS. :tongue_smilie:

 

BTW, my nickname for my older DD is Zuzu.

 

:D Excellent name!

 

If Amazon has a "store" (warehouse or offices) in your state you'll have to pay sales tax. Actually everyone is supposed to, but those who aren't charged by Amazon are supposed to report it themselves.

 

 

That's true for most retailers (Target, Gap Inc., etc.) but not exactly how NYers (and other states) came to pay sales tax for Amazon. There was specific legislation aimed at Amazon and several accompanying lawsuits. I no longer remember the details, but it was big news several years ago.

 

ETA: The NY legislation was designed to get around a ruling that said retailers aren't required to collect sales tax from customers who live in states where the businesses have no physical presence.

Edited by Zuzu822
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The other options are the Kindle Fire, which sucks for reading books compared to any of the eInk Kindles, and the Kindle Touch. I ruled that one out completely because it has no physical page turn buttons. You have to move your finger to turn each page, and the screen ends up smeared. If Amazon had left the physical page turn buttons on the Touch, I'd have gone for it. But without them I think the Touch is the least suitable for heavy reading other than the Fire.

 

I've seen this several times on this board, and wanted to address it. I have a Kindle Touch, and it's not actually necessary to move your finger across the screen to turn pages. The touch screen is so sensitive that barely tapping it will turn the page. No smudges, and the screen is perfect. :D If one wanted to be especially scrupulous, it's possible to tap to turn the page outside of the text area.

 

I had the same concern before I bought it, and even the demo models in-store weren't as sensitive as the actual Touch. I think it's a better touchscreen than the Fire, to be honest.

 

You do have to to tap in just the right area to go back a page and to bring up the header/footer with menu options so that might be a reason to avoid the Touch (I've turned pages when I didn't mean to, and so has my toddler if I'm not quick enough!), but a smeared screen isn't a big concern.

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Well, she bought one tonight at Walmart as I had to go for groceries (having the teens from church over tomorrow night) and she just couldn't wait.

 

She is upstairs now reading away on it. Until she has earned more money she is stuck with the free books as she already owes me $30 for the rest of the kindle price and the case :-)

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