<p>Got my Fire in the mail Wednesday…the Christmas present that I got to open early. I really like it – easy to set up and figure out, fast!!! browsing, I find it easy to read books on the lit screen (but I’ve been reading on my ipod Touch and phone’s screens for a while now). Have my first book from the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library, and finally found a reason to pony up for Prime (yes, we already had a Roku player, so will enjoy the movies…may finally jetison the Netflix…). The home screen is a bit awkward…whatever you did last shows up in a flick-through “shelf”…but I can deal. Overall, a very happy early adopter. Now just need to figure out what sort of case I want for it…</p>
<p>Now the questions – hubs studied the Fire, decided that he’s not quite a tablet guy (doesn’t care about games and browsing, etc) but likes the e-reader concept…and started studying the basic $79 Kindle…</p>
<p>He just wants to read, and we have robust wifi. Some questions – anybody have this Kindle? Tell me about it! Do you have the “special offers” version (i.e. the ads)? If so, are they super-annoying? Is there an option to upgrade to ad-free later if they drive you nuts?</p>
<p>Other than the K.O. Lending Library (and he can read the public domain books and get them from our library), is there any earthly reason for him to purchase a second Prime membership? (We’ve already got shipping and movies through mine…). Is there any advantage to registering his Kindle to my account (there is a limit of one book a month through the KOLL…and I’m telling you now, I don’t share well!). We have different tastes in books, and I doubt he’d want “Where Snowflakes Swear” and I really could live w/out Moby Dick!</p>
<p>How is the basic Kindle for ease of use? It’s all toggle buttons, right? Is it worth it to upgrade to the Kindle Touch? </p>
<p>Would love your reviews/experiences with the just-plain-ol’ Kindle (current version). And if you have questions about the Fire, I will try to share my experiences…so far, I’m pretty much a Fire junkie (and I never figured myself an e-reader kind of girl).</p>
<p>I have a plain Kindle - the one from just prior to the current version but it appears to be very similar. Mine has the 3G in addition to the wireless but I’ve never actually used the 3G since I can easily load it up with lots of books via wireless before going on a trip.</p>
<p>I only wanted it for reading - not internet browsing, games, etc. since I have PCs for such things which are more convenient.</p>
<p>The unit is very easy to use despite what I consider a klunky user interface that could stand to be improved. Realistically there’s not much interaction if you think about it. Most people will simply download a book, which takes a few seconds, and then simply page forward or backwards when they’re done reading a page. There’s nothing to it.</p>
<p>The display is very easy to read, the battery lasts almost forever (around a month or so), the unit is very lightweight, much lighter than an iPad for example which makes it easy to read while laying in bed, and it’s sized right at about the size of a paperback yet much thinner than one.</p>
<p>I’d definitely get this more basic Kindle again for my purposes of using it only to read a book. I also like what I’ve read about the Fire though if I wanted to use it more expansively for other purposes. Like anything it boils down to the expected usage.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t want the ads on my Kindle - I think it’s worth paying a little bit more not to have to tolerate ads. If I was to do it over again I don’t think I’d bother with the 3G version since I never really use it but again, it depends on how the person plans to use it.</p>
<p>If it is only going to be for reading the basic is probably fine. The lack of a touchable keyboard would annoy if he is going to use it on the web at all. You have to use the 5 way direction and select button to “hit” a key on the keyboard on the basic model. The touch and keyboard versions are easier. The ads are not in your books, just on the sleep screen and they offer some Amazon deals on them, too. Not too obnoxious. Probably best to stop in a Best buy or Staples or anywhere near you that has them and try them out. Some are reporting they don’t like the touch screen and prefer the keyboard version. </p>
<p>Current Kindle user here- and love it. It goes forever and easy to read outside. I only turn on the wireless when I want to download books I already selected from the computer. I find it easier to cruise selections from the computer. Three of us share the library, and we each download our own things. But we can all download the same one if we want. We turned off synchronization because we could be reading the same book and did not want Amazon to keep trying to keep us on the same page Sharing an account means the purchases are on the same credit card so DD has a price limit she can do without checking with me first.</p>
<p>I downloaded Kindle for PC because it was in my price range, ie FREE. I was reading a library Kindle book upstairs in my den and later brought it up on the kitchen laptop and it remembered my place! (Last page viewed) I thought that was pretty cool. I like making the print very large and the lines of text very narrow - I read a page in about 5 seconds. I will likely be a late adopter - waiting for the price drop.</p>
<p>We have the Kindle w/keyboard with the “special offers.”
