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Kindle or Nook in Saudi
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gorkomi



Joined: 24 Aug 2009
Posts: 142

PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 3:36 pm    Post subject: Kindle or Nook in Saudi Reply with quote

I'm heading over to a crappy part of S.A. in a ghetto near Mecca. Has anyone from US brought over a Nook or Kindle? Are you able to download new books now that you're over there? What about the WIFI on the HD devices? Does it pick up free signals in your apartments or at places like Starbucks?
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lcanupp1964



Joined: 12 Dec 2009
Posts: 381

PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 3:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes to all your questions. Get the Kindle. As long as you sign-up and set-up your Kindle on Amazon.com while you are still in the states, you can buy books and have them downloaded straight to your kindle via your wireless internet that you will set-up in your apartment in KSA, or at the local Starbucks using their free WiFi (if they remember to turn on the freaking switch!). I do it all the time from my place in Jeddah. In addition, you could download millions of books by using the piratebay website and skip the whole giving "The Man" all your money part.

Last edited by lcanupp1964 on Tue Apr 15, 2014 4:02 pm; edited 1 time in total
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gorkomi



Joined: 24 Aug 2009
Posts: 142

PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks! Hey, I *just* got a message from Barnes and Noble, telling me that I can download books the same way as long as I register while I'm in the US. Why do you recommend Kindle?

I'm really stupid with Wifi matters. Do you have to pay for Wifi in your apartment? Does it carry over to your school or is it limited to your apartment? Does it search out available signals from other people to "steal" in public? If you're at Starbucks or whatever coffee chains they have there, do you get the internet?

I don't like glare, so I was thinking I should just get a Nook or Kindle paper white and just use it for books. But I'm wondering about the internet, too. What to do, what to do.

You don't have to answer all this, but mainly I'm wondering why you choose Kindle over Nook. Thanks.
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lcanupp1964



Joined: 12 Dec 2009
Posts: 381

PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 4:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for letting me off the hook when it comes to answering all those questions. Like coffee, huh? I can tell. Very Happy

I like the Kindle due to the fact that I closed my eyes and picked it first. Oh, and I think the people that work at B&N are snobs compared to the "cool" ones at Borders Books. I heard they shut down - maybe being a real tool A-hole helps sell books.

I would buy the Kindle Fire. That way you could download more then books (movies, TV shows, magazines in color for example).

Here's another wrinkle...

You could also set-up an Amazon account and have all your downloads go to a Tablet/Ipad. I have a Samsung Tab3 and because I set-up my kindle in the states, it works the same way The software for Kindle is bundled into the Samsung OS.

P.S. You do have to pay for your own internet with, or without WiFi that you have set-up in you apartment, but yes, the Kindle would be able to search out available signals that are outside your apartment. If you have the password (that Starbucks would give you if you are a customer) to one of the available signals, you can use their WiFi for free and download, but the speeds are modified to be slow to stop heavy usage. If your are able to get the WiFi password at the school/university, the same thing would apply. I pay 220sr a month for my STC Internet and it has worked perfectly.

I use STC hi-speed WiFi internet with G4 that gives me a download speed (on average) of around 1mb per second. This means that I can download that free movie (let's call it "Debbie Does Jeddah") from The PirateBay in about 30 minutes if the file was around one gig in size.
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rollingk



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 212

PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 5:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I got a Nook only because I happened to be in a BN bookstore just before returning here. I download everything, books, magazines, movies, tv shows, etc.. very easily. Once you've put your info into the device initially, a purchase takes less than a minute.
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johnslat



Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nook might be a little risky:

CEO William Lynch’s resignation Monday seemed to bookend the company’s once-promising foray into tablets. The company recently announced that losses for Nook’s digital business more than doubled to $177 million for the quarter ended April 27 — including $133 million of unsold inventory — from $77 million a year earlier. Last month, Barnes & Noble said it would stop production of the Nook color tablet, although it would continue to design and make the cheaper and simpler black-and-white Nook e-readers. The Nook, some experts say, is on its way out. “It’s going to be a battle between Apple’s AAPL -0.63% iPad and Amazon’s AMZN +0.19% Kindle,” says technology analyst Jeff Kagan. “The Nook may become the Betamax of e-books.”

This leaves Nook customers with a big problem — similar to what some consumers faced when the Betamax video format lost to VHS in the early 1980s. If Barnes & Noble stops production on all Nooks, experts says, Nook owners would have a hard time moving their libraries. In fact, customers are already grappling with that very issue on online forums. The reason: Most e-books carry digital rights management software, or DRM, which prevents them from being pirated, passed on to third parties or, in this case, transferred onto another device by the same consumer. “If customers purchase DRM books, which are commonly supplied by large publishers, portability is more of a challenge,” says Mark Coker, founder of e-book distributor Smashwords.com."

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/if-nook-goes-bust-will-your-e-books-too-2013-07-11

Regards,
John
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 7:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kindle is more common
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BadBeagleBad



Joined: 23 Aug 2010
Posts: 1186
Location: 24.18105,-103.25185

PostPosted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 2:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There are also more books available for the Kindle. You can pick up just a book reader one on Ebay for $30 or $40. I got a Kindle Touch with a case for $30 about a year ago. I also have a Kindle Fire, but it is more of a tablet than a book reader. I do like it, though, it is great for watching Netflix and reading magazines. Also, based on my experience, Amazon has superior customer service.
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2buckets



Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 515
Location: Middle East

PostPosted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A good source of free e-books are public libraries. I have passwords from 3 library systems and have access to lots of books, usually for 14 or 21 days.
I just had family members from various locations give me their library account numbers and passwords. There is normally a 10 book limit on an account, so there's rarely a conflict.

I have both a Fire and a Kindle reader. The Fire is nice as it doesn't need light, plus you have access to lots of free movies, TV etc., especially if you join Amazon Prime for $79.-$99. a year.

You can also watch Netflix on the Fire.

(I cut the cord on the TV).
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gorkomi



Joined: 24 Aug 2009
Posts: 142

PostPosted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 6:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you, especially Icanupp...

It seems to me that I should just get a basic Kindle book reader, and bring over a laptop, too.

I don't like that Nook news. Sad I also don't like all these bookstores going out of business.

I resisted Nooks and Kindles for years, because I like old-fashioned books, but going to a foreign land for an extended time period is the perfect reason to have one.
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gorkomi



Joined: 24 Aug 2009
Posts: 142

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 1:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

2Buckets... you get Netflix in Saudi?
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CANDLES



Joined: 01 Nov 2011
Posts: 605
Location: Wandering aimlessly.....

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 8:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can't get Netflix in KSA.... Mine was put on hold until I got back to UK. Sad
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 4:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not even with a proxy?

VS
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CANDLES



Joined: 01 Nov 2011
Posts: 605
Location: Wandering aimlessly.....

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 5:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Didn't try, but others told me that they couldn't either.
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2buckets



Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 515
Location: Middle East

PostPosted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 2:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not in SA at this time.
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