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Easter Clark
Joined: 18 Nov 2007
Location: Hiding from Yie Eun-woong
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 Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 6:09 pm Post subject: Kindle in Korea? |
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| If you bought one, are you happy with it? Are there any problems purchasing books? I'm not too sure how the wireless downloading thing works--I know that Amazon won't ship Kindles to Korea so I'm a bit skeptical about their usefulness here. |
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piratebryan
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Location: Nonyeon
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| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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i got one for christmas and LOVE it. everything works except the internet, which works sporadically, depending on which cell network you're on. i haven't figured out where and which network works, but it does occasionally. i have my itouch to fill that niche.
i miss my library back home and will never be able to build that up as a traveler...but the kindle fills a nice void i my life of just being able to get a book and stick it on a shelf until i feel like reading it.
as to purchasing books, if you use wispernet, it costs an extra $2 a book to cover roaming charges. its regular price if you purchase from a computer and download via usb. samples are still free. i haven't tried converting pdfs or other formats, but as long as its transfered via usb, it will be free, otherwise...$2.
highly recommended...
any |
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Easter Clark
Joined: 18 Nov 2007
Location: Hiding from Yie Eun-woong
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| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:51 pm Post subject: |
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| That's interesting, I hadn't thought about downloading it to a computer and transferring via USB. It seems like the best way to go for someone who's always reading on the subway. I wonder if you can get textbooks for it? Are there any drawbacks? |
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oskinny1
Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Location: Right behind you!
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| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Big announcement tonight about the Kindle killer...maybe...not a fanboy. |
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piratebryan
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Location: Nonyeon
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| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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It's a bit slow. Basically takes it a split sec to render the page but by the time your eyes go to the top of the page it's rendered. If you want text books check out the kindle dx... Bigger screen and faster, optimized for textbooks and newsprint. They just release the dx international edition a few weeks ago.
It's something that you have to see and play with to realize the coolness of it. But I love mine. |
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Easter Clark
Joined: 18 Nov 2007
Location: Hiding from Yie Eun-woong
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| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:01 pm Post subject: |
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| oskinny1 wrote: |
| Big announcement tonight about the Kindle killer...maybe...not a fanboy. |
You're talking about the iTablet? It'll be months and months before it makes its way to Korea! |
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oskinny1
Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Location: Right behind you!
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| Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 4:28 am Post subject: |
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| The Kindle isn't sold here either. |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 5:32 am Post subject: |
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| I think the international version of the Kindle is a nerfed version. I would steer clear of the international one. Its like they took the old kindles, labeled it "international" and stamped a premium price on it. |
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piratebryan
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Location: Nonyeon
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| Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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| pkang0202 wrote: |
| I think the international version of the Kindle is a nerfed version. I would steer clear of the international one. Its like they took the old kindles, labeled it "international" and stamped a premium price on it. |
not true. In fact they only sell international version now. The only difference was the radio for the wispernet network. They discontinued the us version and turned to only international. |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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| piratebryan wrote: |
| pkang0202 wrote: |
| I think the international version of the Kindle is a nerfed version. I would steer clear of the international one. Its like they took the old kindles, labeled it "international" and stamped a premium price on it. |
not true. In fact they only sell international version now. The only difference was the radio for the wispernet network. They discontinued the us version and turned to only international. |
I didn't realize they released Kindle 2 International Version. When I read about them, they only had Kindle 2, Kindle DX, and Kindle DX International.
Some cons about the Kindle 2
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Technical limitations
Hardware
There is concern about the specific hardware choices made for the device.[40] For example, the Kindle 2 lacks the memory expansion slot which was part of the original Kindle, which not only affects the potential number of e-books which can be stored on the device, but also removes potential capabilities to import e-books onto the device via memory card. Another hardware decision which has been questioned is the non-availability of WiFi functionality on the Kindle. Instead, the device relies on Sprint's EVDO, AT&T's 3G network, or 1xRTT data services for Internet access,[41] which, critics argue, does provide a large amount of geographical coverage, but also drives the price of the device up considerably.[42]
File format support
E-books of unencrypted .MOBI files, .TXT files, or .AZW formats can be transferred to the Kindle over a USB connection and read, but any other e-book formats are not supported. The original Kindle and the Kindle 2 firmware before the 2.3 firmware update cannot read e-books or files in the PDF format. However, PDFs and several other file formats can be converted using a number of downloadable applications, free conversion by email, or a similar method that sends the converted content to the owner's Kindle for a fee.[4]
Poor contrast
There are concerns that the Kindle 2's contrast in small text is poor compared to the original Kindle.[43] Side-by-side comparisons show slight differences attributable to factors such as slightly darker background and different fonts on the two devices [44] Some Kindle 2 users have reverted back to the original Kindle due to this issue.[45]
Limited organization ability
The Kindle does not allow the user to organize books into folders.[46] There is an option to select whether documents, subscriptions, books, or everything on the device appear on the home page. Another option orders the items on the home page according to title, author, or download date. Books may also be tagged with one or more keywords by inserting the tags into notes added to the book. Users can then search for books by tag. |
No wifi kinda sucks. No SD card also. Its like Amazon purposely made it a pain in the butt to put content on it.