As noted above, the ads are a non-issue. They do not interrupt your reading, and some of the offers actually have interested us. </p>
<p>I examined the new touch-screen, entry level Kindle that retails for ~$80 the other day. It is really small and light! The screen is the same size, but since there’s no keyboard, it’s about 25-30% shorter than the version w/keyboard, and it weighs next to nothing.</p>
<p>I don’t know how irritating the lack of keyboard would be if all you want to do is read. You can order books from your computer where you have a keyboard and they’ll appear on the Kindle device. </p>
<p>Library borrowing is easy, too, if your local library has the Overdrive service. You do have to spend some time building a wish list and placing holds, because you may find lots of stuff is checked out and you have to wait a week or so for it.</p>
<p>I downloaded Kindle for mac and Kindle for ipod,I find I like them.But reading on computer makes my eyes feel tired,and the screen of my ipod touch is too small.So I order a Kindle touch now.If you think it is expensive,you can try Kindle 4,only $79,it is really cheap for an e-book.</p>
<p>I have a Kindle 2, S has a Kindle 2 (both both 3G) and D is getting a Fire for xmas. I thought I would be spending a ton of money on books, but have found that there a lots of good books out there for free or under $5. I think a basic Kindle would be fine for your H. I like the 3G because even though I have lots of unread books on my kindle I spend lots of time in the car, transporting kids around and I sometimes want what I want right then and there. There are lots of bogs and discussions out there regarding current free and low cost books. And don’t forget if you have same taste, if you are both on same account, you can both read any books te other has purchased.<br>
[Amazon.com:</a> Customer Discussions: Kindle forum](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/forum/kindle?_encoding=UTF8&ref_=sv_kinc_7]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/forum/kindle?_encoding=UTF8&ref_=sv_kinc_7)</p>
<p>I am glad to hear the good review for Fire; I bought one for DH for Christmas. He was an early adopter and has one of the first Kindles that rolled off the assembly line. I have one that is the most recent, prior to these brand new ones. I have the one with the special offers and, as someone else mentioned, these ads are a non-issue. Basically, the ad is on the home page instead of a pretty picture. Once you start reading, you never see another ad. And I have gotten a couple of good deals through it (I think one was a $10 GC from Amazon if you bought any book…I actually made money on that one.) But the ads are not at all intrusive.</p>
<p>I will probably not be a great source of info re battery life of Fire just as a reader…I love being able to mark a place in my ebook then go check mail, etc. Used to have to set book down, move to computer. I am writing my response here on the Fire…</p>
<p>However I think battery life for just reading may not be vastly longer as the backlight has to be on while reading, too. I do religiously turn the wifi off when not needed…this should help. But if I have to charge it overnight while I also charge my cellphone that is worth it to be able to indulge my inattention…</p>
<p>If you and your husband use the same amazon account, then you can both use the prime. It might bug you, but you can have more than one kindle on an account. Mine is named poetgrls kindle and h’s is named H’s kindle. We then also share our archive.</p>
<p>Obviously this means that was know the books we are each buying or whatever, but sharing the books is best at least for us.</p>
<p>I love the kindle.</p>
<p>I really thought I would hate the thing. I was furious when H bought it for me years ago for a christmas gift, “I will never ever give up books! How could you not know me?”</p>
<p>I said the same thing when he set me up with a word processing program back in grad school! </p>
<p>Now, I’m hoping he gets me a fire for christmas. ;)</p>
<p>SouthJerseyChessMom…well, I’m the mom of a college student, so I am an expert texter on my touchscreen phone I would not want the Fire to be my only keyboard, but set in landscape mode, I can almost touch type (and the predictive text is actually not too embarrassing so far). </p>
