This may push me over the edge and I'll finally buy a Kindle. I was thinking the $99 version would do email and books, just enough for me. Then I started reading more reports and I'm confused. (what again?)

"Not only is the Fire a lot cheaper than the iPad but Amazon is offering to bundle it with a free one-month subscription to Amazon Prime. In addition to free two-day shipping on any purchase from the store, Amazon Prime customers receive "instant commercial-free streaming of over 11,000 movies and TV shows at no additional cost." After the free month is over, Fire owners can sign up for Prime which costs $79 annually."

OK say I get the Amazon Fire and the free month, it says streaming movies for $79 a year. Do I have to pay for a service provider to get those movies, or does Amazon have a network. I don't understand if I need to have a Data plan with the 3G service, from them or someone else. I see those for $49 a month and up, so the streaming movies, may not be that attractive after all?

"With Kindle Keyboard 3G, there is no wireless setup—you are ready to shop, download, and read right out of the box. Kindle Keyboard 3G uses the same wireless signals as cell phones, so you don’t need to worry about Wi-Fi connections, passwords or internet charges. Unlike cell phones, with Kindle Keyboard 3G there are no monthly fees or annual contracts— Amazon pays for Kindle’s 3G wireless connectivity. " From Amazon's Pages

WiFi I can understand that's wherever I can find it, but when I'm camping I have no WiFi and no data plan, so no internet. Would I still get 3G movies?

If so = WOW!

I keep searching and found the answer is YES, free 3g.

As an aside, battery life on a Fire watching video is 8 hours. Reading books, these things last for a week (roughly speaking, a heck of a long time!)

But my Netbook watching TV or video lasts about 2 hours, and doing computing lasts up to seven hours. So the battery life is reasonable. If I want to watch a movie on the Kindle, that's just right and I have time left for text, until I get to electricity again. (including power inverter in the vehicle...)

Be careful. You've got some errors in what you say above.

There are a number of new models of the Kindle. All have WiFi access. But only the Kindle Touch 3G ($149), the Kindle Keyboard 3G ($139) and the Kindle DX ($379) offer 3G access. The others are only WiFi--if you can't connect to a WiFi network, you can't see streaming videos on them. The $99 Kindle and the Fire Kindle do NOT have 3G access--they're only WiFi.

Amazon Prime lets you see streaming movies over any Internet connection for free. It has nothing to do with the Kindle per se--it's just a bonus feature that Amazon is using to lure people into paying for Amazon Prime. I watch those movies on my regular computer and can even watch them on my iPad and iPhone with a special app.

Also, don't count on the official battery life statistics as being realistic. Amazon streams using flash. That uses a lot of battery power. You're not going to get the battery life you expect if you use the Kindle to watch movies.

IMHO, an iPad is much better than the Kindle. The Kindle's only advantage is price. I bought my first-generation iPad on eBay for about $300 when the second generation version was released. It's WiFi and 3G, plenty of space, plenty of memory. I don't see any reason to get a Kindle, despite my love of gadgets. (There's a Kindle app for the iPad, by the way, so you can read your Kindle books easily on an iPad.)

Jeff/CompGuy

Yes I wasn't trying to imply that all the Amazon Kindles had 3G, just that some did. And the more I look, the Fire is more than I want for a color Kindle with short battery life. I'm not so sure I care about streaming movies either, on a tiny screen.

So it's down to reading books on B&W where the cheap WiFi only model will probably be just fine.

No I don't have an "i" anything, my phone makes phone calls. (how revolutionary?) My camera takes pictures and I have no great aspirations to surf the web from my pocket, although I guess that reading email would be useful. I can't see thumbing in messages?

I have a netbook with a keyboard, it has a GPS and DeLorme software. I can edit photos on it, running Photoshop, nice screen.

Did you get the private topic question which also included that the public message I wrote is "broken" it comes up and disappears, says something about ""m is invalid." and doesn't show the author?

No, I don't look at the private topics generally; sorry. I can't correct the problem you mention, so just repost your question please.

Jeff/CompGuy

You can also get Kindle for Windows.

I'm tempted to move from Netflix to Amazon Prime, but isnt their selection still a lot more limited?

Yes--there are Kindle clients for Macintosh and Windows machines as well as other phones/MP3 players besides the iPod/iPhone/iPad.

Right now Amazon Prime offers about 9000 "free" streaming movies; Netflix offers about 20,000. I subscribe to both but rarely find anything I want to watch on Prime. You can't judge by the numbers alone.

Jeff/Compguy

quote:

the public message I wrote is "broken" it comes up and disappears, says something about ""m is invalid."

I'm guessing you're talking about the thread "Website Hosting Multiple Sites one Server?" that talks about some HTML META command to refresh a web page? http://aantares.com/eve/forums...6008334/m/9880016336

What happens is that when somebody tries to load that topic, their browser executes the HTML that's embedded in the post, which references a non-existent URL, so the page refreshes to blank and an error message.

To figure that out, I downloaded the thread page to a local disk file, and played with it until it could load in my browser. Commenting out the META command was what allowed it to load.

I would have expected BB software of this sort to detect things like that and substitute html character display strings (ampersand, some letters, and a semicolon) for the angular braces, but apparently it doesn't do that, or doesn't do it every time.

BTW, in the HTML (begin bracket)META HTTP-EQUIV="refresh" CONTENT="seconds;URL=the-other-url"(end bracket), is everything after the "CONTENT=" supposed to be in one set of quotes like that, or is "URL=" supposed to be an argument at the same level as "CONTENT="?

Henry

OK so

1) I removed the meta refresh html and fixed the old question. Thanks!

2) Netflix just went back on their new division announcement. Stock jumped up.

3) I have over the air DTV broadcast, no cable, no streaming movies and I seem to be living just fine? (although I do have to go out on Monday nights to watch football, which is no big deal)

4) Back to Kindle I think I've been convinced that I don't need 3G and don't need color and won't need streaming video. So that means B&W cheap reader, that displays books. Now I'm deciding if I want the one with the keyboard or not.

I'm collecting a number of Amazon gift certificates as bank bonuses and from a website that is borrowing some materials from me, so my Kindle will be free, that's why I'm kind of stuck on Amazon units.

That and the claimed two month battery life, I need 4-5 days!

 
Pete...

I have the Kindle 3G and am looking to sell it, if you're interested.

I got it in Feb 2011, and it has the official Amazon leather cover in a deep red/burgundy that includes the night light for reading in the dark.

Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 3G Works Globally, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology... $189 at the time.

Kindle Lighted Leather Cover, Burgundy Red (Fits 6" Display, Latest Generation Kindle)... $59.99 at the time.

Also, now that folks can "loan" out books to other Kindle owners, I can make ya' a heck of a deal on the some 50 or 60 books I already own.

Charging cable comes w/ it, of course. A full charge on my Kindle lasts for almost eight weeks --reading every day from "some" to a lot-- if I don't use the night light, so taking it camping would be a piece of cake.

If interested, make me an offer in PT.

*CJ

PS: Oh, and don't forget that Kindles can now access digital LIBRARY books, too. That's what I was waiting for and it was worth the wait.