From the forums and a few more tips

TIPS FOR TODAY
Before I note a few things I saw on the Kindle forums yesterday, here are a few more Kindle 3 (UK K3) tips.

Whenever you see ghosting or faint remnants from a previous page
  Press the Alt-key and the 'G' key to do an Alt-G combo to refresh screen.

As with the Shift key for capital letters, you can do this in fast-sequence style instead, with one hand.
  This does a redistribution of black and white and can also leave your screen a bit lighter at times, for awhile.

Commenter Elmo Glick points out that you can also do this with a quick double-tap of the Menu button.  Many will prefer this easier method even if the Menu flashes up briefly.  Thanks, Elmo.

For faster Google website features
GMail: use http://bit.ly/g_mail
  This will keep the view to the mail listing while "Menu" is available at top left.
    It avoids tedious cursoring to the sides when having more material on the screen.

Google Reader: use http://bit.ly/g-reader
  Easy up-down reading of RSS feeds (from newspapers and blogs)
  Additions of feeds need to be done first on the computer with this one.
    As with the GMail link and its "Menu", you'll see "Feeds" at top left
      and can cursor up to it to click it for Feed options.

Typing Web Urls at the Home Screen
You can type web URLs at the Home screen by LEAVING OUT the "http://" and moving the 5-way button to the right and then clicking on "go to" which takes you right to the website.
  Note that you'll have to use the Symbol Key for "/" - an unfortunate loss from Kindle 2.

WEB feature reminder
A 6" e-reader screen, when presenting you with screens that look somewhat like the original website ones, will display text that is really too small to read comfortably.

1. You can use the Aa Text-key to rotate the screen display to Landscape mode, and this has more room for larger fonts, which the Kindle will automatically show in Landscape mode, making the screen text more readable.

2. You can go to mobile(phone) versions of the websites instead, which tend to show you less but with much more readable text.  Example:  m.cnn.com
  Notice how fast that loads, and how much easier it is to cursor through w/ the 5-way.

3. When you do choose an article to read from the many website options on a home page and it's not easy to read, press the Menu button and choose "Article Mode" -- this is a terrific feature.  It works mainly with non-mobile sites.

  When you're through reading the article in that mode, press Menu button again and this time choose "Web Mode" (which is the normal mode).

  (This works VERY well with Google Reader, by the way.)

FROM THE FORUMS
1. Amazon Customer Service replied. to a message thread on strangely unavailable books by Stephen King.

' Amazon Kindle Customer Service says:
 (AMAZON OFFICIAL)
There is currently a technical issue causing some books to be unavailable in the Kindle Store.  We are aware of the problem and are actively working to correct it.  We will have the books available for sale again as soon as possible.

Best Regards,
Amazon Kindle Customer Service '

2. Somewhat costly but useful idea for vision impaired children
By Dusty,
"The main reason I bought the DX [instead of the K2 earlier this year was the availablilty of larger-sized fonts.  I teach blind and visually-impaired children, and some of them are able to read books now on my Kindle without using a regular book with a CCTV.  I have really encouraged my students' parents to invest in Kindles for them!"

  My own caveat is that the DX's are somewhat fragile for that use.

3. To Reports of slower page turns when reading in sunlight
By heidiann
"To put things in perspective: according to a recent lawsuit, the iPad completely shuts down after 10 min in the sun.  My MacBook air slows to a snail pace in midday heat.  Modern electronics do have an issue with overheating, and slightly slow page turns is one of the milder consequences."

  On the other hand, several reported reading in sunlight for hours without slower page turns.

  As a side note, I'll add that the Kindle customer support advisories on optimal battery use warn heavily against leaving a Kindle in a closed hot car in high heat to protect the battery.  (Someone had mentioned this had not slowed the Kindle.)

4. When Text to Speech is used and the spacebar is pressed
The spacebar pauses the text.  A nice feature.  But it also freezes the keys, and people think their Kindles are freezing up.

By me
"That's a strange freeze.  But it's happened to me when I forget that I pressed the space bar to pause the speech while I leave the room.  Maybe sometimes that is done accidentally, but it freezes the keys on the machine when you do that and the only possible action (besides stopping the program or pressing the Home button) is to press the space bar again, which restarts the text-to-speech feature."

5. Actual freezes
  A.  If you can press the Menu key, select Settings and then press the Menu key again and then select "Restart.  That does a softer reset and closes what it can.

