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[Raistlin]

Only for the wireless connection. Eink is like lots of little discs in a grid that are white or black, you expend energy flipping them but not keeping them in the position you want.

I know, I'm not talking about the screen.

I'm saying the CPU being in 'standby' requires some power.

I can't believe it's not using any energy when the screensaver is on. That is mental.

Yep that's what's great about eInk. The only time the screen itself uses any energy is when changing pages. Once it has changed the screen no longer draws any energy.

 

[Your Excellency]

I have put these books on and will try reading them in the following order. Haven't read any of them before.

Moby Dick
The Catcher in the Rye
Brave New World
Slaughterhouse Five
Neuromancer
On The Road
Stranger in a Strange Land
Breakfast of Champions
Flowers for Algernon
Freakonomics
Hitchhikers Guide to the Gallery
Hundred Years of Solitude

 

[HiroProtagonist]

http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2011/05/26/kindle-3-vs-new-nook-vs-kobo-touch/

 

[forgeforsaken]

I have put these books on and will try reading them in the following order. Haven't read any of them before.

Moby Dick
The Catcher in the Rye
Brave New World
Slaughterhouse Five
Neuromancer
On The Road
Stranger in a Strange Land
Breakfast of Champions
Flowers for Algernon
Freakonomics
Hitchhikers Guide to the Gallery
Hundred Years of Solitude

Really not sure I'd start with Moby Dick.

 

[Leona Lewis]

Start with Hitchhiker's, then Brave New World.

 

[Starchasing]

Really not sure I'd start with Moby Dick.

Slaughterhouse 5 for .... so it goes!

 

[Sleepy]

I have put these books on and will try reading them in the following order. Haven't read any of them before.

Moby Dick
The Catcher in the Rye
Brave New World
Slaughterhouse Five
Neuromancer
On The Road
Stranger in a Strange Land
Breakfast of Champions
Flowers for Algernon
Freakonomics
Hitchhikers Guide to the Gallery
Hundred Years of Solitude

Damn...Nice. List. You may want to juggle the order for theme/genre; or not, as skipping around guarantees you won't get burned out on a specific style.

 

[Your Excellency]

Why wouldn't you guys recommend starting with Moby Dick? Is it because it's quite long (it seems to have 135 chapters?!?), or difficult to get into? I wanted to start with it as I want to read something that's a proper old school classic. But I don't mind starting with something easier to get into...


*may be a stupid question but is there any way to see how 'long' books are with the Kindle? For example, is there a way I can see whether a book is going to be shortish like Fahrenheit 451, or a War and Peace sized cinderblock of a book?

 

[Starchasing]

Why wouldn't you guys recommend starting with Moby Dick? Is it because it's quite long (it seems to have 135 chapters?!?), or difficult to get into? I wanted to start with it as I want to read something that's a proper old school classic. But I don't mind starting with something easier to get into...


*may be a stupid question but is there any way to see how 'long' books are with the Kindle? For example, is there a way I can see whether a book is going to be shortish like Fahrenheit 451, or a War and Peace sized cinderblock of a book?

get a book in the public domain that you know hog big is it and used as a measure because the numeber of pages changes with the font size

 

[Tokubetsu]

Loving the kindle =)

Can't seem to get the screensaver thing working though but thats whatever.

 

[Karakand]

Why wouldn't you guys recommend starting with Moby Dick? Is it because it's quite long (it seems to have 135 chapters?!?), or difficult to get into? I wanted to start with it as I want to read something that's a proper old school classic. But I don't mind starting with something easier to get into...


*may be a stupid question but is there any way to see how 'long' books are with the Kindle? For example, is there a way I can see whether a book is going to be shortish like Fahrenheit 451, or a War and Peace sized cinderblock of a book?

slicky dick is the only great book on your list; if you want to read not-great books deliberately, go ahead and read something else before it

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Anyone know what the deal is with 2 listing of some of the Kurt vonnegut books? All the ones that say 2009 are $11.99 but then there is other kindle edition that is like $4.

 

[HiroProtagonist]

Anyone know what the deal is with 2 listing of some of the Kurt vonnegut books? All the ones that say 2009 are $11.99 but then there is other kindle edition that is like $4.

Jeff says:

I am reposting this, as my subject line re: Slaugtherhouse Five isn't really my question.

I just purchased my first Kindle. I notice that Slaugterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut comes up as $7.99 for the Kindle Edition. Then, there is a link to another Kindle Edition at $4.79. Is this common...do I need to shop around on Amazon's site for the lowest price Kindle version? Does anyone know if there is any difference between the two?

