Good deal alert: really cheap Hitchhikers omnibus on Kindle in the UK

(Disclaimer: deals are correct at the time of publishing, but cannot be guaranteed beyond that moment. Hopefully you’ll see the deal as described, but you may not. I cannot be held responsible for any additional charges because of this promotion and if you decide to purchase the product/service mentioned it is at your own personal risk. I recommend you check the company offering the promotion to see if they are trustworthy in your opinion before providing payment details. Thanks.)

I don’t think I’ve ever done a good deal alert before, but this is quite a good one. So here goes…

You’ve probably heard of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s a trilogy of five (yes, you read that correctly) written by Douglas Adams. Anyway, if you have a Kindle and you live in the UK, there’s a great deal on at the moment: you can get all five books (not the one by Eoin Colfer though) for £2.29 overall. The omnibus is significantly cheaper than each book by themselves, so I suggest you snap it up immediately. (Click the image to view the product page!).

Amazon fights the iPad mini

I think they should have used “Every inch a Kindle…”

from Amazon.com

I personally think the comparison is mostly fair, and the Fire HD does have a higher resolution screen with a lower price so Amazon does make good points. One thing they did miss out, though, was that the iPad has many, many more apps – it can run every iPad app available and presumably many iPhone apps available. Though the Fire runs a version of Android, Amazon restricts the amount of apps available meaning that if you want choice, you might as well go for the iPad. It really depends which ecosystem you are most integrated into (I’m integrated into Amazon’s more because of my Kindle) and how much money you have.

There is another player, though, with an even higher resolution that’s coming soon to the UK – things are going to get interesting.

The Kindle Touch is now available in the UK!

A very brief post today, but one with a great announcement: the Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G are now available from amazon.co.uk! Previously available just in the US, they are part of the fourth generation (or late 2011) Kindle line-up, which consists of:

• Kindle (available in all countries that have Kindles)
• Kindle Touch (available in most countries)
• Kindle Touch 3G (available in some countries, offers free 3G connectivity for buying books)
• Kindle Fire (US only… at least for the time being)

The Kindle 3 line-up (from 2010) is still around, and is now called the Kindle Keyboard:

• Kindle Keyboard (now only available refurbished, some countries)
• Kindle Keyboard 3G (still sold in some countries)

So that’s the Kindle line-up. What I’m kind of annoyed about is that the Kindle Touch came out last year in the US, and only now in the UK. If I lived in the US, I would’ve got the Kindle Touch for Christmas. But I don’t, so I had to get the KK3G. Bit annoying.

Anyway, happy reading!

The Kindle, Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire

My Amazon Kindle experience

I suppose another title for this post could be “the pros and cons of using a Kindle (or any other e-reader)”. A while before getting my Kindle Keyboard 3G (more on that device and why I chose it over the newer models later), I loved to read real books. I still do. But there are some cons to using ‘real’ books:

• They’re heavy (especially big hardbacks). Try holding one above you when trying to read at night!
• They take up space – one of the main reasons I got a Kindle was because I am running out of bookshelf space.
• This may sound silly and obvious, but you can only carry a certain amount around (e.g. on holiday).
• If you finish a book and order the next one straightaway, the soonest you’ll get it is that evening or the next day (if you pay a lot) or, more likely, a few days away. Enough to start a new book, and when you eventually read the sequel to the original book you’ll have forgotten what happened in it.

