Kindle or Tablet or Notebook?
Discussion
The Wife does a lot of reading - her birthdays coming up and I ws thinking of buying her a Kindle or maybe a 8 or 10" tablet or even a small notebook, so she'd be able to take several 'Books' with her when we're away from home.
Which is the best cheapest simplest option - I know nothing about E books, are most novels available easily for thhese devices?
Of course a Tablet or notebook have the advantage of net access which would be a Plus
TA
Which is the best cheapest simplest option - I know nothing about E books, are most novels available easily for thhese devices?
Of course a Tablet or notebook have the advantage of net access which would be a Plus
TA
The advantage of being able to do other things on a tablet is nice, but the far far far greater battery life of the Kindle wipes that out.
If she reads a lot, get her the Kindle.
If you have prime, you can also 'borrow' one book a month for free (selected books but a pretty big range) and you can only read those on the Kindle, not a tablet.
ETA : to answer your question, the screen on the Kindle is better for reading. Much more like looking at paper than a glowing screen. Plus the battery life I mentioned.
If she reads a lot, get her the Kindle.
If you have prime, you can also 'borrow' one book a month for free (selected books but a pretty big range) and you can only read those on the Kindle, not a tablet.
ETA : to answer your question, the screen on the Kindle is better for reading. Much more like looking at paper than a glowing screen. Plus the battery life I mentioned.
rene7 said:
The Wife does a lot of reading - her birthdays coming up and I ws thinking of buying her a Kindle or maybe a 8 or 10" tablet or even a small notebook, so she'd be able to take several 'Books' with her when we're away from home.
Which is the best cheapest simplest option - I know nothing about E books, are most novels available easily for thhese devices?
Of course a Tablet or notebook have the advantage of net access which would be a Plus
TA
As has been said, if it's just for reading then then Kindle is the one to go for - the screen isn't pushing light towards you so there's no strain after reading at night.Which is the best cheapest simplest option - I know nothing about E books, are most novels available easily for thhese devices?
Of course a Tablet or notebook have the advantage of net access which would be a Plus
TA
Most (if not all) recent novels are available, if you take a look at the Kindle ebooks section on Amazon ( link) you can see how many are available and the cost (normally about the same as a paperback, sometimes a little more as you have to pay VAT).
The downside is that you're chained to Amazon and can only read books bought from there. Some of the other eReaders allow you to borrow books from local libraries.
I think the pressing question is - if your wife likes reading so much, why hasn't she got one already?
FunkyNige said:
The downside is that you're chained to Amazon and can only read books bought from there.
Not true.You can load books / pdfs etc onto a Kindle obtained from elsewhere as long as the book is in a format supported by the Kindle, simplest way is to connect the Kindle to a PC, then simply drag and drop from PC to Kindle.
Another options is to use a piece of software called "Calibre". That makes it really easy and will convert e-books between formats if you need it to.
You can also email books and pdfs directly to the kindle.
Hoofy said:
Defo get the Kindle as per above - battery life, better reading ability.
However, I use my phone... to read books to me while I'm doing something else. I don't think a Kindle can do that.
I think the older ones used to? But only the Oasis seem to now, but then you have to buy the audio book on audible first, which seems really cheeky to charge you twice.However, I use my phone... to read books to me while I'm doing something else. I don't think a Kindle can do that.
If you use the Kindle app on your phone and sign with your amazon account any of the Kindles will sync your progress to your phone and vice versa. I've used that a few times when I want to carry on reading a book but forgot my Kindle for some reason.
davek_964 said:
If you have prime, you can also 'borrow' one book a month for free (selected books but a pretty big range) and you can only read those on the Kindle, not a tablet.
If you have Prime, then Prime Reading allows you to read an unlimited amount from the Prime Library (which is a selection of around 1000 books/magazines).You can read these on a tablet with the Kindle App.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-dbs/fd/prime-pr/re...
From memory, you can only have 10 titles "checked out" at a time.
sgrimshaw said:
davek_964 said:
If you have prime, you can also 'borrow' one book a month for free (selected books but a pretty big range) and you can only read those on the Kindle, not a tablet.
If you have Prime, then Prime Reading allows you to read an unlimited amount from the Prime Library (which is a selection of around 1000 books/magazines).You can read these on a tablet with the Kindle App.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-dbs/fd/prime-pr/re...
From memory, you can only have 10 titles "checked out" at a time.
I have Amazon Prime - which means I can use the Lending Library. I can "borrow" one book a month, and it must be read on an Amazon device (Kindle or Fire Tablet).
Prime Reading is a different thing, and I think you have to pay for that membership separately from the normal Amazon Prime membership? Much like Amazon Music - as an Amazon Prime member, you can listen to a limited music library for free - or (like me) you can pay another £80 and have access to a vast music library.
Prime Reading, you get this with normal Amazon Prime
Free with prime
Borrow 10 books at a time from a choice of 1000
Kindle Unlimited, you have to pay £7.99 a month
Unlimited borrowing of books
Unlimited audiobooks with Audible
There's also Kindle First where Prime members get a book free a month (from a choice of 6).