Thanks.
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Posted on Apr 14, 2011 7:45:01 AM PDT

Jon says:

There is no difference between the two - other than the price. This is uncommon on Kindle, but there are duplicate copies of Vonnegut's biggest books. Make sure you get the cheaper one!
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In reply to an earlier post on Apr 14, 2011 8:48:08 AM PDT

Jeff says:

Thanks, Jon. I did go cheaper...just found it odd as a new owner. Thanks again.
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This was on the Amazon forum.

 

[Manics]

Loving the kindle =)

Can't seem to get the screensaver thing working though but thats whatever.

Which Kindle do you have? The regular wifi or the ad-based version? The regular wifi one should work with the screensaver hack no issues. I did both mine and my wife's.

 

[Manics]

http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2011/05/26/kindle-3-vs-new-nook-vs-kobo-touch/

It seems odd the new Nook and Kobo both don't have a web browser or any audio support. Isn't that going backwards in a sense?

 

[Leona Lewis]

It seems odd the new Nook and Kobo both don't have a web browser or any audio support. Isn't that going backwards in a sense?

Yeah, especially considering they're using touch screens. The web browsing experience would be much better than it is on the Kindle.

 

[Gary Whitta]

There was some good e-ink discussion on this week's Tested podcast.

www.tested.com/podcast

 

[Snaku]

Yeah, especially considering they're using touch screens. The web browsing experience would be much better than it is on the Kindle.

Web browser could be added later in a firmware update.

 

[Manics]

Yeah, especially considering they're using touch screens. The web browsing experience would be much better than it is on the Kindle.

So aside from the touchscreen and faster processor, they really don't have a technological lead in any way over the Kindle 3. Reading is reading and all 3 devices will do it well enough, but the Kindle has a web browser and audio. Sure the Nook and Kobo can add web browsing I assume through a firmware update, but right now they don't have it. That seems very stupid.

 

[Pristine_Condition]

I have put these books on and will try reading them in the following order. Haven't read any of them before.

Moby Dick
The Catcher in the Rye
Brave New World
Slaughterhouse Five
Neuromancer
On The Road
Stranger in a Strange Land
Breakfast of Champions
Flowers for Algernon
Freakonomics
Hitchhikers Guide to the Gallery
Hundred Years of Solitude

Im a huge Vonnegut fan, and I love Slaughterhouse Five, but I wouldn't recommend it for your first taste of KV. Do Breakfast of Champions first, or even better, The Sirens of Titan, if you'd like a little more sci-fi flavor too. Do read the highly-underrated Mother Night sometime if you need a break from the sci-fi, but after you read the more-obvious "hits."

.

 

[Sleepy]

Quick question about font sizes and that above comparison list:

Is the Kindle's smallest font size like the font in an actual book, or even smaller? Looking around at the various website videos, photos and demos, the Kobo and the Nook don't seem to be able to have very small text. Not that I want microscopic text, but I am not interested in the smallest size font on their displays (I guess I don't want to constantly flip pages). I'm leaning toward Kindle 3, even with all the "crashing" "hard-reset" complaints.

 

[Snaku]

There was some good e-ink discussion on this week's Tested podcast.

www.tested.com/podcast

Pretty much nailed my thoughts on qwerty, internet browser, sudoku, chess, etc. on e-readers. Useless fluff that I never use, or ever wanted.

The one thing I'll concede to the Amazon ebook store is they have Doctor Who novels. I'm sure those will show up eventually on B&N though.

 

[The Elite]

Pretty much nailed my thoughts on qwerty, internet browser, sudoku, chess, etc. on e-readers. Useless fluff that I never use, or ever wanted.

The one thing I'll concede to the Amazon ebook store is they have Doctor Who novels. I'm sure those will show up eventually on B&N though.

Do they have any of the New Adventures stuff from the 90s? I wouldn't mind checking out a few of those.

 

[HiroProtagonist]

Quick question about font sizes and that above comparison list:

Is the Kindle's smallest font size like the font in an actual book, or even smaller? Looking around at the various website videos, photos and demos, the Kobo and the Nook don't seem to be able to have very small text. Not that I want microscopic text, but I am not interested in the smallest size font on their displays (I guess I don't want to constantly flip pages). I'm leaning toward Kindle 3, even with all the "crashing" "hard-reset" complaints.

This is the smallest text size with edited margins.

 

[Snaku]

Do they have any of the New Adventures stuff from the 90s? I wouldn't mind checking out a few of those.

Not that I've seen. =/

 

[Sleepy]

This is the smallest text size with edited margins.[/QUOTE]


Hey, thanks for that; much appreciated! Still not like a full print page, is it? Or maybe it's the paragraph breaks?

