A Couple of Kindle Questions
January 9, 2009 10:45 AM   Subscribe

Thinking about buying a used Kindle for reading .DOC files. Is this a good idea?

There are two issues I'd like help with, if someone would be so kind:

1. If I buy used, is there some kind of licensing or subscription I have to transfer, or are all Kindles automatically "turned on?"

2. The main use for our project is not reading e-books but rather reading Word files. Does the Kindle do a good job displaying these? Especially: Does it render embedded graphics well?
posted by king walnut to Technology (17 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
2. Here's a discussion on Amazon re: graphic capabilities. Short answer seems to be: yes, it does graphics, but black and white only (and in just four greyscales).
posted by joelhunt at 10:58 AM on January 9, 2009


I've never used a kindle. But for $349 for a new one (not sure what you're paying used), I'd instead buy a Eee PC for $249, that can view .doc, .xls, .ppt, email, internet, etc.
posted by JuiceBoxHero at 10:58 AM on January 9, 2009


Best answer: 1. The current Kindle owner would have to deauthorize the Kindle from their account (in the Amazon Account screens) and you would have to then authorize it under your account. There is a "Manage your Kindle" page on Amazon.

2. You would email the word docs to your Kindle, and they would be converted to a Kindle-readable format. Embedded graphics are readable, but it really depends on their complexity. As joelhunt said, they're converted to grayscale.

The Kindle book format is basically the Mobipocket format. If you were so inclined, you could download the Mobipocket creator and get a sense for what the output will look like before you buy.

Regarding JuiceBoxHero's suggestion, as someone who owns both, you really can't compare the feel of a Kindle to a EEE PC for reading-only purposes.
posted by FreezBoy at 11:22 AM on January 9, 2009


If I were you, I'd take a pass on the Kindle and get the Eee. You've got a lot less lockdown and a lot more bang for your buck.
The good ebook readers are going to be a couple development cycles down the road.
posted by dunkadunc at 11:22 AM on January 9, 2009


The kindle does not read doc files naively. You need to email the files to Amazon and then they perform a conversion to whatever format the kindle likes. I imagine the process is not perfect and results in some formatting issues. Consideing the kindle costs as much as a budget laptop, perhaps youd be better off with a laptop and the free MS Doc viewer.

You could probably get away with converting them to PDF, but the Kindle's PDF support is poor and may require the same conversion process. The converter is "experimental" so I wouldnt expect much.
posted by damn dirty ape at 11:26 AM on January 9, 2009


Best answer: The network delivery service is done via amazon and you only have to posess an Amazon account to activate it. They profess to charge $0.10 per document that is sent wirelessly to the Kindle and nothing to translate and return to you via email. If they send it to you by email, you can load in onto the Kindle via USB. The $0.10 charge is presumably to offset their cost of the Sprint wireless data network that they have to pay for. However, they have yet to charge anyone a cent for this transfer service. One day, they will start charging, but so far it is free. There are also a number of free utilities that will convert .doc files into the Kindle format (mobipocket) and the Kindle just looks like a USB drive so you can move files easily onto it yourself if you don't want to talk to Amazon.

If you connect to Amazon, they will provide you with an email address and Word documents sent to that email address will be automatically translated and converted to the mobipocket format and transmitted to your Kindle. It is very convenient. The only charge is the $0.10 per document/email that they have not yet charged anyone.

I use Kindle to review technical proposals that are originally DOC files. It does a superb job on the text and is much easier to read than an LCD screen and the battery life is measured in days instead of minutes. However, graphics are rendered in greyscale and get scaled for the display screen of the Kindle.

It has some rudimentary mark-up capabilities that let me highlight sections and insert notes into the documents, but it doesn't work nearly as seamlessly as Word's mark-up functions, of course.

There is an advanced document format that supports zooming on images (known as Topaz or AZW1), but as far as I know there are no automated tools to convert to that sort of document.
posted by Lame_username at 11:26 AM on January 9, 2009 [1 favorite]


I understand why people are recommending the EEE instead of the Kindle. However, the flip side is that the Kindle uses digital ink and is supposed to be a very different reading experience than a backlit LCD; more comfortable for many. I am planning on buying one (when the next gen is released) for a similar purpose--reading work docs. As a consultant, I have a lot of stuff I need to read once, but I find reading on a computer very difficult, and hate printing out papers for a once-over.
posted by Herkimer at 11:46 AM on January 9, 2009


The battery life of the Kindle is an order of magnitude longer than the Eee, the screen size is vastly larger and its far more comfortable to hold in a reading manner.

