E-books are becoming more and more popular every year and, therefore, are becoming relevant and significant reading devices. When choosing, users consider many factors and increasingly prefer one of the most popular Kindle readers.
Why Kindle?
The transition from paper books to electronic does not mean that print publications should be completely abandoned. Nothing can replace the pleasant rustling, the smell of printing ink and the pleasure of turning over a page. Recent polls have shown that readers are switching to electronic media for two reasons:
- Convenience - small volume and weight (up to 400 g). Wherever you go, you can take the reader with you instead of a few heavy books.
- Price - paper editions are expensive. Having paid once for the Kindle, the reader gets to use a whole library into which you can download the desired book of any format, Kindle recognizes many of them.
Amazon Kindle History
From English, the word kindle translates to “light”. E-book fully lives up to its name. The Amazon Kindle in 2007 was a huge success. Although the reader contained only 200 electronic files without illustrations and cost 399 dollars, in five hours all the prepared models were sold. In February of next year, the second generation of electronic “readers” was released with a memory capacity of 2 GB, the device could store 1,500 books.
Since 2009, Kindle has supported the PDF format. During this period, increased memory, screen resolution and battery life. Most importantly, it was the first “reader” with the function of turning text into speech. In 2010, the reader entered global markets. It was possible to purchase books in the Amazon library through the 3G module and Wi-Fi. The price of the device dropped to $ 139, and by the end of the year 12 million readers were sold. In January 2011, Amazon announced that sales of e-books read by Kindle were many times greater than sales of paper editions.
The manufacturer began to produce models with the “advertising” of goods, which allowed to significantly reduce the price for them. In 2011, they introduced compact devices without a keyboard. New models came out without a headphone jack, audio support and a 3G module, but cost only $ 79. Kindle Touch is the first touch screen reader. Later models came out with LED backlighting, an interface in several languages, an E Ink screen, and built-in dictionaries.
A cup of coffee?
In the reviews, readers of the “readers” write that the Kindle can do everything, “only it doesn’t brew coffee.” Is it so? Let's consider the general characteristics of electronic devices, and also dwell in detail on what formats the Kindle reads. With Amazon, readers are bundled with a USB cable, and charging and transferring books to the reader are performed through it.
On the front panel of models without a built-in keyboard there are keys (two to four) and a four-position joystick. At the ends of the reader there are buttons for turning pages. They duplicate each other, thanks to this "reader" is convenient to hold in any hand. Joystick is used to move around the screen, flipping. A separate button is used to call up the keyboard. Writing long texts on it is inconvenient, the maximum why it is useful is a search in books. Amazon planned so - to create simple and affordable models without unnecessary features.
The company offers readers with a touch screen - they do not have control keys. Turning pages and managing the book is done using the screen. For people studying foreign or reading books in the original language, such a device has another attractive advantage - by touching it you can get a hint from the dictionary much faster than using the cursor.
Dictionary Search
Lovers of literature in foreign languages know that one dictionary is not enough for a full reading. In the old Kindles, several could be downloaded. However, the search was carried out only for the default language, and it was tiresome to switch to other dictionaries. In new models, you can easily go to the necessary from a book of any format. “Kindle” works with word forms - on the word “wind” the reader will open an article entitled “Wind”.
Another advantage is the search in dictionaries other than the language in which the book is written. It is very comfortable. For example, a book is written in Russian, and the hero constantly inserts phrases in French or English. There are technical flaws. It happens that in books from Amazon, the language is erroneously indicated - it is written, for example, in Spanish, but Kindle is sure that English is necessary and refers to the corresponding dictionary. In early devices, additional manipulations with the downloaded file were required, in current ones, it is enough to select the characteristics manually.
For the most common languages, dictionaries are loaded into the e-book reader automatically, at the first attempt of the user to turn to explanations. You can purchase additional helpers on Amazon. Before downloading, you need to make sure that this is the dictionary. Not all books entitled like this can be connected correctly. Unofficial dictionaries for Kindle can also be found on the Internet. Their format and quality vary: word forms are not processed correctly, for example, or the reader itself sometimes freezes when searching.
If there is no explanation in the dictionary, then the device searches for it in Wikipedia, in the version that corresponds to the language of the book. The user can set such a search himself. You can also watch phrases there. In Wikipedia, the search is carried out only when the Internet is connected.
Useful features
For language learners, there is a Vocabulary Builder feature. When it is activated, Kindle displays all the words that the user watched. You can also see fragments of text in which they were used.
Flashcards - in principle, this option is similar to the Anki program. The user is shown pictures with the words of the language being studied. Of course, Kindle flash cards are lagging behind interval reps. A big plus is that they use the words found on the pages of books, which greatly facilitates memorization.
Word Wise - this feature is for those who do not read in their own language. Complicated words upon activation of this program are provided with a simple and clear description. It works only with English-language books that indicate support for Word Wise.
Another feature is Bing Translator. It will help out when you need to translate the whole phrase, but it only works when connected to the Internet.
Keyboard and E Ink Screen
Models with a full keyboard increase the functionality of the reader. With it, you can leave notes and notes during reading, look for books in the store, Wikipedia and Google. But none of these advantages outweighs the main drawback - the increased weight and volume of the device.
Readers with an E Ink screen have a higher image contrast, without glare in natural light, it is equipped with a continuously adjustable LED backlight.
Settings and items
All Amazon readers have audio devices and a talk function. The Article Mode function allows the browser to select and display the main text with headers when browsing. You can use three types of fonts for reading:
- with serifs;
- chopped;
- compressed with serifs.
However, there is no text alignment and word wrap for syllables for the Russian.
The settings and navigation in the Kindle are simple - there are no confusing menus, as well as many options that other companies offer. But Amazon Kindle models have even more advantages:
- affordable price;
- attractive design;
- light and compact: minimum weight - 131 grams, thickness - 7.6 mm.
It is important that on a single charge, the device works even with backlight up to eight weeks.
What formats does Kindle support?
- Without conversion, Kindle reads documents in txt, pdf, mobi, azw, prc format. Azw is the same mobi, but protected by DRM (Digital rights management). Books must be uploaded to the root directory in the Documents folder.
- Graphic files (photos / pictures): gif, png, jpg. You can also place them in the Documents folder or, if the file is in a ZIP archive, then in Pictures.
- After conversion, for example, in the Caliber program, Kindle books will be available in the formats: html, doc, docx, as well as graphic files: gif, png, jpg and bmp. For azw, you can use the Amazonian content conversion and delivery service.
How to upload books?
Option one. Using the USB cable - micro-USB connected to the computer, you can download books in the format read by Kindle. After connecting, the Kindle will open as a "flash drive", in which there will be folders:
- Audiable - for audio editions.
- Documents - for books.
- Music - for music.
- System - system folder.
- Pictures - for photo albums.
Option Two. You can also download from Amazon. To do this, you need to connect to the Internet, register in the service or, if you have an account, enter data - mail and password. You can buy books both from the Kindle and from a computer (there are free ones).
Option Three. Via e-mail. An example format mailbox name@free.kindle.com is automatically created on Amazon. If desired, it can be changed (Your Account - Manage Your Kindle - Manage Your Devices). What formats for Kindle will be available? The device itself will pick up the contents of the box and even unzip the ZIP archive:
- Microsoft Word (doc, docx), rtf, html (htm) will be converted to mobi;
- jpg, jpeg, gif, png, bmp;
- Kindle formats - mobi, azw;
- pdf - it is converted to mobi if you write the word convert in the subject.
The fourth option. Using the browser built into the Kindle (Menu - Experimental - launch browser), launch the program and open the desired site.