A few months/weeks ago someone was asking about where she could get her hands on a Kindle to see if she liked it.  Could it have been Daisy?

I think I've already mentioned Tesco?  I saw them again last week and noticed that our customer service department now have a demo model for customers to look at first. 

Also I was in Carphone Warehouse at Cribbs Causeway over the weekend and they have Kindle and all manner of electronic readers to try out.  It might need a trip to a bigger town or city but I must say it was interesting to see them all side by side...

I'd suggest phone call before making a trip but might be worth it if you haven't already got sorted.  Oh and the Apple iPad is very nice too if that's a possibility.  Not perhaps as an alternative to a laptop or reader but a beautiful stroke 'able extra! :)

Hi - John Lewis have display kindles including the newer version that people can try  ( if there is a store anywhere near).

There must have been at least 50 on the last plane I was on including mine but that is not much help I know, ask around your friends it is best if you can have one for an hour of so to find your way around but if all else fails then a store that lets you handle should be better than nothing.

I couldn't find one - our local Tescos didn't have them and nearest John Lewis is 25 miles away. I bought one anyway and love it :)

> I bought one anyway and love it

Oh good - how exciting :)

try amazon.co.uk they are the makers and have a masive ebook list

I'm thinking of treating myself to one, are they really worth it ?. I think I'd still buy some books, ones that are important to me, but the temptation of being able to download a whole book in minutes is very tempting.

> are they really worth it ?

If you are an avid reader: absolutely - I wouldn't be without mine :)

Would not be without mine, yes do still buy books but only text type books and never novels they go straight to my Kindle.

Found I am reading and enjoying authors that I would never have bought. I love being able to pop it in a pocket or purse, love that it never looses your place.

Took mine to Spain a few weeks ago and finished reading the book I started on the plane, no problem just downloaded another, also started on a book thoughtfully left in my room by my hostess but did not finish it, no problem, just downloaded it along with a couple of others by the same author, someone I had had not read before.

What price are kindle downloads?  I usually buy books when on offer or book clubs but my book shelves are growning now.  I do like the see the book on the slelf after I've read it and often read it again a year or two later, but worry this is just the start of a hoarding gene that seems to run in my family, maybe a Kindle could nip this in the bud!!

>Found I am reading and enjoying authors that I would never have bought.

But you have bought them! How do you browse for books - genuine question - other than spending a wonderful half hour in a real bookshop going round the shelves and breathing in that gorgeous smell of New Book?

What price are kindle downloads?

Varies a lot. When you're talking brand new, just published books they are usually a pound or so less than the physical version from Amazon -which is about the same or slightly less than a new hardback would cost in the supermarkets, a lot less than they would cost in WH Smith or a bookshop.  Usually £8 to  £10 for a book just out -I tend to buy mine the day they are published, or even pre-order so they get delivered about 1 am on the day of publication. Books that have been published in paperback are around £3, then you have everything in between. New authors may have theirs available for free or 80-90 p just to gain readership, really old books are free (I know a lot of people use their Kindle just to download that but I'm sorry, I don't want to read 100 year old books, I want to read books from 2011.).

So the price difference isn't that huge compared to physical copies -that is apparently due to the fact that e-books are subject to VAT when real books are not. Now if you had a different e-book reader, where you could NOT buy books from Amazon, then they do cost more -Kindle books are definitely the cheapest. That's what made me chose a Kindle over for instance a Sony reader.

The biggest advantage is having so many books in one place, not having to constantly buy more and more bookcases (BIG problem I had! I was starting to think I'd have to buy a bigger house as you couldn't move for books!) and it is a LOT easier to read from a Kindle. Reading big heavy books with lots of pages is awkward as you need two hands to hold them, you only need one hand for a Kindle, and can even prop it up somewhere and do something like the washing up at the same time LOL. Plus it's easer to take a book with you to read when you go somewhere.

How do you browse for books - genuine question - other than spending a wonderful half hour in a real bookshop going round the shelves and breathing in that gorgeous smell of New Book?