Anyone try the Samsung eBook reader? SNE-50K
Its suppose to have PDF and Word file compatibility. |
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piratebryan
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Location: Nonyeon
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| Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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i never had the original kindle so i'm basing all my opinions off the kindle2. at 2gigs (roughly 2k books) plus unlimited storage in the wispernet, i'm not sure why you would need a sd slot to upgrade memory. i can understand organizing documents using sd cards (each card being a new bookshelf, etc) but that is just more to lose. most of the things people have a beef with, such as not being able to group things into folders, file support etc., can be fixed via software upgrade. from what i understand, the hardware is actually more powerful than the itouch/phone (i read that somewhere but can't cite it right now...).
no touch screen can be a pain in the ass after i've spent over a year using touch screen devices, but the trade off is no glare and better resolution for the eink screen. i'll take that... |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:39 pm Post subject: |
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| piratebryan wrote: |
i never had the original kindle so i'm basing all my opinions off the kindle2. at 2gigs (roughly 2k books) plus unlimited storage in the wispernet, i'm not sure why you would need a sd slot to upgrade memory. i can understand organizing documents using sd cards (each card being a new bookshelf, etc) but that is just more to lose. most of the things people have a beef with, such as not being able to group things into folders, file support etc., can be fixed via software upgrade. from what i understand, the hardware is actually more powerful than the itouch/phone (i read that somewhere but can't cite it right now...).
no touch screen can be a pain in the ass after i've spent over a year using touch screen devices, but the trade off is no glare and better resolution for the eink screen. i'll take that... |
I think they want the SD card slot so they can just copy a massive library of eBooks from their computer to their Kindle.
Is using Whispernet free? How does Whispernet work? |
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piratebryan
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Location: Nonyeon
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 2:49 am Post subject: |
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| pkang0202 wrote: |
| piratebryan wrote: |
i never had the original kindle so i'm basing all my opinions off the kindle2. at 2gigs (roughly 2k books) plus unlimited storage in the wispernet, i'm not sure why you would need a sd slot to upgrade memory. i can understand organizing documents using sd cards (each card being a new bookshelf, etc) but that is just more to lose. most of the things people have a beef with, such as not being able to group things into folders, file support etc., can be fixed via software upgrade. from what i understand, the hardware is actually more powerful than the itouch/phone (i read that somewhere but can't cite it right now...).
no touch screen can be a pain in the ass after i've spent over a year using touch screen devices, but the trade off is no glare and better resolution for the eink screen. i'll take that... |
I think they want the SD card slot so they can just copy a massive library of eBooks from their computer to their Kindle.
Is using Whispernet free? How does Whispernet work? |
you can do that thru usb, don't need an sd card.
the wispernet is just amazon's digital cloud. for instance, i have an itouch with the kindle program. i can buy a book off my kindle and keep it in my wispernet cloud. say i forget my kindle but i still want to read a book i have on my kindle. i can access my cloudspace on the itouch, download the book, and it will be in the same place i left off while reading my kindle. its not a passive option, but it takes about 10sec to sync into the cloud. doesn't work with newspapers or magazines though.
if i delete a book from my kindle, i can download it again whenever i want. so while i can store roughly 2k books on my kindle, i have an infinite storage capacity inside the cloud.
honestly, i keep my wireless turned off unless i'm actually looking for a book. its such a huge drain on the device that its really not worth it (2 days with the wireless on, 2 weeks with it off).
once i have the book in my cloud, its free to download between devices, but it does cost $2 more than normal price to purchase the book wirelessly. its still cheaper buying books on the kindle than buying copies... |
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Milkman Dan
Joined: 10 Jan 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 3:34 am Post subject: |
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I've heard nothing but great things about the Kindle2 from people I know back in the US. If you're dead set getting one shipped here, then more power to you.
However, I hope you realize that there are local eBooks readers sold within Korea.
There was a pretty big thread recently featuring a really detailed review of the Nuutbook2 (http://nuutbook.com/). The owner seemed pretty happy with it, and it's definitely a capable eBook reader.
I recently picked up an iRiver Story off of Gmarket for a killer deal. I love the thing to death, mostly because of it's SD card slot and for the fact that it proably has the best mp3 player available in eBook readers. It also supports the EPUB file format, which is good if you like stuff from Project Gutenberg anf independent online ebook retailers.
But you can't go wrong with a Kindle though. But I personally really didn't care about the extra features it offered and didn't want to pay the shipping cost for one. |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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