Posted on 11/11/2011 2:28:06 PM PST by Signalman
I'm looking to purchase a Kindle Touch E-Reader from Amazon. The Kindle Touch ($99.00) has Wi-Fi connectivity and the Kindle Touch 3G ($149.00) has Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. Otherwise, they're pretty much the same as far as screen size, battery life, and other features.
I'm not familiar with the advantages/disadvantages of Wi-Fi vs. 3G and am wondering if the 3G model is worth the extra $50.00. Does anyone have any advice re: this matter? Thanks.
What you CAN do now is loan a book to someone else. Some publishers allow it, some don’t. Amazon takes it away from you for two weeks, then gives it back.
They’re also trying to work out the details on letting your local library loan you a book. Most of the other formats permit it now, and there are folks all over the country who have NY Public library cards for that purpose. With the difficulty in getting library funding these days, a method by which you could donate your Kindle book and the library could then loan it out to those who subscribe to their service could be a welcome source of revenue. As long as they limit the loan to one patron at a time, it seems like for a publisher it’d parallel what happens with a regular book.
Yes, that is new. I’ve never tried it. I think I got a notice from Amazon they have public libraries involved for lending.
Yeah. After I posted to you, I got to wondering when they’d finally get around to it, so I checked. I’m about a month and a half late. I wonder how the financial deal with the publisher works.
I have to admit I have no idea how to access it. Nothing jumps out at me when I go to my Amazon Mange Kindle page....
I’m on my third kindle...three different generations...all given to others as pass downs. I love my kindle. I have an iPad, iPhone, android and PC. Books are best read on a kindle. And Amazon has a fantastic business and I can’t say enough about how happy I am with it.
Library loans? Access is through Overdrive equipped libraries. You go to the individual library’s site.
http://www.overdrive.com/News/OverDrive-and-Amazon-launch-Kindle-compatibility-with-Library-eBooks
Overdrive has a search page you can find them on.
Once you’ve checked one out, the library tells Overdrive, which tells Amazon, which then provides the book. Pretty slick!
If you travel outside the US the 3G is the only way to go. I was on a cruise ship in the mid-Atlantic and I got to read my email through the Kindle. It connects in 100 countries to the internet for free! On a ship they charge Hugh for connecting to the internet. You can connect virtually anywhere in the world and get your daily dose of Free Republic!!
“I have used it to read FreeRepublic while not near a WiFi connection - using the 3G. I only turn the 3G on when I know I have books to download except to use as a browser when necessary.”
I have the 3G keyboard Kindle too. And I’m so glad I have it. We had a bad power outage last summer, Lasted 2 1/2 days. I would have been going through computer withdrawal symptoms if it hadn’t been for my Kindle,where I could go to Freep or web browse, without having to be dependent on electricity that was non-existent for a couple of days. It was a psychological lifesaver. Plus, I can go to a friend or relative’s house, and while waiting for dinner, sit with my Kindle and surf FR. Works like a charm. So glad I got 3G. You’ll be happy you got the keyboard 3G too, once you discover its capabilities. Have fun, and happy reading!
It is possible to connect a Kindle directly thru a computer and I know you can charge thru the computer with a USB cable, but with the equipment Signalman had at his disposal, he didn’t need to. Windows seven networking in one computer can be a bit wonky about letting devices, other than other computers share a computer’s internet connection via USB so I was trying to make it simpler for him.
It’s true the Kindle can act as a storage device, ie; you download to the computer first then move the file over to the Kindle’s memory..... that is, if he was in some remote hotel somewhere with only a wired ethernet and no hotel wireless(and no 3g). Yet 99 % where will signalman be? He’ll be near a wireless router or in a 3g area. He won’t always be in a remote area with access to a wired computer.
The wifi 3G version is free net per se .... I even check in on FR on it.
Love the thing yet of late been using a iPad on road trips as all in one media source. The goflex wifi external hard drive holds all the PDF,mobi, epubs etc I can need as well as movies etc... Movies tunes read and 500gb wifi external hard drive that also feeds the smartphone. Kindle wifi/3G is my suggestion based on your question.
Stay safe ...
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