Ekdog

I see Amazon has come out with a new international version of the Kindle. It seems to me that this might be a handy device to take along on a tour as I enjoy reading but don't like bringing too many books with me because of the weight factor.

Do any of you take a Kindle along with you on your tours?

KLW2

I don't have a Kindle but still have an old Palm that I have loads of books on, I take it everywhere. I do take it touring....Lighter than books and works great. No reason to think the Kindle wouldn't be just as good....

Bacciagalupe

I haven't yet, but definitely will on my next tour.

It's very light, and with the wireless off the battery lasts for days. The screen is excellent and highly readable. You can carry an entire library with you, and easily order new books directly to the device. Books tend to be cheaper ($10, instead of $15+), and a ton of free public domain books are available at sites like manybooks.net.

The biggest problem in terms of touring is that it isn't very good for travel guides -- there aren't many out, and graphics like maps don't look so hot on the screen. So you will still need to bring maps and travel guides.

Also, keep in mind the screen isn't back-lit. This reduces eye strain, but to read at night you'll need to use a light of some sort.

Plus, they dropped the price to $260 for the US-only ($280 for international version), which is way down from its original price.

staehpj1

I looked at one owned by a friend and it looked impressive, but I just take audio books either on my iPod Shuffle (2 ounces including aftermarket charger) or my Blackberry.

DallasSoxFan

I own a kindle. I'm a commuter, not a tourer (but I did a "view new posts" search and found this).

Simply, it rocks. It has no problem with the vibrations of being in a bike bag. It is lightweight and incredibly easy on the eyes. It is not backlit, so it works better (best) on the beach than in the dark. I recommend a one gallon ziplock bag if it will be in the elements. This is what I did on the beach and it worked flawlessly.

The battery life is incomprehensible if you turn wireless off. I get about 2 weeks at an hour a day with wireless off. You only need the wireless when you are actively downloading books or browsing.

DallasSoxFan

Oh, and if you go to gutenberg.org they have about 1/4 million free books in kindle-compatible format.

BigAura

To those who have tried it: can you read it with an led headlamp in the dark?

sstorkel

I own a Kindle 2, courtesy of a "reward" program sponsored by my company, and it's great! I took it with me on my recent Pacific Coast tour.

The screen is, in a word, stunning. It really is just as readable as paper, even in direct sunlight. The device is great for reading fiction novels and newspapers. Images are displayed in grayscale and can't be zoomed larger than the screen, so it's not great for viewing maps. I bought the Kindle version of "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" but brought Xeroxed copies of the maps; the ones on the Kindle were too small to read. The Kindle 2 also isn't great for books that require precise formatting; books about computer programming generally don't do well, because the code examples get wrapped across lines and are generally unreadable. The larger, more expensive Kindle DX is better for these types of books but might be more delicate than the Kindle 2.

As others have said, the battery-life is fantastic. Turn off wireless and the device will easily last for a week, maybe two, between charges. If I leave wireless on (say, because you want the Kindle to retrieve the latest version of the New York Times every day), I probably have to recharge every 4th or 5th day.

The device itself is surprisingly lightweight. I tend to think that mine is lighter than my copy of "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" but without a gram scale I can't be sure. For my tour, I bought a light-weight protective cover from Octo than weighs only a few ounces. At home, I have a heavy-duty book-like cover.

The 2GB of memory doesn't sound like much these days, but it's likely more space than you'll ever use. I probably have 40-something books on my Kindle (lots of classics and Amazon freebies that I'll probably never get around to reading) and it consumes only a small fraction of the memory. That said, one of the problems with the Kindle is organization. Books are displayed in a single flat list. You can sort by title, author or date but that's it. It would be nice if the device allowed the creation of "folders" or "tags" so that you could group all biographies in one place, all travel guides in another, etc. There is a search function, which is probably the only way to manage a really large collection of books on the device.

Despite the fact that the Kindle includes an "experimental" web browser, it is not a good device for surfing the Internet. Downloading and rendering web pages seems to take forever and the results are frequently less than usable. I played with the browser once and haven't used it since. Don't buy the Kindle thinking it's going to be your link to the Internet.

For me, the biggest problem with the Kindle 2 was the price. It's a very cool device and I'm very happy that I have one, but probably couldn't have convinced myself to pay $299 for it. And I read a lot! Even at $249 it seems a bit pricey. For me, $189-199 seems like an appropriate price. I notice that Amazon sometimes has refurbished Kindles available for $219...

BigAura: you an read a Kindle anywhere that you can read a paper book. The Kindle screen is only slightly reflective, so I think using a headlamp would be possible though there might be a bit of glare if the light is focused directly on the screen.

bobframe

I've had a Kindle for a year or so and use it when I travel (airplanes). My only beefs are that it isn't backlit and the page turning is easy to do inadvertently. Otherwise, it works great-hold a ton of books and yes, the battery life is incredible. It would be my "book of choice" on a bike tour.