But there are some advantages to a real book:

• Super high contrast
• Battery life that is endless (well, it’s until the book falls apart so it’s quite a few decades of reading)
• Never go out of date

But I decided the bad outweighed the good so I got a Kindle. Disadvantage of a Kindle:

• Have to charge it (though battery lasts about 2 months)
• Costs around £89-£149 (in the US, the Kindle e-reader line-up ranges from $79-$149 with ads, and $109-$189 for the non ads version – note that the UK version has no ads, the US prices I’ve put don’t include the Kindle Fire, which is a tablet and is $199)
• No colour (at least not yet!)
• Not as high contrast

Advantages of a Kindle:

• Lightweight
• Can hold 1,400 books to 3,500 books on the device depending on the model (but there’s free cloud storage for all your books, so you can remove ones you’ve read and download them for free later – effectively unlimited storage)
• Long battery life
• Cool design
• Get books in 60 seconds over WiFi (all models) or free 3G (selected models)
• Can sample books before you buy

So those are the advantages and disadvantages of Kindles and ‘real’ books. I decided the Kindle was better, so I got that one. Now for why I chose the Kindle Keyboard 3G…

It’s complicated. Basically:

• Kindle Keyboard is the 2010 model of Kindle (it was previously known as Kindle 3). It came in WiFi and WiFi + free 3G models (I’ll refer to these models simply as 3G from now on).
• Amazon introduced a new Kindle lineup in 2011, consisting of the Kindle (no keyboard, 1 month battery life, 1,400 books storage, WiFi model only, most countries), Kindle Touch + Kindle Touch 3G (touch screen, 2 month battery life, 3,000 books storage, WiFi and 3G models available, US only) and Kindle Fire (a US only 7 inch tablet like a mini iPad).
• I wanted a decent Kindle that had 3G, so my only option was Kindle Keyboard 3G because the only other UK model – the basic Kindle – had shorter battery life and didn’t have a 3G option.

So that’s basically Kindles for you. Do I recommend you get one? Certainly if you like to read books. If you’re in the UK, see this page to buy Kindles:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kindle-Wi-Fi-6-Ink-Display/dp/B0051QVF7A/ref=amb_link_162945927_2?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=0Z5HYNVFAKKKBE4ANFZB&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=281838027&pf_rd_i=468294

And if you’re in the US, see this page (look for the other Kindles at the top of the page – I strongly recommend the Kindle Touch W-Fi with special offers:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051QYGXA

What are your thoughts on Kindles, or e-readers in general? Do you prefer ‘real’ books, or ebooks?

My Kindle's home screen, just so you know

How Online Shopping Has Spoiled Me (via The Change Revolution)

Online shopping. What a revolution. Not long ago, shopping would require actually going to a shop and buying something. Nowadays, you just need to visit a website like Amazon and click the mouse a few times. You can also read reviews from other users in a few clicks, to see whether the product is as wonderful as the company say or is just plain rubbish. Online shopping has changed the world forever.

Below is a post about online shopping, from the wonderful blog The Change Revolution.

Have a great day!

Today, I had to go to the mall to exchange some stuff I bought. While I was at the store, looking for some article of equal value to exchange, I realized how online shopping has spoiled me. a.) I have lost the patience to make back-n-forth trips to the fitting room, b.) trying on different clothes, and c.) dealing with crowded stores. I do not fancy “window shopping” anymore. As convenient as online shopping is, it has done wonders for me. For in … Read More

via The Change Revolution

If stranded on a desert island, what one music album would you bring?

Hmm. This is a hard one. Well, if I had to choose one music album to live with for the rest of my life, I would probably choose Doctor Who: Series 5 the soundtrack (see it on Amazon here). It has some amazing music on it, that I could listen to again and again.

The reason I like it so much is there is lots of variety. I and I like variety. Lots.

What would you choose? One album, for the rest of your life. What is it you like about it?

While you are deciding on your favourite album, do listen to one of the pieces of music that is included in the album I chose:

Witch and Wizard and Witch and Wizard: The Gift – my thoughts

This is going to be short. Very short. Sorry. So I’ll get on with it. This is the best book series I have ever read. No joking. These two books made me not want to put the book down (well, that is usually the case, but these books were more so). You just have to read this book series. Or watch the movies when they come out (yes, you read that right: they are making movies!!). Full stop.

The books are currently available on www.amazon.co.uk and other good bookstores/book websites. Get them today!!

Update (29/01/2011): You can view my Amazon.co.uk review for this item here.