I am finally doing some serious thinking about these portable readers. I would like to know your thoughts on the device you have now: suggestions, caveats, praises and all that jazz. When it comes to buying anything electronic, I am slow because I like to get the best bang for my buck.

What do you guys suggest?

Thanks!

My husband and I both have the Amazon Kindle (one1st gen., one 2nd gen.) We love our Kindles, which sort of surprised us, as we're both "book people". We got the first one because he was deployed a lot (USS strEssex) and it made sense for him not to have to find room in his rack for a bunch of books. At the time, we were not able to use the wireless function overseas, but I understand that may have changed. It didn't matter, as we simply downloaded books to our laptops and then put them on the Kindles via USB cord.

You can charge a Kindle via a computer or via a wall outlet, which is nice. We found the books with Amazon were invariably cheaper than the same e-books at B&N, thus our decision to do the Kindle rather than the Nook.

We both prefer the 2nd gen. Kindle, but not enough to junk the first one. Both had a screen issue within the first year, and both were IMMEDIATELY replaced after only one phone call to customer service. No problems since. It's also free to download Kindle for iPhone and for your computer, so you can read all your books on those two devices as well.

With Kindle, up to five people can share one Kindle account (though you have to trust them all, as anyone with access to the account can purchase books on the credit card associated with the account with a single click!) That is the only way you can share books between readers -- to share an account. So, my husband and I can both read every book we buy, but we can't share those books with others.

That is our biggest issue with any of the electronic readers -- not being able to do as you would with real books: sell them, give them away, share them, lend them, etc. However, there are lots of public domain e-books (most of the classics, a few generous modern-day authors, sometimes the first book of a series to get you hooked, etc.) that can be downloaded and read for free.

The pricing is not as good as I think it should be. I figure it costs Amazon NOTHING other than the few minutes it takes to convert a book from electronic format for printing to electronic format for Kindle -- no printing costs, no shipping costs, no additional marketing costs, no increase in royalties, etc. So, I think having an e-book for only 75 cents less than the same book in paperback, or only a couple of dollars less than the same book in hardback, is RIDICULOUS. If the author was getting more, that would be one thing, but basically, Amazon (and B&N) are making insane profits on something they did not create, that costs them next to nothing, that one cannot sell, lend or give away, and that can ONLY be read on their (not cheap!) e-reader.

Sorry, climbing off the soapbox now.

Our only other issue is a lack of organizational ability. We're hoping they address this in the future, but for now, you can archive your books (take them off the Kindle to live only on your computer or in your Amazon account) or not...and you can look at your list of books on your Kindle by title, by author or by date purchased. Period. And the alphabetization is not always accurate...for example, I might have three John Smith books filed under S, but a fourth might be filed under J. We both wish there was some way to organize the books in folders, or by genre or by series, or whatever. When one has over 200 books, flipping through the list alphabetically is not exactly the best way to go!

Good review, Carolie. Thanks!

For me, there is no substitute for a full-color screen with multi-media capability. So for now I would not consider any reader other than iPad. BTW, all your Nook & Kindle books will be compatible with iPad so you don't have to walk away from your sunk costs if you shift from another reader to iPad. The promise of enhancing magazines & newspapers with multi-media is very appealing to me; the possibilities are endless. Nook & Kindle might try to implement color screens but it would be color eInk which means no multi-media. eInk cannot support full motion displays.

Thanks for the kind words, ThaiGuy! I think the iPad is amazing...but one thing I really like about the Kindle (and the Nook) is that because it is NOT backlit, and is visually more like ink on paper, I don't get the eyestrain/headaches as quickly. I can read on my iPhone, but my eyes get tired after a while due to the fact that it's backlit. I LOVE the color on my laptop and iPhone -- but when I'm reading, I just want black text on white paper, and no distractions from what I'm reading. I would hate it in full color (though it would be great to have the ability to browse a color magazine, which is a totally different experience than reading a novel!)

you cant read a kindle in the dark.