      ShirleyKat adds:
"If you have use of the keys, it's better to press Home before doing a restart. That should save your page number.  Leaving wireless on during restart might also keep the collections.  Has anyone tried that? If you lose them, most have gotten them back by de-registering and then re-registering."

 The last option:
  B.  If you can't press the Menu key, or wake it up,
    Don't panic.
    Move the power slider to the right and hold it there for about 20 seconds.
      Then go away.  After awhile it'll restart and put things back in order.
      The Home Screen files will show '0' for awhile but soon all will be fine.

6. Is the contrast really better?
This is just a forum message thread that some might find interesting.

7. UK customers give their verdicts on the Kindle 3
The Amazon UK store just opened its Kindlestore recently.  I enjoyed this message thread and learned a few new words too.  Time to make use of the new 2nd Kindle dictionary we have now, which is the Oxford Dictionary of English (not to be confused with the OED, but which costs $58 on Amazon in hardcover.

  Welcome also to the new UK The allKindle Forum.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
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More tips on using Kindle 3. And white-Kindle text vs DX Graphite text

Be sure to read the first Kindle 3 Tips and Cautions blog article here.

The picture on the left is of my white-bezeled 6" Kindle 3 next to the Graphite 9.7" Kindle DX.
  The Graphite DX does have a slightly greener tint under certain lighting, but a touch of green can make an image look brighter.

  Here's the larger image.  Following the larger version is a second, closer shot of the text of both.

  Further on down the page, I have a tip to get the Kindle text to a closer match with the DX text.

On Twitter, Jason Varner asked: "My very first Kindle is on its way!  What are the first things I should try/do w/it?  Tips from exp. Kindlers? /cc @kindleworld"

  Besides going to Amazon's Kindlestore to click on Books or heading straight for the Top 10 Free Bestsellers  (UK Top 10 Free Bestsellers) to try your first download of a free book for the new Kindle (UK Kindle), definitely do the following:

  Download to your computer FOR the Kindle 3, the very helpful Kindle 3 USER'S GUIDE for reading ON the Kindle.  After you get it you can transfer it to the Kindle "documents" folder via the USB cable that's part of the power cord.

  Also, get the PDF User's Guide for reading on a computer.

  For a general additional guide to creating and editing Collections ("folders" concept) and some other newer features, see the Introduction and Guide, which also gives you links to the apropos Amazon Help pages.

  There are also new Kindle 3 features added to those.

Here are guides to how to use some of the more advanced recent features:
    . Forwarding highlighted passages and notes to Facebook and/or Twitter
    . Some information on the filing of Personal Docs and Subscriptions/Periodicals
    . Collections:   Important tips to avoid problems or to solve them
    . How to Pan & Zoom in a PDF (similar for web pages).


TODAY'S KINDLE 3 TIP:
GOAL:  Getting the Kindle 3's font size and appearance closer to the default font size of the larger Kindle DX.  Click on the picture at the left to get the larger version of the text comparison.

  The smaller Kindle 3 has a default font size (#3 of 8 choices) that is smaller than the default font size of the Kindle DX.

  I played with the new options a bit.  Except for brightest light (when I sometimes use smaller font sizes), I like best the somewhat larger DX's default '3' size.



So I chose, for the Kindle 3,
  . Size 4,
  . condensed typeface (for tighter
      character spacing at the larger size)
  . medium line spacing (less space
      between lines), and
  . Words per Line default, which goes to
      the edges of that small screen.

If you click on the Kindle 3 and DX text photo just above, or on the Text-key settings on the right, you'll see the larger images for each.

And for those who installed special font-sets to get darker text on the Kindle 2, I think you'll love the sans serif typeface.   It doesn't get darker than that, and it's very clear.

As for the DX Graphite -- while the Kindle 3 text pops out at you, the Kindle DXG text is so sharp and crisp that it looks etched on the screen.  But the smaller Kindle does very well against the DXG with this setting and though you get less on the screen, the K3 is ultra light and the clarity makes reading it addictive the way the DX models have been for me.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

---

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Some tips and cautions on using a new Kindle, Also, a gmail shortcut

The photo at the left is by "legendarypoet" and I was struck by what a beautiful b&w shot it is, of a b&w e-reader.  Click on the image to see his original, or click on screen name to see his photo page.

I spent time yesterday, by request, taking more comparison photos of font and text differences between the Kindle 3 and Kindle 2, and I'll get some up later on.

