Which Kindle? Real world experiences?
December 16, 2011 11:08 AM Subscribe
[Kindle Filter - Snowflake v9.7.1] I think I want a Kindle, but not to read Amazon books. Looking for real world experience from Kindle owners using Gutenberg books and Instapaper. Specifically Kindle 4 and Kindle Touch. Thanks in advance.
I've spent way to much time trying to decide if I want a Kindle and if so which one. I want a Kindle to read Instapaper deliveries, PDFs converted through Calibre and books from the Gutenberg Project.
I borrowed a Kindle 3 (keyboard) and it felt a bit clunky with the keyboard on the bottom. I am not a margin note taker or highlighter-type person. But I was pleased with Calibre and converting some funky formatted PDFs.
So that leaves the Touch or the Kindle 4.
So a few questions:
Some say the touch does not play nicely with Instapaper, if you use Instapaper and a Kindle Touch, do you find this to be true?
Page Refresh: Is the Kindle Touch as slow as some claim?
Battery Life: Does 2 month versus 1 months charge capacity really matter in the wild?
Storage Capacity:1500 vs 3500 books? Have you ever maxed out your Kindle's storage?
Any other thoughts are welcome. Thanks.
I've spent way to much time trying to decide if I want a Kindle and if so which one. I want a Kindle to read Instapaper deliveries, PDFs converted through Calibre and books from the Gutenberg Project.
I borrowed a Kindle 3 (keyboard) and it felt a bit clunky with the keyboard on the bottom. I am not a margin note taker or highlighter-type person. But I was pleased with Calibre and converting some funky formatted PDFs.
So that leaves the Touch or the Kindle 4.
So a few questions:
Some say the touch does not play nicely with Instapaper, if you use Instapaper and a Kindle Touch, do you find this to be true?
Page Refresh: Is the Kindle Touch as slow as some claim?
Battery Life: Does 2 month versus 1 months charge capacity really matter in the wild?
Storage Capacity:1500 vs 3500 books? Have you ever maxed out your Kindle's storage?
Any other thoughts are welcome. Thanks.
Marco Arment, creator of Instapaper, recommends the Kindle 4.
posted by modernserf at 11:17 AM on December 16, 2011
posted by modernserf at 11:17 AM on December 16, 2011
I have the keyboard version, but I have used it with Gutenberg books, and it's fine. I like having the keyboard, even though I don't take notes with the Kindle. For one, it makes searching easy. I played with a touch in Best Buy the other day, and I didn't like swiping as much as pressing the page turn key on the side. To each their own.
I used to be annoyed by the page refresh on mine, but then you stop noticing. I don't know whether mine is slower or faster than the touch, but I'm sure you'll get used to it.
Battery life: I'm really, really sure it doesn't matter unless you're on a trip or trapped in a basement or something. I use my kindle almost every day, and I'm pretty sure I will have charged it only 4 or 5 times this year. Just plug it in overnight on the 1st of the month, and you'll never run out of juice.
I wouldn't think the storage matters, but YMMV. even if you read 100 books a year, you're talking about 15 years' worth of material in the lower capacity version. Adding books takes less than 30 seconds.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 11:19 AM on December 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
I used to be annoyed by the page refresh on mine, but then you stop noticing. I don't know whether mine is slower or faster than the touch, but I'm sure you'll get used to it.
Battery life: I'm really, really sure it doesn't matter unless you're on a trip or trapped in a basement or something. I use my kindle almost every day, and I'm pretty sure I will have charged it only 4 or 5 times this year. Just plug it in overnight on the 1st of the month, and you'll never run out of juice.
I wouldn't think the storage matters, but YMMV. even if you read 100 books a year, you're talking about 15 years' worth of material in the lower capacity version. Adding books takes less than 30 seconds.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 11:19 AM on December 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
In case you haven't seen it yet, Marco Arment (the Instapaper developer) wrote a blog post comparing the Kindle 4, Kindle Touch, the Nook Simple Touch, an a Kobo e-reader and says that the Kindle 4 is the best for Instapaper.
(different link than modernserf's)
posted by griseus at 11:19 AM on December 16, 2011
(different link than modernserf's)
posted by griseus at 11:19 AM on December 16, 2011
The Kindle Touch is nice (especially the keyboard), but personally I like the K4 better.
I would recommend the Kindle over the Nook as you can store all your own content in Amazon's cloud which means you can download and read it on almost any device (with last page read synced).
posted by wongcorgi at 11:35 AM on December 16, 2011
I would recommend the Kindle over the Nook as you can store all your own content in Amazon's cloud which means you can download and read it on almost any device (with last page read synced).
posted by wongcorgi at 11:35 AM on December 16, 2011
"Does 2 month versus 1 months charge capacity really matter in the wild?"
Probably not. I run mine with one of the lights that use the kindle's battery power, which runs it down a lot faster, and I still never run out of batteries. It charges on a micro-USB (not sure about the touch), as does my phone, so I have one charger next to my favorite chair and one next to my bed and now and then when I take my phone off, I put my kindle on. I'm not sure I've ever gone below 50% power.
Kindle does now read PDFs natively as PDFs. (I'm not sure what Calibre conversion does, maybe make it into text? If so, that's cool.)
I found Instapaper a little bit fidgety to set up with my Kindle 3, but I'd never used Instapaper before so I was getting used to two interfaces at once. Once I had it set up how I liked, nothing to it.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:21 PM on December 16, 2011
Probably not. I run mine with one of the lights that use the kindle's battery power, which runs it down a lot faster, and I still never run out of batteries. It charges on a micro-USB (not sure about the touch), as does my phone, so I have one charger next to my favorite chair and one next to my bed and now and then when I take my phone off, I put my kindle on. I'm not sure I've ever gone below 50% power.
Kindle does now read PDFs natively as PDFs. (I'm not sure what Calibre conversion does, maybe make it into text? If so, that's cool.)
I found Instapaper a little bit fidgety to set up with my Kindle 3, but I'd never used Instapaper before so I was getting used to two interfaces at once. Once I had it set up how I liked, nothing to it.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:21 PM on December 16, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I went with the Kindle 4!
posted by Fuzzy Dog at 12:34 PM on December 16, 2011
posted by Fuzzy Dog at 12:34 PM on December 16, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by roue at 11:17 AM on December 16, 2011