Bacciagalupe

I've tried it, and yes a headlamp will work; no glare issues. I find it's a little bit distracting, but no more or less than if you were using a headlamp to read a paper book.

By the way, Lonely Planet announced today that they're going to start rolling out Kindle editions of their guides.

nun

I read books on the iPhone, many of the classics are free

sam.g

After first seeing a Kindle 2 on this summer's bike tour, I vowed to acquire one. Much to my surprise, my wife and kids presented one to me for my 60th birthday last month. I've only purchased a few newspapers and books so far and would like to download more "free" books.

For the kindle owners out there, please recommend any good "free" books especially those pertaining to bike touring and the site downloaded from.

thanks,

Sam in Cincy

Lifelonglaugh

You can load the Kindle on your iphone for free. The other nice thing about the iphone is it has a backlight, so you don't need a light to read. I "read" a book on my iphone on my last tour - it is so handy to pull out of a pocket when you stop by the road for a couple minutes. It is still not as comfortable to read this way, but it sure is handy!

DallasSoxFan

https://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/

All of it is free. Pick the .mobi version when you download.

A quick search on "bicycle" yielded:

Around the World on a Bicycle by Thomas Stevens

quester

Yes, I've taken it on two month-long tours, and often read in the evenings w/ my LED headlamp. Worked great.

nancy sv

I am so happy to read this! We ordered two Kindles for the kids and are hoping to pick them up here in Colombia tomorrow! Finding kids' books down here in Latin America was just way too hard, so we decided to give the Kindles a try. I can't wait to get them!

sstorkel

There are quite a few free books available directly from Amazon. Mostly classic literature (think: "Dracula", "Huckleberry Finn", "Pride and Prejudice", "Sherlock Holmes", etc). Also a few newer books, and the selection seems to change at random intervals. I was surprised to be able to download China Mieville's "Perdido Street Station", a fantastic sci-fi book for free. If you look at the Kindle Bestseller list, you'll see than many of the top downloads are free...

Bacciagalupe

https://manybooks.net

I use MOBI format, it works a little better than the AZW.

The iPhone Kindle app (assuming you have an iPhone of course, it's not entirely ubiquitous y'know...) is tolerable for short reading sessions, but a dedicated device is far superior for extended reading sessions.

jurjan

interesting thread.
We are (more or less actively) looking for an e-ink reader as well.
We do have a few additional questions, perhaps people here (who own things like that) can / want to answer them?
1) is it possible to exchange books?
what I mean is: when we buy books in a bookshop I read it first (most of the time) and
then my girlfriend reads it, is this scenario possible with a kindle (2?) or e-reader of any kind?
I've never seen it mentioned.
2) I find a usage time of two weeks (without wireless (would that be with wires? lol)) quite short.
what kind of hours is that?
Is that reading for eight hours a day for two weeks? Or half an hour every two days?
We would prefer it to be able to last for at least four weeks, three hours daily reading.

Regarding usage time: I think it depends more on pageturns than time, is that true?
then my question would be: how many pageturns between charges?

It's good to hear that our suspicion of these devices being reasonably tough is correct.
Pity maps and guidebooks are not that well represented / usable.

JimF22003

I've used my original Kindle on three different week-long supported tours. I love it. If I finish a book in the middle of the trip I just pick another one, or even buy a new one from wherever I can get a cellphone signal.

In the tent I use a clip-on night-light to light up the screen.

bobdell

I am still old school with a PDA, but it fits in my pocket, is back lit, and holds lots of books. I use it whenever there is waiting involved - Doctor office, etc and on luch hour.

Bacciagalupe

Generally speaking, no.


More like one week. If you're going to spend a month without any access whatsoever to a power outlet, and don't want to use a solar or other supplementary charger, stick with paper books.

jurjan

Darn!
BTW: what if speaking not generally, but still legally?
And double darn.

never mind my flying car, I want my everlasting battery (that weighs next to nothing).
Thanks for the reply though.

mtclifford

Personally I can't quite see wasting the weight and space on a kindle when you can bring a small netbook for a few more ounces. Of course I have never really been a fan of the whole ebook craze, I really like turning paper pages as I read, without it the whole experience is ruined for me.

jurjan

I know the feeling, but...
Last holiday in Ireland we took along 6 reading (that is NOT guidebooks) books (if I remember correctly).
And due to rainy weather etc. we bought several more during our four weeks there (I think 5 more).
Now, that takes up almost an entire pannier, just for reading!
And yes, I know you can throw away books, give them away etc., but darnit.. I LIKE my books.
With two e-readers we could have taken along hundreds (thousands even) of books, for the space of not even one book (we like thick sci-fi books).
I don't think it would replace my day to day reading, because I LIKE my books and love turning pages.
BUT, on a holiday things are different.
most of us eat simpler, why not read different from normal.
(and yes, if you can stand reading on a netbook: by all means go ahead, it's a free world)