Tell me about your Kindles (debating buying one)

[NovelNerd]

The wife and I have really held out on buying these, because we are very old school with our books. It's getting to the point now though that we just need the room. I'm an English teacher, and she is a big reader. We are running out of room for bookshelves.

I've been looking at the paper white one compared to the others. I have no interest in a tablet or a kindle with extra functions other than being used for books. Seriously we have four computers and phones. I want it to just function for reading. I hate tablets, but I was curious if the paper white is pretty good? Does the battery last as long as it says? Because I can literally read eight hours straight. Is it easy to use and such? Opinions an thoughts are welcome.

[kaoskat]

I am anti ereader so I can't help. My mom seems to love hers though.

[joce]

Love my paper white. I am such a book hoarder and it has saved me soooooooooooooo much room! I see no down side to it. I had the I love paper book thing but quickly went away when I could read without waking up my husband at night and they were not stacking up. Also find myself reading a ton of things I normally wouldn't from the free or cheap books I have really enjoyed!

Battery lasts a long time. Many books available. I don't do the book share thing but I know you can somehow. I bought my mom one so yes it is very easy to use!

I love that if I am out at the dr and leave my kindle at home I can read on my kindle app and my kindle picks it right back up where I left off on my phone. I started with the kindle dx but much prefer the smaller size of my new one.

[Sebby6]

I have a kindle fire and my husband has the paper white. The paper white is awesome. It's lovely to hold - lightweight and sits nice in your hand. It also really does work in bright sunlight. I have the fire because I don't have a smartphone, but if I just wanted an ereader, I would definitely go for a paper white.
I used to be anti-ereader too - especially seeing as in this country in can the cheaper buying the book and I used to get my books second hand anyway, but there are so many good offers on Amazon and I find myself discovering loads of new authors. Also - Amazon lets you have access to each other's libraries, so you don't need to buy a book twice if you both want to read it.

[flyawayraven]

I love my paper white! I asked for a plain Kindle for my birthday last year but my mother insisted on the paper white and I am very glad she did.

My partner and I have much the same problem you and yours do: we're both English majors and we love to read, so we have plenty of books and not enough room. The Kindle is the same dimensions as a small paperback (not as thick of course!) so it feels very comfortable to hold. I tend to hold mine much like a book and it's nice because I can read a lengthy book without my wrist starting to bother me from supporting the weight (yay carpal tunnel!).

It is a digital screen which I was leery of because I spend most of my time on a computer, but the Kindle "e-ink" display is designed to simulate a book so no glare or harshness. I have real problems with eye strain so having it display like a book rather than a monitor is a huge plus. I only find I need the backlight if I'm lying in bed with the lights out. The light is very soft so I'm able to use it while my partner is sleeping and he doesn't notice.

As for battery life, it does last quite awhile, as long as you do NOT keep the wireless on at all times. The wireless is a bit of a battery hog so I keep my Kindle in airplane mode unless I want to upload something to it. I use my kindle everyday on my commute and I went about a month or so before the battery dropped very low. I do recommend dropping the extra $20 for the AC charger so that you won't have to plug it into the computer everytime it needs a charge. The USB cable the Kindle comes with plugs right into the charger so it's super convenient!

You have a couple ways of adding content onto the paper white. It can be connected to any computer via its USB cable and from there content can be dragged and dropped onto it. The other method is via email. The downside to this is it will require wireless but it's really great if you're caught without your USB cable (or you're like me and too lazy to go find it and plug it in :p). When you register the Kindle on Amazon it should prompt you to create a username or some such for the kindle itself and adding that username to the domain "@kindle.com" will allow you to email files directly to your Kindle! Amazon will store any books you buy from them, as well as files you did not purchase from them, on their cloud service so you can redownload them at any time.

The types of files the paper white can read are .mobi, .pdf, and .azw. Epub files will NOT be readable. I do recommend converting PDF's to .mobi format if you're able to because while it can read them, they can cause the Kindle to freeze and the text will be microscopic. I like to use zamzar.com to convert files.