PLUS the kindle is a one trick pony, and ALOT of money for a one trick pony

FLSimages, you are exactly right. And if you want something that can multitask, and that has backlight, then you should not get an e-reader.

But when we bought our Kindle, we wanted a replacement for a giant box of books (which you can't read in the dark). We got exactly what we wanted. Sure, it's a one-trick pony...but so is a paperback. And my silly little $1 book-light takes care of the darkness problem.

Well, except that you can use paperbacks to replace a broken sofa leg, and you'd need a lot of Kindles to do the same. Ha ha!

I'd like to revisit this topic, since all the readers have next-generation products out there now.

Contrary to my earlier post where I was singing the praises of the iPad, I've come to see the merits of a smaller, lighter dedicated eReader as being preferable to a more capable tablet computer. One comment in a review really got my attention... With an iPad/tablet, you're always getting alerts; the constant temptation to surf/check email detracts from the pure enjoyment of reading. Since I'm a surfoholic (as you can tell by my many JB posts) this is a real problem for me.

With ereaders, if they can surf it's not a very satisfying experience so I wouldn't be too tempted.

The three top on my list: Kobo, Nook & Kindle. I understand some or all now have touch screens. Some insert a touchable screen layer that gets between you and the purity of eInk; others use an infrared sensing technology that gives you touch screen capability without diminishing the clarity of eInk. Any thoughts on this? Price of eBooks from the various vendors? Ability to load .pdfs or Word documents? What are the distinguishing factors between these 3 products?

Using a 1st generation Nook reader now. Using Calibre from my computer, I can load any pdf or doc file that I like onto the reader. The bad part is that I cannot actually buy Nook Books here without using a proxy of some sort. Otherwise it is a very friendly reading experience with no touchscreen getting in the way of the print. While it is capable of web browsing, the mechanism for doing so is cumbersome and could have been left off of the device. The wi-fi aspect is awesome. I can buy books in a B&N store or my home (in the States) very easily. I can also download and read book samples at will as well as Nook Books that I have already purchased (even in Japan). I have not tried a Kindle or a Kobo reader, so I am curious to hear what others think of these readers as well.

felinious: If you can't buy Nook books on your Nook in Japan, how do you buy the books? Do you buy them on your computer & transfer them to the Nook?

Love my kindle. Haven't tried others. Had no trouble ordering books from amazon- at home, on a train, etc with the 3G version. I never had international charges. Agree withe the above poster that the browser is also cumbersome on the kindle it is only good in a dire emergency. Ease of use, feel in the hand, weight are perfect IMO. It does what it's meant to do very well.

To use Kindle 3G in Japan, do you have to buy a Japanese Kindle, or can the regular one from the Amazon website work here?

US one worked fine for me.

Thai-guy - You can use a proxy server to make your purchases and then download them to your Nook, Of course proxy servers are not very secure, so you are taking a risk when you use that method. You can have someone in the States buy them for your account and then download. You can also do what I did and buy a bunch of books that you like when you are back in the States. I bought my Nook before I ever thought that I would come here so international purchases were not a deciding factor for my purchase. If you are looking for ease of purchase, the Kindle or Sony readers might be your best bet. I chose the Nook since it seemed like it is able to display and read just about anything that you throw at it when you use it with Calibre. It seemed like the 2nd gen Kindle was a lot more limited as to the kinds of documents that you could read as well as having to go through Amazon in order to get them on the device.

To use Kindle 3G in Japan, do you have to buy a Japanese Kindle, or can the regular one from the Amazon website work here?

Don't forget, You might have an issue with getting the kindle mailed directly to your FPO.

http://www.japanbases.com/forums/aft/6412.aspx.


FWIW I have the Sony eReader. Had it for a while, love it, especially since you can purchase books from multiple locations on line. Bought it when amazon was still "our format only" on the kindle.

