Kindle

[RedSoxFan]

So thinking about getting DS20 a Kindle for his college textbooks. We usually rent them; but some of them are the same price to buy on a Kindle. My question is for which Kindle to buy (original or touch)? And what does 'special offers' mean? Thanks for the help.

[MstngDrvnDsnyLvr]

'Special Offers' means it comes with advertisements. I'd personally never purchase one of the 'Special Offers' Kindles. You might look at the Kindle Fire. It more like a mini tablet than just a dedicated eReader.

[Maleficent_vf]

We have Kindles with advertising at work (a library). I was suprised to find the advertising pretty unobtrusive. I've never handled a Kindle Fire, but judging from what I've heard/read about it, I'd opt for it because of the increased functionality. The basic Kindle's don't have much functionality beyond being eReaders.

Just to add to your choices - my co-workers love their B/N Nooks and believe they far outpace the Kindles.

[paymerich]

I have the original Nook and I love it. The nook tablet is a little more expen sive than the fire but performs much better, has real buttons for volume & the home screen, and the software is better. The tablet has better nerd specs as well.

[btharvey]

I think it really depends on the textbooks. History, English (books), and subjects with a good deal of text and relatively few tables/etc. will do well on the Kindle. Subjects with lots of tables and graphs end up with the pages split or too tiny to see.

If you do go foward with this, I'd recommend the Kindle Fire, because even though the battery life can't compare to the 'regular' Kindles, it can handle the books of all types much easier. You can always use it when it's plugged in.

[DonLefNY]

I find pictures/illustrations/foot notes too small to read comfortably on my regular Kindle. Fine for reading though.

[Jeff]

Got my daughter a Fire for her birthday. She is a junior in college and she loves her kindle!