Review: Kindle 3G

Last week, I finally got the Kindle 3G (Graphite). Finally! My precious.

I’ve had my Kindle 3G for a little over a week, and I’ve logged about 20-25 hours of use. (Total guess.)

The short version: I love the Kindle 3G and highly recommend it.

Why did I purchase a Kindle?

I’m subscribed to a lot of sites in Google Reader.¹ Rather than starring items for later in Google Reader, I save lengthy posts in Instapaper.

Since I don’t read books as often as I’d like, I was hoping this would nudge me in that direction.

Why not get an iPad or laptop?

The Kindle does one thing very well: allow you to read comfortably.

While I could read and do much more on an Apple iPad or notebook (the usual comparisons), it wouldn’t be comfortable for long periods of time.

The other day, two and a half hours flew by reading on the Kindle. I stopped to get a drink of water.

I love being able to bring my Kindle everywhere with ease. Before, taking my [now unused] laptop to Panera was a hassle. Most of the time, I’m reading more than typing at length.

How does the free Kindle email address work?

When you send an email attachment to your Kindle free email address, it will only go through to your Kindle once you connect to a WiFi access point. Bypassing the 3G network is how you can transfer documents for free. (See Transferring, Downloading, and Sending Files to Kindle)

Why get the Kindle 3G+WiFi?

I can manually trigger Instapaper downloads from the actual website using the built-in experimental web browser.

If I need turn-by-turn or text directions, I can access Google Maps wherever I have a 3G signal.

Getting content (other than books) on the Kindle

There are three methods you may use to download content on your Kindle:

USB cable (free)
your_email@free.kindle.com (free if you’re connected via WiFi)
your_email@kindle.com ($0.15/delivery via Amazon’s Whispernet)

I use Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. So far, I’ve used the following software and services:

Wordcycler – two-way Instapaper sync for Windows and your e-book reader
Calibre – open source e-book management software
Instapaper – a simple tool to save web pages for reading later

I’ve used Instapaper since January 2008.²

Since I have over 200 items to read in Instapaper, I’m saving Wordcycler for later.³

Calibre is the Swiss Army knife of e-book management. While the UI isn’t the prettiest, it’s an incredible piece of software.

Unlike Wordcycler, Calibre won’t automatically archive Instapaper items once you’ve read/deleted it on your Kindle. So, I’m manually reading the article listing on the Kindle, and simultaneously archiving them at the Instapaper website (on my computer). It’s a kludge, I know.

You can also schedule Calibre to automatically download items (especially from Instapaper) to your computer, then email them to your Kindle.

At the moment, Instapaper doesn’t support using the free Kindle email address. Calibre does. But, the $0.15/MB fee is cheaper than leaving my computer powered on at home.

By the way, you’ll be surprised at the small filesize of Instapaper deliveries. (20 items seems to be the max, and my latest delivery was 268 KB.)

I’d say the cost of running a dedicated (always on) computer to fetch Instapaper items is more expensive than an automatic daily delivery through Instapaper + Amazon Whispernet. If you transfer 1 MB/day, here’s the math broken down:

1 year: $54.75
1 month: $4.57
1 week: $1.05

And, you can email your Instapaper account!

You can email links or forward long email messages, such as newsletters, directly to your Instapaper account. Each account has its own secret, random email address. Anything sent to that address gets added to Instapaper.

Try forwarding your most recent painfully long email message to it now, or send a link from any computer or iPhone app that can email links. (Instapaper Extras)

Problem: I’m not sure if Instapaper will keep sending items to my Kindle if they haven’t been archived.

For instance, I’m going to Philadelphia and New York next week for one week. If I enable the option to have items sent to me daily, and I don’t have a computer to archive the read items, will I keep getting duplicate content? (Yes, I’ll email Marco.)

Android app: Instafetch

When I get an Android phone⁴, Instafetch is another option to help save items to Instapaper, mainly because bookmarklets aren’t supported in the Android web browser.

But, it’s too easy to send an email to your own Instapaper email address from an Android phone. Unless you’re saving stuff into your phone, you don’t need an app.

Stop it, Emily Dickinson

Amazon won’t let me remove her photo from the “screensaver” rotation when you put the Kindle in Sleep mode. Earlier today, I faced my fear and took a photo of her. I was going to include it here, but I changed my mind.

Just search for “Emily Dickinson Kindle” with Google Images.

PDF documents?

I haven’t tried any.

Bonus tip: Instapaper + Google Reader

The Instapaper bookmarklet(s) will also function while in Google Reader. It takes the permalink of the item you’ve selected. (Also, see “Can You Read Anything with the Kindle? Almost . . . with Google Reader” by FilterJoe.)

Additional resources

I wrote some of this like a supplement to the following:

Please share your thoughts on the Kindle in the comments. No flame wars, please.

Update: Added Kindle 3 First Impressions written by Marco Arment.

If you don’t know about RSS, see Common Craft’s super simple and informative video, “RSS in Plain English.” Looking to subscribe to someone else? View my Google Reader Shared Items. ↩
The oldest item I’ve saved is from January 28, 2008. ↩
I had some errors, but rather than trying to troubleshoot, I’ll see if a lower number of items helps. ↩
Late December 2010 or early January 2011. ↩