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Kindle - Wow!


Simon-the-censored
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 Cathy,

JK hasn't been shouted down, but the fact is that both sets of experience with Kindle are valid, frankly I'm getting more than a little weary of the 'bat ball' over this.

As you say you were preoccupied (and no one can blame you for that) and went ahead with the purchase in a way you may otherwise not have done in normal circumstances.

Whether its £111 or £152 its a chunk of money, personally I like to look into things before I spend that sort of cash (OK I'm a skin flint)

One lady went ahead with her purchase knowing the situation ie: She may have to buy from .com and I suspect for people that's the way forward, to hope for the best but be prepared for the other option.

If Simon is right and I can just download to my PC and send to my friend in the USA then gradually as more and more people will be able to swap books, thus making it easier for everyone..I'll let you know how I get on [8-)]

Hopefully the agreements that are in place that mean these differences and problems exist will be ironed out some time soon, and everyone will be happy !

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Something to be aware of that I have discovered :

I bought my 3g kindle from .com a couple of weeks ago, delivered to France. I had my region set to Europe. On trying the web browser and Kindle store on the device all worked fine as it picked up my home wifi connection. However, when I tried it out and about using the 3g (actually it was edge but that is neither here nor there) I could access the Kindle Store but I COULD NOT access the web browser as there were "local restrictions in force". I have now got around this by changing my region to UK using my BIL's address. Now all works fine.

If I were to download any books from the Kindle Store I think I would browse and decide what I wanted to buy on my home computer as it is easier then go and do the purchase 'outside' using the 3g just to be safe.
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I see that you can buy from .com in sterling (with a rate of exchange 2 points above bank rate when I bought a DVD this afternoon).  This might make people feel more comfortable about purchasing books via the US site?  I know one can't get away from their bizarre spelling still, but then it's no worse than mine!

Cathy, it would be great if all threads had the full and unbiased version in post one but I guess this is a forum and thus it will never happen.  Would that every subject had a pros and cons post at the top with the balanced view, but utopia this isn't[Www]. What I do wonder is whether Simon is regretting ever having posted in the first place?

Hope all's going well with you and see you in a couple of weeks.[:)]

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I was about to order a Kindle, then came across this thread. I have waded through all 40 pages of it and now my head is spinning.

I would like to ask the following questions:-

If I buy a 3G version and only download direct to the Kindle will I avoid the problems experienced accessing the .co.uk store?

Is it possible to swop books with other users?

How did Cathy solve her problem? I might have missed the answer somewhere but can't bear to go through all 40 pages again!

I apologise if these questions have already been answered in this thread and I have missed it.

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Mik,

It appears that the 3g Kindle (when using 3g not wifi) is immune from the Amazon police - however, there is still a risk. Plenty of people use the 3g overseas without problems to access their .co.uk accounts. At the very worst you would get swapped to the .com store but can still order even at a slightly higher price as a non-US resident.

It appears that the way to get around the problem when using wifi is to use a VPN to fool Amazon into thinking you are in UK - order using the computer and the book will download via wifi to the Kindle.

Swap books? Don't know.

It's also a good idea to have a look at the Kindle forum on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/tag/kindle/forum/ref=sv_kinh_6

although it is a very busy forum and will take some searching but there are threads there which discuss the expat problem.

Hope that helps.
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Presumably to swap books we'd need to send downloaded files over the net?  As I have a few kindle books on my p/c then I could try mailing them to a fellow Kindle owner and see what happens then we'd know.  What does the panel think?

 

Mik, my 3g Kindle works fine on the wifi so I still don't know where the bug is or how come some people get affected by this and others do not but JK's method seems sound enough to me.  I'm not sure we've got to the bottom of this one quite yet though.  As JK says, worst case, you'll have to buy "books" from the US.

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Cooperlola,

That would be a very interesting experiment. Let us know how it goes, would you?

