1) Updates
2) Preamble
3) How to buy a Kindle in Singapore
4) How to buy Kindle e-books in Singapore
5) Kindle pictures and shipment info
6) Calibre eBook management
7) PDF documents
8) Magazines
9) Usage in strong sunlight
10) Proof of residency email
11) Kindle 3 with Special Offers (NEW!)
12) Past newspaper mentions
Updated 13 November 2011: This post will no longer be updated. I'll continue the discussion at the new Kindle Touch entry.
Updated 28 September 2011: New Kindles! Starting US$79! This will really shake things up. I just preordered the Touch!
2) Preamble
3) How to buy a Kindle in Singapore
4) How to buy Kindle e-books in Singapore
5) Kindle pictures and shipment info
6) Calibre eBook management
7) PDF documents
8) Magazines
9) Usage in strong sunlight
10) Proof of residency email
11) Kindle 3 with Special Offers (NEW!)
12) Past newspaper mentions
Updated 13 November 2011: This post will no longer be updated. I'll continue the discussion at the new Kindle Touch entry.
Updated 28 September 2011: New Kindles! Starting US$79! This will really shake things up. I just preordered the Touch!
Updated 14 May 2011: I've just received the new Kindle with Special Offers
. It's only USD$114; pictures below. I've also got a second Kate Spade Kindle case to go along with it.Updated 24 February 2011: New Kindle advertisement, "The Book Lives On."
Updated 25 January 2011: My Kindle lighted cover has stopped working. Click here to read the refund story.
Updated 19 January 2011: Digital Life has a cover story on e-readers and the Kindle. There's just one thing. Hotspot Shield VPN is mentioned but I don't recommend it for the time being. (click = big)
Updated 17 September 2010: I'm getting reports from folks who are having problems with the Hotspot Shield VPN; it's not working for some reason. Do consider an alternate VPN. Amended buying procedure.
Updated 6 September: I received my Kindle 3! Updated price and took some new pictures with comments.
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The book is one of the most ingenious inventions of all time. However, the book wasn't something that was created in one day. It has evolved continually starting with papyrus in Egypt then to Chinese scrolls then to movable type with the Gutenberg press. And it's now digitalised in the form of portable reading devices that allow you to read e-books. The best selling reading device now is the Amazon Kindle.Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos just announced that sales of Kindle e-books have overtaken hardcover sales, and will overtake sales of paperbacks in 12 months. I just find that really astonishing. It's one of those things that you've heard about: things happen so fast in Internet time, and we're right in the middle of this revolution.
The next iteration of the Kindle is the new Third Generation device which is now USD139. (I bought the Kindle 2 for USD359 in May last year. What a price drop!) I've just pre-ordered the WiFi-only Kindle 3 after it's first shipment was sold out even before the product is released at the end of this month. I am now queuing in the second wave and will update this post when that happens.
Here are some reasons I've chosen the Kindle 3 instead of other reading devices:
Best online shopping company in the world: Even before the arrival of the Kindle, I've always bought books from Amazon. They are always reliable, have a great selection and website with lots of customer reviews.
Excellent support: Amazon's customer service support is legendary in the industry. I've called them a few times myself and have consistently received the highest level of service. It offers 30-day money back and price drop guarantee and I believe e-books are returnable too.
Best reading device: The Kindle is meant to 'disappear', a design philosophy that is very rarely adopted by product designers and suggests a sublime understanding of how it should be made and positioned. The user interface is intuitive and easy to use. The latest generation has eInk that improves contrast by 50%; very close to real paper, so they say. It's also probably the most user-friendly e-Ink reader.
Largest selection of books: The Kindle store doesn't claim to have every book there is, but my impression is that it does have the largest selection. I recently bought The HP Phenomenon and it could only be found in the Kindle store.
Best Laugh: One of the main reasons why Amazon is my top choice is due to CEO Jeff Bezos. (Just like how Steve Jobs is god to the fanbois lol) Jeff has one of the heartiest laughs I've ever heard. Most reports also suggest that's one of the most down to earth billionaires ever. I am happy to do business with folks like him.
In the meantime, if you're interested to see what the fuss is about, Bezos has a wonderful interview with Charlie Rose and it's really worth a look to see what makes Amazon tick and where the book market is going in the near future. The full 40-minute interview is here.
How to buy a Kindle in Singapore
Here are the steps I use. Do note that Amazon doesn't officially support Kindles in Singapore. There are instances where buyers were found to be not from 'authorised countries' and their accounts were disabled. Your mileage may vary. Caveat Emptor. Other than that, things have worked really well for many local Kindle users.
- Create an Amazon account if you don't already have one.
- Go to the Kindle page and buy yourself a Kindle. It will be automatically linked to your Amazon account. I prefer the WiFi-only version rather than the 3G+WiFi version. The added 3G isn't really necessary because worldwide surfing isn't guaranteed. Also, additional costs will be incurred for the transfer of documents if 3G (AT&T roaming) is used when there is no WiFi.
- Ship it to a third party mail forwarder. I use Borderlinx who will then ship it to Singapore. Comgateway seems fine too though I've not tried them myself.
- When you get your Kindle, you need to register it if it hasn't already been registered. After connecting to wifi at home>settings, register it by filling in your Amazon username and password at home>settings>register.
Some preparatory steps to take before buying books from the Amazon US store
- Firstly, do NOT buy books using your Kindle's Whispernet/3G/WiFi. Don't buy from Kindle apps too.
- You need to buy books using your Internet browser on your computer with a VPN installed. Use a VPN such as AlwaysVPN to make yourself situated in the US, in spirit. You may turn it off later when you're done purchasing. I can share my AlwaysVPN account with local Kindle users. Do not use Hotspot Shield; it's known not to work sometimes.
- Exit your Internet browser.
- Switch on your VPN. Open your browser.
- Go to Manage your Kindle at the Kindle product page.
- Go to 'your country'. Change your country to US if it's showing another country. Use any US address.
- Buy a gift card with your local credit card, say USD50. Email the gift card to your email address. When you re/ceive it in the mail, apply the gift amount to your Amazon account.
- Go to your account, 'manage payment options', and erase your credit card info if you have any credit cards associated with Amazon.com . (Do this also whenever you buy something at Amazon using your local credit card.)
- Again, do NOT buy e-books (even if the books are free) using the Kindle's Whispernet/3G/WiFi.
- Ensure that you have sufficient funds in your account. If not, buy more gift cards and apply them to your account.
- Exit your Internet browser
- Switch on your VPN, open your Internet browser and go Amazon
. Find your book and click 'buy now with 1-click', 'deliver to your Kindle'. If you choose to wirelessly send it to your Kindle, you should receive the book in less than a minute. You can also choose to download the file and transfer it to your Kindle using USB. If asked for the billing address, use any US address. Not that this address will not be used because funds will originate from your gift card balance.
- Switch off the VPN
(Kindle 3 WiFi) + USD60 (Kindle Lighted Leather Cover) + SGD 24 (Borderlinx shipping) = around SGD 300. The screen is just totally unbelievable; I can't see the difference between a printed page and the new E-Ink Pearl screen. More pictures below with additional comments. (click = big)
Free Amazon shipping (5-9 days). The shipment arrived at Borderlinx in 4 days, way sooner than Amazon's conservative figure.
The fee charged by Borderlinx was SGD23.42. There were no additional GST, import fees etc. DHL's tracking system is GOOD!
This is quite interesting. First time users of E-Ink will try to peel the instructions sticker from the screen. Problem is: it's not a sticker; it's the screen!
The Kindle Lighted Burnt Orange Leather Cover
is a thing of beauty; very well constructed and the light is just fantastic! The price (USD59) is also...uh... quite fantastic!
is a thing of beauty; very well constructed and the light is just fantastic! The price (USD59) is also...uh... quite fantastic!
The browser is fast. Obviously it's meant for casual browsing but it does work quite well.
A comparison between Kindle 2 and 3. There is no contest: the black of the K3 is really much blacker.
11 September 2010 update
Having used the new Kindle 3 for a few days, I must say that it's wonderful device. Because my first Kindle was a Kindle 2 with no wireless (it's a CDMA device for the US market), the addition of WiFi is making a huge difference.
Firstly, I only need to use the VPN to buy books and the book get transferred wirelessly to the device. Also, if you looking for the 'classics' and wish to use sites like Gutenberg, you don't even need to go to the Amazon store. Just use the browser and directly download the .mobi file into the Kindle and immediately read it on your device.
A reader commented on the use of Calibre which allows you to manage your ebooks and to convert them to the Kindle format. The increase in functionality when one pairs up the Kindle with Calibre is astonishing. Calibre (a bit like the old Palm Avantgo) allows you to push rss feeds into the Kindle magazine format and this can be done wirelessly. It works really well!
23 September 2010 update
A reader sent me two PDF documents for me to try out. My impression of the Kindle reading was that yes, it's technically possible to read PDFs, but in reality, due to the size of the screen, it's not very feasible. After my investigation today, I've come to a rather surprising conclusion.
The screen of the Kindle 3 is so much better than the Kindle 2 that even the tiny words show up very well. Reading PDFs is very possible now! All pictures, click=big. The words are a little fuzzy as I wasn't using a tripod when I took these pictures and the lighting wasn't so good. While standard 'text pages' like these look good, magazine pdfs may not because the pages are bigger. YMMV.
At the bottom of this page, there are some 'missing words' which will appear when we magnify the screen or rotate the screen to landscape mode.
Here we see that the dictionary works on an unconverted PDF document.
Here is annotation in action. Highlight the words, then add your own comment.
