Job Discussion Forums

[snowsilver]

Has anyone tried getting a Kindle through customs? Any problems? Thinking it may be a great way to get books--and apparently there is a way to download as long as you have a USA credit card.

Wondering if anyone else has made this work.

[Cleopatra]

Never tried it but can't see any reason why it would be a problem.

Customs officials rarely search bags these days, but even if they did, I don't think they would object to this.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

You might want to ask our resident Kindle guru, Johnslat... John?

NCTBA

[veiledsentiments]

Yes, but John only knows about kindle in the US... he had left Saudi long before its invention.

I wonder if we have any members here who have taken one to Saudi. I have a friend that just took one to China with no problem.

VS

[johnslat]

Dear

Can I download additional books in Mexico or must I download all I think I�ll want to read before I go?

Yes, you can, but it�s a bit of a convoluted process. Amazon says that, if you are a U.S. customer temporarily outside the U.S., where the Kindle�s wireless downloading capability won�t work, you can �sideload� books over the Kindle�s USB cable � normally used for transferring audiobooks or photos � from your PC or Mac.

According to Amazon, here�s how you do this. First, order a Kindle book on the Amazon Web site from your computer and tell it to send it wirelessly to your Kindle. This will fail. But you can then go to the �Manage Your Kindle� page on the Amazon site, which lists all the Kindle books you�ve bought under the heading �Your Orders.� Select the one you want, and click on the drop-down list at the far right labeled �Download/Send to��. Select �computer� as your destination, and the book will be downloaded to your PC or Mac as a file with the suffix �azw.� From there, you can manually drag this file into your Kindle using the USB cable."

http://ask.metafilter.com/88580/How-to-get-Kindle-books-into-Amazon-Kindle-while-outside-United-States


"But Kindle can also be used without activating the wireless feature while you are traveling outside the US or wireless service area. All content you purchase from the Kindle Store is saved to Your Media Library on Amazon.com. This allows you to download your books, newspapers and magazines to your computer and transfer items via Kindle's USB connection.

Also, a good resource:

The Mobileread Kindle forums.
posted by sharkfu at 6:36 AM on April 12, 2008


If you have a US credit card you can still order Kindle books. If you don't I'm afraid you're out of luck. After that they're saved to your Amazon Kindle library online and you can download them and transfer them via USB cable.
posted by peacheater at 8:24 AM on April 12, 2008

http://ask.metafilter.com/88580/How-to-get-Kindle-books-into-Amazon-Kindle-while-outside-United-States

Update: 20 March 2009 � Please make sure to read through the comments for other tips and tricks from lots of people who have used this method and gotten it to work. And this does work with the Kindle 2!
Here is a guide to getting an Amazon Kindle working outside of the US and downloading books outside the US. This is targeted at people who have a Kindle, but don�t have a US credit card / billing address to purchase books.

(Amended some of the instructions based on comments)

Go to Amazon.com & sign in with your regular username / password (you should be able to log into Amazon.com even with your international account) create a new Amazon.com account (NOTE � .com for U.S. Amazon shop). Do not use your international Amazon account because things go weird. Use a generic email address like gmail.com (with your location set to U.S.) instead of something that is country specific (ie, .co.uk, .fr) otherwise Amazon will block Kindle purchases.
Use a U.S. address � it doesn�t really matter what address because nothing is going to be shipped there, so look up Pizza Hut in Fresno, CA if you want. Just make sure that the zip code is valid.
Next step is to buy a Gift Certificate and email the code to yourself.
Apply the Gift Certificate to your newly created account.
Register your Kindle online � this is because you won�t be able to use the wireless Whispernet to register the account
Set up 1-Click payment method associated with your Kindle to make the Kindle books button enabled for purchase. Enter a valid credit card number, but use the U.S. billing address that you set up earlier. This seems to work because once you add the gift certificate Amazon doesn�t attempt to authorise your credit card until you run out of gift certificate credit.
FINALLY, you should now be able to buy books on the Kindle. Remember to keep your gift certificate topped up with enough credit for what you are purchasing. You will select which Kindle to send the book to wirelessly from the 1-click setting (even though your book won�t be delivered via this method).

To download your purchased books and sync to your Kindle via USB, go to your digital downloads on Amazon � Be sure to click on the Downloads tab, then you should be able to see your previously purchased book. Click the Download to computer button (note that if you have several Kindles on one account, you need to select which Kindle you want to download for, otherwise the DRM won�t recognise it).

Connect your Kindle via USB and drop the file into your Documents directory and VOILA!
* Remember you have to be logged in to use any of the account links (duh)

Hope that this works for you. If you have any variations or other tricks to get this going, let me know�"

http://www.nerdgirl.com/2009/03/20/amazon-kindle-outside-the-us/

Regards,
John

[trapezius]

Wife's colleague brought one with no problem.

[snowsilver]

Thanks everyone. Just got through ordering one.