Have Kindle Will Travel
I’m excited – its coming. I think its somewhere over the Pacific actually – its left LAX but not got to Auckland yet. It’s my Kindle! Mid 2010 was significant not just because the latest version of the Kindle was released – the Kindle 3 – but because it was made available to residents of New Zealand and other third world countries who previously hadn’t been able to buy it (Nook makers take note! )
I missed the excitement – I bought a netbook and smartphone for travelling and missed the whole Kindle thing. I spent part of my holiday browsing through second hand shops and swapping paper backs with the random collections left behind at guest houses by other travellers. The time honoured to feed a book habit without having to hire a porter to carry the dame things. It might well have been the last time.
The Kindle weights not just less than your average Lonely Planet guide book – but less than the slimest of thin paperbacks as well. You can download a newspaper onto it and read the paper on the plane without needing an upgrade to Excecutive Class to have enough room to turn the pages.
But most surprising of all – apparently the photo above is for real – you really can read at the beach in bright sunlight! Now last year I had a netbook at the beach in Ko Lipe, Thailand. The beach was lovely – but it was pretty basic – my “resort” had an open sided reception hut and lots of loungers with good palm tree coverage – but nothing more substantial. During most of the day – the only place I could read my netbook’s screen was right at the back of reception in the shade of a wall – or inside my hut. There was just too much glare off the sea and sand to make it possible to read anywhere else. The Kindle claims you can – I intend to take it on this year’s trip to Phuket to find out!
The Kindle is a pretty exciting gadget for a the average tourist – you will be hearing more about mine!
Hi Lis – I am an avid reader and off to Europe in 2012 for 8 mths so keen to take a kindle with me. What I am trying to find out is, if I purchase it now (the NZ model), what happens when I shop in Europe for kindle content? Will I have any problems downloading content over there? Do I have change “region” once i am there? Also, if the 3G kindle works anywhere in NZ for free that a cell phone does, will that still work in Europe or will it cost to download/use 3G over there? Does anyone know how the tech side of it workings?
The Kindle 3 which I bought last week, has this in the terms and conditions for the New Zealand version “Free Wireless: Free 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle. No monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots. For non-U.S. customers, there are also no additional charges for wireless delivery in or outside your home country” – so it looks like if you have or buy the 3G version – you will have free downloads. If you you buy the (cheaper) WIFI only model you will need to either find somewhere with WIFI to download (real common in Europe hostels, hotels, cafes etc) or connect it to a laptop/computer which has an Internet connection.
My understanding is that there is no reason to change region – unless you need to add an overseas credit card with your account – so if you are say living in Germany but have a NZ credit card – then you will remain in the Oceania region – but if you are going to use a local credit card you will have no choice but to change over. Given the high VAT and similar sales taxes on books in Europe I think you will be best to stay with NZ as a country as we don’t pay GST on Amazon purchases
this is the kindle 3 version right? do you have some news about kindle touch and fire in new zealand?
Kindle NZ recently posted..Trick How to Buy Kindle Touch in New Zealand