28 September 2010update
I've managed to buy a magazine sold at the Kindle store just to test it out. The New Yorker
costs USD3 a month so it's quite all right. I believe we cannot use gift cards to buy magazines so a workaround is to use yet another (!) credit card called Entropay. This is a 'virtual prepaid' credit card and the commission fee to 'load money' into it is 5%.If you're not keen on paying for magazines, an alternative is to use Calibre and download magazines/news websites. So far I'm able to download Reader's Digest for free. Anything that is available for free on the Internet can technically be downloaded as an ebook using Calibre. It's very powerful.
3 October 2010 update
Here are more pictures of the Kindle in strong sunlight (click = big). There used to be a 'page-turn lag' issue but it has largely been resolved with the 3.0.2 software update.
The content here are downloaded using Calibre which is pretty versatile in using RSS feeds and turning the content into 'magazine format'.
Scrabble is a new Kindle game that is a joy to play.
This is Nikon PDF directly loaded onto the Kindle without modification.
1 December 2010 update
Some readers have asked for advice on how to proceed if they bought ebooks without using a VPN and are asked by Amazon to provide proof of residency. You can ignore the email. Going forward, you need to use a VPN and then go to www.amazon.com/manageyourkindle to change your country to US. Please use a VPN when buying anything, free or otherwise, at the Kindle Store. If you don't have one, email me, I can share mine with you.
14 May 2001 update:
Amazon has released a cheaper version of the Kindle 3 with Special Offers
. It now comes with advertisements. The good thing is that the ads are completely unobtrusive. The screensavers (example below) are also ads now, and they are interesting because they keep changing! It's the Kindle I'd recommend now.
On the main index screen, some space is used for the advertisments. This replaces the space used by 1 book listing.
If you want to see the advertisement, you'll be brought to another page.
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Unitasking and the Kindle (the concept that's opposite to multitasking, and mentions of Kindle in the local press)
Digital Life article:
720 comments:
1 – 200 of 720 Newer› Newest»Hi Jeff, I understand your concerns about using Whispernet ... what about the Kindle for iphone ? If we go thru the VPN buying process and then afterwards download the ebooks to the iphone here in singapore ... will it affect our amazon account ?
Anon, I've no idea what the situation is with the iPhone app. I don't own the iPhone.
My guess is that the 'checks' happens during the point of purchase. I'd imagine that copying it into the iPhone is OK. However, I have no way of verifying this.
Hi, just found this website. Really helpful. I also want to buy the new Kindle and use it in Singapore. Currently, I only have iPad and iPhone, so maybe I can help answer the above question. I download Kindle app for iPad using a US iTunes acc. Everything seems work at first, I can buy books from Amazon Kindle Store@ US. However, just one day after I made the purchase, I received a email from Amazon asking me to verify my US identity by sending them my passport and driver license number :(
I never buy anything since I got that email. So don't know what will happen if I still make the purchase at Amazon US store.
Hope that answers the question.
Hi, jeffyen. when u buy the new kindle? Cann't wait for your detailed instruction on using the new Kindle in SG.
hi Jeff, what do you think of Kindle DX Graphite? I want to use Kindle to read academic papers in pdf format (I'm a PhD student), and heard that Kindle 6# is too small for an A4 paper. Do you think DX is worth its price (almost 3 times of the price of Kindle 6#)? Hope the price could drop recently...
Yong, I've pre-ordered the K3. The first pre-order batch sold out, so now I'm in the second wave waiting list.
Anon, sure, you can get the new DX. The price of the DX was USD489 a month ago, so it's much cheaper now. I guess it's just a one-off expense. The benefits do come in quite handy when you're reading with a larger screen device...
Hi Jeff,
Did you use Borderlinx concierge service? Or you just key in Borderlinx shipping address? Since you are still waiting for Amazon to ship the new Kindle. So you don't have to supply Borderlinx with any shipping info yet? Please advise. Thanks.
Regards
Gwen
Gwen, I use Borderlinx's shipping service. I don't use their concierge service (and would advise folks not to because you should be buying the Kindle in your name and in your account).
Borderlinx has on record my local address and they will ship it to me when the Amazon package arrives at their office. vPost seems to be OK nowadays too.
Hi Jeff, found your blogpost very helpful. I've been searching for a good eReader for years, and I'm currently researching both the iPad and Kindle 3rd generation. I'm based in Singapore, have no US account, but I do have a US address, and my Citibank credit card is Singapore but has a US address as a secondary billing address. My concern is about purchasing the kindle books; have spoken to someone with a kindle here in Singapore who could not use it at all. There's no point purchasing a kindle when you can't get the books. My uncle in the US would be more than happy to buy one for me and send it to me, but how am I to buy books off Amazon? The issue is not with the billing or US credit card (as we can always use the Gift card & 1-click method), but I have read that Amazon tracks foreign IP addresses so the moment they detect it's out of US, you get a message and your account is disabled. But that doesn't make sense as the new Kindle allows US residents who are travelling to buy books from wherever they are as long as they have 3g coverage! If the US resident were travelling in Singapore, wouldn't the IP address reflect that (or am I way off base here)?
Many thanks for your help.
Kind regards,
Jo
Josephine,
There should be no issues for you using the Kindle in Singapore. When you order, don't ask your uncle to order for you. Instead, order one using your amazon account and ship to him instead.
As for books, use the gift cards. You also need to use a vpn so that your IP address will be an US-one. I've described the process in the previous K2 blog entry; will repeat/update the instructions here soon.
What happens to US residents who use Whispernet overseas is that amazon will send an email asking for their driver's license etc. to 'prove' that they are from the US. This happens sometimes and will not be a problem for someone who lives in the US.
Ask your friend to get in touch with me; there's no reason why someone local can't get Kindle books!
Hi Jeffrey,I pre-ordered the kindle 3 on my amazon account with a singapore based credit card (singapore billing address) but as a gift just in case. Will my purchse be rejected later on?Thanks alot!
Anon,
There should be no problems with your purchase.
hi, am a newbie here. can i ask if whether is there any use to get the model with 3G ? or it's of no use in Singapore so the WIFI model will suffice?
Anon, I've got the Wifi only version because I don't really the 3G.
Another reason is that I feel 3G may present some problems because fees *may* be automatically attached to it because it's essentially a telco roaming service. And there's no way to enable wifi (which most probably don't come with additional fees) and yet disable 3G (from the instruction manual).
I can't confirm or deny the above so I felt it was safer to get just the wifi version.
I'm the anonymous asking about Kindle DX. Thank you jeff for your suggestions.
Now I decided to buy a Kindle instead of DX, after noticing the keyboard of DX is still old-style. I like the new slick one, more compact and having arrow keys.
The only headache is I don't have a citibank credit card. I'm a foreigner, non-PR, ineligible for a credit card. And I've asked around, no one else has it. I coaxed one guy into applying for one, but he's afraid of the annual fee. Do you have any idea whether citibank is willing to waive the annual fee? Thank you so much for your warm help.
hi jeff, thanks for your very informative entry! do you have an estimate on how much it will cost to ship via borderlinx? i'm thinking of shipping through that but i'm scared the shipping costs will be expensive. thanks! :)
Jeffrey Li,
I think the keyboard of the DX really shouldn't be a factor when one is choosing between the DX and the smaller Kindle; these are two different products. If the purpose is to have a large screen for specific reasons, then having the smaller Kindle may be quite a disappointment.
There is no need to pay annual fees in Singapore. I've blogged about this at
http://jeffyen.blogspot.com/2007/10/credit-card-annual-fees.html
Anon, I've no idea who much it costs yet by Borderlinx. I'd expect it to be around SGD 30, comparable or cheaper to the other mail forwarders.
jeffyen,
Yes you are right. A small one couldn't replace a big one. But the smaller one is more portable, better suited to leisure reading. Maybe I should buy both? :) I'm kidding. I need wifi, which is another plus of kindle 3. I also want to try e-ink reader, and DX is much more expensive and thus a more risky investment.
With regard to the need to read A4 papers I mentioned before, I'll have to print them out, or convert them to amazon format.
Thank you for the info of credit card annual fee. Now my friend has applied for the card :)
Hi Jeff, Thanks for your blog on Kindle. I am considering getting the Kindle 3G/Wifi version as I do some travelling in Europe on occasion. My questions are:
1) Given the travel scenario as mentioned, in your opinion will you propose getting a 3G version only or 3G/Wifi version?
2) Is there any difference getting a Kindle 3G/Wifi from UK or USA? I can ask relatives from either to buy and send to me here in Sg instead of through VPost in case VPost poses problems and too much GST. What's your advice?
3) Do the buyer from either US or UK need to create an amazon account in my name or theirs even though they'll use their respective credit cards. I also have UK ccard.
4) Should I get gift cards from both UK & USA if I will be ordering from either countries? But I must add that most kindle books are available from Amazon US but not from Amazon UK and some books cost more in £ than US$.
5) I presume it's better to download onto PC then transfer to Kindle via USB since you mentioned about Whispernet not being available here.
Thanks, Gene
oops - typo on above - I meant Wifi only version or 3G/Wifi version
Gene, yours is an interesting scenario because you have included all the possible variables together! (US + UK + unsupported SG)
Essentially, to decide between UK or US, I feel you need a UK VPN service. If you don't have this, then get the US version.
3) You should buy a Kindle using your account and then send it to your friend. Usually, it seems to be cheaper to send it to your local address using vpost etc. rather than ask your friend to deliver, which can be more expensive.
4) You can only choose one, either US or UK. I suppose if push comes to shove you can keep changing the location under your account but I have no idea if it will work.
Bottom line is that I feel that you should get the US Wifi+only version. My reasoning is that using this configuration, there is more control. I'm assuming that we don't need to mask the wifi when downloading (not buying) books. With 3G, I'm not sure. And with the 3G unit, you cannot switch off the 3G while switching on the Wifi. So in SG, it may not be 'safe' to get an always-on 3G when the Wifi-only model is available.