Find someone with a Kindle and have them load up the most complex DOC that you would want to read and take a look. I've started seeing people with them pretty often in coffee shops and other loungey read-a-book places around here. The owners have always been happy to show it off.

You might also look at the Sony reader. It doesn't have the wireless that makes the Kindle so hot, but it's otherwise much the same (with better industrial design) and reads Word doc natively.
posted by Ookseer at 12:08 PM on January 9, 2009


One upsides to a kindle over an eeepc, built in, lifetime free-to-use wireless web that is cell based, not wifi. No searching for a hot spot, no trying to hook up an aftermarket 3g dongle.

As others have mentioned, image support is dithered greyscale, so source image quality has a great effect on kindleized output.

Battery life is worlds better than an EEE, when the wireless network is turned off.
posted by nomisxid at 12:10 PM on January 9, 2009


Best answer: You need to email the files to Amazon and then they perform a conversion to whatever format the kindle likes. I imagine the process is not perfect and results in some formatting issues.

Nah. In fact, I've had worse luck with Project Gutenberg .txt files than with .docs, and those are supposedly plain text! Can't say enough good things about the Kindle. Also, they're much more comfortable (and smaller) to hold and read things on than a laptop-style anything.

For anyone wondering about graphics and greyscale on the Kindle, I found this Kindle book to be really interesting and useful: http://www.amazon.com/Formatting-Comics-Kindle-Book-Graphics/dp/B001BDI2BE
posted by bitter-girl.com at 12:32 PM on January 9, 2009


the screen size is vastly larger and its far more comfortable to hold in a reading manner

Actually, the eepc screen is 10 inches now and was 8.9 in the previous model. The Kindle and Sony reader are 6". That's quite a bit of difference. The Kindle and the e-reader have some real advantages but screen size, color, resolution, etc aint them.
posted by damn dirty ape at 12:36 PM on January 9, 2009


How about you explain what you like about the Kindle? Is it the size or the screen mainly?

Explain the .doc files a bit more, too. Do you get a lot of huge word documents you need to read, or are they small enough you could handle it on a regular laptop LCD, like on the EEE? Do you need to interpret a lot of graphics? What kind of graphics? Simple charts? Photos?

Sony has their own line of E-Readers that looks a bit cheaper than the kindle, probably because it doesn't have the wireless capabilities. The Sony E-Readers look like they have more screen on their surface than the Kindle, as well. Still, they cost more than the EEE, too, but not that much more.

No word on how well they handle graphics, though.
posted by mccarty.tim at 1:00 PM on January 9, 2009


Response by poster: Thanks for the responses! To be clear, I'm not looking for an alternative to the Kindle; I'm wondering what headaches I might suffer if I buy one used (there's a two-month backlog at Amazon), and how well it renders Word files, especially embedded graphics. This is for a specific project where the Kindle part is a given. I do have leeway on what kind of documents I produce, though. PDF would be great but I've already learned that the Kindle doesn't do so well with those at this time.
posted by king walnut at 1:09 PM on January 9, 2009


Check out the mobileread forums. People over there are crazy about e-readers.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 1:42 PM on January 9, 2009


Why are you set on the Kindle? I'm guessing you have the option to buy a used one at a reasonable price, but there are options, and more on the way (working MobileRead link).
posted by filthy light thief at 2:28 PM on January 9, 2009


Response by poster: To be clear, I'm not looking for an alternative to the Kindle. It is for a specific project and the Kindle part is a given, meaning I don't get to decide on the e-reader.
posted by king walnut at 5:38 PM on January 9, 2009 [1 favorite]


Another alternative to the used Kindle solution is to buy a refurbished one from Amazon. They have the full warranty and are a bit cheaper. I use wiialerts to let me know when a refurb model is in stock and buy it that way. I've bought two using that method. You have to move fast because they usually sell out within minutes. I know that Amazon has been very good about replacing models with any issues, even if you purchase it used.
posted by Lame_username at 8:14 AM on January 12, 2009


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