Some special Kindle Book deals in connection with Veterans DayToday's Kindle Daily Deal - Amazon's description of the collection of 9 books offered at $1.99 Sunday only, Nov. 11:
"From the voyages and raids of the Viking tribes in the 10th century to the healing sought by Vietnam War soldiers decades after the conflict, today's deal presents a collection of stories about war and its aftermath. All nine of today's thought-provoking books are just $1.99 (up to 89% off)."
The accompanying "Kindle Kids Daily Deal" is Hero Dad which, as a "picture-book," is available only on Kindle Fire, Kindle Cloud Reader (that's free to all customers with access to the web), Kindle for iPad, and Kindle for Android.
Amazon also sent a notice that they have another special:
"30 Kindle Books for $3 Each"
This one is "valid through December 5, 2012."
TODAY ONLY (Sunday) also - Kindle Fire HD User's Guide Book: Unleash the Power of Your Tablet
Amazon also already has an early Black-Friday deals page.
Newsbits
The Bookseller's Lisa Campbell mentions a "technical issue" that hit Amazon Thursday night, during which the buy button was missing for the Big6 publishers for some reason. Some time later, Amazon released a statement that "The Kindle Store is experiencing a technical issue. We’re working to correct it."
That it affected only the Big6 at a time when the Europe powers that be are accepting a Settlement with errant publishers (some of whom didn't accept one in the US but Europe will assign no fees, from what I read earlier, which is one reason they agreed) is somewhat intriguing, no? The publishers whose books were affected by the glitch were HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Penguin, Random House (not involved in the lawsuits), and Macmillan.
More on Paperwhite reviews
For those more focused on reading than tablet play, the Kindle Paperwhite continues to rack up glowing reviews.
1. TechnoBuffalo's Brandon Russell's headline is "Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Review: This is the Best E-Reader Money Can Buy." and he writes, " It’s the best gadget of its kind, bar none, and something you should experience if you’re an avid reader."
He mentions that a "major difference" over the Barnes & Noble NOOK Touch (which he's considered "superb" otherwise) is the "high-res display and its impressive capacitive touch capabilities."
See the full review for much more detail and "What's Bad" as well as the usual "What's Good."
2. Engadget's Brian Heater comopares the Kobo Glo to the Paperwhite and the B&N Nook. Good pictures are included.
The Kobo and Nook both include a microSD slot, which the Paperwhite doesn't.
A few of Russell's comparisons:
' ... When the Kindle Paperwhite launched just a few months later, however, Barnes & Noble's proprietary technology [Nook Glowlight] already seemed dated.
Amazon's own approach to front lighting, reportedly four years in the making, offered up a much whiter and far more evenly distributed illumination across the screen. So, how does the [Kobo] Glo fare after the arrival of the other two? Quite frankly, the company hit front lighting out of the park on its first try.
The Glo has even more in common with the Paperwhite on that front, with great light distribution across the display, devoid of any uneven splotches. According to Kobo, that's thanks to a "nano-printed fiber-optic film" -- a technology that sounds awfully similar to the one implemented by Amazon...like the Kindle, there's none of the blueish overcast present on the Simple Touch with GlowLight. If we're picking nits, there is a slightly perceptible yellowish tinge here, which you can see when you hold the reader up against the Paperwhite.
... there's a strong downside to Kobo's implementation -- text contrast suffers noticeably. Reading with the light off, there's not a lot of difference between the Paperwhite and Glo -- turn the light all the way up, however, and it becomes far more pronounced. '
The Kobo does have a rudimentary web browser (the Nook had a hidden one that didn't work well but they removed that in an update after May 2012). Unlike the Kindle's web browser, there is no pinch-to-zoom, which really is needed on such small devices, and I don't see an equivalent to the Kindle's specially laid-out (with larger print and no ads) "Article View" for single web articles.
The Kobo is available in parts of the world where the Kindle and Nook aren't, so it's a definite for serious consideration. There is much more detail on the user interface, etc. at the full article.
Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links.
NOTES on newer Kindles.
| US: Updated Kindle Fire Basic 7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$249 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $299/$369 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $499/$599 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, 3G - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free but slow web Kindle DX - | UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £89 Refurb'd Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149 Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - £109 Kindle Paperwhite 3G, UK - £169 Kindle Fire 2, UK - £129 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB, UK - £159/199 | OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189 Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle |
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Nice deal 30 kindles for $3! I’ll be checking them out when I have the time. Thank you for this recommendation.
ReplyDeleteAndrys: The screen on my approximately 2 year old kindle keyboard 3G failed so I am looking for a replacement. Do the current Kindle keyboard models offer exactly the same features--or has the KK changed?
