Kindle?

[Tulip]

Hello lovelies.

 

I have a little question. I might get a Kindle after Crimbo so that I can put all my books on it before leaving for Australia, so that I don't have to ship my bazillion books over as they're quite heavy. However, I do have a question; do I need to get one in Aus instead? My mum said that I wouldn't be able to link it to my English Amazon account; no idea why that would matter, as surely I can just reconnect it to an Aussie one?!

 

Also a bit worried about wattage; would I be able to charge it? I mean, I charged my phone nad my camera fine over there when I visited with a plug adaptor, but you know. When your mum says it, you just worry instantly.

 

Love any thoughts, and any thoughts on a Kindle if you have one. xx

[Guest]

We were all set to order one for Christmas for ourselves but decided to do a quick price check on the books we wanted to put on there. And then we baulked when we saw the prices. Books we already own (and many of them originally cheaper in book form as we've had them a fair while) costing around £4 a time, some cheaper, some more expensive and it would cost us a small fortune to put all the books we would like to 'keep' on there.

 

Factor in the new books also and it didn't work out exactly cheap. So we left that idea and will revisit it later next year.

 

We've kept the books we really want to keep and gotten rid of the rest and I'm making do with the library for new books or second hand shops for the odd cheap novel.

[Guest]

Amazon isn't in Australia yet anyways.

 

http://www.readershop.com.au/ is an Aussie site selling a Kindle supposedly set up for the Aussie market. But tbh you could buy one in the UK and then just keep buying books from there also if you wanted I'd think.

 

That site sells them with an 'Australian kit' inlcuded but tbh all they do is supply a Aus charger :huh:

[pintpot]

They've only just brought them out in Australia as far as I know, also there is no Australian Amazon. The last time I looked you could only get the old Kindle over here although that may have changed

 

So buy it in the UK and put your books on it, and then bring it over - we have. We also continue to buy ebooks through the UK site. Just log on to any wireless network and they'll download just as they would at home

 

The new Kindle is a total steal at 89 quid I think - it's a very well made unit and very nice to use. And you can load 000s of books on it, so as you say it's way less hassle and cheaper than shipping books

 

Also no problems with recharging it - it recharges through a standard micro USB mport, same as virtually any smartphone does. So you just need a micro USB lead, one comes with your Kindle and you just need a plug adapter to use it in Aus

[flybyknight]

kindle charges from a usb, so any usb charger will do worldwide.

if you have a friend or family member with the same taste as you in books have them buy the kindle and add it to their account that way you can buy one book and share it for free.

also you should download calibre. its free software that will convert book formats and allow you to find books on the net for free and put them on your kindle. its getting a little like the music piracy thing, im not sure how you feel about all that, but you can do it if your morals will allow.

all in all though a fantastic device, highly recommended!

[pintpot]

We were all set to order one for Christmas for ourselves but decided to do a quick price check on the books we wanted to put on there. And then we baulked when we saw the prices. Books we already own (and many of them originally cheaper in book form as we've had them a fair while) costing around £4 a time, some cheaper, some more expensive and it would cost us a small fortune to put all the books we would like to 'keep' on there.

 

Factor in the new books also and it didn't work out exactly cheap. So we left that idea and will revisit it later next year.

 

We've kept the books we really want to keep and gotten rid of the rest and I'm making do with the library for new books or second hand shops for the odd cheap novel.

 

There are plenty of ways of getting free ebooks, some more legal than others (lots of places like Project Gutenberg you can get everything that's out of copyright) and more dubious ones that are akin to music file sharing. It takes a bit more effort than just downloading them from Amazon but it's not hard, they haven't locked the device down tight - I suspect deliberately so

 

My personal moral stance is if I've paid for a book once in paper format, I'm happy to "nick" it for an ereader. If it's something I've never bought before, I'll always pay and make sure the author gets some of their just rewards

 

The ebook price from Amazon is almost always less than the paper equivalent (sometimes much less), so once you have the Kindle even if you take this approach you'll get the money "back" after buying maybe 30-60 books, depending on what they are.

 

They're really great items - not just the Kindle, but any e-reader with the e-ink screen (this latter is a must, it's what makes it like reading a book instead of a computer screen). Just so convenient, the new one fits just snugly into a suit jacket pocket and is very light and thin so it goes virtually everywhere with me now

[flybyknight]

just thought, another thing with amazons kindle is the customer service, the support.

my mother in law broke the screen on hers. she phoned up and was honest, she was after a repair.

she got a fresh kindle, preloaded with all her books on next day delivery for nothing.

i was astounded. im so used to having to fight for everything when it comes to customer service.

well done amazon!