Just changed my Nook account email to my .mil email address. It let me buy and download a book from the comfort of my living room here in Yokosuka. I cant remember who posted that on one of the threads I read here earlier, but thanks! This will make it much easier to get books here.

I"ve had my kindle for a little over a year and I love it (2nd Gen I believe - not too sure).

Buying books is a snap, both on the Kindle or buying and downloading form amazon and transferring to the Kindle.

3G coverage pretty much all over the world except the near and middle east - which was annoying when I was working in Kuwait - had to download everything.

When you register your Kindle, you also get a kindle email address where you can email yourself documents to read on the Kindle - WARNING - this is a charge service, found out the hard way when I have a $2 charge I couldn't verify until I called amazon up and they told me it was for the email (has to do with the size of the document).

Don't think I would get rid of my Kindle unless it was to replace it.

With all that said, I'm still pretty tempted to get an iPad - don't know why and I can't really justify it, other than being an Apply fanboy.

Sounds like there might be a new kid on the block in a month or two: An Amazon tablet.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2285...tk.mod_rel

Still a rumor, but coming from many sources. I'd say this is probably mostly true.

So... would a tablet from Amazon sacrifice the lightweight, compact size, and eInk of the Kindle? The rumor says there could be 7- and 10-inch versions, so the smaller one might work well as a reader. But it's probably LCD which would turn off a lot of Kindle fans. You would think Amazon knows what people want in an eReader, so hopefully this new product will be a pleasant surprise.

My screen just froze on my 3gS! Ugh!
Has anyone had a replacement sent to them here to base directly from amazon?

Rumors are solidifying on an imminent line of Amazon color tablets due this fall:
http://www.informationweek.com/byte.../231400023

I've been wondering how they would harness their expertise with ebooks through Kindle in a color device which has an LCD display. The apparent answer is in this article: glass-on-glass dual screen technology, allowing users to switch between e-reading mode (e-ink), and a back-lit color touch display optimized for video streaming. If both both modes offer high-quality display, this would be a huge breakthrough.

As a techno-geek & devoted Mac user, I somehow never got the urge for an iPad; this Amazon tablet just might do the trick.

Still more rumors on a color Amazon e-reader...

http://www.3dtablets.ca/why-amazons...olor-rival

Clues as to what this table can do: Amazon has launched an Android app store, but with no current platform to take advantage of it. Their color tablet reader would fill this role. They are locking up licensing deals for TV & movie streaming. They are securing rights to hardware components beyond that needed for their current Kindle. I think this is going to be a very interesting & compelling device.

It's here!

www.amazon.com

Hopefully they'll ship the Kindle Fire to an FPO, but if not there's other ways of getting it here. Placing my pre-order now...

----------------------

**** Update: As suspected, they won't ship to FPO.  So it goes to my family in the states who will forward.  They start shipping 15 Nov.

The exchange in Yokosuka has started carrying the Kindle. Maybe they will be getting the Fire in stock also.

I am going to hold out for the iPad 3. The Fire looks too dedicated to Amazon content for what I am looking for. That's the reason that I got my Nook in the first place. I can read whatever I want to on it. That might be different with this version of the Kindle though.

I found iPad 2 too heavy to hold comfortably for reading at length. Plus, with a Macbook & iPhone I just don't see the need for another Apple screen. I realize eInk is great for reading, but it's not so good for surfing which is why I never got Kindle before. The Color Kindle will have great internet capability, so all in all it does everything I need in a less-than-a-laptop form factor. For $199.

woo-hoo. My Amazon Kindle is on its way. Of course, they wouldn't ship to an FPO so it went to my brother-in-law & he has forwarded it. This is my first eReader (other than using my iPhone, which isn't the best) so I'm really looking forward to it. I'll share my opinions once I get it.

I love my nook. Its a first edition so it has the free 3G. I was debating on getting the newer one (not the color - I love the b&w e-ink) but it's wi-fi only. Will I have problems in Sasebo with wi-fi only? Should I stick with the 3G one to be on the safe side?