As for the Kindle on wifi are you sure it is accessing the Amazon server via wifi or 3g - I am ignorant of the 3g and am wondering how you know which it is using. There are some posts on the Amazon forum that imply that if the order is done on the Kindle and not through a PC then it should be OK. The problem is you cannot use the Kindle through a VPN. Yet all those that use a VPN to order via PC have had no probs.
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All I need is a volunteer, and I will try sharing a book.

I'm ignorant also but as my kindle can only find my Neufbox connection when it's in my house, and I had to put the box's code in, then I just assumed it's working via the wifi.  But I could be wrong as I'm not much good at this sort of stuff.  I use Onspeed now but didn't when I first bought and registered my Kindle.

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Cooperlola

I've just transferred a book from the Kindle to the 'puter then deleted it from the Kindle. Sent the file to another email a/c and opened it and transferred the .azw file back to the Kindle and there it was ready to read. Assuning there are no other kinks I haven't though of it looks like emailing the relevant .azw file does the trick.

(What's Onspeed?)

Anybody know if this works for real from one Kindle to another?
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This from the amazon Forum:

''It is called DRM - digital rights management. Almost every amazon book is encrypted to the serial number of your kindle. It can be circumvented but it is in breach of the terms and conditions of purchase.''

And

''More than that J, there's an 'electronic tag' that links a file to a particular device. So if I send an ebook to Kindle for PC I can't simply drag that file onto even my own Kindle and open it I have to download a different copy for the Kindle (either from the ereader itself or to the PC so I can drag and drop).''

Might be wise, therefore, not to go sending .azw files around in breach of the Ts and Cs.
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DRM is possible to crack but it is quite tricky and requires a bit of computer savvyness and a couple of programs.

There are programs out there that "record" a book and allow you to share it that way, but it's not ideal. Cracking the DRM is the way to go. I've done it several times to enable me to read books on other devices I own if the book is locked in one format.
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RH

Yes, you could have up to a certain number of devices associated with an account (I thought it was 5 but you may be right with 6). However, once a device is registered to the a/c the person controlling the device would have access to your Amazon a/c - you would have to be more trusting than I could ever be!

Unlike a dead tree book which is just one item, if an ebook could be copied for lending you could have an unlimited number of copies and, dare I say it, some people could be less than wholly ethical (or indeed legal) with reference to copyright and resale.
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[quote user="Russethouse"]Simon thinks its possible so maybe he will volunteer ? I hope so because I like swapping books - although I can't help but think that Amazon may have this sewn up (oh no, not sewing again ! [;-)])[/quote]

Hi RH - just picked this up - happy to volunteer but I think gardengirl / coops already did it?! Did it all work ok ?

It works fine for me but I'm pretty certain you need to have 'Kindle for PC' loaded for it to be effective. I just send the .azw file. Wouldn't like to 'guarantee' for everyone though - for fear of being put into the stocks by the forum saints! :-)

Simon :-)

 

 

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S-C-L Quote:

''Hi RH - just picked this up - happy to volunteer but I think gardengirl / coops already did it?! Did it all work ok ?

It works fine for me but I'm pretty certain you need to have 'Kindle for PC' loaded for it to be effective. I just send the .azw file. Wouldn't like to 'guarantee' for everyone though - for fear of being put into the stocks by the forum saints! :-)

Simon :-)''

(Sorry about the clumsy way of quoting but the quote facility won't work in my browser)

You can still send the files between PCs and transfer to Kindle without Kindle for PC - you only need the Kindle for PC software to read the file.

What we need to know is if the ebook is electronically tagged to a particular a/c and is then xferred to someone else's Kindle will a. the book be readable and b. can Amazon detect that the book has been transferred against the Ts and Cs?
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Quote Gardengirl:

''I received Coops' book she sent to me via email. I followed the links to Amazon's 'KindleforPC-installer' and went from there. From JK's post we shouldn't do it - but it works. Maybe I'll be having a hand slapped''

Does it read on Kindle? Why did you need the Kindle for PC?

This is getting interesting!
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