As for finding content, well, there's no shortage! There's the massive selection on Amazon and through some *ahem* creative means plenty of other places to look for ebooks too! And if you're a fanfiction reader, Archive of Our Own allows any of their works to be downloaded in .mobi so they can be read on your Kindle. Portable fanfiction is a wonderful, wonderful thing!

[rosierjay]

I have a nook simple touch (sorry i'm anti kindle) and my mom has the nook HD from last year.

i absolutely love mine and have several series that i have switched entirely to digital.
i also buy all my comics and many of my manga as digital only now.
I'm saving up to by the new nook Samsung. *drools*

I could go on about how awesome it is and it's difference between the kindle, but i don't own a kindle. so i can't compare them.
i just know i love being able to go into barnes and noble, and talk to the customer service directly when i either can't figure something out or just need help. they also have classes. woot!
plus the one hour of in store reading for any book i want to sample for free.
but i just like going into B&N and sitting. i find it very relaxing..

i still have an extensive paper book library, but some books i have re-purchases as ebooks, just so i can take them with me to re-read when i take trips. and i find i use it so much more than i thought i would.

does anyone know if you can use nook ebooks on a kindle?
i know you can use kindle ebooks on a nook.

[CupidStrikes]

I prefer paper books, but thanks to many, many promotions, I ended up with a tidy library of e-books and eventually debated getting one, until last Christmas I got a Kindle Fire HD. I'm also an avid knitter - most knitting patterns come in PDF form and the PDF reader for PC is crap. The PDF reader for Kindle? Smooth as anything. No lag, no forever loading, no clunky scrolling. It's perfect. The browser also means I can directly download patterns from websites without having to transfer them from my laptop.

I don't think the Paper White has a backlight, so you might want to consider the Fire for that alone, as otherwise it can be a pain in the butt to read the screen if there are any light sources nearby that could reflect off the screen. The battery life is okay - I think about 6-8 hours depending on what you're doing/your power settings. There are also some pretty nifty apps like DuoLingo where you can learn another language via the Kindle functions, like the microphone, etc, which is pretty cool.

Of course the cons are still as with any digital format - e-anything is expensive as heck (especially as here, e-books are subject to 20% VAT, which paper books aren't, go figure). Buuuut I've managed to get a bunch of e-books free in various promotions, and the ability to download a sample from the Kindle Store is  very useful as many blurbs these days are so much pretentious waffle with little substance

[melodys_angel]

I prefer real books, mom loves the e reader.  Only thing is shes gone through a few kindles..they don't seem to last--at all.  A year, maybe?

The again, mom loves reading outside so..

[Calico_Star]

I love my kindle! I have the Paperwhite, and it's great. I got it solely because I had too many "real" books and was running out of space. (Well, the fact that it has a backlight so you can read in the dark doesn't hurt either!) I find that I still end up buying quite a lot of physical books, just because they're only a dollar or two more expensive than the Kindle versions in many cases. But I have quite a large collection of Kindle books that I got cheap or free. The Kindle is very easy to use, easy to adjust settings, all that good stuff. It's also fantastic for trips, because you don't have to haul multiple books with you to ensure you won't run out of reading material before your trip is over

I find that the battery doesn't last as long as advertised, however. If it's just in sleep mode, sure, it'll probably last you a month, but if you're doing regular reading, I find it lasts less than a week. It just all depends on how you use it, if you keep the wifi connected (I tend to, which I'm sure does bad things to the battery), how high you have the lighting turned up, etc. This isn't a big deal for me though, I just charge it overnight every so often.

I definitely recommend a Kindle even if it's just to mess around with, or to collect cheap e-books to supplement your paper library with

[flyawayraven]

I prefer paper books, but thanks to many, many promotions, I ended up with a tidy library of e-books and eventually debated getting one, until last Christmas I got a Kindle Fire HD. I'm also an avid knitter - most knitting patterns come in PDF form and the PDF reader for PC is crap. The PDF reader for Kindle? Smooth as anything. No lag, no forever loading, no clunky scrolling. It's perfect. The browser also means I can directly download patterns from websites without having to transfer them from my laptop.