>>I found iPad 2 too heavy to hold comfortably for reading at length<<

O so true!

I circumvented this by getting a Targus case for it which doubles as a "stand" for both portrait and landscape positions, so now I just rest it on my lap or something stable (airplane tray table) and it's perfect (so far).

TBH though, the novelty of my iPad has worn off and I'm contemplating selling it and going back to my kindle or a newer kindle.

A friend of mine has the Fire and he's giving me a cursory review of "meh". I'll give a month of playing with it for a better review. He main pet peeves were the interface (not logical and not very customizable), no volume buttons and no home button

My kindle fire just arrived. Unboxing this afternoon. :-)

update us on when you download a book..... I'm curious

Woo-hoo-- typing this on my new kindle fire. More later!

Ok, back on my computer now... It's easier to type with a real keyboard than a virtual one. Here are my unboxing comments from my Kindle Fire...

When I pre-ordered from Amazon, I also got a soft cover for $39.99. When it shipped on the 15th, I got an email from Amazon that the price of the cover had dropped by $10 so now I have a $10 credit awaiting my next order from Amazon (won't have to wait long, in the midst of this shopping season.)

I got 2 shipping notices for the two items, but in fact they were packaged together. They went via my brother-in-law in San Jose CA since Amazon won't ship the device overseas. One reason I choose Kindle over Nook is people have said their other versions of Kindle download books in Japan no problem, but you have to take some extra steps to load books on a Nook (load to a computer & transfer to the device). I hope the Kindle Fire works as well in Japan as earlier model Kindles. I don't know yet.

I unboxed at the Crossroad Cafe in Iwakuni, where I'm writing this review. I plugged in the AC adapter thinking I might well have to charge for a few hours before using the thing.  But the display came right up, asking me to sweep my finger across the display to unlock. I obliged and this brought up the first screen of a set-up process.

If I remember right, it first asked my time zone. The clock was set to something like Hawaii time for some reason. The menu had only U.S. timezones, but if you click "More" it brings up all world time zones. I selected Tokyo/Osaka and that set the clock correctly. I didn't have to set the time or date.

Next, it tried to connect the free MCCS wifi at the food court. I selected this wifi net, but it went to the next screen (logging in to my Amazon account) before the wifi connected & this caused a conflict. It couldn't log on due to no internet connection. It went through the same routine again with the same result. The third time, I selected "Continue without setting up account" and this gave it the breathing room it needed to make the wifi connection, which worked perfectly. I then started browsing the Fire's built-in software without being logged into my Amazon account.

In response to cdt1334's comments above (quoting a friend), true there are no hardware buttons for home or volume. Yet these features are always readily accessible. I figure the lack of hardware buttons is the tradeoff for buying a $199.00 device vs a $500-800 device. At any rate, the "Home" button is always at the bottom left corner if you tap the screen. All settings, including volume, brightness and wifi connect, are at the top right if you tap the screen. They are logical & easily accessible. I tried setting "Automatic brightness" and it dimmed more than I would like sitting by the window of a well-lit cafe in daylight, so I ended up manually setting screen brightness. I find the display very bright, crisp & colorful, just as I had hoped. I don't see any shortcuts with the display.

Once it was charging, I installed the cover I'd bought. I got the Kindle Fire Lightweight MicroShell Folio Cover by Marware
( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...00_details ) The cover can be installed & removed without unplugging the power or other accessories. Still, this led to the one apparent disappointment I've found so far. Thinking the A/C connection is at the bottom of the device like it is with my iPhone, I'm holding the Fire in a vertical orientation. I found that the tapping & dragging is not precise. Like, if I type a "D" on the keyboard, I'm just as likely to get a "C". I have to "aim high" to tap where I want. This led to problems dragging volume & brightness. Later, when I was browsing, I found the power cable connected at the bottom to be in the way. I had to hold it in an awkward way so as not to put pressure on the AC power connection. Then, in a moment of mental clarity such as I get in rare cases, I flipped the device 180 so that now the power connection is at the top. This had 3 immediate effects:

(1) The display also swapped, so that everything remained upright (I had heard that the Fire does not auto-sense orientation; this is not true. It knows which way is up and whether it's portrait or landscape mode, although it can also be locked.)
(2) It got the AC connector out of my way so I could hold the device in a natural way (like a book!) without bumping the cord, and
(3) That imprecision in tapping went away. Now I can type & click perfectly with no alignment problems. So, the Fire will work arsy-versy if you want, but it works better right side up.