On the side of 'safety' and 'possible reduced access charges', I'd go with the US wifi version. You should buy books with a US VPN before you go overseas.
Jeff you're heaven-sent. I've been debating the Kindle forever and I appreciate your quick reply. Ok, just to run through and get your confirmation that I understand your suggestions:
1) Recommended US Wifi version due to 3G 'issues' as you had detailed earlier
2) Go with the US Kindle instead of UK - btw US$ version is much cheaper than UK version anyway.
3) Buy the Kindle with my own existing Amazon account & then send it to my Sg address directly through vpost or borderlinx. (any recommendation which one better or any difference?)
4) Can I personally buy an Amazon gift card with Sg ccard? Is there a max amount to gift card?
5) As for VPN, is HotSpot Shield a US VPN 'service'? or just a free download to mask IP adds?
Thanks again. Cheers. Gene
Hi Jeff,
Are you getting the Kindle 3 cover since you have preorder the Kindle 3? Or are you waiting for more covers to come out first? I find the cover are very expensive. Esp the one with light one :)
Regards
Gwen
Gene, yes, 1-2 are correct.
3) I used Borderlinx but I think they need a Citibank CC. Vpost also seems to be resuming their Kindle delivery service. They used to have problems with it.
4) yes, and there're no limits I guess.
5) Yes. HSS is a US vpn service. It works but I'm now using alwaysvpn, a paid service. Email me and I'll share my account with you.
Gwen, I've preordered the official lighted cover. Yes, you're right. It's horrendously expensive. It's also horrendously cool, so I guess they cancel out LOL
I just called up vPOST customer service and was told that they are still restricting delivery of Kindle due to the battery issue even though they are shipping it out of Oregon. Previously they have this problem through California address. Looks like vPost is no go and borderlinx is the only choice. For those who might have ordered through vPost without checking, maybe worth calling them to confirm.
Anon,
Interesting info... vPost has removed their California address so only Oregon is available. Not too long ago, vPost's facebook account was still advertising the Kindle. It could be that the marketing side is not aware of the situation on the ground and that they may still be restricting deliveries of Kindles... But if they are indeed shipping out of Oregon, then it should be OK?
Hi Jeff, just want to ask, from your previous blog, you mentioned that we have to erase our credit card info everytime we use our credit card. What about the billing and shipping addresses? Do we have to remove them as well?
Derrick, essentially I leave no cc info in the account. If I use it to buy something, I'll erase it after the transaction's done. For the billing address, I just use the Borderlinx address. Note that this billing address is never used for anything because funds are withdrawn from the gift card credit first.
Got it! Thanks Jeff! :)
hi jeff i got the VPN program that you recommended. i have tried 3 times to order a gift card on amazon with a singapore credit card and a fake US billing address.
they just keeping declining my purchase of the gift card.
what can i do?
my VPN is on when i'm making the purchase.
Really need your help
Nicholas, the reason it's not working is that a sg credit card cannot have a US billing address.
You don't need to use a VPN to buy gift cards. So feel free to switch off your vpn, and use your sg credit card and local billing address and try again.
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the insight. Been planning to get a Kindle, but been lazy to check out how to get about, you know, going past the "loopholes" and such.
Just have a quick question = I wanna get one mainly cos of subscriptions to mags/foreign newspapers. Any experience on this? Is the selection extremely big?
Thanks! - Cas
Cas, I'll try out mags when I get the Kindle. It's traditionally been more complicated than usual...
how much is the shipping cost using borderlinx or vpost?
hi jeffyen,
thanks for the helpful information. i tried to purchase kindle books to see if it works (before i buy a kindle). all was fine until i purchased the book. there was no option to download the book onto my computer. i could see the book with kindle for mac (the application) but i don't know where to find the file.
at the purchase screen, there wasn't any option to "transfer via computer" either. i could only choose to download to the "kindle for mac."
so how do i transfer it to my kindle when i get one in the future?
-luke
HI jeff.. from ur experience with Kindle, files downloaded from National Library's e-resources can be read in Kindle? if yes, which format or file types? any idea where i can get free e-books?
Anon, I guess the shipping cost will be around $20-$30. I'll update the post when my shipment arrives.
Luke, I believe the reason is that you haven't bought your Kindle yet, so the option doesn't show itself. Alternatively, if you want to test your books, install Kindle for PC. You can then download the book once you open the application.
chriswxp, our NLB uses Overdrive books (DRMed Adobe Digital Editions). The Kindle does not read Adobe DRMed files. If you really want to read NLB books, you may consider the Nook.
For free ebooks, there are 1.8 million out-of-copyright books here.
For newer books, Amazon regularly offers free books for a limited time. I used to think this is an inconsequential gimmick, but the number of free and good books offered is really a good thing because there are quite a lot of those...
hi jeff, thank you so much for the reply.
i am using a mac and have downloaded the kindle application for mac. while i can see the downloaded books on the home list, i cannot see anything under the "archived items." it supposed to appear in both places right?
-luke
Thanks for the info.. i just got my kindle and wondering if this is the normal behaviour "screen blinks/blanks when you turn from one page to another", coz i find it annoying.. if this is unusual, do you know if there is a software upgrade for this?
Luke, what you're seeing is correct. What is at the 'home' page will not be repeated in the 'archives' page. This makes sense as if they are repeated, we won't know what book to 'pull' from the 'archives' page to the 'home' page.
chris, the screen blanking thing is normal and has existed for all e-ink screens since day 1 (the speed has increased for the K3). While it can be annoying at first, this is what I do to keep a little perspective.
When you press the next page button, blink your eye. The page refresh won't seem as annoying as before and in the grand scheme of things isn't all that serious. :)
Hi jeff, thanks for all the advice and tips.. though i need another one, if i want to use Amazon to convert my pdf files for Kindle do i have to worry about using my PC directly or do i need to install VPN and go thru the backdoor?.. thanks again..
Chris, you need not do either of the 2 things you mentioned; they are unrelated.
To read pdf, you can do one of two things.
- simply copy it into the kindle using the usb cord
-convert the pdf to kindle format by sending your pdf to yourname@free.kindle.com . They will email you back something which you can then load into the kindle using the usb cord. (Probably the process has been simplified somewhat since there's no wifi. I'll test it when I get my K3.)
Hi Jeff, thanks for the insightful post.
I really want to get a kindle 3 but I am lost regarding their warranty and return-policy. I've read on hardwarezone forum where saidean managed to get her spoiled kindle 2 returned and changed, I'm wondering if I need to purchase the extended warranty for that?
Also, can I transfer .mobi or .PDF files to the kindle via usb? I've ebooks that I bought from various ebook vendors so it would be great if that could be done - but I've read some comments online where people encountered problems doing that. Any help you can offer would be great.
Thanks and Cheers! Eva
Sorry! I just saw your .PDF comment above, so one problem's solved! Regarding whispernet, do we have to switch it off when we get our kindle? Or can we use it? I've read on hardwarezone that amazon can track and block us if they realized that people in SG are using it? Is that true? If that's the case, how do we update the software?
Thanks again! Sorry for bombarding you with questions!
Eva
Eva,
I really want to get a kindle 3 but I am lost regarding their warranty and return-policy.
>> Amazon's customer service is very good. I'd assume they will send you a new one to your US address, it has a 1 year warranty. No need to get additional I guess. Just buy the next Kindle model lol
Also, can I transfer .mobi or .PDF files to the kindle via usb? I've ebooks that I bought from various ebook vendors so it would be great if that could be done - but I've read some comments online where people encountered problems doing that. Any help you can offer would be great.
>> You can load pdf and .mobi. Books from other vendors cannot be DRMed ePUB books. They can be unprotected ePUB books. Use the Calibre converter to convert to kindle format.
Regarding whispernet, do we have to switch it off when we get our kindle? Or can we use it? I've read on hardwarezone that amazon can track and block us if they realized that people in SG are using it? Is that true? If that's the case, how do we update the software?
>> I feel we can use it, but not for buying books because of the tracking. I'm assuming that once the book is bought using vpn, they don't track it anymore if we wifi it to the device. The updates should happen via wifi too. Amazon also provides the manual way of updating (download the new firmware.)
Thanks for the great advice Jeff! Now I can buy the Kindle 3 worries-free! :)
Hi all, have you Jeff or anyone else here received their Kindle lately? Was it sent through vPost, Borderlinz or Comgateway? Any problems with receiving via vPOst or Comgateway? Wanna get a kindle soon but concerned it'll be held up at vPost Oregon. Any suggestions? Btw, in your opinion is it necessary to get the UK plug adaptor as a spare or will the provided US plug work here in Singapore?
Thanks
Ling, my Borderlinx shipment will most likely reach sg tomorrow. I've seen one Comgateway person getting the Kindle so I guess they are OK.
There is no need to get the UK plug. The regular US plug can fit our regular '3 hole adaptor'. You can also charge using USB.
If I were to use the 3G version in Singapore and if there are charges, how will I be charged? Is it charged to my Amazon account or some other way?
Serene, I'm not sure about 3G here but I suspect there'll be a small surcharge to the book purchase price. I think the wifi only model is more appropriate in sg also because 3G (roaming sim) is 'easier' to be tracked than free wifi internet?
hey, i am quite interested to buy the device in sg...but do i need to pay any custom gst or do i need any import permit for tat, heard tat is needed for telecommunication products? any ideas? help!!!
Hi Jeff
I'm confused. I'm a Singaporean whose main consideration is not about ordering books (i'm thinking of Kindle 3 more to store docs to read or useful pdfs when travelling) - is it true if i order 3G one it can help me to surf Internet in over 100 countries in the world, as long as they have 3G mobile network, and I don't need any plan or card? For the surfing reason alone I would get the 3G one. Hope you could help, tks!