I don't think the Paper White has a backlight, so you might want to consider the Fire for that alone, as otherwise it can be a pain in the butt to read the screen if there are any light sources nearby that could reflect off the screen. The battery life is okay - I think about 6-8 hours depending on what you're doing/your power settings. There are also some pretty nifty apps like DuoLingo where you can learn another language via the Kindle functions, like the microphone, etc, which is pretty cool.

Of course the cons are still as with any digital format - e-anything is expensive as heck (especially as here, e-books are subject to 20% VAT, which paper books aren't, go figure). Buuuut I've managed to get a bunch of e-books free in various promotions, and the ability to download a sample from the Kindle Store is  very useful as many blurbs these days are so much pretentious waffle with little substance

The paper white is backlit. Doesn't have a problem with reflection or glare either. I think the Fire has that problem because it's emulating a tablet.

I think the only Kindle that isn't backlit is the basic one. I love the backlight on my paper white!

[MoondancerMilkyWay]

I have a kindle 3G+wifi and keyboard, no backlight. i still love it. i love books, I have no room for books. just gave away another chunk of books to a friend...lots of free books, cheap books, library books i never returned...can read on kindle, on app, on computer, on tablet, on anything that has the kindle app.
wifi *will* drain the battery very quickly.
I was a Brand Advocate for the Kindle Fire last year. If you're in the market for a tablet and/or have kids/multiple users and are an Amazon Prime member (for more than the shipping) then by all means, the tablet is for you! if you *just* want a ereader, the kindle is the #1 selling e-reader for a reason. the paperwhite is quite lovely. it's light, great backlight, easy controls. it's all touch which I don't like - I want hard keys! i wish Blackberry wasn't so ....nevermind. that's a tangent I shouldn't start on...
I love the paperwhite, personally. I don't own one because my old kindle works just fine, thank you very much. the ac adapter is good to have so you can plug it in when you aren't near a computer. it charges pretty quickly.
all in all, i'm a fan. one of my favorite things is the library books. if you leave the wifi off the kindle will never know you haven't returned the book though you've already returned it to your library!
you can increase the font size very easily, which is great because sometimes the font sizes get crazy...
it reads lots of formats not just .amz (or is it .amw?) for books....

i vote yes!

[Summer-blade]

I have the basic kindle touch I got it a few years ago as a Christmas present. I love this thing, most of my e-books were free or less then $3 ( though I did buy the first four game of thrones books as a collection for $17) I do like it for the fact that I only have to carry around one book like object to have tons of books and I don't have to go looking through stores to find older books on my reading list.

I also love the text to speech feature, I'm a little bit of a slower reader so it helps to have the book read to me even if the pronunciation is a little off at times.   

The only draw back is that the screen is only black and white and the internet connection is iffy at best. The Kindle touch is limited on apps but as an e-reader it's solid and easy to use.

I still collect 'dead tree books' or 'paper' whatever term you prefer, but I don't have the need to troll used book stores daily to get my fix. 

[Honeycomb]

I'm a big reader, I cannot live without books. Due to space issues and also because I travel between the countries a lot and always run out of books, I have given ebooks a try. I got a Kindle 2 years ago. Since then I have used it a couple of times. I don't like the feel of it at all, and I don't want to spend money on virtual books to download without owning the real book. I definitely prefer real books.

[Moony]

I had the Kindle 2 and got the Paper white when it first came out I like it a lot but only use it when I am at home. When I am at work I often leave my book out in the waiting area and I worry about some one stealing my Kindle if I left it out there! I have not spent more than $3 on a book. I usually pick the physical book over the Kindle version if it is a few dollar difference (or over $3!). I still buy a lot of books mainly for the work reason haha! I also go to a lot of book sales where books are only a $1 or $2 haha!

[rybett]

Mouse inherited my original Kindle, I have the Fire.  Hers has a little pull out light that is linked to the battery via the cover.  Love them both!!!  Fire has a brightness adjuster that works well for me.