There are built-in apps for photos, music, shopping & news in addition to the web browser (called "Silk".)  The News app, called Pulse, is a very innovative way of presenting current, relevant topics in a single screen.  Each "row" is a source (WSJ, ESPN, Popular Science, and more).  You can scroll up & down to view more sources; 4 rows appear at a time on your screen.  Then you can drag any given row sideways to see different topics from each source.  If I drag the WSJ row, it shows me different business stories that I can tap on to read in depth.  Each row shows 3 stories at a time, so in one glance there are 12 stories on my Pulse screen at once: Business, sports, opinion and science.  I can drag sideways to see more stories, or up & down to see more sources. This is a very appealing & innovative view.

I think the Fire has multi-touch or something like that.  All I've done so far is pinch to zoom in & out, which works very smoothly & precisely.  I haven't found other gestures that are in OSX like 3-finger swipe to browse forward & backward, 2 fingers to jump to the top or bottom.  There may be shortcuts like this but I haven't found them yet.

Keeping in mind this is the first screen I've owned which is bigger than a phone yet smaller than a laptop.  My very first impression when I opened the box is: "Oh, it's small!"  I shouldn't be surprised; I knew the specs & I always felt the iPad was too big for my tastes which is why I never bought one.  Still, it led me to wonder if I would really get into the eReader experience.  All I can say so far, without having read any books, is that the "too small" feeling goes away quickly.  I found web browsing easy, quick & intuitive.  The Silk browser supports cookies, Java, SSL, and embedded video (just tested with youtube, which works perfectly.) I think I'm gonna like it.  I've read a couple of books on the Kindle app on my iPhone, and this is WAY bigger than an iPhone so I hope & expect to like it.  Once I activate my Amazon account on the Fire, I should be able to view the books that are on my iPhone, which are free classics like The Jungle, Pride & Prejudice, and Scarlet Letter.  I've never paid for an eBook but this is likely to change.  I've pretty much subscribed to the Amazon locked-in ecosystem and expect to be buying content from them soon.  Oh, and I get one free month of movie streaming so I'll let you know how that works.  I live offbase, and I'm hoping the offbase experience with its Japanese IP will work as well as the onbase wifi net.

Final note: I logged onto my Amazon account; all the books I'd "purchased" (for free) on my iPhone were present in the "Cloud." I tapped on 3 of them, and all three loaded to my device within 10 seconds. It was amazingly fast. One disappointment I have is that there still are no page numbers on these books; instead it shows "location." So in Scarlet Letter, I'm at location 72 of 3248. I like a real page number so I always know where I am. It does show percentage, which helps. The iPhone Kindle app has location too, but no percentage and no total count of location (it just says Location 47) which gives me no sense of how far I am into the book. So at least the Fire is better than the iPhone app. :-)

2 last things (for now) then I'll really, truly shut up...

In further response to cdt1334, I did find myself "trapped" at one point in the GUI & couldn't find my way to the home screen. This was on JB.com, with the on screen keyboard taking up the bottom of the screen. I couldn't bring up the "Home" button! Finally, on the right side of the keyboard, I found a "hide keyboard" button; when you tap this, the keyboard goes away, and now the Home button is there on the bottom left where it belongs. It was perplexing for a few seconds till I figured that out.

