New Member and Kindle

Hi everyone,

I just joined this site and this group. It's nice to see such an active one.

My name's Sharon and I've been a proud owner of my Kindle siince the end of June. wow! I don't know waht I did without it. it's one of the best things I ever laid my mits into. :)

One drawback though - in theire next generation, they really need to do something about those4 buttons on the side. I'm forever hitting one by accident and flipping pages when I don't want to. My husband and I got ours at the same time, and he says the very same thing. Other than that, it's a must have for any bookaholic.

Since I just joined this site tonight, I'm in teh process of adding my myriad books to my library. Man, that's going to take forever and a day! what I'm reading right now - "Dying to Please" by Linda Howard. I highly recommend it if you like teh romance/suspense type books.

In November, I'll be participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I've already been a two-time winner and am looking forward to my third year participating. When I get this thing done and editiing, I'm going to look into (hopefully) getting the thing published. I love to write, but whether I'm any good at it remains to be seen.

Anyway, it's nice to be here and I'll be looking forward to chatting with all of you. :)

If you have lots of books to add to LibraryThing I suggest you get one of the CueCat scanners so you can just scan the bar code on each book. Makes adding lots of titles go very quickly!!

Yeah, I was looking at those. It sounds so cool for sure. I have lots of physical books to add, of course, and I also add the ones from my Kindle, which a CueCat scanner wont' help with. Still, it sunds like an excellen tool and you can't beat the price. :)

Welcome! I don't post often, just when I have finished a book or find something to comment on. I do love my kindle - would love to see a software update to help sort the growing number of books on it. Otherwise, I am content. I don't have any problems with the buttons as long as I keep the kindle in its cover. I usually hold it on the cover or down on the keyboard.

I am just finishing up The Color of Water by James McBride. Had trouble getting into it at first, but ended up really liking it. Only problem is that there are a couple of photos that do not come out well on the Kindle. I don't think it is the Kindle itself -- the publishers could do a much better job with photos.

-- k4k

#4

I'm with krazy4katz. I had a little problem with the buttons when I first got my Kindle, but now I'm used to it and I really wouldn't like to see them change the layout with Kindle 2.0. Extra space around the edges makes the keyboard too inaccessible to "thumb typing" which is what I do for quick search entries.

I'm pretty much satisfied with the hardware design just as it is. I've got a minor quibble with the position of the wifi switch on the back, since it's difficult to access with my Kindle in its M-edge case. It would be more convenient if it were on the bottom by the USB port, but this is really a minor quibble.

The problem's with the software, primarily the lack of any real sorting capability on the home screen. There should be some folder structure.

One other software addition that I've been thinking would be useful would be the ability to turn off images. If I'm trying to look something up on Wikipedia, the download can be painfully slow if the web page has a lot of images. Giving the user the option to turn images off in the browser could really speed up the download. And if enough users did turn images off, Amazon might save some money on Sprint bandwidth.

#5: CurrerBell, how do you like the m-edge cover? Is it as sturdy and protective as the original? I have been waiting for mine (the original) to fall apart so that I can buy one. I don't think it will take too long. I agree with you about the on/off and whispernet switches. --k4k

I've had my leather m-edge for about 6 months. It looks as good as the day I got it. It does a good job of protecting the Kindle and it also makes it easy to hold without accidental button pushes.

#6
I love my M-edge. It's so much more protective than the original, which just doesn't hold my Kindle securely enough. The M-edge has an extra little elastic band to hold the upper right corner of my Kindle so it won't slip out accidentally. And it's at least as sturdy as the original and quite protective if you're carrying your Kindle in a purse, suitcase, or whatever. I got a M-edge within a couple weeks after getting my Kindle because the original cover was a really major dissatisfaction I had. The leather M-edge cover is also more comfortable to hold than the original.

Only thing about that extra security of the upper-right-corner elastic band is that it impedes access to the wifi switch, which I why I suggest the switch be placed in a more accessible location, but that's really a minor quibble.

Originally, I found the Kindle book cover unsatisfactory. It held the kindle very loosely. Then my Kindle failed and I sent everything back including the book cover. When I received the new Kindle the new book cover held the Kindle a little better but not much.

Then I read Stephen Windwalker's Kindle User's Guide and learned a trick. If you use the elastic strap on the back of the book cover over the lower right corner of the Kindle the book cover holds the Kindle perfectly well (at least in my case). The strap partially covers the Back button and the Aa button but you can push them through the strap without difficulty so I do not find it inconvenient.

I recommend you try this trick before paying the truly staggering price for the m-edge. If it doesn't work for you or you don't like it, it is easy enough to order a new cover then.

Hi Xenchu,

Yes, thanks. I do use the strap to anchor the Kindle more securely in the original cover. I still have trouble with the back cover of the Kindle coming off. I can tolerate it for a while longer. k4k

Hi K4K,

That would be an irritating problem. Does the back cover come off when you try to take the Kindle out of the book cover or when it is strapped down? I don't think an m-edge would cure the problem either way but since I don't have one I can't say that for sure.

Hi Xenchu,

I think the m-edge cover would be different, because the kindle is held in place with straps at all 4 corners. The problem with the original cover is that the back tab hooks into the the battery cover on the kindle and pulls on it, which pops it off. k4k

Im considering buying a Kindle and have read some of your feed back on it. Overall is it easy to use or are there formatting issues that you have to know how to fix? Im not big on computer lingo but the concept of the Kindle seems great. Pro's and Con's ??

I find it very easy to use, I much prefer it over traditional paper books. I read more, faster and longer with the Kindle.

If you buy Kindle books from Amazon, there should be no problems with formatting. In the unlikely event that there are, you can contact Amazon and they'll either fix it or refund your money.

Free books that can't be read directly by the Kindle can be sent to the Amazon conversion, you don't need to be a computer whiz at all. If you can send an email with an attachment, you're good to go.