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Should I Buy A New or Used Kindle? An Easy Answer

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Should I Buy a New or Used Kindle?

This updated lens includes the Kindle, Kindle Touch, Kindle Keyboard, and Kindle Fire. With the price of a Kindle now starting at $79 for the lowest priced and very good ereader, it is very hard to consider a used Kindle. However, for $20 or $25, a Kindle 2 or Kindle 3 is a very functional ereader with millions of people using this model on a daily basis to read books. The actual book reading experience is really not any different with the new Kindles.

All three versions (Kindle 1,2,3) are great book reading devices. The big decision is do you want to pay almost as much for a used Kindle 1 or Kindle 2 for about the same price that you can purchase a brand new Kindle ($79).

My personal choice was to buy a new Kindle Touch, Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Display - includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers. Why? In most cases it will be almost as cheap as buying an older, used Kindle 2. A new Kindle will provide a warranty, a better design, less weight, better screen, and smaller in overall size while keeping the same size screen.

There is nothing wrong with an older Kindle 1 or Kindle 2, however the Amazon price for a new Kindle, Kindle Touch, or Kindle keyboard is much lower than what the older Kindles were sold new for. Listed below are a couple of very good links for used Kindles. You may get lucky over time and find a good deal (I hope you do!), but you will have to spend a lot of time. Beware of the marketing hype "Kindle 1 or Kindle 2 for half price". It sounds good, but the Kindle 1 and 2 had a much higher list price. Good luck.

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Kindle Gift Card

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The Source For Daily Free Kindle Books

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Amazon Kindle, Kindle Keyboard, and Kindle Touch

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What is Kindle with Special Offers & Sponsored Screensaver?

One of our contributors at Digital Book Today recently purchased a Kindle with Special Offers and Sponsored Screensaver for her daughter and did a review. Listed below are some of the major points she made in the article.
  • No operational differences compared to a regular Kindle.
  • The special offers has no impact on the speed of the Kindle, unlike computers that come pre-loaded with all kinds of pre-installed software that you have to uninstall.
  • The "home" screen is identical except for a small adverting band across the bottom. A normal kindle displays 10 books or collections per page. The advertising band reduces this to 8.
  • The wallpaper that is displayed in sleep mode is an advertisement instead of the "famous authors" wallpaper.
  • At the time of release, there are 4 different "special offers" which include: 3x points when you use the Amazon Visa Card, Roku Streaming Player, Buick LaCrosse, and a $10 credit when purchasing a book from selected authors (currently 48 books). Over the past months since this promotional Kindle was released, Amazon has great increased their advertising partners.
  • In summary, there is no difference except for the visual display of ads. You will need to decide if $25 is worth the price to have an ad-free Kindle. I wonder what other promotions will become available in the months to come?

Compare The Entire Kindle Product Line

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Great Books That Were Free, But Are No Longer Free

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What we like about our Kindles.....

type=textWe love the high contrast, easy to read screen with changeable font size.

What we like about our Kindles....

type=textAmazon has made a great product even better with the Amazon Kindle . This is a cheap, inexpensive eBook reader which performs exactly as advertised along with having access to an ever expanding selection of books, blogs, magazines, and newspapers from Amazon incredibly large selection.

We've been featured on...
The Kindle Book Review
Click here to visit Digital Book Today.

What we like about our Kindles....

type=textMy wife loves to be able to read in the sun, sitting in her chair beside the lake, at our cabin in Minnesota.

Books that you buy from the Kindle Store are automatically backed up online in your Kindle library on Amazon. You can re-download books for free, anytime.

What we like about our Kindles....

type=textWeighs less than a paperback, but holds up to 3,500 books. Weighs 8.7 ounces.

My goal is to fill it up with a great section of books to choose from. Check out my lens for the best daily free Amazon titles. Some titles will only be free hours, a day, or sometime a week.

What we like about our Kindles....

type=textFree 3G wireless (no contracts or additional costs) on the Kindle Touch 3Gs and Kindle Keyboard 3G. This is a slower network but is more than fast enough to download books in less than a minute. Books are small files compared to pictures.

All Kindle models have built in Wi-Fi. Simply turn it on to download books you have bought from Amazon. Over 800,000 books available. Over 1.8 million out-of-copyright books including great classics. See my lens for 10 Free Must Read Classics for Kindle.