Secondly, I just tried out the free video viewing that comes with this device. The free viewing is NOT the entire Amazon library; it's offbeat stuff like "Babe" (movie about a pig) and other equally appealing stuff. If this is what's included with Amazon Prime, then it's not an incentive to get Amazon Prime. Anyway, I selected a documentary about Steve Jobs. The 60-minute video loaded within seconds. I think it's fully installed in my device rather than just streaming, so I should be able to watch it even when I'm not on a wifi net. The video was very clear, good sound (on my earbuds), everything was nice & smooth. I was very impressed with the video quality.

Just a heads up on the location number for the Kindle. The total number is the number of lines in the book. The location that it gives you is the line at the top of the page you are currently on.

I'm frustrated with that too. I'd love for there to be page numbers.

Posted By gaijin on 11-26-2011 7:43 PM
 

They must have changed it for the Fire.

Yes, considering there is no menu button on the Fire.  It doesn't show pages.  I just read the users manual and this feature is not in Fire.

On another note, I'm off base now in my apartment.  I find that the Amazon Prime Instant Video does not work with a Japanese IP address.  It DOES work on base however.  Also, Pandora seems to not work off base.  Does anyone use Pandora off base in Japan on any device? 

After more thoroughly browsing the "free" choices with Amazon Prime, it's a pretty useless service.  The "Editor's Pick" of free movies includes "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" with Don Knotts, Judy Garland "In the Good Ol' Summertime", "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead."  And these are the good ones. There are lesser known titles as well. 

24 is aptly named; it costs $24 for a season.  All other decent movies are $2.99 on up.  I'll pass.  BTW, if you DO get Amazon Prime streaming for whatever reason, you'll also be able to use it on your PC or Mac.  On base.

All told, looks like I'll end up using the Fire for what I intended in the first place: Surfing & reading books. I won't be using it for video, nor music since all my tunes are on my iPhone anywayz.

Pandora does not work off base for my Apple devices.

Does the fire have an app for YouTube? My daughters love YouTube cartoons.

I also plan on using it for children's books. Hopefully I can now use my iPad without "borrowing" it from my kids.

Thanks, InJapan. In browsing the Fire app store, I saw several youtube apps, but they look to be 3rd-party, not "official" youtube software. I just use the web browser & go to the youtube website, and it works just like a PC. Very responsive, with smooth, clear video. The full-screen mode looks very nice.

BTW, there is a setting for the web browser to force it to use the full desktop websites, rather than the mobile versions. I hate it on my iPhone when something like Yahoo or USA Today detects I'm using a mobile device, and it shows me some stripped down, mobile version of the website instead of the full desktop version. With Fire, you can make it not do this.

I have been overseas now for 14 years and one of the most frustrating things is dealing with copyright and anti-piracy laws that limit the use of technology services to Servicemembers overseas. I have found the best option for the non-techno inclined is to but a VPN service to get an encrypted connection to the states with a US IP address. I personally use proxpn.com. They are only 60 dollars for a year of service and the connection is real good for your video streaming/music/book/etc services. I wouldn't use it for gaming though since it has more overhead and latency than a normal connection. Another thing to keep in mind also is that you may have to change VPN services from time to time because the bigger companies have started blocking VPN service companies that don't properly shield their DNS forwarding. In other words the Stateside companies can still tell you are in a foreign country.

For the advanced user, you can set up a proxy server on your home network if you want to centralize the VPN connection. I prefer to use Squid Proxy on a Linux box. Why? it's free, full featured and has a huge support base that is also...free.

Aww Thaiguy, you're making me want one now!!!!!! lol

More feedback... A big reason for this purchase is because I really want to "get into" ebooks but really haven't done so yet. I enjoy having a real, tangible book in my hands that I can flip through. Still, I'm a technological kinda guy and see ebooks as the wave of the future.

That said, the best use I've found for my Kindle Fire so far is on the exercise bike at the gym. With a "real" book, I always have to reach out to keep the pages from inadvertently turning. With my Kindle, I just prop it up on the bike dashboard, and it's easy reading. Very enjoyable. I've tried this before with the Kindle app in my iPhone which works, but ain't great. For one thing, in the iphone each page is so small that I'm turning the page like every 10 seconds. Not so in the Kindle Fire.