  I'll touch instead this morning on some subjects that have come up in comment-areas here and in topics being discussed on the various Kindle forums.

FULLY CHARGE A NEW KINDLE
One thing to know as you open the Kindle package is that you can read on the Kindle while it's charging.  Give it a full charge when it's new -- it usually takes about 2 hours, as it already has some battery life remaining.  Mine was halfway down.  The bottom LED light turns a bright, solid green when done.

Q & A
HOW WILL I MOVE KINDLE BOOKS FROM MY OTHER KINDLE TO THE NEW KINDLE 3?
Amazon's few instructions (in an email you receive before getting your Kindle and instructions ON your Kindle) are brief but well written and cover most of what you need.  On the Kindle, the guide is named "Transferring Your Kindle Content" - and since your books and subscriptions content is in your personal area/library on Amazon's servers, you'll need to have the Wireless turned on in order to access those servers.

  For newcomers: With the Kindle, that's done by pressing the Menu button and selecting the topmost choice, "Turn Wireless On" -- and of course that slot toggles the choice, to turn it "Off" -- to conserve battery power.

  You can purchase books from Amazon with your computer while waiting for your new Kindle, as Amazon pre-registers your Kindle and gives it identifying info you can modify later under Menu/Settings).  All books you've bought earlier will already be in your Library, and new ones will be added to it and also sent to the Kindle you designate as the receiving Kindle.

  For more information, see Amazon's help pages for getting files to your Kindle - "Transferring, Downloading, and Sending Files to Kindle."

Archived Items folder/collection
ON your Kindle 3, the "Archived Items" folder/collection that is created by Amazon lists every book you've received from Amazon which is not currently on that Kindle.  Believe it or not, getting one or more archived books onto the current Kindle takes only two steps:
  1. Click on the title of a book you want and then
  2. Press the "Back" button to get back to your place in the Archived Items listing so that you can choose the next book you want transferred from your Amazon-server library to your Kindle.

    You don't need to wait.  Click a title, press Back button
and keep doing this for each archived book that you want transferred to the new Kindle.

Collections for multiple-Kindle owners:
Be sure to get ALL the books you want transferred BEFORE you "Add Other Device Collections" to the new Kindle.

  The books will NOT go into the Collections you previously made for them on another Kindle UNLESS you get the books onto the new Kindle first.
  AFTER that is done, click to add Collections you made from another device.

    The Collections that are then imported from what you created for another Kindle device will check the new Kindle for the books that you had associated with the Collection earlier and then include those in the appropriate Collections on the new Kindle.  If you import the Collections before getting the books, they'll see nothing to include, as that checking is done upon arrival at the new place.

BATTERY CONSIDERATONS AND "INDEXING"
On a new Kindle, there are usually quite a few books added, especially for the ones bought by owners of other Kindles.  It's important to know that for each book you add to the unit, there is a time-consuming "indexing" process that puts words from the books into a database of key words that you can search, either within a book or on the entire device.

  This process is a real battery drainer and is one reason that new Kindle owners are often disappointed to see their battery indicator showing faster drain than they'd expected.
  If it gets too low (below 25%), certain things can't be done and it'll seem more unstable and at the least will start complaining at that point with strong alerts about the battery.

For best results: Keep the battery high - it's not the type of battery that needs or wants to be brought to 0 as the old types were.

  Here are Kindle battery advisories collected from the Kindle Customer Support team at the Amazon Kindle forums.

WILL MY BOOKMARKS, HIGHLIGHTING AND NOTES BE TRANSFERRED FOR EACH BOOK?
Expert Kindle user Fool for Books has created a special message thread at the Amazon forums to ALERT previous-Kindle owners to a problem you could encounter when transferring books to your Kindle via your computer instead of using Wireless, whether 3G or WiFi.

The secondary file that holds your bookmarks, last-page read, and annotations for a given book has the filename extension ".mbp" or ".tan" (the latter '.tan' files are for "Topaz books" which are specially formatted Kindle books that use embedded fonts and are tightly controlled by publishers hoping to control the look of each page and also thwart copyright theft.  These files have tended to cause problems for Kindle readers (we can't change the font sizes or line spacings), including various freezes and sometimes unsightly, large fonts with huge line spacing, and they sometimes seem to use more images as pages than the usual book.  But if you've made annotations, you'll still want to have them.