Top 100 Free Kindle Book Links by Genre

These link will direct you to Amazon and the Top 100 by genre. The problem is this list is based upon sales, not review rating. Authors will give away their book for a short time (this counts as a sale), which puts them further up the bestseller list but then the book may not be free anymore.

Digital Book Today has a highly rated Squidoo page that is updated daily.
Visit the Top 100 Best Reviewed Free Books From Amazon For Your Kindle, Tablet, or Phone.

Many of the books that appear on the Paid Bestsellers were free at some point for a limited time.
Kindle Bestsellers
Fiction Bestsellers
Kindle Games (Free & Paid)
Non Fiction Bestsellers
Mystery and Thrillers
Contemporary Fiction
Literary Fiction
Romance
Science Fiction
Action and Adventure
The Kindle Store

You Don't Need A Kindle To Read Kindle Books

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Your Kindle books can be read on your Kindle, iPhone, iPad, PC, Mac, Android device, and BlackBerry. Amazon's Whispersync technology syncs your place across devices, so you can pick up where you left off. Click here to download or to find out more info about this app from Amazon.

What we like about our Kindles....

Read-to-me with Text-to-Speech lets your Kindle read English language content out loud to you. Choose between male or female voice and the rate of speed which text is read.

Why is this so great?

Kindle kids books read out loud.

I can read my book at night and then continue listening to my book during my commute.

The Kindle does come with a pair of speakers, but I would recommend headphones or earplugs.

Case Study

How my wife and I use our two $139 Kindle 3 eReader devices.

type=textWe have a wireless router in our house for our work laptops , but do the majority of our "heavy work" on our desktop computer. When shopping for books to read, we do it the same way we always did before we bought our Kindles. We shop Amazon, look at books, and buy them. Instead of having our books shipped to us, we download them to our respective Kindle. Then all we have to do is just turn our Kindle on and they automatically sync to our respective e-reader.

Amazon has a "manage your Kindle" function. This is actually a great feature for households that have more than 1 Kindle (FYI: a Kindle is a great gift for kids who are readers). My wife and I often will often recommend a book to each other. All we have to do is "manage your Kindle" which means "removing the book" from one Kindle and putting it on our other Kindle. Then a simple Wi-Fi sync and I can read her recommended book.

Interesting note: I am not able to find on the Amazon site where it indicates how many Kindles I can own in my family. Some answers on online forums indicate 6 kindles or 9 kindles in one account. Another post indicated it is unlimited. However, many books only allow you to lend it one time to another Kindle.

I am contemplating buying a third for a child and maybe a fourth for my mother-in-law. She could sync her Kindle when she is visiting us. I could stock it up with all the free books that I download at the Best Daily Free eBooks From Amazon Lens.

What we like about our Kindles...

type=textBookmark favorite pages, highlight passages, and even share them with built in integration for Twitter and Facebook.

I have never used the Twitter or Facebook sharing feature, however I am now hooked on bookmarks and highlighting passages. They are very useful to me when I am reading business or technology books. They allow me to keep track of points that I might want to reference in the future. All you do is select the bookmark option for a particular title and all the pages you have marked come up in a list.

I find this feature extremely addicting. Now I will have to set aside time to go back to all my bookmarked and highlighted pages!

Search for a bargain on an older Kindle

Type in the phrase you want to see if you can find a deal on an older Kindle eReader.

What we like about our Kindles....

type=textDownload and save PDF files.

What is so great about this feature?

We have used our Kindle to download and save state park hiking trails in northern Minnesota since cell phone coverage is often limited.

My son has put guitar music on the Kindle.

My daughter put her History Day school project on the Kindle. The judges thought it was a great idea plus it allowed her to show her project to the relatives.
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The Kindle battery will last up to one month with wireless turned off. I personally have found the battery life to be fantastic on my Kindle 3 (Wi-Fi) only model. Especially compared to my smartphone that must be plugged in every night.

What we like about our Kindles....

type=text1) Smoother Fonts




2) Read in bright sunlight (I love the iPad, but not for reading in the sun)




3) Fantastic battery life.

What we like about our Kindles....

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The Amazon Whispersync technology allows you to sync your Kindle library with your phone or computer. Read on your Kindle at night and then pick up reading on your phone/computer/tablet on the way to work or wherever else you may be. Click here to download or to find out more info about this app from Amazon.