[Tulip]

Fantastic replies as usual; thank you so much everyone for taking the time to reply. Sounds like we're go go go with the Kindle then!

[roger2shirts]

get an ipad it does so much more!

[pintpot]

It does, but it's not the same to read on - the e-ink screen makes a massive difference, especially if you are reading in bed/late at night where an e-ink screen is restful (like a book) in a way an LCD can't be

 

Also of course it's a lot more money, less portable, and with a lot less battery life which reduces convenience when travelling

 

If you want a portable computer then tablets are great. If you just want a low cost, lightweight, convenient alternative to books, a specific device like an e-reader is a lot better

[Jurls]

Amazon isn't in Australia yet anyways.

 

http://www.readershop.com.au/ is an Aussie site selling a Kindle supposedly set up for the Aussie market. But tbh you could buy one in the UK and then just keep buying books from there also if you wanted I'd think.

 

That site sells them with an 'Australian kit' inlcuded but tbh all they do is supply a Aus charger :huh:

 

 

 

In Australia, you buy the Kindle from the Amazon International site (Amazon.com) and it ships direct to Australia. I got mine last year all works fine.

 

Obviously it links into the amazon.com store and books available there. Which is all fine but some of the books in the amazon.co.uk store are not in the amazon.com store which can be a bit of a pain. It is possible to de-register your Kindle from one account to the other (assuming you have both set up) but I wouldn't advise doing it on a regular basis as it is for copyright reasons that books are not available in both.

 

Worth also noting that books are ridiculously expensive in Australia and personally I find it more cost effective having a Kindle over here. :wink:

[pintpot]

Worth also noting that books are ridiculously expensive in Australia and personally I find it more cost effective having a Kindle over here. :wink:

 

Yes, that

 

Books over here are outrageously priced. They're probably too cheap in the UK since the demise of the net book agreement, there's not a lot of margin for publishers and retailers these days and very thin royalties for authors unless they're big names, but $30 a book or whatever they cost in Australia (I don't know, looked once and decided it would be ebooks all the way) is a joke. I don't believe the authors or publishers are making any more money, suspect most of the cost is going to the retailer in extra margin

[Guest Karenphil67]

get an ipad it does so much more!

 

Pits a pain to read in the sun though. We have a kindle and an iPad and there's no competition when you are lied by the pool :-)

[emfitz]

Bought my Kindle ealier this year from the .com website and got it shipped over... Books here are at crazy prices. I bought all secondhand before. I'd be lost without it now, i also bought a $50 gift card with it to save using a credit card everytime i bought a new book. Although now I download as many as i can for free and Calibre is a great tool for changing formats.

The only pain at times is some books on the .co.uk website arent on the .com website... But wouldnt give up my kindle for anything!!! :xmas7:

[Guest tandcmum]

if i bought a kindle here in the uk then and load all my books i currently have downloaded (i read them on iphone at hte moment) when i get to oz what happens if i want to buy a new book, can i just do it through the uk site and pay for it with my oz credit/debit card or will i need to keep a UK account open to be able to purchase from there?

[starlight7]

I've had my kindle for a while- get everything from amazon .com in USA or sometimes amazon uk- comes instantly, no probs. Bought it from the American site but you can get them here in Big W and lots of shops.

[pintpot]

if i bought a kindle here in the uk then and load all my books i currently have downloaded (i read them on iphone at hte moment) when i get to oz what happens if i want to buy a new book, can i just do it through the uk site and pay for it with my oz credit/debit card or will i need to keep a UK account open to be able to purchase from there?

 

I use my UK bank account to buy them, but an Aus debit card would work fine - the only issue is you'll get hit with the bank's rubbish exchange rate and possibly a foreign use charge (these vary depending on the bank and the account, so check them)

[BeckiNick]

I adore my Kindle never put it down!! I am linked to my UK amazon account but its not that expensive. I have the newer one I brought it here but my bro visited with his UK one and not a problem to download books and charging is USB , If you did get a plug in the wall charger you could always buy a plug adaptor Deff worth every penny

[Guest tandcmum]

I use my UK bank account to buy them, but an Aus debit card would work fine - the only issue is you'll get hit with the bank's rubbish exchange rate and possibly a foreign use charge (these vary depending on the bank and the account, so check them)

 

thanks for that, we are possibly keepong a UK bank account open anyway as we will have a few things to continue paying over here, if not i will change it over to the .com site or could i change it to link it to my parents amazon account and just get them to buy any books that i want?