Should I buy a Kindle if I already have lots of ebooks?
I want an ebook reader but I already have lots of .pdf and .txt files on my computer. These have no drm association etc. Can I put these on a kindle and read them? Can I download books from Project Gutenberg (where they are out of copyright and therefore free) and then put them on my kindle?
Or is a kindle really just for people who want to buy books from Amazon.
More on Kindle . .
Filed under: Amazon eBook Reader
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Yes, you can read books from Project Gutenberg on the Amazon Kindle device:
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
For your own PDF and TXT files, they can be read on the Kindle too. See the section "Files Kindle Recognizes" for details:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fhelp%2Fcustomer%2Fdisplay.html%3Fie%3DUTF8%26nodeId%3D200375630&tag=moreinfo-po-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957
I own the Kindle 2, so let me give you some of my opinions. I’ve to say I love it! I think I’ve read over 30 books with my Kindle, no glitches so far!
One of the reasons I love my Kindle is that it has helped me improve a lot on my efficiency and utilize my time. Before I have the Kindle, waiting time like when I’m waiting for friends or waiting for shuttle bus or some thing like that is simply wasted. Now I just need to bring the Kindle 2 along with me, and all my favorite books are inside it. Another thing I like the most is the text-to-speech function, which means I can "read" books without even holding or looking at the Kindle. Now I like to use this function when I’ve myself busy on some boring things, say when I’m on the step machine or doing some housework…
I like reading and at the beginning I did miss a bit on the feeling of reading books. But now I love to hold the Kindle, the e-ink seems to work very well, it is really like reading books… Now I often read with the Kindle for several hours but I don’t feel tired… And I now prefer to manage all books inside the Kindle rather than my never big enough bookshelf… And like to do bookmarking, annotation, dictionary lookup without any additional thing but a Kindle.
There are quite a lot of free books (tips: if you’re outside the U.S. all the books will have US$2 added, but when you choose to download to computer when you check out, the $2 will be waived, and you can copy the books to your Kindle through USB cable), and many Kindle books, magazines and newspapers are cheaper than the actual paper version. I remember I read these reviews about the benefits of the Kindle when I decided to buy it:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Freview%2FR2DUM7S4XW06QN%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ASIN%3DB00154JDAI%26nodeID%3D%26ref%255F%3Dcm%255Fcr%255Fpr%255Fcmt&tag=moreinfo-po-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957
http://www.speedreaderxreview.com/is-kindle-2-worth-the-price
Finally, guess you know, Amazon has just put a price slash on the Kindle 2, and it is now selling $100 cheaper than the price I got my Kindle, and it adds in international wireless access… So take the chance if you want it.
Hope it helps
If there is no DRM protection you can convert the books either by using Calibre or by emailing the books to Amazon for conversion (delivered wirelessly for a cost, or emailed back to you for free). I believe .txt files can be read straight, but the PDF files will need conversion. Yes, you can read books from Project Gutenberg. My husband has also converted a lot of PDFs he needed for work that were not DRMed. Any of the recent books under DRM you can only buy from Amazon though.
Yes, you can put your own PDF and TXT files to the Kindle device. I’ve read a few PDF files on my Kindle device already, it works without any problem.
I love my Kindle 2 very much. If you’re considering to get the Kindle, just get it and you won’t regret. Right now I’ve read over 10 books with the Kindle, and I really like the idea that I can bring and store all the books with the handy device. Besides, it uses the e-ink technology, it is really clear like reading books; and even I read with the device for long hours, I don’t feel tired. My only complaint is the white case, right now all the Kindles are in white color… I think it will be cool if I can have a black or deep blue color Kindle
I suggest you to read this review from a top reviewer who is also a book lover, it outlines quite a lot of benefits of the Kindle and also why it is worth especially at the end of the review:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Freview%2FR9J54TZ1541OR%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dcm%255Fcr%255Frdp%255Fperm&tag=more_info-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957
BTW, there are some website like this one, where you can find more than 20,000 free books for the Kindle. So no need to go to library to borrow them, you can actually own them:
http://manybooks.net/
Hope this helps.
Yes, you can definitely put books from Project Gutenberg onto the Kindle. I know some people just download articles from http://www.fanfiction.net and read on the Kindle (they download as RTF format and read on the Kindle).
I suggest you to read this simple and concise review about it as well:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Freview%2FRBWJNZNJGU1EQ%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dcm%255Fcr%255Frdp%255Fperm&tag=searchresult-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957