I love this feature on my Android phone.

Which Kindle Model Should I Choose?

The $79 Kindle (Wi-Fi only), the $99 Touch (Wi-Fi only), the $149 Touch 3G, the $99 Kindle Keyboard (Wi-Fi only), the $139 Kindle Keyboard 3G (Free 3G + Wi-Fi), or the $199 Kindle Fire?

type=textIf you already have a wireless router in your house and do not need the convenience of a 3G connection, then any of the Wi-Fi models will probably be the right choice for you.

The 3G models (Free 3G + Wi-Fi) are ready to shop and download books right out of the box because of the free built in 3G connectivity which uses the same signal that cell phones use - without monthly fees or contracts. This is a great option for the traveler.

The $199 Kindle Fire is a great product for the person who does not need all the features that are found in many tablets.

A Hands On Demonstration Of A KIndle 3

Check out a complete review of the Kindle 3 by Mobile TechReview. It is 12 minutes long, but it does a fantastic job of showing the features of the Kindle.

It has over 300,000 views and is very highly rated.
Amazon Kindle 3 Video Review
by MobileTechReview | video info

1,177 ratings | 688,482 views
curated content from YouTube

The Amazon Kindle (Wi-Fi) version is available in 3 different models starting as low as $79. These are all advertising supported Kindle models. Click on this link to find out the details of this special offer from Amazon.

Give the gift of reading with an Amazon customizable Kindle gift card. Good for all merchandise you buy on Amazon.
Kindle Gift Card
Click here to see gift cards.

What books should I read now that I own a Kindle?

Bestsellers? Classics? Free Books?

What? Did you say free books?

The Amazon Kindle store has a page that lists the Kindle Top 100 Paid and Top 100 Free titles that are downloaded. This is a great place to start to look for books to read on your Kindle. The Top 100 Free books will contain a variety of newer titles, classics, and games. The Big Secret. Almost on a daily basis there are books that have a price of $0.00. This generally is promotional pricing by the publisher to increase awareness of a title or author. Don't expect big name authors, but sometimes you will find books that are highly rated by Amazon readers. In other words - a great read. The Second Big Secret. These "free" titles are either free for hours, a day, or sometimes for many days. The real key is to download the books when they are free and you can decide later if you really want to read the book. Your Kindle can hold up to 3500 titles.

The lens below highlights on a daily basis the better free Kindle books that become available. Many of these may not make the Top 100 Bestseller list UNTIL they are no longer free. A lot of people will download when they are free which sends the title onto the bestseller list even though they are no longer free. A sneaky marketing trick, but one that you can capitalize on.
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More Helpful Amazon Kindle Lenses

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Do you know somebody who loves to read but is "Tech Challenged"?

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Case Study

Is a Kindle a good gift for the "Tech Challenged" person in your life?

Are you afraid of giving the gift of a Kindle to somebody who loves to read but is so "tech challenged" that you don't think they could handle a Kindle? This might be the one device that will bring them out of the "stone age" and into the "space age". I keep thinking of my elderly parents. My mom does OK with email and photos, but does nothing else which is fine with her. My 85 year old father is another story. He will look at photos and jokes that are sent, but my mom has to do all the actual computer operations. If he was a bigger reader of books, I think he could handle reading books on the Kindle. Buying books might be another issue.

My suggestion would be to add a few of their favorite books to the Kindle before they get it.

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I Now Own A Kindle, So What Do I Read?

Now that I am ready to read Kindle books, I only have one problem left to solve. What do I read? Listed below are a variety of links to help you sort through the hundreds of thousands of books available for the Kindle. Some of the links below are easy to find when you go to the Amazon Kindle store. We also have included some links/searches that are harder to create in the Amazon Kindle store.

Kindle Books $0.01 to $0.98 sorted by Bestseller
Kindle Books priced at $0.99 sorted by Bestseller
Kindle Books $1.00 to $2.99 sorted by Bestseller
Kindle Books $3.00 to $4.99 sorted by Bestseller
Kindle Books $5.00 to $9.98 sorted by Bestseller

New York Times Fiction and Nonfiction Bestsellers
Top 100 Paid and Top 100 Free Kindle Bestsellers
Oprah's Book Club Series on the Kindle
Book Award Winners
Bestsellers in Fiction - Paid and Free
Top 100 Children's Books - Paid and Free
Movers and Shakers - Biggest Gainers in Kindle Store Rank in the past 24 hours.