Ferny
See Yen, no there's no GST or additional fee because the combined price of K2 and the cover is still under S$400. I was charged around S$24 for Borderlinx shipping.
Ferny,
I'm not sure about global surfing. I've heard that at one point Amazon limited the surfing only to their store and Wikipedia (they are paying for the roaming charges after all and the customer pays nothing.) So I'm not confident about using the K3 for surfing. Plus, surfing on the K is more of an afterthought (even though it works very well for sites like wikipedia) rather than having the same experience as surfing on a laptop or PC.
hi jeff
I'm thinking of getting the Kindle 3G but
1)I'm hesistant because I would like to use the 3G function to surf the web on the go, which would mostly be news, magazines or wikipedia. I have also seen videos reviews of the Kindle 3G surfing the web on a new Kindle browser. In your opinion, would that enhance the websurfing experience? Will the Kindle be able to send Emails or perhaps use Facebook?
2)Furthermore, I would be moving to UK at the end of the month, and I'm wondering if I should get one from the US now, as it is cheaper, or wait till I get to the UK to order one. Amazon says that I need to wait until 20Sep, but I'm leaving on the 26Sep.
3)Most importantly, I'm planning to use the Kindle to study for an exam. I have the books from the exam which are about 600MB, which translates to about 6hrs of reading a day, and I'm wondering how effective it would be using a Kindle for studying purposes. Would the Kindle be able to load my exam books (PDF format) properly? Perhaps you have some insights on this or would you think the Kindle is more suited for leisure reading.
hy.
hy,
2)Based on the UK move, I think you should buy from the Amazon UK store. The UK Kindle books are cheaper.
3) The Kindle is not so good for books that you need to flip about, jumping from page to page. Technically it does read pdf but I feel a Kindle DX is a much better proposition for such material.
1) I don't think that the Kindle can be used as a browsing tool for most people. Sure for some mobile sites, it works very well, but I'd rather downplay expectations for the time being. It will not enhance the surfing experience as compared to say surfing on a laptop. But then again, for some sites, the Kindle is like the small device that could. You really need to see it before basing your purchase on this issue.
Jeff,
I just received my K3 today. The new cover with integrated light ROCKS!
For those people who could not read their books after transferring their K2 books to K3, you have to download from Amazon, and specify prior to download that it is for the K3 (you can choose which device to download for).
My question is:
Why can't I "Create a New Collection"? It shows up at Home page after pressing "menu" as a greyed-out option.
The reason I ask the K3 apparently doesn't separate subscribed newspapers/magazines from books, and apparently I have to create "Collections" to separate them.
But I can't create Collections. Any advice?
Stephen
Stephen,
I'm not sure why your 'collections' don't work. Mine does. Perhaps you can try resetting the device? (menu>settings>menu>restart) A patch is forthcoming from Amazon to solve general bugs...
Hi Jeff,
I have my wireless turned off, since I am unsure if I should leave it on.
Are yours turned off or on?
Regards,
Stephen
Hi Jeff,
Another question: Is your kindle already registered, or did you register it when it arrived?
I bought it direct from Amazon, and got it shipped by VPost.
But when I go to settings, it seems the Kindle is still not registered.
Stephen
Stephen,
Mine was registered but it seems that the whole process wasn't completed, probably similar to your situation. I guess it's understandable; there's too much of a rush over at their side!
Press menu>switch on wireless to connect to your wifi. You can do this, just don't buy books with the wifi. Then press 'menu>sync & check for items'. The Kindle should then be registered.
Jeff,
Thanks! I connected with wifi and updated my registration with my email and password, and completed the registration process.
After that, my "Collections" functionality was OK, and all my current ebooks showed up under "Archive". It was a simple matter of placing these archived books in "Home" and transfer them to my Collections.
Stephen
Hi Jeff thanks for this very informative blog. If I purchased 2 kindles under 1 amazon account for myself and as a gift - at the same time or the 2nd one at a later time, 1) can these 2 kindles 'share' the same kindle content? 2) And can I then select which kindle content I want synced (via USB) to which Kindle? By this I mean, I purchase content meant only for Kindle B and sync it only in Kindle B and when I next purchase content for Kindle A and want to sync only the 2nd content for A, will the 1st content already downloaded onto Kindle B automatically sync onto Kindle A? or is it better to have 2 separate Kindle apps on my computer to distinguish & separate the contents for Kindle A & B? I'm asking this as I intending get the Kindle for my Dad as well who loves to read but is not at all computer savvy so I will making all ebooks purchases for him. Is this too complicated a process? L
Hi Ling,
I have a Kindle 2 and a Kindle 3, and I have been able to read my ebooks on both Kindles.
Only thing is that it seems that I cannot simply copy them from one Kindle to another through USB.
I turned on my Kindle 3 wifi and updated my bookswirelessly, and the books were updated to my new Kindle 3.
Stephen
Ling,
1) Yes, both Kindles can share any and all books bought by yourself.
2) Yes, in fact, you can even use the WiFi to 'push' the books automatically to one or both Kindles at any time. The books won't automatically sync if one Kindle has it and the other doesn't, so you have control over which one has the book. It's trivial and not difficult to do.
There shouldn't be 2 Kindle apps for PC on one PC. There is only one Kindle app per PC. The Kindle app for PC can be considered a third device in Amazon's eyes, and books can be pushed to it as per normal.
Stephen, the reason why we can't just transfer books from one Kindle to another is that each book is linked to a particular Kindle. To have books on both Kindles, we need to ask Amazon to 'push them' to the devices like you mention. The process is very simple and intuitive.
Jeff, having problems with Borderlinx. They're quoting that the Kindle package (with cover) is 34kg! Obviously volumetric weight here. Any suggestions?
Anon, that's obviously a typo. The package is 4"x12"x9". The volumetric weight is 1.4kg. Don't pay the money first. Go to Borderlinx and use the live chat function. They are very fast in addressing issues.
Stephen, thanks for your help. :)
And Jeff, as before and again mucho gracias, mucho kum siahs, mucho thank yous. :) :) Kopi for you whenever :)
Kindle purchased and now twiddle thumbs waiting for arrival.
Cheers, L
Hi jeffy, thanks for yr informative post. I'm currently using a sony ereader but considering upgrading to a Kindle 3.
Most of my books are in currently in epub format, non drm protected. If i convert these books into .mobi format, would the kindle display and flow them well and allow the use of dictionary and highlight functions? Because i think formats like PDF cannot utilize functions lyk dictionary and font-resizing, even text pdfs. Not sure if its case for .mobi
And is the collection feature in kindle easy to manage? do i have to add books in collections manually in the kindle? because sony's collection function is conveniently integrated with the Calibre and its a concern for me as i have lots of books.
Thanks so much for your help :)
How, I just tried Calibre. Here's what I did.
1) Download an epub book from Gutenberg.
2) Convert it to .mobi using Calibre
3) Use Calibre to email the book to the Kindle
4) Book appears magically on Kindle without any intevention (Wifi was switched on.)
5) Dictionary and highlight works, text flows naturally.
The collections function in Kindle is not able to be managed by Calibre due to technical reasons, unfortunately.
Pity the collection function doesnt work with kindle. So i'll will have to individually add each book into collections in the kindle?
And woah that means i can send my entire library to my kindle though calibre wirelessly?
Thanks again
How,
Yes, you can send your entire Calibre collection of books wirelessly. The collection feature isn't that crucial I guess
Hi Jeff thanks for a pretty exhaustive piece of advice on buying kindle books. Just had a query:
Of the 2 VPN alternatives you suggest alwaysvpn seems to be a paid service while hotspotshield is free and requires downloading an app....have you ever used HotspotShield and is it safe?
Cheers
I've used both, prefer alwaysvpn which uses the openvpn client. It seems to be more popular. I don't mind sharing my account with local Kindle users.
Hi, I want to buy a kindle 3 but i cannot import it over because i do not have a citibank card needed for Borderlinx and i heard that Vpost does not send it over. Any suggestions?
Anon, you can try comgateway.com . While I've not tried them before, I've read about someone who successfully did.
Anon,
I have shipped 2 Kindles (ver 2 and ver 3) with VPost with no problems. You might want to consider using them.
I also bought the Kindles at Amazon with Singapore Amex card, and buy all ebooks and newspaper subscription without using VPN at all for the past several months. No issues at all encountered.
Stephen
Thanks Jeff. I've been wanting to buy a Kindle for ages but have put off the idea for quite some time due to the amount of troubles one have to face with purchasing books and the kindle itself. I've even thought of getting the iPad as an alternative. After reading this though, I've decided that I'll be getting one for myself soon.
I was wondering if you can help me with some PDF questions though since I'm going to read lost of them.
1. Do you actually need to convert the PDFs to Kindle format or do you just upload them and Kindle will open them natively?
2. If they do get converted, do they retain the readability? Is there a risk of Kindle screwing up the formatting and hampering readability?
3. Is it really readable for an average PDF if you load the page in full screen? I know they varies in sizes but what about the average book?
Thanks again Jeff for this very helpful post!
Stephen,
Regarding vPost, there is still a comment here that suggests that there may still be problems. I've actually used vPost for many years before the Kindle problems.
As for buying books without a VPN, again, I feel it's a random thing that people get 'caught'. I've one data point where the person was asked for creditials only after 1 purchase.
Eric,
There really isn't a lot of trouble to buy books. It's actually very easy after you've tried the process once.
The iPad is not an alternative to what the Kindle does best, just as the Kindle is not an alternative to what the iPad does well.
