what_are_u_like Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 Hi folks,I was wondering if anywhere locally stock the kindle? Or whether folks who have them use them for pdf reading and how they find it? Not a fan of pdf reading on netbook or desktop and looking for something as an alternative to printing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 Am sure I have seen these in Tesco but no idea how they cope with PDF documents........in fact I did not know they could open them until I saw the original posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breeksy Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 You can get them in Tesco, but I don't think they have the new cheaper version (yet?) The kindle is perfectly good for pdfs. While it's better for ebooks (with ebooks you can increase the size of the text, you can't do this with pdfs - you have to zoom in instead), it certainly beats using a computer screen for reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
righter Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 there is an excellent ..free,piece of software that converts all sorts of formats for the kindle. its called Calibre...we use it all the time for all our kindles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinner72 Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 Beat me to it! Calibre is an excellent piece of software which will convert most document formats to kindle files, and offers an excellent library management feature as well. On the subject of .pdf's, how they are handled by the kindle depends upon how they were encoded. If they were generated properly (from files) then the kindle will read them just like any other document, letting you change font size etc. However, if they are made up of images (often the case with scanned documents) then you will have to pan and zoom as mentioned above. I was sceptical of the kindle until I got to use one, now I think they are a fantastic tool, deserving of far more praise, and use, than they get. The whispersync facility is pure genius. For example the recent idea of councillors getting iPads was laughable, but if they were to be sensible enough to get Kindles to replace the reams of paper, that would be a genuine step in the right direction.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nautim Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 I don't have a kindle but I read lots of PDFs only iPad. I find it useful because I can highlight and annotate the bits which are of interest, but I believe you can do that on the kindle as well.It is a lot easier than reading on a pc screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
what_are_u_like Posted October 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 Thanks for da feedback, it has been very useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinner72 Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 One small thing not mentioned which makes a massive difference to me is battery life. The kindle can literally go weeks between charges, something no other device can match as yet. Re: annotations - yes you can do that, along with bookmarking/highlighting etc however I suspect that may not be possible with one of these new cheaper versions without a keyboard, so may be worth bearing in mind if thats a factor. (I can't find any confirmation one way or the other online, but logic says you need a keyboard to enter notes!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobby Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 i am just back from turkey i took my kindle with me, i loved it i read everyday and no need to travel with half a dozen books get the one with gprs you can download as you go. i would recommend it for anyone who loves reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khitajrah Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 I don't have a kindle but I read lots of PDFs only iPad. I find it useful because I can highlight and annotate the bits which are of interest, but I believe you can do that on the kindle as well.It is a lot easier than reading on a pc screen. That's it - I'm now sold on the idea of a Kindle! I saw one recently at our readers group and thought it was quite an interesting gadget, but I'm a bit old-school in that I like reading proper 'books'. However, I have printed off reams and reams of research papers for my OU courses, using a lot of paper and a lot of ink, because I can't read PDFs online. The Kindle sounds like it might make things easier/cheaper for me in that respect for my future courses, especially since they can be annotated. Maybe Santa will be good to me this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 see http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/09/how-to-do-almost-everything-with-a-kindle-3/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinner72 Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 Excellent article with a few nice tips. I didn't know about the Article view, which makes a massive difference to some webpages. I also hadn't twigged about letting Amazon foot the bill when browsing the net when mobile! TY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 I also hadn't twigged about letting Amazon foot the bill when browsing the net when mobile! One of the main reasons I bought it was to access my webmail and read essential webpages for free via 3G when travelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apehanger Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 I wasn't really interested in these, but after reading this thread I've just gone and ordered one.Thanks!I think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobby Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 you can also download and play music through it too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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