Friday, November 04, 2011

About that cheap Kindle..

My Internet friend Jeanie brought some things about the $79 Kindle to my attention.  She's much more "geekie" than I, and I trust her advice.
"Before you change from the Nook to a Kindle, be aware of two things. Those cheaper Kindles have ads on them and you can't change your 'wallpaper' to any picture you want, and also with the Kindle you can't buy books from other stores. With the Nook you can buy from Barnes&Noble, but also from the Sony store and many smaller publishers. That's because the Nook uses epub (which is a more 'open' file type) The kindle won't do epubs without jumping thru a couple of hoops, and the Kindle books are their very own proprietary file format.

Also, go to stores and hold the e-reader you are thinking of getting. They all have slight differences in weight, etc."
 
Nook lists the differences between the two on a chart HERE.  One important point that would steer me toward the Nook again is that I notice they have live telephone customer support, whereas Kindle does not.  Not long ago, I deleted my AOL email, which was associated with my Nook account; so the most recent book I bought with my Swagbucks wouldn't load onto the Nook.  I called support and a man guided me through the steps needed to fix my problem.  Telephone support is a big plus, even if the guy assisting me is in India.    
Jeanie is the person who originally steered me toward the Nook, and I have not been disappointed.  I don't think I'd like seeing ads on my reader, even if it saved me a few bucks.  Now, the part about changing the "wallpaper" on the screen doesn't affect me; I've never changed the wallpaper on my Nook, ever.  I bought it to read books, not to look at pictures.
And now you know the rest of the story.  I'd agree with Jeanie that people should window-shop and handle the various e-readers before they buy.  I'm in the boonies; I don't shop and didn't have any way of doing this, so I'm glad I had her advising me, especially since she always backs up her advice with facts (I sometimes don't understand the facts, but that's beside the point).
Thanks, Jeanie. 

6 comments:

  1. My Sony didn't hold up so since I bought an extra years warranty I sent it back and got a refund. The refund was made where you could only spend it a Office Max.That was where I originally bought it. I have an order in for the Kindle Fire which is supposed to be here the 15th of Nov. Ken called someone and they said you could put any format of any book into it. Also you could go online if you had wi fi. We shall see how all that goes. Like you my goal is reading books. Helen

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  2. I have a Nook; NOT the color or the latest one that is shaped more like a square. As you can see, I'm seriously lacking in the technical aspects of it. Can you believe that I used to be a computer programmer?

    My 11 year old daughter has a Kindle. I liked the lighter weight of it and the keyboard when she first got it, but now it doesn't matter.

    When I bought it, a slightly cheaper one was available. Fortunately, I read something that they didn't make real clear, about the ads being on the screen. I passed. Who wants that! There are enough ads on the computer and TV.

    Good advice for your readers.

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  3. My old ancient Kindle doesn't have ads, displayed like the new one. I think I would be upset if it did. I hate commercials. I noticed one of your readers mentioned a cover with a light in it for Kindle. That would come in handy if I didn't use my XOOM tablet at night. Because it's backlit I don't need a light. I guess it really doesn't matter what device I use. The point is I'm enjoying READING.

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  4. Just to clear it up for people it is the 'special' editions of Kindle (that are a little cheaper) that have the ads. The new Fire that kindle put out is more of a highbred tablet. It's screen is backlit like the Nook color, and like other tablets isn't as easy on your eyes as an e-ink screen.

    Glad I could help out, I myself still have the first nook, and since it still works just fine, I don't plan to replace it till it breaks ... I am cheap LOL!

    To the person looking for the built in light, I have seen them for the Nook both online and in B&N stores, but if you have the first edition Nook (which is a little bigger) you may have to special order it :)

    I have my Nook set up so a different picture shows up each time I put it to sleep. I got most of the pics from a Nook site and there are like 8 that cycle thru. Doesn't effect my reading, but it amuses me LOL!

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  5. I still have my same Nook also. Unless it quits working, I won't be getting another one. It suits me fine.

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  6. I'm still pretty sure that when I DO get an e-reader, it is going to be a Nook. I don't know when that will be though. It isn't at the top of my priority list right now.

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