You can copy pdf directly into the Kindle but to get more functionality, you can send Amazon the pdfs and it will be converted into a more compatible format. I guess the format should be quite OK if it's just text. If there are complex layouts then maybe the conversion won't be able to reproduce them; I'm not too sure about this.
PDFs are readable. The fonts are forced to be small but it's still readable. For best results, if PDFs are your thing, perhaps a Kindle DX is more appropriate.
Can anyone help me out re: shipping & gst. If I place 2 separate orders where each package from Amazon contains 1 Kindle + 1 Kindle cover and I requested consolidated shipping (*NOT* repacked into 1 package) from the shipper (whether thru' ComGateway,Borderlinx or vPost), will it be treated as 2 individual packages and not incur GST or as 1 consolidated package thereby incurring GST on the total cost of the 2 sets? TIA Min
Hi Jeff
Just wanted to clarify for myself:
There are obviously 2 ways to buy the Kindle:
Firstly, pay directly by singapore cc and have it shipped to comgateway etc...(in this scenario, do you need the VPN switched on too?)
Secondly I guess one can buy gift cards worth say USD200 first and then have the purchase price deducted from it? (Does buying gift cards also require VPN to be switched on?)
I am asking this because when going thru a VPN it is possible that CC info goes through them and wonder if that is a safe scenario?
Min, interesting scenario. I'm not too sure about this and hopefully someone out there has tried it. I'd just not consolidate, and ship each as they come. Maybe you can have a chat with the Borderlinx sales person. They're good.
Anon, there's no need to use gift cards to buy the Kindle itself. You can even use your local credit card. There's no need to switch on vpn while buying the device and buying gift cards.
So, there's no danger in cc card being revealed using vpn because you'd have gift card monies in your account in the first place and don't need to use your cc at that time. (Yes, what you've described is correct.)
you're right Jeff - best not to consolidate. Send it as separates. Thanks.
I've just ordered 2 kindles which I will pick up on my upcoming trip to NYC.
Just want to say thanks for having these really informative and comprehensive posts about the using the Kindle in SG.
I didn't expect to find any SG specific information on the kindle but you've got it all right here!
Thanks Jeff
would you be posting a review on your experience with your kindle so far?
You're welcome Stephanie; actually you won't believe how much I've learnt from the comments here or from the research that I needed to do to answer some of the questions lol
Anon, from time to time I'll just update this entry with my thoughts I guess...
Hi,
Just a quick question. Let's say one day i slip up and my account gets disabled. Is this permanent? Presumably, i should be able to create a new account and just work with that instead, right? Or is it not so simple. Thanks!
Kevin
hi Jeff,
if I have access to a hk based vpn, do u think this will work as well as a US based vpn? my concern is more on when ordering books on the amazon site. since hk is a approved kindle location.
Kevin, I have not encountered this scenario before nor have heard of others' accounts. Firstly, what's already in your Kindle is yours, it won't be taken away. I guess you can deregister the unit, and sign up a new Amazon account to associate the Kindle with and then carry on.
Anon,
I don't think a HK vpn is a good idea. The reason is that you're more interested in the US store, not the Asia Pacific store which has around 460k books. The US store has almost 700k books today. Since a vpn is used, may as well use a US one?
does magazines and blogs and newspapers subscriptions work using a US VPN?
Jeff, I also want to thank you so much for this blog so we can enjoy our Singaporean kindles! :) I ordered mine on Sep 6 and have been checking DAILY to see if there's a shipment date from Amazon. Nothing whatsoever. :(
By the way, I called vpost and they said they wouldn't ship kindles because of the battery. Just thought to share that info.
Is your kindle here yet?
Anon, magazines seem to work. I'm subscibing to IHT and will give an update after the 2-week free trial is up.
Serene, thanks for the data point about vPost. Amazon may not give you a shipment date so soon. They will, however, ship before the date you were shown, usually much earlier. Don't worry about it.
Jeff, I just got my Kindle thur vPost last week and been enjoying it very much. I am planning to subscribe for magazine but the instructions said it will delivery the print copy and also a download copy to my Kindle. Does it matter if my US address is still vPost address?
Anonymous, how much did vpost charge you?
Anon, I haven't seen the digital+print copy thing before. Just try and subscribe. You may need another type of credit card such as Entropay, or maybe not. Yeah, you can use any US address I guess...
I'd be interested in vPost's fees too...
I've been tracking the discussion over shipping dates and it seems that the wifi+3G models are shipped out first (before the wifi only ones). Bummer... I might get mine only in October. It's going to be a tough wait.
Jeff's the man. You seriously, seldom see a fellow Singaporean this helpful!
would you mind posting some pictures on how newspapers/magazines displays and flows? a big draw for me to get the a kindle is the magazines subscriptions. Thanks :)
Jeff, I FINALLY got a shipping date! They'll be shipping to Borderlinx and it's been A-G-E-S since I've used them. Do I need to email Borderlinx the invoice? Or there's totally no need to? Just when I thought I'll have to keep on waiting, I get that all-important email! YIPPEE!
Anon, I'll talk about magazines in a couple of weeks when my magazine trial ends. Magazines/newspapers have their own 'presentation format' and it's pretty standard. You can see it from screenshots from other reviews.
Serene, what's going to happen next is that once Borderlinx receives the package, you'll be emailed to ask you to confirm the fee. There's no need to email them the invoice like what vPost needs. Could you post your Amazon tracking no. so we could track the package too? I like these sorts of things lol
@Serene: I can only comment on com gateways procedure. Even if you buy the Kindle yourself, you have to go to the comgateway site, open up the shopping window and on the left hand side, type in your amazon invoice no and the amount of the purchase. So they are better prepared to receive the package. Borderlinx rules might differ but it might be wise to check their site....these things are often hidden in small print.
@Jeff: just an update...I tried using hotspotshield just top prime my account for my upcoming purchase of Kindle and got 2 emails from amazon saying they had changed my password since their system had detected that an attempt at 'phishing' had been made to my account. Luckily I had deleted my card info beforehand and had just a US address there. Has this happened to anyone?
@everyone else: on the Kindle review lage on amazon and on some Kindle forums there is an alarming number of buyers of the K3 who say their device has some problem or the other...freezing up, slow page turns, rebooting all the time etc. Some say its a probem with the firmware...3.0 is problematic till you download 3.0.1 but even then some have problems. if this happens to a buyer in singapore, I cant imagine the headaches involved to send the product back. has anyone had something like this happen yet and how does one react if it were to happen?
Anon with hotspotshield 'problems'. Yes, I've encountered the situation where amazon changed my password several times. This is actually a sign that amazon are diligent with their security procedures. If the buyer has a non-US IP address and suddenly it becomes a US IP address, then someone is wrong. So amazon proactively changes the password.
After I changed to alwaysvpn, I haven't encountered this situation as much as before.
Regarding the problems seen by users, the freezing of units are pretty consistent so I'll classify them as known problems. Amazon has released a software upgrade which most feel have solved the problems. There is yet another software update coming up. All new devices has such 'problems' and as long as there is a willingless to dig deep and solve them (and there's plenty of evidence to show that), then I'm not worried. So far, mine works perfectly, no issues.
For software issues, there's no need to send it back. I've seen a person at hwz who has encountered this, and it's really just luck of the draw. (Statistically, someone will get a lemon.) The response is to receive a new Kindle and send back the old one if it's a lemon with a hardware problem.
PS. Could anons please include a name (make one up if you want) so it's easier to track the conversations. Thanks!
Hi Jeff,
Just got my Kindle3 and am happily clicking and spending my gift dollars ;-)
But I realised that magazine/newspaper subscriptions require a credit card payment, gift card are not accepted which makes sense I supposed.
And I guess I won't be able to use my SG credit card to pay for it.
Could you share your workaround on this?
CW.
Hi Jeff,
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this blog (esp you Jeff) I finally decided to get a kindle. It is now being shipped out of Borderlinx. I am so excited and cant wait for it to arrive. As for my contribution, I found a discount code on the internet for Borderlinx. The code is 568268 and expires on 30th Sep. I used it today and got 30% off shipping charges!!
So if anyone is using borderlinx to ship their kindle to Spore remember to use this code.
BTW I also discover that Borderlinx unlike vpost will not help you to save on GST even if your items are delievered to your suite in seperate packages. They will lump everything together. So long as the value exceed SGD400 you will be taxed.
Hi Jeff,
Thank you for your great help. I managed to download a few Kindle books last night. God Bless You.
Jack
Hi, the information here is as good as a wiki-page! :D
Thanks to you, and your really tempting pictures of the K3, I've just bought myself one!
One question here, if I would like to purchase kindle books from the UK (they ARE cheaper), would the US VPN still do? or do I need to do something different in terms of the steps taken to buy the books in UK and have them over to my kindle?
-HW
Hi Jeff,
I ordered a Kindle 3 early september using a singapore credit card, however, i filled in the billing address with the vpost address instead of my real address. Should i change it to my real address in case the reject my card?
Also, i tried to download some free books from Amazon with Hotspot Shield, without removing my CC details and got an email from Amazon asking me to verify (which i did not reply). Would you think i would have trouble buying books later on?
Thanks for the informative blog on the Kindle.
Raymond
HW, I believe you need a UK VPN with UK address and then it needs to be changed back to the US store later. Too much of a hassle I guess.
Raymond, yes, please correct the billing address. You may erase this info after the item has shipped.
It's interesting that you got the letter. Did HSS work? Email me and you can try alwaysvpn. There may be problems later on but I'm not sure about this. You can always create another account. Let's see what happens first. Another thing to do is to put some money into your gift card account by buying gift cards and applying it to your account.
Hi everyone,
Thanks so much for all the info here. They're really helpful. Thanks to Jeff for such detailed post as well.