Free with prime
Borrow 10 books at a time from a choice of 1000
Kindle Unlimited, you have to pay £7.99 a month
Unlimited borrowing of books
Unlimited audiobooks with Audible
There's also Kindle First where Prime members get a book free a month (from a choice of 6).
FunkyNige said:
Prime Reading, you get this with normal Amazon Prime
Free with prime
Borrow 10 books at a time from a choice of 1000
Kindle Unlimited, you have to pay £7.99 a month
Unlimited borrowing of books
Unlimited audiobooks with Audible
There's also Kindle First where Prime members get a book free a month (from a choice of 6).
OK, thanks. So Lending Library has a bigger pool of books, but more restrictions and is also free with Prime. Didn't know about Prime Reading - will take a look (although if there are only 1000 books I suspect I won't want 10 of them!).Free with prime
Borrow 10 books at a time from a choice of 1000
Kindle Unlimited, you have to pay £7.99 a month
Unlimited borrowing of books
Unlimited audiobooks with Audible
There's also Kindle First where Prime members get a book free a month (from a choice of 6).
Depends how she will use it.
Kindle if it's just reading, if for general day to day use a tablet is far more flexible.
I've just got a Kindle fire tablet for Xmas which is excellent for the price.
Though I also have a Kindle which I will continue to use at home as it has a superb battery, but the tablet will save taking 2 devices away.
Kindle if it's just reading, if for general day to day use a tablet is far more flexible.
I've just got a Kindle fire tablet for Xmas which is excellent for the price.
Though I also have a Kindle which I will continue to use at home as it has a superb battery, but the tablet will save taking 2 devices away.
My wife had an original Kindle. I got her a Fire HD 8 for her birthday just before Christmas and she is over the moon with it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01J94T0XU/
She says that reading experience is far improved on this device, and she loves that she can also do her FB and Twitter stuff on a screen that is much more accessible than her phone, but without the clumsiness of a larger tablet or laptop.
I got it for £50 rather than £80 during the Black Friday sales, but considering I paid £300 for my dad's 10" Galaxy tablet, I reckon this is still a bargain.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01J94T0XU/
She says that reading experience is far improved on this device, and she loves that she can also do her FB and Twitter stuff on a screen that is much more accessible than her phone, but without the clumsiness of a larger tablet or laptop.
I got it for £50 rather than £80 during the Black Friday sales, but considering I paid £300 for my dad's 10" Galaxy tablet, I reckon this is still a bargain.
We have e-readers, tablets, smartphones,...
For reading, the e-readers are just great. We have a kindle, sister has a Kobo which is also very good imho (they also have a larger one if you're interested).
The screen is more like paper, so if you've got light, it doesn't need to light up to work. Battery life is measured in weeks instead of hours which is great if you're travelling through areas with no grid power.
Another point is, in the summer, outside, it reads just like a page. While a smartphone can get nearly unreadable in direct sunlight.
I think a decent one will be about 100 quid, also a lot less dear than a decent tablet when stolen/lost/damaged. Because of their plastic build they are also light and can stand drops and the like very very well.
For reading, the e-readers are just great. We have a kindle, sister has a Kobo which is also very good imho (they also have a larger one if you're interested).
The screen is more like paper, so if you've got light, it doesn't need to light up to work. Battery life is measured in weeks instead of hours which is great if you're travelling through areas with no grid power.
Another point is, in the summer, outside, it reads just like a page. While a smartphone can get nearly unreadable in direct sunlight.
I think a decent one will be about 100 quid, also a lot less dear than a decent tablet when stolen/lost/damaged. Because of their plastic build they are also light and can stand drops and the like very very well.
Edited by ZesPak on Friday 19th January 14:14
davek_964 said:
OK, thanks. So Lending Library has a bigger pool of books, but more restrictions and is also free with Prime. Didn't know about Prime Reading - will take a look (although if there are only 1000 books I suspect I won't want 10 of them!).
The 1000 changes ... and I think you might be surprised 
ETA - There's some magazines as well.
tankplanker said:
Hoofy said:
Defo get the Kindle as per above - battery life, better reading ability.
However, I use my phone... to read books to me while I'm doing something else. I don't think a Kindle can do that.
I think the older ones used to? But only the Oasis seem to now, but then you have to buy the audio book on audible first, which seems really cheeky to charge you twice.However, I use my phone... to read books to me while I'm doing something else. I don't think a Kindle can do that.
If you use the Kindle app on your phone and sign with your amazon account any of the Kindles will sync your progress to your phone and vice versa. I've used that a few times when I want to carry on reading a book but forgot my Kindle for some reason.
rene7 said:
Sorry for this obvious Q - but how is the Kindle better than a tablet?
A proper kindle is a completely different screen technology to any tablet or phone. They call it e-ink and images will stay on screen without power.Essentially it's much more eye friendly and more like reading a proper book instead of staring at a screen.
The Kindle name is also used for Amazon tablets, hence the distinction of a proper Kindle above.
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