Do you love your Android phone or tablet? Click here to download your Kindle app from Amazon.

Bestselling Kindle Titles

Auto Updated Every 30 Minutes

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What Kind Of Case Or Cover Do I Buy?

The Kindle is a durable electronic device, but I would still recommend getting a case for it. What kind of case to buy? That depends where and when you plan on using your Kindle.

I will only use my Kindle during the day in an area with light.

If so, then follow this link to over 150 4 star or better reviewed cases for your Kindle. Listed below is a sample of choices.
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Click here to see our Complete Guide to Kindle Cases and Covers.

Reading Lights

I want a book light that clips onto my Kindle.

Top Sellers in Reading Lights

Click here to see our Complete Guide to Booklights.

Kindle Skins

I want my Kindle to have a skin that matches my personality.

There is a HUGE selection of skins for your Kindle (or iPad, iPhone, tablet, etc). Remember that skins are like a sticker that fits onto your Kindle. They really are not a protective cover, but they will prevent scratches and nicks.

Top Sellers in Kindle (6

Click here to see our Complete Guide to Skins for Electronic Devices.

Read with your Kindle in the dark with a lighted, leather cover.

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Case Study

How to become a published author on Amazon for Kindles.

Just for the fun of it and to learn something new, I took a collection of short stories that I wrote about a trip to Washington DC that I took with my 85 year old father who is a farmer. It was really quite easy to do. My collection of stories were already in Microsoft Word. I followed the editing instructions from the Amazon publishing site. Made a simple cover and title page. Followed a few more steps for the conversion process and uploaded it to Amazon. 24 hours later a search on my name brought up my book and I was a published author.

My stories are taken from a lens that I produced about our trip. Click here to see that lens on our trip to Washington DC. If you have an elderly parent, you may find yourself chuckling out loud as you read the lens. I sometimes wonder what color is the sky in my father's world.

You must sell your book for at least $0.99 on Amazon. Here is the book I "published". One Minute Travel Stories: Life Lessons Learned Visiting Washington DC With An 85 Year Old Parent is about a 15 minute read and is listed in both the travel and humor sections.


One Minute Travel Stories

Kindle Newspapers

A great selection of newspapers are available for your Kindle or electronic device using the Kindle app. National, regional, and international newspapers are available. If you have the Kindle with 3G & Wi-Fi, the paper is downloaded automatically every morning. A Kindle DX or tablet with a Kindle app is more desirable for reading a newspaper, however I have been happy reading my regional paper on my Kindle 3 while on vacation. All newspapers start with a 14 day free trial. Click here to see all newspapers available.
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Kindle Bestselling Magazines

A wide selection of magazines are available. All come with a 14 day Free Trial Period. A Kindle DX or tablet with a Kindle app is more desirable for reading a magazine in my opinion. Check out all the available magazines.
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Kindle Lenses

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Show Off Your Kindle With CafePress

Amazon Kendal ~ Toddler T-Shirt

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STEAMPUNK LUGGAGE Kindle Sleeve

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Kindle Sleeve

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LTA Mousepad

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Reach Out and Read Tote Bag

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About Me

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Comments on our Kindle lens....

My wife and I hope you enjoyed this lens. We have always been avid book readers and like the many advantages that we have found using our Kindles. Thanks for taking the time to view our lens on the Amazon Kindle.

Debbie & Anthony Wessel

  • Ladyeaglefeather Mar 21, 2012 @ 12:02 am | delete
    Great information. Great lens
  • ernieplotter Jan 4, 2012 @ 7:06 pm | delete
    great job gathering all this titles!
  • colleen_w Dec 11, 2011 @ 8:49 pm | delete
    I presently own a Kindle WiFi with the keyboard and will be getting the Kindle Fire for Christmas. Will be an interesting comparison
  • zztanti Aug 1, 2011 @ 3:55 am | delete
    Certainly make decision easier, very much appreciated !!
    Kindle eBook Reader
  • Tolovaj Jun 14, 2011 @ 3:20 am | delete
    Well argumented lens, it certainly make decision easier. Thank you for all the information!
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AnthonyWessel

Owner of www.DigitalBookToday.com which focuses on digital books and eReaders (Kindle & Nook). Owner of www.MnLakWear.com which is my base site for Ca... more »

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