I haven't bought my Kindle yet but I guess I'm getting nearer to purchase. =D
I have a few questions. Wondering if there'd be any info on it.
a) I'm thinking to get a 3G+WiFi version. Anyone here has purchased this version before? Is surfing is possible? Any charges for it?
b) What covers are you all using for Kindle? The Amazon one looks pretty cool to me. How is the light that comes with the cover? Does it evenly lit the screen? Or do you have any other light to recommend?
I found this site called Oberon http://www.oberondesign.com/Kindle3.php and they seem to have real nice leather covers too. They look great too but slightly more expensive than those of Amazon.
Thanks!
Myat
Hi Jeff & everyone who has a K2 and/or K3, this is a multi-question/comment posting -
1) have any of you encountered any of these issues with your Kindles - 2 or 3 esp? >> extremely slow and laggy page turns & screens flickering, fading, etc especially when reading outdoors?
Appears that many US kindlers are encountering those problems. With us having sun and heat @30-33C almost throughout the year, I'm kinda worried about getting a faulty set.
Also software 3.0.1 hasn't resolved those problems and no feedback whether the beta testing of 3.0.2 with a few customers is any better.
2) Other problems surfacing are Kindles resetting by themselves etc.. Have any of you encountered this or other issues so far?
And when these unfortunate customers request an exchange/replacement, some of them still encounter the same, similar or worse problems and have to do 2-3 replacements... cos the replacement Kindles are refurbished sets..
3) For us here in Sg, who have to go under the radar of owning and enjoying the Kindle, it'll be worrisome if any of us receive a faulty set or a refurbished set right at the start or as a replacement. I can imagine it will be a big hassle and costly to do a return.
Jeff, what's your thoughts & opinions about this?
With 2 sets on the way, and being a first-time Kindle owner, fingers crossed that I don't receive problematic Kindles. :-/
Thanks,
Ling
Myat,
I was initially gravitating towards the 3G+wifi version. Before I purchased my wifi set, I called my telco and it doesn't seem like we can use 3G here in Singapore on the Kindle (3G is available on the SIM card according to the telco rep). Anyone out there who can substantiate this?
Myat,
I'd not recommend the 3G because I believe there will be additioanal charges for book downloads (someone needs to pay for the AT&T roaming). Surfing may be possible but it's not guaranteed.
The light doesn't scatter on the screen evenly, but it' quite ok and most people seem to be very happy with it. As for returns and so on, yes, this will be hassle and I guess it's expected.
Hi all who have received their Kindles, where was your Kindle despatched from? Jeff's set came from Lockbourne, Ohio. Some US folks with faulty sets received their sets from Amazon distribution centres as diverse as from Nevada, Delaware and Kentucky so those faulty sets don't seem to stem from any one specific distribution centre.
Serene,
I'm not sure if any ordinary rep from a telco can answer that question fully because amazon has private arrangments with telcos worldwide. The 3G does work technically but please don't buy books with it. It'll also incur additional costs. Downloading books using wifi is free though.
Ling,
Last weekend, I did what the lady in the new ad did, and there was no fading out even in the strongest and hottest sunlight. I had a problem with this sun fade in my K2. I should have returned it but I didn't. This has been acknowledged as a manufacturing issue and Amazon will replace it.
I have experienced freezes but this has been largely solved using 3.0.1 . So far I haven't experienced anything else yet. The cost of return consists mostly of time and the shipping fees. It's really the luck of the draw. So far I don't see hardware faults to be a systemic problem. Software issues can always be patched.
thanks Jeff for the assurance. Does 3.0.1 download via wireless or how is it to be installed? I'm still a newbie at this and I'm still waiting my kindle to arrive so i'm totally unfamiliar with it.
Ling,
3.0.1 will most probably be already in your unit when it arrives. It can also be manually downloaded from here.
Thx Serene and Jeff your the ideas. I guess I should be getting the WiFi only then. =]
Myat
Saw it from some where, that 3G can be used to access Wikipedia for free in Singapore. I would go for 3G one
Hi Jeff,
Thanks so much for the information. You're a godsend. I do have one clarification to ask..
In your instructions, you say to erase credit card info before buying gift cards. I'm a bit confused, because immediately after this, i'm going to be purchasing gift cards with the same credit card i'd previously erased, right? And does this work if i have a Singapore credit card?
I've already ordered my Kindle 3 and and expect it by October. I have friends in US, and i could always have them buy me gift cards, but i wouldn't want to bother them too often.
Hi. Sorry. I posted the clarification question above but forgot to sign off. I'm Kevin.
Kevin, nice catch, I think I reversed the process by mistake and have revised the steps.
You can use your sg credit card to buy gift cards. There is no need to use a vpn to buy gift cards also.
Hi Jeff,
Ah! Heh. Thanks! So really, the only time i need to have VPN on is when i'm using the gift cards to buy books?
Well, i'm planning to set up two accounts which i will be logging in to from two different browsers, just to avoid confusion.
Kevin.
Hi Jeff,
Thanks so much for helping us out for using the kindle. Just curious to know if even using the WIFI directly to load the books (not buy but load) would pose a potential problem of being found out by Amazon? Or should we just stick to using the USB cable?
Sandy
Hi Jeff,
I received my kindle 3 in last week and everythings was fine except the creation of new collection in home/menu. The function is faded which means not enable. How to enable it and can creat folder in kindle for differnt kind of book. Thanks for your advice.
Regards,
Andy
Kevin, you need the vpn only to buy books (as in the act of opening the browser, and clicking 'buy'). You don't need the vpn to buy gift cards.
Sandy, yes I believe that's true, but again, there's no guarantee! USB is by definition the safest approach.
Andy, your Kindle may not have been registered? Switch on the wifi and go to 'menu'>'settings' and register it by entering your amazon username and password.
Hi I ordered a Kindle 3 WiFi thru B'linx and so far so good.
Jeff, with all the problems of laggy interface, device not powering up, slow page turns etc...I just wonder, what does Kindle do with all the faulty Kindles that are returned to them...I hope they do not simply open it up make some repairs and then pass it off as new to another seller down the line.
That would really suck.
Cheers
Fiddler
Yeah I got my kindle today. It arrive in about 4 days after I ship it out from borderlinx. Wow the delivery is fast. I also got the cover w light its real cool and nice.
Fiddler,
Don't forget to use the discount code I post earlier for 30% off shipping for Borderlinx.
Ok got to go and explore e Kindle.
Oh my word, jeffyen. Although i've no question for you, I just wanna thank you for such a comprehensive weblog on the kindle.
Even if I hadn't wished to buy a kindle beforehand, this made me wanna buy one!
Fiddler, returned units are repaired and sold as refurbished units. It's not passed off as new, they're not allowed to do this. So far, I believe the lags and other problems are not systemic; they are probably caused by the lemons, and statistically, there will be some lemons.
Anon, yes, the whole point is to make you want to buy a Kindle lol
Sun, thanks for the discount code. How do we find such offers in future?
Jeff,
Its very easy to find discount codes online. Just goggle Borderlinx discount codes and alot of links will appear. But u might have to go thru a few of them before you find 1 that is still valid. You can do this for any other online shopping sites. I discovered this by accident :)
By the way is the HSS vpn from Anchor free? I tried to dl the vpn but my anti virus stopped it. Will try 2 install the vpn again.
Hi Jeff,
I NEED HELP! I just got my Kindle 3 yesterday and was happily downloading free books into my Kindle via USB cable. I switched on HSS but something must have gone wrong sometime as 1 of my books was unable to download and I received a question asking if I was downloading it outside of the USA.
I then checked my email and received an email from Amazon asking for verification (driver's license, passport, etc) of my US residency! AARGH.
How?? I really love my Kindle and I still have 100 bucks unused in gift card! Does this mean I am stuck? Or can I start new account and apply gift card there? Will my kindle be able to sync to new account??
Desperately need your help... very sad right now. :-(
JJ
hey jeff,
just to check will it work if i get my friend in the US to buy those books and transfer to his/her pc. from there, get him/her to email me instead?
do you think it will work out?
Sun and everyone else, please stop using hotspot shield. There're some reports of it not working. Email me for the alternative alwaysvpn.
JJ, see if you can still buy books and uninstall hotspot shield. Erase cookies and email me for an alternative vpn.
wil, that's an interesting method. It will not work unless you give him your amazon password and he buys the books using your amazon account, and download the files into his pc. Then, yes, it will work!
correction to JJ's situation, uninstall hss and wait awhile. The worst case scenario need not be so bad. Email me...
Hi Everyone,
Discount codes for borderlinx are usually received via sms to citibank card holders. The code 568268 is valid till 30th Sep.
Code 730317 is valid till 31 Dec. Happy shopping!
I'm also waiting for my kindle, just departed HK facility, hope i can get it by Monday.
Jeff, hope to try your Always VPN, I'll send you an email soon! Thanks for all of your tips!!
Cheers~!
Rick
Hi Jeff & JJ,
Could JJ's situation be he did not erase his Singapore CC info 1st and started to download free books, thus his info gave him away? As he mentioned he hasn't applied his $100 gift voucher yet. I am interested to find out as I am trying to pre-empt before I receive (or start to use) my kindle.
Sandy
Sandy, that is a good point and it may be the explanation for the situation. When we click on 'buy', even if it's a free book, amazon will fill in a 'billing address'. So this field may be critical. My billing address is a US one which is a placeholder since money is deducted from gift cards.
hi, is there any difference using a VPN and a web proxy? Thanks
Lee Wei
hi jeff i just ordered a kindle to be shipped via borderlinx. much thanks to your helpful advice! :)
Hi Jeff
I've just gotten myself a Kindle3 via Bordernix.
In my billing and shipping address I'm currently using the bordernix address.