ReplyDeleteGordon, sorry to read that. But if you call them, some reps will offer to sell you another one at half price. If one doesn't, call again and try another rep.
DeleteThe current Kindle Keyboard model hasn't changed at all. Let me know how ti goes.
Gordon, I forgot to give you the specific Kindle Support number, which is better to call than the general Amazon one.
Delete866-321-8851 U.S.
If you're outside the U.S., use the "Contact Us" at the Kindle Support page. That's at http://amzn.to/kcall_me
Thanks Andrys. I called and they offered me a $15 discount on the basic (non keyboard) Kindle or the Kindle Touch, which doesn't seem to be current. Guess I will call back using the number you suggest. As you know, the new Paperwhite models won't ship for more than a month and seem to have encountered some problems. Another issue for me: I have the Amazon case for the Kindle KK and the charger.
ReplyDeleteAndrys: Not sure if my previous post went through...I bought a KK @ 30% discount. They weren't willing to go further. This will fit in the case that I have. I'll keep an eye on the K pw over the next month to see if they manage to address the various screen issues that seem to have come up.
ReplyDeleteMANY thanks for your very helpful suggestions above. Once again, your blog proves to be an essential resource for Kindle owners.
The charger works for any Kindle model. I use various Kindle chargers interchangeably w/ no probs. Sorry it wasn't 50%. But we tend to call until we reach a more-reasonable customer rep. It's not that you sat on it or something - the screen went bad. That should be treated differently. Some of the reps are not as up on these things. A loyal Kindle 3 customer 2 yrs later should get a decent discount. But glad you're okay to get one at not too bad a discount. (I'd try again.)
DeleteI have to use the 'delay' feature as I literally get about 100 spam comments to each genuine one. I don't want to use the Captcha because that is very frustrating to most who want to say something. There's a notice about this below the input box when commenting.
Sorry for the inconvenience and confusion. I have a Paperwhite and on the first day I could see some pink blue-green, but leaving it exposed to the air took away 95% of it and I have to remember to look hard now to see any area discolorations and only in a room with no lights. Otherwise, it's gorgeous now.
The KK is a good model. More space and with text-to-speech and free 3G globally on any mainly text-focused website.
Thanks for your generous words.
How would you compare the reading experience on the PW vs the KK?
ReplyDeleteGordon, I was happy with the reading experience on the KK as it was and would not have bought another e-reader except for doing the blog.
DeleteHowever, the Paperwhite is really nice when the light is lower indoors, and I use the lighting just to get it to the 'whiter' look w/o letting it glow at me. I came to prefer the KTouch this year though I would not have bought it if not a blogger.
And the Paperwhite is what I choose to use now - there's something about being able to see it as almost white at anytime. And it's very light and yet solid feeling. Fonts are dark enough and resolution is very good. Images tend to look better and the zoom is more effective.
BUT I would have been very happy to just stay with what I had and likely would have.
One thing: My KTouch had a lighter background than my KK which was nice. The Paperwhite is a tad lighter w/o the light. I think that the KTouch font being heavier comes across somewhat darker, but Paperwhite darkness has been okay, except for the Home screen where they insist on using a very light, thin, whispy font which is 'neat' looking but annoys me. It's very good if one prefers Baskerville font. But we can change to 'covers' view. Otherwise, my main reaction is it's very pleasurable.
In rooms w/o any light at all I do see mild area-discolorations if I look for it but still prefer it to the other models. It's just that I would not have felt I needed it were I not blogging about Kindles.
I didn't have a positive reaction to the Nook Glowlight because the lighting method bothered me.
Sounds like a pretty close comparison. For now, I'll keep the KK.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this useful analysis.
Sure thing, Gordon. (The K3 is underrated, though I do now miss Touch a bit, but you can't be more space, text-to-speech, and free 3G website access worldwide (or at least in 60 countries)...
Delete"You can't *beat* more space..." :-) Should not rush along when typing...
DeleteDo some 3G capable Kindles work in more countries than others? The KK does have twice the memory of newer models but I'm not sure what we would use it for, given the fact that amazon give us cloud storage anyway.
ReplyDeleteGordon,
DeleteTrue - all 3G Kindles will work in the same countries that have 3G access in deals with Amazon... I just get fixated on the fact that the KK will work for ALL text-heavy websites (not just Amazon store or Wikipedia) in about 60 countries.
The slowwww web browsing feature is enabled in 60 countries for the KK but 3G is possible for downloading of just Kindle books and access to the Amazon Kindlestore and Wikipedia in many more countries.
I know a cycling couple who depended on a 3G kindle for all their internet communications on a tour of Europe.
ReplyDeleteGordon, it's incredibly useful in that way, for sure. It's almost a well-kept secret when it comes to people who don't read the forums closely or certain blogs :-)
Delete