See the thread that Fool for Books created, and regularly updates, to read how to make sure these secondary files get on your Kindle.  Essentially, it means copying each secondary one to your Kindle "documents" folder but it's best to read the details and tips that Fool for Books and others in the forum community offer.  There is good advice in general there for setting up a new Kindle.

The thread also reminds you that you can't just copy a purchased Kindle book file from one Kindle to another one.  These book files are given unique keys at Amazon for a specific Kindle unit and can't be used on other Kindle devices.

EMAIL - Specifically GMail
The usual mobile-device-optimized sites for GMail worked well on Kindle 2 but seldom work on the Kindle 3.  Even the full Gmail site, which Amazon gives us a Kindle 3 bookmark for, looks good but doesn't work well.  The mobile optimized ones can fail to load certain pages on Kindle 3 while the full site does not allow us login-input that's recognized.

  A recommended URL of http://mail.google.com/mail/x works for me on the Kindle 3 only when I have sufficient memory remaining after experimenting with many websites.

  One time it required a reboot, which I did manually with Menu/Settings/Menu/Restart. (NOTE: Stay away from Factory Reset unless a customer rep is working with you on it, as it gives you a clean slate, which means no books!)

  A Restart can also be done by holding the power slider to the right for about 15-20 seconds and then letting it go -- it restarts after awhile.  It's not a harmful 'cold reboot' and is often recommended by Customer Service to clear memory and give a fresh start.  For me, it's always worked after I overexercised the web browser at very challenging sites.

  "Bill" commented that the recommended GMail URL above is working for him again  Lately, that one has worked for me each time, and for another commenter also, and I've given it the shortcut http://bit.ly/g_mail.  Note that there is an underscore between 'g' and "mail" (not a space).
  Curiously, it doesn't work for me on the computer, sending me to the Accounts page instead, probably because I have more than one acct on the computer.

  Bill also found his dependable URL for Google Tasks not working and then noted that a successful one went to "https://mail.google.com/tasks/android?/source=mig&gl=us&hl=en"
  So, I made a shortcut for that also, requiring less typing on the Kindle:
  http://bit.ly/g_tasks -- again, that's an underscore not a dash.

REBOOTS REPORTED
Some Amazon forum members have reported odd reboots when just reading a book or looking up a word.  Because two of them interpreted this as meaning Kindle 3's in general are buggy and titled a message thread with that generalized 'self-determination,' those without problems were hard on them.  Customer Support at 1-866-321-8851 is replacing any units with recurring problems like that after a Restart doesn't fix the problem (usually a one-day replacement), as it shouldn't happen at all, but there are a couple of message threads for those who aren't having problems to try to judge how much this might be happening.  Anyone seeing a problem should call Customer Service.  They've been watching the forums and contacting customers, offering to help one guy who said his was fine :-)

    UPDATE: 9/6/10
Tony Reynolds, an Amazon forum member, recommends writing kindle-feedback@amazon.com if your Kindle 3 is having any freezes or reboots.  Give them your phone number.  These tend to be routed to the development team.  They continue to be proactive on this and have installed an interim test patch on some of those Kindles with success on what seems most so far, but not all.  One customer said that the rep she talked with suggested a possible modem problem and another rep said they think it has affected about 3% of "millions" sent out.  That's an off the cuff statement paraphrased, but it was interesting as the 2nd time I've heard that number-word quoted.

 I've taxed my Kindle 3 but it hasn't given me problems except for the usual web browser idiosyncracies and hesitations that the Kindle 2 always had when I pushed it (as usuasl) on web browsing.  That is categorized as 'experimental' for a reason.

INVALID CERTICATE ALERT
I've received this alert at the DearAuthor site but if I indicate it should be ignored, the browser just continues on.  At one point when it said the Kindle couldn't load the rest of a page, I told it to just continue anyway, and there was no problem.

KINDLE OWNER MOVEMENTS   (I just found this amusing.)
Something else to watch for.  Now that the power slider is on the bottom of the unit, one columnist said this morning that he places his Kindle on his lap, more or less vertically, and finds he's been shutting it off inadvertently when he moves :-)
 The worse that happens there is that the Kindle goes into Sleep mode. But it definitely must be disconcerting when you're actively reading a book rather than falling asleep.

There are a lot more tips on all the new features to mention here too, and I'll be doing that, so check back.  I also want to report on the reaction to the new Sonys also.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's)   K3 Special ($114)   K3-3G Special ($139)   DX Graphite

---

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!