Do I need to register the Kindle3 upon receiving it?
Hi Jeff,
Thanks to your detailed instructions on how to purchase the Kindle & ebooks from Amazon, I finally decided to buy a Kindle 3 from Amazon, which should be delivered to my Borderlinx add by 21 Sep.
I've got my Always VPN all set up & have already purchased kindle books from Amazon. I've also installed the Kindle app for PC to view the books before my Kindle 3 arrives.
Can I ask you some questions? (1) Do I always need to have my Always VPN switched on to open & access the books on my Kindle for PC app? I've tried opening the books without any internet access, but couldn't open the books. (2) When transferring my kindle books to the Kindle 3 via USB (drag & drop), do I need to have my Always VPN switched on? (3) Can I sync Kindle for PC with my Kindle 3? Always VPN need to be switched on when doing that?
Sorry for the many questions.. Am a newbie to this, and I really can't wait to get my hands on the Kindle 3!
Thanks.
SLE
tongkiat, if the Kindle isn't already registered, you need to go to a wifi area, switch on the wireless and register yourself. It's a simple process.
SLE,
1) No need to have vpn on all the time. My understanding is that the checks will only happen at the point of purchase of books. After that, you can download etc. and they won't check any more. The reason why you could't read the books on your KFPC is that the books are still in the 'archives'. Go to 'archives', right click on a book, and 'add to home' to read the book on your PC.
2) No need. In fact, when you buy, just specify the target as your Kindle. It'll be transfered to your Kindle via wifi.
3) Yes. At www.amazon.com/manageyourkindle, there's an option to do this. There's no need to use the vpn. Do note that this is what I do and what I believe to be happening. I may be wrong but I hope I'm right!
In other news, software update 3.0.2 is out. Google 'kindle software updates'.
Lee Wei, I'm not sure of the difference between the two, at least the technical aspects of it.
hey SLE, may I ask when did u place your order? I placed it last night and the package is only expected to reach borderlinx earlier 23rd sep. did u pay for express? tks.
Hi Jeff - Thanks for your reply! I've tried your suggestion for Item 1, and now I can access the books. Woohoo! For Items 2 & 3, I will have to wait for the Kindle 3 to arrive before I can test it out. Thanks again. :)
Hi Siurui - I placed my order on 13 Sep when the Kindle 3 was still out of stock. I guess my order was on the waitlist & Amazon sent it to me when Kindle 3 was restocked. I opted for the Free Delivery opton (forgot how many days though), I didn't pay for shipping to my US add.
SLE
@ lee wei: based on my experience, I believe a web proxy should work the same as a VPN although there is a technical difference....I think a VPN assigns you a specific IP address while a proxy is simply that...you're going through THEIR Ip address.
Example: I tried downloading Kindle for Mac from my local IP address and was rejected. Then I went via a UK based proxy and the download went ahead. Now Ive got Kindle for Mac and already have some free books (not fm amazon) loaded on it and ready to read.
@Jeff: re your insight on syncing Kindle for Mac and Kindle device by activation via the manage your kindle page....Im just wondering...would amazon be able to control what you can and can't read on the device? For instance I have some DRM free books that I converted to .azw format via calibre...I hope they don't block them.
Cheers
Fiddler
Fiddler, I'm not familiar with the Mac platform so I can't comment on all things Mac, except when Steve Jobs angers another of his customers. I think we should 'leave him alone' lol
Anyway, Amazon doesn't care what is in your Kindle. There are 2 sources of books for your Kindle; from the Amazon bookstore, and anywhere else. The latter can consist of your personal or public documents and nonDRMed books like .doc, .html, .jpg, .pdf. These can be automatically converted and will be sent to your device for free using wifi by emailing the documents/files to yourspecifiedname@free.kindle.com . Amazon will not block them, it's an automated process that works very well. Output from Calibre such as rss, newspaper feeds can also be sent for 'conversion and transfer to device' using this free method too.
Hi jeff,
Sorry in advance for my question is preceded by long explanation of my situation.
I am using "A" amazon account, "A" spore credit card and "A" spore billing address to buy gift card but i received an amazon email to fax them my credit card statement as verification. Afraid that this might be a phishing email, I emailed amazon to ask if they sent me this email but didnt received any reply. That's more than a week ago. And my account has been locked since.
Recently, I used "B" amazon account, "B" spore credit card and "B" spore billing address to buy gift card. Account "B" was locked for a day, I received an email that order couldn't go through n being requested to order again n account "B" was unlocked.
I used "B" account, "C" spore credit card and "C" spore billing address to buy gift card again. Now now the account is locked again, for two days already.
Any idea what happened, jeff? Any solution? Any other way I can buy gift card apart from going through amazon? Assume I have been unsuccessfully emailing the gift card to an yahoo email account attached to my registered kindle amazon account, should I change my email. Thanks alotsa for your help!=)
Alex
Hmm, reposting this, seems that it's gone.
Alex, I've heard of A before. This scenario has nothing to do with a Kindle purchase but probably just routine credit card checking. It could be phishing too, so be careful. Alternatively, use an antivirus software to check whether your computer on the whole has been compromised. Or maybe your credit card has been compromised and somehow was flagged 'void'. Maybe you can call amazon's customer service people.
I think A, B and C are all related. Something is wrong with either your credit card, or maybe it's phishing thing. Try to solve the cc issue first.
>>>Hi jeff,
Sorry in advance for my question is preceded by long explanation of my situation.
I am using "A" amazon account, "A" spore credit card and "A" spore billing address to buy gift card but i received an amazon email to fax them my credit card statement as verification. Afraid that this might be a phishing email, I emailed amazon to ask if they sent me this email but didnt received any reply. That's more than a week ago. And my account has been locked since.
Recently, I used "B" amazon account, "B" spore credit card and "B" spore billing address to buy gift card. Account "B" was locked for a day, I received an email that order couldn't go through n being requested to order again n account "B" was unlocked.
I used "B" account, "C" spore credit card and "C" spore billing address to buy gift card again. Now now the account is locked again, for two days already.
Any idea what happened, jeff? Any solution? Any other way I can buy gift card apart from going through amazon? Assume I have been unsuccessfully emailing the gift card to an yahoo email account attached to my registered kindle amazon account, should I change my email. Thanks alotsa for your help!=)
Alex
Hi Sandy & Jeff,
JJ here. Pertaining to Sandy's suggestion for my problem, I actually did erase all credit card info immediately after purchasing my gift card, as per Jeff's instructions. I also entered my country as 'USA' in both my account and email, and am using my Borderlinx address as the USA address for my Kindle.
I have currently uninstalled HSS and will be using AlwaysVPN from now onwards. My brother who lives in Canada helped me change my Kindle account country and address to his, and managed to successfully download a free Kindle book last night. Hopefully this means I have appeased Amazon's suspicions and I can go in tmr to change the ctry bk to USA and use AlwaysVPN to download books once again.
Kudos to Amazon for their efficiency and being so alert... this is gd for their U.S. users, not-so-good for those of us who are trying to fly under the radar! ;-)
-JJ
LATEST Update from JJ:
Getting my bro to help me change my ctry to Canada for a day SUCCESSFULLY got Amazon off my back and I just went in and switched the country bk to USA and with AlwaysVPN safely switched on (I double checked using whatismyipaddress.com!), I managed to download 2 books - 1 free, 1 paid. YAY!
Thanks Jeff for your assistance and advice. Just one more question: I used wifi transfer for the first time for today's purchases and whilst I was very impressed and happy at the seamless and quick process (I have wifi at home), I am still bit worried - is it safe to switch on wifi like this? Can Amazon use it to trace tt I am actually not in USA? Bit scared as once burnt, twice shy! Or should I stick to USB transfer (but wifi transfer is COOL!)?
Thanks & God bless. :-)
-JJ
JJ, it seems safe to use wifi (until shown otherwise!), the checks seem to only happen when one buys books. To be 100% safe, download books using USB.
Jeff,
Just a suggestion... With all the helpful tips here, it might be worth your while to do a wiki-page so that people can refer quickly and solve problems, and only bring up new issues?
Stephen
Jeff, I'm new at vpn. I've registered an account with AlwaysVPN, installed it but I don't seem to be able to connect. How do I do that?
Jeff, ignore my last message. I managed to get my vpn connected. :)
Hi jeff,
Would like to ask for some help, I can't find where to set the country for my kindle account. When I go to Manage My Kindle page, all I can see is the field where you can enter your kindle serial number and register your new kindle.
Please advise.
Thanks!
Hi Jeff,
Just wondering, would it come out only after I have registered my Kindle? I'm still waiting for my Kindle to arrive which should be arriving tomorrow.
I've been scrolling up and down the Manage My Kindle page and I can't find the "Your Country" section :(
Rick
Stephen, that's a nice idea even though I've no time to do a wiki. I guess many of the situations mentioned are quite unique...
Rick, you need to wait for the Kindle to arrive. Switch on the wifi and register if it's not registered.
Hi Jeff,
Thanks! I'll try it tonight. I heard my Kindle just arrived.
Thanks again!!
Rick
Hi all,
So far, over 3 days, I have bought 6 free books and have successfully downloaded them to my blackberry. I used HSS. Before before going to Amazon's site, I always check the IP address to make sure it is a US address. I also make check my location on the kindle page states US before buying.
My amazon account is a newly created one, and which I have not entered any credit card info before, and I have no intention of keying in any credit card info for this account. My billing and delivery addresses are in USA. Hopefully HSS will continue to work for me.
DB
Still waiting for my K3 to arrive. Ordered K3 on Sunday, hopefully it will arrive at Borderlinx today so that I can receive it by Friday.