<p>And poetgirl…yes on all counts – never thought I’d want an e-reader in the house…and now we have 2. Hubs was drooling over my Fire, and after a trip to Staples today he has his own early Christmas present – he chose the Kindle Touch (w/the special offers, which, as others have said, are really no big deal). I did link both Kindles to my account…which is great, because he was jealous of my ability to read Catching Fire as part of the Kindle Owners Lending Library while he was still on the waiting list for a print copy from the bricks and mortar library…now he’s catching up to me.</p>
<p>I have a regular kindle which I love, love, love. I bring it everywhere and if I have a spare moment I’ll read a couple of pages. </p>
<p>I thought I would love the kindle fire and I ordered it also. I think I’m going to send it back. It’s really cool but I just don’t see how much I would use it. I can’t surf the web very well on it. The type is really small and these old eyes can’t read it. It’s not as easy on the eyes to read on it, I have been picking up my original kindle to do that. I watched a tv show on the fire and it’s really nice but I don’t know how much I would do that. I don’t think that you can download a movie and watch it in the car or somewhere without wifi so it really doesn’t work for me.</p>
<p>I think some of the problem is that my BIL just got an ipad. I really liked the bigger size and it just seemed easier for me to use. But I don’t think I need either. I’ll just stick with my old forms of data lol!</p>
<p>I bought myself a Fire; I already had a 3rd-gen Kindle (with 3G and Wifi, and yes, I’ve used both, esp. for loading newspapers just before getting on a plane). We have Prime. DH has an iPad. </p>
<p>DH has taken over my Fire, because he likes watching the free movies on it in bed at night. Okay. My opinion: it’s great for movies, fashion magazines (I read Vanity Fair), TV shows, weather maps (which I study assiduously in the morning, when planning my outdoors activities for the day). For book reading… nah. I prefer reading books (without diagrams or photos) on the regular Kindle. So easy to hold and so easy on the eyes.</p>
<p>New K Fire owner here. That 7-8 hour batt life refers to book mode. Watching vids or web surfing cuts that number waaaay down. Over all we are very satisfied with our new gizmo. The free books and movies that come with the Amazon Prime option is impressive. We’ll be signing up for that once the 1 month free trial expires.</p>
<p>Interesting to hear from a confirmed Kindle user of the differences in experience in that and the Fire. Hubs ended up getting a Kindle Touch, and has basically been reading non-stop since he got it yesterday. The only thing he really coveted on my Fire was the embedded dictionary, and when he learned that was on all Kindles, he was ready for the K Touch. </p>
<p>I have played around with ipads, too and they are great fun…but less portable for me. My Fire fits easily in my purse, and with the pinch and slide on webpages, I can make them as big or small as I want. However, it is different reading on the backlit screen (more like a computer screen) than the Kindle’s LCD. Hubs would not last long with the bright screen…I love the multifunctionality.</p>
<p>Guess it is a great thing that the Kindles come in a variety of flavors! I love mine, he loves his…and it’s great fun to be reading the same book and having our own Empty Nester’s Book Club Meetings!!</p>
<p>I personally like Amazon’s services and have stayed with the Kindle. I thought the pearl ink was an advantage until I read with a backlit screen (available on Nook and of course, iPad). The lighting contrast works better for me. Also, Kindle’s built-in cover doesn’t distribute the light evenly, which kind of annoys me, especially because I do most of my reading at night. So, I HAD to get the Fire…and love it :). Just wish it came in 3G, but you can’t have it all!</p>
Sharing an account means the purchases are on the same credit card so DD has a price limit she can do without checking with me first.</p>
I would not want the Fire to be my only keyboard, but set in landscape mode, I can almost touch type (and the predictive text is actually not too embarrassing so far). </p>