I stopped going to bookshops years ago -I could not believe it when WH Smith, Waterstones and similar were still charging publisher's price for newly published hardbacks so £18 or more, when you could get the exact same book in ASDA or Tesco for half that price. Then I stopped doing that as well as I found Amazon cheaper and often they had new books before the supermarkets did. (From my favourite authors I always want the book the day it is published.) At Amazon you can either pick a genre and look through the most popular, the newly released and similar, or you can search for a favourite author. Same in the Kindle store, they have top 100 lists for instance. In January every year I go through Amazon and type in all the names of all my favourite authors and note down on my calendar when their new books are due to be published, then when the day comes round I order it for Kindle. I got my Kindle in January this year and currently have 63 books on it so if I count on about 70 books per year, that should last me roughly 42 years LOL.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kindle-eBooks/b/ref=sa_menu_kbo2?ie=UTF8&node=341689031

> How do you browse for books - genuine question - other than spending a wonderful half hour in a real bookshop going round the shelves and breathing in that gorgeous smell of New Book?

Some authors I'll buy without much research anyway but I browse at Amazon - they often send lists of new authors or other books I might like.  You can read the synopsis on their website and you can also get the first few pages or a chapter, sent to your Kindle to read for free.  If it's a new author I find this a really useful tool

I use our local library too, and I still visit bookshops when I have a chance.  I'll always leave with something (I prefer my reference books in traditional paper format, and children's books or gifts have to be paper!) but I also make a note of books or authors I might to buy as a Kindle version later

I do not see an electronic reader as an either/or debate - I still enjoy, and buy or borrow, both. 

But you have bought them!

That is true except the ones that are free. What I meant was I would not have bought the hard copy simply because I have no where to keep it, my shelves are full of cooking, dog and other technical books there simply is no more room for novels.

Really being tempted here, and I've been looking at the Amazon downloads, so just one question.. can the screen text be enlarged so I don't need to stick my specs on everytime I use it?  If the text can be enlarged does it have to be scrolled across the screen like my phone or all read downwards as in a single page?  Thanks

Yes, you can enlarge the text and turn the page from portrait to landscape (I find landscape good when reading in bed) the other thing I find good is you can read in bright sunlight.

I know you can enlarge the font size, not sure how big it goes though, some books are terrible now-a-days, one of my favourite books ( Magician by Raymond E Feist ) has such teeny weeny print it's uncomfortable to read.

Tesco seem to be the cheapest for kindles just now, there was a review of all the e readers on the market in one of the sunday supplements a couple of weeks ago and the Kindle got the top spot.
I'm really looking forward to getting mine now, especially as it'll be free....sort of.

Bought mine direct from Amazon so not sure what happens if you buy elsewhere would think you would need to register with Amazon in order to start your online library this would be particularly if you want to upload your own items as well as have access to all your downloaded books.

Ooo, there's a thing, what about security when your paying for your book, how does that work ?.

That's another great thing about the Kindle I forgot to mention. I need glasses to read a book, I don't need glasses to read on Kindle as I just increase the text size! I can only see close up with my glasses on so if I read an actual book and need to look up to look at something else I have to remove the glasses to be able to see clearly -that really irritates me.

Ooo, there's a thing, what about security when your paying for your book, how does that work ?.

Amazon sells pretty much everything under the sun -my computer was bought from them last week for instance. :) So they are geared up to secure card payments, but you can also get gift vouchers and keep in your account and use as and when. I do online surveys for lots of companies and always chose Amazon vouchers as rewards (takes a few months for each to build up enough points) so I almost always pay with gift vouchers. But like I said I bought a computer last week, paid with debit card, no problems at all. I have also bought pretty much all Christmas presents this year from Amazon, I've had parcels from them on a daily basis LOL. They tend to be very trustworthy -I've shopped with them for years.

I've had one click purchasing with them ever since I that was a possibility and never had a moments trouble.

Also no problem if you accidentally delete a book or document just download it again from your personal Amazon store.

I've bought stuff from Amazon before, ( too much in fact ) what I was meaning was, do you pay through the Kindle, how is that kept secure ?.

Ahh, the penny's dropped, you order and buy through your computer and it gets sent to the Kindle ?

How does Amazon know where to send it ?

That is why you register the Kindle to yourself, if you buy from them it happens automatically but if it is a gift or bought elsewhere you would need to register so that Amazon would know where to send the book or document and who to charge.

>I don't need glasses to read on Kindle as I just increase the text size!

If you increase the text size am I right in assuming you can't then see the whole page at once, and would have to scroll across and down to read?

> can the screen text be enlarged

Yes - the text within a book can be easily enlarged (several size options) but the menus are a standard size

> If the text can be enlarged does it have to be scrolled across the screen like my phone or all read downwards as in a single page?

It's a single page - just larger text so you'll be turning the page more frequently

Ah, got in now, thanks Nova.