ALl the best to myself :D
Got my K3 last night. Loving it! :) Just bought Girl With a Dragon Tattoo. Purchase was smooth :) Although I tried to download it to my PC because I wanted to do a manual transfer, I accidentally pressed on the Update on my K3 and the book was automatically downloaded to my device.
Thanks jeff for all the tips! :) By the way, have you tried subscribing magazines?
Hi Jeff,
Sorry just saw that you are having the free 2 weeks trial for the mag subscription. Let us know how it goes.
Cheers~!
Just want to say that (so-far) registering the kindle and notices of pending transfers via 3g have not resulted in any queries from Amazon.
Hi Jeff, Have you applied the 3.0.2 upgrade? Did it make your kindle faster?
Rick
Hello jeff, if i will buy kindle, i would be using it more heavily for pdf reading. if you have the time, is it possible to upload a pdf file on your kindle and take a picture of the screen? we would really appreciate it.
Nrek, I believe the important thing to do is not to buy books using 3G or WiFi. After that, downloading and transferring can be done without the vpn.
Rick, yes, I'm using 3.0.2. I haven't had the chance to try out the supposedly fixed page turning in strong sunlight. I didn't have problems before this and so this new version seems OK.
Anon, if you can send me your pdf, I can do a screenshot when I'm free...
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the review and tips on how to get the new kindle to SG. Really tempted to get the kindle now.
Cheers,
Audi Liew
My Kindle3 wifi has arrived at the facility and ready to ship out but get this....
I also ordered another unrelated item fm amazon...a Nike sports bag.....but the item in my borderlinx suite says that it's a 'sports bra'.
So my plans of having the Kindle shipped out to me asap have been foiled by a....sports bra.
At least until I sort out this mess.
hello jeff,
i sent you 2 pdf files, both text book in format. i really appreciate your help.
Jr
Hi Jeff,
I have taken your advise & signed up for Always VPN. However, I am abit confuse when trying to log on. It gives the option of 1)AlwaysVPN-compatible 2) AlwayVPN-Faster. Which one should I use? And what is the difference?
Many Thanks
Sandy
Jr, thanks for sending me the pdfs, I've updated the main entry. Reading PDFs makes more sense now. Of course it doesn't compare to the DX, but it's still acceptale on a K3.
Anon with the sports bra issue, I've been doing tech SUPPORT for many years now, but I can't help you with this one. Use the Borderlinx live chat facility and see whether they can verify the contents of the package. I think it's just a typo lol
Audi, just do it!
Sandy, I just use compatible, I have no idea what the difference is.
Hi Jeff,
Would you suggest buying the K3 from amazon or would it be better to buy via the borderlinx amazon shop?
Do I need to keep the VPN on if I'm not buying books but just surfing the net on the K3?
Also, is it possible to transfer my old mobi ebooks (bought from other ebook vendors) via usb to the kindle?
Sorry, I'm kind of new to this! Many Thanks!
Hi Min,
It's the same thing. There's no difference if you use the Borderlinx store.
There's no vpn on the K3. The vpn is on the PC when you need to buy books.
You can transfer old mobi ebooks if they are not DRMed/protected.
jeff
wow! with that i'm definitly getting one.
by the way, can you also test how to jump from one chapter to the next? or how to get from one page to a page 100 pages away? do i need to flip the entire 100 pages.
also, can you highlight the text and save them as notes?
thanks a bunch again.
For people using Borderlinx. Can I ask normally how long is stuck at the Hub?
My Kindle is in BorderLinx since 21 September with no pickup. Very long !!
Hi Tongkiat,
You may have disabled the auto shipping option. After logging in, click on the Pending shipments just beside your login name. Maybe it's just waiting for your approval for shipment.
Regards,
Derrick
I just received my Kindle 3! It was shipped from Amazon to Comgateway last Friday, and it arrived today, just 5 working days, quite unexpectedly as I'd received a CGW email saying it will arrive only 29 Sept. It's being charged now & will update you all on its performance once I get the hang of it.
Hi,Jeff...
First,I wanna thank you for all the info here...really help in mi decision in getting the kindle...i do hv some questions to ask..
1.if I'm in states,I can just buy the book from amazon directly using mi Singapore credit cards,,without using the gift card method???
2. How do u find the kindle 3 cover so far??? A necessary buy???
Thanks,
Ling
I just got mine delivered today by Comgateway. Very efficient service. Packaged departed from Comgateway suite at 21 Sept and reached me on 24 Sept via Express Shipping. Tried to use Borderlinx but it requires a Citibank CC and I don't have one.
tongkiat, use the Borderlinx online chat system and ask them about it. It should not take so long for the package to be delivered.
min, that's nice to know. CWG can now be recommended too.
Ling, I'm not sure if a local credit card can work in the US. I suppose it can...
The Kindle 3 lighted case is simply excellent. It's expensive but the light really comes in handy! If you want to read in bed, it's a necessary buy. Or you can just switch on your bedroom lights.
Jeff re purchase of gift cards...how does it work exactly? Is it possible to purchase a gift card on your personal account and email address and then send it to your own email address which is exactly the same?
Or do you need to have 2 accounts with amazon...one to buy cards and the other to mail them to?
Can just one account and email address suffice?
Cheers
Fiddler
Hi Jeff
I have say the online chat is a waste of time. Everything is escalate to "hub" team.
Borderlinx has lost my package.
tongkiat, that doesn't sound good. Would they reply you when they have some time to investigate?
Fiddler, the gift cards work as I've described. Yes, you can email gift cards to your email address. I just have one account and it has worked so far.
In other news, Scrabble for Kindle is out! I bought it and it plays well!
Jeff
My 1 day-old kindle is working well. Your blog has really been informative. Keep up the good work!
I downloaded a lot of the free classics, and have also gotten the gift card. I've been searching for an NIV Bible on the Kindle store, but it seems the reviews have been quite bad. Anyone has purchased any Kindle Bible and can give me some feedback? Thanks.
Min, generally the Bibles are fine in that they do work. Sure the navigation and search may be better but for now, I think you can just get the NIV Study Bible or NIV Study Bible (this one has quite excellent reviews?) I have a KJV, TNIV (when it was offered for free and I just bought a NLT (this version is quite refreshing... paraphrased Bible!)
Hi Jeff - you mean the Zondervan NIV Study Bible right? Reviews not good due I think to the navigation. I will think over this weekend and see if I should wait for some wise geek to help Zondervan out, or just buy one for the time being. I am impressed with the e-ink technology. It really looks like paperback. For reading I find this much lighter and more comfortable; the iPAD has brighter and bigger screen but so much heavier that it's not as good for good old fashioned reading.
Hi Eric & All other CGW customers, how much were you charged? My Borderlinx cost me $20 (excl the 30% disct I applied later). If CGW's rates are just as good, I know I can use their services for later purchases too!
By the way, my kindle arrived yesterday. Oh such a good day it was! LOL! I've dressed it up with a skin and am playing with it whenever I have the time.
Jeff, I was looking for an NKJV bible but haven't found it (yet). I'm going to keep looking but wonder when will it be offered free again??
Hi Jeff
I'm interested to buy the kindle and have installed Kindle for PC to my computer. I "purchased" a free book Amazon. Do you know where the downloaded books are stored? At Amazon, it just prompted to transfer the book to Kindle for PC but no option to download the book to my PC.
Sorry Jeff. The earlier comment was posted by Reve.
Serene
CGW charges - Kindle item weight with box was 0.52kg, so charges around USD11 (base) +2.85 (add'l 500g) +1 (insurance,I think) around USD15. Maybe higher. I consolidated several purchases with my kindle, so don't know exactly how much if you are shipping only Kinde. Think bet.
S$21-25.
BTW there is a free HCSB Bible (Kindle edition) only for today. Not sure what is this translation, but no harm trying since it is free.
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for all the comments etc. Very helpful. I am going to US and planning to bring back a Kindle. One question. While am there, presume its ok to buy books using the 3G network, although my amazon account has my local singapore credit card in it? Or is it better to buy a gift card while i am there, again using my local singapore credit card?
Min and Serene, yeah I saw the not-too-good reviews. Perhaps it is prudent to not get NIV versions yet. The NKJV is available; you need to log in and be able to see the US store. (Use your vpn and change the country setting at the 'manageyourkindle' page)
Reve, when you purchace a book, you can either download it in your computer by saving a file, or transfer it to K4PC. If you do the latter, the next time you use K4PC, and sync, the book will be automatically downloaded and viewable on your K4PC.
Regic, I don't think there's a problem buying books there with 3G but sure, put in some money in your gift card account, there's nothing to lose.
Min, thanks for letting me know. I'm particularly keen on NKJV coz I lost mine when I did a major move a few years back an never could find it. :(
I'll go amazon and look at it though.
I really love my kindle. Tried playing word games on it but realized the battery goes faster. Still, it's nice to be able to play at times.
Thanks Jeff. For the free book, do i also have to use alwaysvpn to download too? I do not have the option to download the book to my PC. there is only one option - K4PC
Anon, yes for free books, please use the VPN too.
If you don't see the option to download as a file, perhaps you don't have a Kindle yet?
Thanks Jeff. Is it expensive to use alwaysvpn? I've decided to buy kindle thanks for all the valuable advice here.
Anon, it's not expensive to use alwaysvpn. You can pay a bit for the service, or just email me to use it for free.
Thanks Jeff. I really appreciate the advice. Let me order my kindle and i really can't wait.
Dear Jeff,
I am very happy to find this blog. I bought a kindle and it is going to be shipped soon thanks to your borderlinx advice.
My question is, will this site be a good alternative to downloading ebooks? I just find VPN and purchasing gift card confusing process:
http://www.mypadmedia.com/join.html
Appreciate much your thoughts about this.
Thanks,
Nataliya
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