 

[Manics]

This is the smallest text size with edited margins.

It depends on the eBook too. I have a George RR Martin Wild Cards book where even at the smallest font setting the words are big. It's WAY bigger than other books I have on there. They must have some font setting right in the eBook itself to control sizes.

 

[HiroProtagonist]

Hey, thanks for that; much appreciated! Still not like a full print page, is it? Or maybe it's the paragraph breaks?

I imagine it's about the same as a mass market paperback. Here is a better example:

 

[Sleepy]

I imagine it's about the same as a mass market paperback. Here is a better example:

More to my liking. And that's at 10%? Leaning further towards Kindle. Hope the price drops after Father's Day.

 

[Manics]

Here's an example from me:

 

[LaserBuddha]

I have a George RR Martin Wild Cards book...

Please do not encourage this distraction of George's!

 

[Evlar]

Based on the sloppy research I just conducted the average Kindle page is around 250 words. The average trade paperback page is a fair number higher, perhaps 350.

 

[Manics]

Please do not encourage this distraction of George's!

If it helps, I actually checked out the Wild Cards book from the library whereas I purchased all the Song of Ice and Fire books ;-)

 

[LaserBuddha]

If it helps, I actually checked out the Wild Cards book from the library whereas I purchased all the Song of Ice and Fire books ;-)

How was it, anyway? They sound like really dumb books from their descriptions.

 

[Sleepy]

Yeah, it seems less than a print copy, but Kindle's font size seems much better than the Nook's or Kobo's based on the limited research I did: downloading their apps and checking options, watching videos, demos.

Thanks again for all the help! Nice shot, Manics, as I will probably read GRRM's books on Kindle.

Since you guys seem to be in the answering mood:

Have you had any problems with your Kindle 3's? Reading the Amazon customer reviews, the one stars really kill the enthusiasm for the device.

 

[HiroProtagonist]

Yeah, it seems less than a print copy, but Kindle's font size seems much better than the Nook's or Kobo's based on the limited research I did: downloading their apps and checking options, watching videos, demos.

Thanks again for all the help! Nice shot, Manics, as I will probably read GRRM's books on Kindle.

Since you guys seem to be in the answering mood:

Have you had any problems with your Kindle 3's? Reading the Amazon customer reviews, the one stars really kill the enthusiasm for the device.

I haven't yet, but as soon as I hit "Submit Reply" it will inevitably explode.

 

[Sleepy]

I haven't yet, but as soon as I hit "Submit Reply" it will inevitably explode.

LOL. How long have you had yours? The good thing seems to be that Amazon CS is pretty good about shipping a new one to you. Although, if you don't buy it from them...

 

[Evlar]

Yeah, it seems less than a print copy, but Kindle's font size seems much better than the Nook's or Kobo's based on the limited research I did: downloading their apps and checking options, watching videos, demos.

Thanks again for all the help! Nice shot, Manics, as I will probably read GRRM's books on Kindle.

Since you guys seem to be in the answering mood:

Have you had any problems with your Kindle 3's? Reading the Amazon customer reviews, the one stars really kill the enthusiasm for the device.

My wife put her Kindle 3 in her purse: it emerged ten minutes later with distracting scratches on the screen from her keys. Amazon replaced it with a refurbished unit free of charge.

So CS is great in my experience. Other than that we've had no problems with either of our Kindles.

 

[brentech]

Was curious if you guys use the 3G model?
I have an iPhone for Internet so other than the wireless the load books I'm not sure what use I'd get out of it.

Anything that stands out as a must have reason for the 3G model?

 

[Tokubetsu]

Which Kindle do you have? The regular wifi or the ad-based version? The regular wifi one should work with the screensaver hack no issues. I did both mine and my wife's.

The regular wifi only one. Loving it so far. Only weird thing is the cutting off of sentences onto new pages.

 

[tim.mbp]

Hundred Years of Solitude

I've looked for this on the kindle store and couldn't find it. Did you get it from another store? It's one of my favorites and I would love to buy it.

 

[Nowy]

I have 80 dollars in Amazon credit from pre-ordering games, so I'm thinking about buying a Kindle and have a few questions.

I'm on a treadmill 5 days a week, 30-40 minutes a day. Is reading on a treadmill with an e-book reader viable? I usually have my iPhone playing music, but it would be nice to read a few times a week while I'm jogging.

Is a cover recommend? Are covers just to make it look fancy or are there benefits in having one like protecting it from drops or scratches?

Thanks!

 

[womp]

Yeah, it seems less than a print copy, but Kindle's font size seems much better than the Nook's or Kobo's based on the limited research I did: downloading their apps and checking options, watching videos, demos.