Secondly, I love the "Whispersynch" technology. I'm reading "Pride and Prejudice" on my iPhone, and when I open it up on the Kindle it knows what page I left off on my phone & opens to that page on the Kindle. It does the same with the app on my Macbook. Note: Fire has to be online for this to work, and it doesn't have 3G, so it only syncs if it's on a wifi net, which usually isn't a problem for me.

Third thing...The Kindle hosts a zillion magazines, most of which seem to offer a free 90-day trial. I started out with Bon Appetit, since I'm a foodie. While the magazine is bright & colorful, I find the reading experience to be less-than-immersive on the Kindle Fire mainly because of the small screen. This is one instance where I could really see the advantage of the larger iPad. The problem is, if I view the whole page then it's too tiny to read. When I zoom in, I have to pan & scroll to read around the page. It's like reading a magazine through a keyhole. This is mitigated somewhat by their "Text View" which basically turns the article into a text-based screen with inline photos, much easier to read. In "Page View", an article on page 15 may continue on page 32; it's up to you to make this leap (page 15 didn't tell me where it was continued.) In "Text View" you don't suffer this discontinuity; the article is all in one clean document.

The magazine doesn't seem to "remember" where I was reading last time, so it always opens back to Page 1. Very annoying, since I'm referencing a certain recipe in the middle of the magazine (for cioppino, our dinner tomorrow!) every time I open up I have to refind that page. When you scroll through the mag, it offers thumbnail views at the bottom to help navigate, but they are tiny & don't really scroll intuitively, so guiding through a magazine just doesn't make it for me. Perhaps I'll get better with practice and there may be tips & tricks I haven't discovered yet. There are probably bookmarks which I could use.

I see a real opportunity for publishers to make custom magazine "apps" which take advantage of the whole color screen, multimedia & computing capabilities of the device. Why force us to read through in a linear fashion on a computer, when information can be presented in a more dynamic & intuitive manner? Why would I have to jump from page 15 to 32 on an ereader? This makes no sense on a digital device. I'm sure some publishers are working to improve this; I'll try more magazines later. Also, I better not forget to cancel within my 90 days or it will renew monthly at the regular rate billed, naturally, to my Amazon "One Click" account.

For a first attempt at a tablet, it sounds like the Fire is pretty awesome. One thing that I learned when I bought my 1st gen iPod Touch, is that I will never ever buy first generation techie stuff. Six months after I bought the Touch, they came out with one that had speakers. A year later they came out with one with features that were not compatible with my hardware. Now it is just a touch screen MP3 player. I still use it, but I wish that it did more for what I paid for it. While any kind of techie stuff will be obsolete in six months anyways, the first gen stuff seems to be outdated much faster in my opinion.

Yeah, I've heard of a new Fire coming out in the next quarter. These are unconfirmed rumors. One rumor is simply a larger device. Another, more compelling rumor, is a "glass-on-glass" display meaning eInk over an LCD display. That would allow you to read books with the clear (and energy-saving) eInk display, or shift to a full color screen LCD mode for multimedia applications. That would be an awesome device and might be a true iPad-killer.

I went in with my eyes open, bypassing the first 2 generations of tablets from a parade of vendors like Apple, Sony & RIM. To me, the tablet is all about content, not hardware specs. And for now, only Apple & Amazon can deliver content. B&N maybe, but they're weak on music & video. For $199, this was a good way to see if I really wanna get into the eReader game, or just stick with good ol' fashioned analog books. I do like the Kindle Fire, but still not sold on whether I'm an ebook person or not.

Have you been able to download the game apps from the amazon market? Off-base and or on-base?

