Kindle Books - A place for Authors and Readers

Want a place where authors can talk about their new Kindle offerings, and readers can review what they have read, and discuss with authors their material? Then check out the new group, Kindle Books. We hope that authors and readers alike will use this service to discuss the wonderful material available for the Kindle!

Play MP3's on the Kindle

Plug your K3 into the USB port on your computer, and copy your MP3's to the Music directory on the Kindle. Click Home, then Menu, then select Experimental, and select Play MP3's. Use the volume control on the bottom of the kindle to control the volume, and use headphones if you don't want to disturb others. Windows Media Player identifies the Kindle and will sync to it.

Alt - Spacebar will pause/start the music, and Alt- f will skip to the next track.

To access mp3's as "audible books", put them in the Audible folder instead of the Music folder. These will show up on your home page like any other book.

Calibre - eBook management and conversion

Calibre is a free and open source e-book library management application developed by users of e-books for users of e-books. It has a cornucopia of features divided into the following main categories:

Library Management
E-book conversion
Syncing to e-book reader devices
Downloading news from the web and converting it into e-book form
Comprehensive e-book viewer
Content server for online access to your book collection

Ok, so that's the official definition. Basically it allows us to gather ebooks from a variety of sources and formats, convert to Mobi format, and copy them to the kindle. It's free, and it's of great value. I highly recommend it. http://calibre-ebook.com/

Charging Your Kindle with USB

The Kindle has a USB port for charging and you can charge with the included ac to usb adaptor, from a usb equipped computer, or from a solar or car charger that has a USB output. Our favorite is Solar.

If connected to your computer, the Kindle becomes an external "hard drive", and you can copy files to and from it with ease. We will cover file format conversion and utilities (like Calibre) in a separate post, but this is the method for getting non-Amazon content (eBooks from other sources, PDF's, MP3's, etc.) on to your Kindle.

Protect your Kindle

My only close disaster with my kindle came shortly after receiving it. I had my hands full, and tried to open the car door. I dropped the Kindle, and it hit the ground scraping the plastic case and putting a small ding in the screen. I felt really stupid, but was relieved that nothing was badly damaged, and the ding isn't usually noticeable when I'm reading.

The next day I picked up a soft cover case at Walmart for $15, but I really wanted a light for reading at night. Amazon has a line of beautiful leather cases (in many colors) with an integrated LED reading light. The LED pulls out for reading, and slides back in when not needed. It's powered by the Kindle itself, so no additional batteries needed. The case keeps the charging port (USB) clear, and it folds back. You can also keep it open to give the Kindle more of a book feel when using it. The Kindle easily snaps into two metal clips that carry the power to the LED light. There is easily enough light to make the complete screen legible, even in complete darkness, but the keypad is less so.

In my opinion, this is a must have accessory. - Kindle Leather Lighted Cover

The 3rd Generation Kindle

I received a Kindle for Christmas. Now I don't normally blog about my Christmas presents, and I especially don't set up a whole website about one, but this gift is different. It has transformed the way I read, and greatly increased the number of books I read weekly.

Connectivity:

The particular Kindle I received is a K3 (third generation), with built in WiFi and 3G connectivity. This means I don't have to be at home to order new books or browse the Internet, just within range of a cell tower, or any Wifi hotspot. The cool thing is there's no charge for this connectivity, it's included free in the price of the Kindle ($189 for my model). Downloading new material is a one button click, and the new materiel shows up in seconds.

Ease of Reading:

Because there is no backlighting, I don't get headaches or eyestrain when reading for long periods. Because it's light weight, I can hold it in one hand and still easily navigate pages(forward and reverse) with my thumb. The lack of backlight also enables a long battery life of several days or more depending on reading time. It does mean you will have to have a light to read at night, and I'll discuss my protective case with integrated reading light in another post. The screen has high contrast, and text size is easily adjusted, so even old tired eyes like mine have an easy time of it.

Much has been written about the Kindle (and it's competitors), and I'll post links to several sources, but my experience has been 100% positive, and the only issue I have is getting it back from my wife. Guess who needs her own Kindle ....