Thanks again for all the help! Nice shot, Manics, as I will probably read GRRM's books on Kindle.

Since you guys seem to be in the answering mood:

Have you had any problems with your Kindle 3's? Reading the Amazon customer reviews, the one stars really kill the enthusiasm for the device.

I've had a Kindle 3 since September and have had zero crashes or freeze ups. No idea what that is all about. :::shrugs::: No issues here. My wife's Nook Color on the other hand - Specific issues of US Weekly magazine have actually shut that thing off when she has gone to read them. WEIRD.

 

[SmZA]

Just posted this in the Game of Thrones thread:

Just a warning to anyone considering the electronic version: there are a number of typos obviously deriving from poor OCR and no-one checking. For example Dorne becomes Dome in some places, and worse, burn becomes bum. I'm only partway in and it's tolerable so far, but I've heard it gets worse in later chapters. The boxed set is so cheap I may get that instead and demand a refund on the e-book. This was my first purchase on my Kindle - awesome device but I'm so cheesed off the pay content I may only use it for Gutenberg books.

Is this a common occurrence? I love the Kindle for the plethora of free books (no more publishers profiteering on authors who died a century ago) but I'm disappointed by my first actual purchase.

I also love the browser and the free 3G. No iPhone purchase for me. Do you all know about iplayif.com? Works reasonably well, and makes the Kindle a portable gaming device!

 

[Manics]

How was it, anyway? They sound like really dumb books from their descriptions.

It's good for a mindless read with lots of entertainment. Kind of like going to watch a summer blockbuster movie, you know its nothing deep but you enjoy it nonetheless. I like the shared universe aspect of the early books where he has different writers telling different stories but all in the same world. Never got far enough into the series to read the books where there was only one author.

 

[Manics]

Just posted this in the Game of Thrones thread:Is this a common occurrence? I love the Kindle for the plethora of free books (no more publishers profiteering on authors who died a century ago) but I'm disappointed by my first actual purchase.

I also love the browser and the free 3G. No iPhone purchase for me. Do you all know about iplayif.com? Works reasonably well, and makes the Kindle a portable gaming device!

He must have an older version of A Game of Thrones ebook. The ones released on March 22nd were re-proofed for those errors. I just did a search of my book and there are 0 instances of the word "bum" and no mispellings on Dorne into Dome.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Was curious if you guys use the 3G model?
I have an iPhone for Internet so other than the wireless the load books I'm not sure what use I'd get out of it.

Anything that stands out as a must have reason for the 3G model?

I bought the 3G version, I have to go to Europe so being able to download wirelessly over there will be nice. I also don't have a smart phone so I use it to check the box score of hockey games when I'm not home. :lol Not the most groundbreaking stuff but also nice to have it sync without having to be connected to a network. So I can read on another device without worrying if I synced my last page read.

Also, is there a bigger selection of books on one ereader over another? Or are they pretty much the same? Guy at work's wife wants a nook and he asked me if he should get a nook over a kindle and I'm not sure what to tell him. I love my kindle and I showed him the comparison chart on this page but is there anything great about one over the other? She'd only ever use it to read books so any extras besides that is pretty irrelevant.

 

[Sleepy]

Played around with the Kindle 3 tonight at Target...I put the text on smallest, the line spacing on smallest (or whatever), and the font on condensed and I was perfectly happy with the way the text looked on the "page." Looked even smaller than the screens you guys posted. So I am 99% sold on this thing. I am still going to check out the new Nook at B&N, but hot damn does the Kindle look amazing.

Thanks again for all the help, guys.

 

[Raistlin]

Was curious if you guys use the 3G model?
I have an iPhone for Internet so other than the wireless the load books I'm not sure what use I'd get out of it.

Anything that stands out as a must have reason for the 3G model?

I have one, and while it can be convenient ... I probably wouldn't bother if I were to do it again.

How many times are you going to be somewhere where you suddenly need to go and purchase a book and there's no WiFi? If it's a trip or something ... wouldn't you have already got all your ducks in a row regarding what you plan to read?

The only way I can really see the need is if you have subscriptions to periodicals, though again how often will you not have WiFi and desperately need that periodical immediately? Plus if you have a phone that can create a hotspot (damn you WP7), it's a completely non-issue anyway.



Granted it's not like the upsale is all that much, but unless you can think of a very specific need ... might as well save the cash unless you've got money to burn.

 

[brentech]

I have one, and while it can be convenient ... I probably wouldn't bother if I were to do it again.

Okay. Yea, that's what I kind of figured. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't some outlieing reason that I was missing.
Appreciate the response.