Good news then, I won't need to put my glasses on as they are always in a different room/bag/building to me.  Thinking this will make an ideal Christmas present from the kids :-)

> Ahh, the penny's dropped, you order and buy through your computer and it gets sent to the Kindle ?

When you create your account with Amazon you will need to register your Kindle (or other devices).  It's very easy and you will see plenty of on-screen prompts.

You can have up to 5 devices registered to your one Amazon account and when you make an order you can choose which device to send it to.  My OH and I both buy books on our account but I don't have to have his books or vice versa.  Although we can also read the same book at the same time :)

If you have the 3G version you can access your account direct from your Kindle anywhere otherwise you use a Wi-Fi connection at home or whilst out and about.  I tend to buy the books on my home computer then ping them to whichever device I want them on as I find the PC keyboard easier to use.  As a back up the books remain on your Amazon account so you don't have to send them immediately.

> Thinking this will make an ideal Christmas present from the kids

The Kindle was the no 1 gift from Amazon last year and they had a special '12 days of Kindle' offer (starting on Christmas Day) with many new publications being offered for less that £1.  They had new books each day.

I'm hoping they'll do it again this year as I discovered several new authors and saved a lot of money!

That would be good, I've already been looking for books to download, unfortunately Magician isn't available for download, funny, some of his other books are.

> unfortunately Magician isn't available for download

Click on "I'd like to read this book on Kindle".  I've seen lots of books become available since I started buying.  This button must have some positive outcome :)

Alternatively Google the author's name and Kindle to see if fans have published any news of an electronic version...

Who wrote the Magician you are interested in reading?

> and can even prop it up somewhere and do something like the washing up at the same time LOL.

I bought a cover for mine that is also an adjustable stand.

Chap called Raymond E Feist wrote Magician, I don't understand why all his books aren't on Kindle, the newer ones are, and they are all about the same people.

i'll do that DaB.

It probable is because people have not asked for them so it would be a good idea to express your interest who knows you may be the one request that swings the publication into action.

I love my kindle and have recently added a lamp, which I regret not having included. The batteries are much cheaper on Amazon bought by pack, they are called 'coin batteries' have also got ear phones, though the text to speech is not very good I find it useful.
I have recently tried some of the new authors and am quite impressed and all under £1.

I have often wondered about having a lamp, not sure I have a special need for one but there are times when it could be useful, are you happy with it. Really can't see I would need the ear phones so not worried if they are not very good.

Is it worth getting a cover ?, i've seen a few but they seem quite expensive.

> Is it worth getting a cover

I wouldn't be without a cover for most of my electronics, gadgets and gizmo's.  It also means that, longer term, your stuff will always have a higher resale value if it remains clean, covered and unscratched so I think it worth the extra money.

I like the book style cover so my hands recognise I'm reading!  I have this one from Amazon.  I didn't choose a 'light' version as I don't need it and thought it must just be something that would go wrong...

I have one that doubles as a stand.

I agree it adds protection toe the kindle, though a skin alone wouls too.

I find the lamp useful as I have very poor sight and it becomes quite cosy in bed. It clips on to the thick cover that I bought with it. When desperate I use the the text to speech, which is not very good but does hide the cowboy dialogue coming of the TV.
Last night horror of horrors my Kindle froze I had just finished "Locked In" (Jessica Daniel Book 1) [Kindle Edition] by Kerry Wilson and was downloading her second book. I had a blank screen and an icon on the top left of the screen. I have Kindle on my PC as well so managed to find necessary help files and  I found by going to my PC Kindle Account help pages I had to do a reinstall very easy to follow and back in working order thankfully. Thought it might help someone else.

Luck I have never had a problem with downloading except when using one of my own documents and then I sometimes do not get it to sit on the page the way I want it but I suppose I am expecting it to behave in the same way as Word and not surprising it does not.

My vouchers from BARB arrived this morning so I'll be away into Perth this afternoon to get a Kindle :-)

I was putting books for it on my wish list on Amazon last night, have a few now, so many that i wouldn't normally try but they are so cheap it's worth trying them.

Well I am sure you will enjoy and it is a great way to discover new authors.

It's tiny !!!, have my first two books on it.
What I don't know how to do is get rid of messages that appear on my start screen, Amazon used an old card for the one click so now there's a ruddy great message at the top of the start screen saying there was a problem with my card, any idea's how I get rid of it ?.

Assuming you have given Amazon the new information I would try switching off and then on again and make sure your wireless connection is on. If that does not help I would ask Amazon. Unless there are people who have the knowledge on here, the may well be but it is not something I have had a problem with.