Kindle Paperwhite - why should I have one?

[violamay]

I was given a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas. I had not asked for one nor had I even thought about getting one.



For a couple of years I have been using my Sony PRS-300 with no problems. I mainly read fanfic on it. I just find the story I want on a website, save it as a .pdf or .rtf file to my computer, put it on my Sony with Calibre, and I'm good to go. It's simple and I love it. I never buy books. Occasionally I'll d/l one in the public domain.

Now I have this Kindle Paperwhite. I see that it has wi-fi capability though only with an ATT network. How prevalent are ATT networks in public places? Is the wi-fi capability very useful for, say, checking email or looking at a google map?

How about the file types? Most of my fanfic is in .pdf or .rtf format. Am I going to have to convert them to something else?

Basically, I'd love to hear any advice as to whether or not I should keep this Kindle when I'm already perfectly happy with my old Sony. Thanks in advance.

Comments

[fahrbotdrusilla]

Ao3 has Kindle format download options. You can also use Calibre to convert them from PDF to MOBI (Kindle).

The wifi on my kindle seems to work anywhere I go, but it's not really that useful for checking email and stuff... I mostly use it to update purchases.

[amalthia]

Anything you have saved in Calibre can be converted to .mobi. You can also use Calibre plugins to download fic directly to Calibre in mobi or epub format for your readers.

You can go here to learn more on how to set this up: Fandom Calibre Screencap Tutorial (Guide to fandom plugins)

[moropus]

My brother has a Kindle (don't know what kind) and the thing about it I most admire is the ability to borrow 1 best seller per month free. I have the Kindle software on my el cheapo tablet and enjoy a lot of the cheap and free books on Amazon.

Check out Bubba and the Dead Woman by C.L. Bevill. That one is free. There's a whole series of silly books for .99 each.

Get Calibre for your computer, convert at whim. Love Calibre.

Anyhow, the libraries here and some restaurants have free Wii. Parks. Go, load up at the lib, and read until you are done, go back.

[isis]

I used to have a Sony PRS-300 (still do - I gave it to my husband when I bought a Kobo Touch), and I can tell you that the newer generation of e-ink is WAY nicer.

[thalia]

I've been downloading mobi files from AO3 to my Kindle like crazy--literally hundreds of stories--and haven't had any problems except for occasional goofy characters. Just for the record.

And my Kindle's wi-fi works on any wireless network. violamay, are you sure the AT&T-only thing isn't 3G access, not wi-fi?

The Kindle can read pdf files, but the formatting is kind of awful. Converting them to mobi would make them much more readable.

It seems to me that the biggest difference between the Paperwhite and other e-readers is the e-ink display--you'll have to decide whether you like it enough to switch.

[violamay]

ok, that's good to know about converting pdf to mobi. Thank you. I guess I'll have to check out the wifi on the kindle and see what I think.

[grackle]

I personally wouldn't use a Kindle because of things like this. It's rare but they can and will prevent you from accessing content you paid for. They can do this because your books aren't actually on the device, they stay in the cloud.

[violamay]

Oh, thanks so much! This looks really useful.

[violamay]

Yep, I've been using Calibre ever since I got my Sony and it's great. I think you have to have Amazon Prime to borrow the bestseller per month, though.

The library suggestion is good. I forgot about that option. I do sometimes borrow ebooks from my public library without leaving the comfort of my home.

[violamay]

Well, that sounds like a plus. Thank you.

[violamay]

On the Amazon website under the blurb for the Kindle Paperwhite it says "Enjoy free wi-fi access at AT&T hotspots across the U.S." I don't know if they are only referring to 3G.

Thanks for the advice about converting pdf to mobi for better formatting.

I appreciate your input.

[violamay]

I've never bought a book yet - I mostly read fanfic or library ebooks. So I don't think that could ever be an issue with me. But your point is well taken. I read that article before and it was one thing that steered me away from a Kindle to begin with. If I never connect to amazon with my Kindle are they going to know what I have on it?

[elf]

Your books can be on the device, not in the cloud. Sideloaded things--loaded through USB cord, not downloaded--are on the device itself.

And the problem with losing one's account only comes up if you're buying books from Amazon. There is no record ever of Amazon shutting off the use of a Kindle for sideloaded content.

[violamay]

Excellent. This is what I needed to know, Elf.

[elf]

Converting RTF to mobi is probably the better choice where possible; PDFs may convert with odd page breaks.

My daughter has a Kindle (2nd gen, not the newer kind) and spends hours reading at fanfiction.net with the 3g. (She doesn't like AO3; says the formatting's not as good on the Kindle.) She hardly ever downloads anything to read; she prefers the webbrowser for text things.

She has no problem using it for gmail and wikipedia, but she doesn't do much emailing.

[violamay]

Thank you again for your helpful advice!

[dreamatdrew]

The "Enjoy free wi-fi access at AT&T hotspots across the U.S." bit means, unless I am INCREDIBLY mistaken, that anywhere with an AT&T hotspot you can get on with your kindle without having to pay for access. Using a kindle for wi-fi, in and of itself, is not restricted on the device. (I use the wi-fi at my local Denny's on my kindle all the time.)

And, I'll add this here, even though it's kind of a different thought, but the kindle browser works well enough with gmail. Google maps, not as much. Dreamwidth is workable. Twitter it works reasonably well with. Basically, if they are doing fancy HTML/CSS/JS tricks, it's not gonna be so great.

[grackle]

Yes, sideloaded things are fine. I didn't mean to leave that out.

[finch]

I'm kind of lazy, so I love being able to email books to my kindle instead of plugging it into the computer.

[violamay]

It's sounding better. I think I'm going to at least give it a try. I just found out that a good friend of mine also got one for Cmas, so we can figure it out together! Thanks again for your input.

[violamay]

What a novel idea! I'm kind of lazy, too, so that may be a plus for me. Thank you for your input.