RJH, I sent you a PM, but in response to your question you should have no problem with apps. I've only downloaded 2 games (Angry Birds & Sudoku) and they work fine. Angry Birds is especially smooth & responsive in game play. I have other apps, but Pandora doesn't work in Japan, not because of Kindle but because the music isn't licensed for play outside the U.S. All the above is true both onbase & offbase.

BTW, one of the reasons I went with Kindle Fire is because owners of previous Kindle versions said they had no problem downloading books. Nook owners had some difficulty, and I didn't want to mess with that.

I've had my Kindle Fire for a month now, and yesterday (Christmas) many others in the community got theirs, too. My thoughts after one month...

Little by little, I'm forcing myself to become "an ebook guy." I really do like the feel of a physical book in my hand, and it's hard for me to go electronic. But I'm getting there. Many others won't need this adjustment, esp if you've had any other ereader in the past. I like the size of the Fire, but it's a tad heavy for holding at arm's length. You just have to find a comfortable position.

I was hyped on Amazon's Silk web browser; its unique architecture has a lot of potential for a mobile browser. However, it has not lived up to the hype. To put it another way, it sucks. It is horribly slow with no indication of whether or not a page is loading. Therefore, in most cases I conclude it's locked up & I just give up surfing. In reality, it's probably not locked up but if you don't feel like waiting 2 minutes for the first bits of a web page to load then you would probably give up too.

Yesterday, I found a great solution... the Amazon app store has an alternate web browser called Maxthon Mobile. Get this! You'll be surfing at full speed; it's a very capable & full-featured browser, and makes the Fire a viable web platform. Maxthon is free, but I would pay for it if needed.

Secondly, on a couple of occasions the Fire truly has locked up. You have to drag an on-screen slider to turn on the machine, and somehow the touch-sensitive screen doesn't work so you can't drag the slider therefore you can't turn on the device. Looking through the Amazon help forums, many people are experiencing this problem. Amazon is avoiding the issue. They say charge it (I did) or get the latest s/w update (I have). They haven't admitted the problem. I suspect it will be fixed in a future update so I won't sweat it for now.

A consistent solution to this seems to be: Do a hard reset by holding down the power button for 20 seconds, then just walk away for 5 minutes. When you come back, it works. A very unsatisfactory answer, but I really do expect it to be fixed soon.

The latest s/w update provides greater customizability of the home screen: Deleting things from the carousel; tailoring favorites, etc. I think the platform will get better & better over time, and the app store will continue to grow. All in all, I'm pleased with my Fire & I think I will be more pleased as I get more used to it.

Spent yesterday playing with the Amazon Android App Store. Besides the web browser mentioned above, here's two more that I really like:

- GoToApp Demo. This provides folders & organization that Fire doesn't have out of the box. Note: Despite its name, this is NOT a demo version; it's a full-featured organizer for your apps. When you first launch, it creates folders like "Games" and "Tools" and makes a first guess as to where to file everything. So instead of one huge lump of Apps in a single screen, you have them all nicely organized into folders which are tailorable. Then, make GoToApp a favorite and it will always appear on your home screen, down at the bottom (you can remove the default favorites that are cluttering that area.) With add-ons like this, the Fire interface becomes more & more customizable.

- YouVersion Bible App. I've used Bible apps in my iPhone which work well, but you have to pay for each Bible translation which gets expensive. In this app, all translations are FREE! You can load as many as you want. And there's a lot! In a single app, I now have two Thai translations for my wife (contemporary & Thai King James), two Japanese translations, and a few English ones. It's easy to quickly look up verses, you can save notes or create a Bible-reading plan. Great app!

Looks like Kindle will be coming to Japan soon:
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-...this-year/

The article says the "flagship model" will be the Kindle Touch, not the Fire. Interesting. Teamed up with DoCoMo (Au?), you'll be able to download via their 3G network with no contract or fees. I think the Touch does not have a web browser, or at least not a good web browser, but it uses eInk technology which will make for a great ebook experience.

They already have the Kindle @ the NEX. I haven't bought it, but I'm sure someone on base has.