It's been 24 hours since Penny arrived (at this point, more like 36-40 hours), and things are going well.
Oh, wait a minute. I didn't tell you about this part, did I? I named my new Kindle Penny. She shipped from Pennsylvania (I know this because I checked the tracking every 5 minutes from the time I ordered her until she showed up on my doorstep on Friday), and I thought, "Pennsylvania. Penny. Perfect!" I'm from Pennsylvania originally, too, so we started out with a lot in common. :p
It is different from my original Kindle, and there's been a little bit of an adjustment period. The page turn buttons operate differently. These click out (which is how I expected the K2's buttons to work, so I guess this is more of an un-adjustment), while the K2's buttons click on the inside edge. I think I'm mostly used to the change in the buttons, but it is still weird every once in a while. Also, there is now a page back button on both the left and right hand sides. On the K2 the back button was on the left, and the button in that position on the right was the Home button. I'm still reaching for that right hand back button when I want Home.
I don't miss the keyboard at all. The only time I used it was when I would create a collection, and I'd type in the name. (TBR, freebies, read, etc.) Now there's a keyboard that pops up on the screen, and you use the up, down, left, right key to pick the letters one at a time. Tedious, but creating new collections isn't exactly a daily project.
The funny thing about the change in size and button location is that I sometimes try to navigate as if I'm reading on my Sony Pocket. They have 10 buttons down the right side that allow you to pick which book you want off the list. With the Kindle you still have to use navigation buttons at the bottom center of the device to pick your book. You basically do it the same way you do on the old Kindle, except the button is in a different place-- coincidentally the same spot that it's in on the Pocket, so that probably assists in the brain glitch.
So those are the things that are weird or different or that I just plain have to adjust to.
I'm loving that it is significantly lighter than the old Kindle. The screen looks really good, and even though the overall unit is much smaller the screen is the same size. The advanced e-ink gives a sharper image, and there's greater contrast between the text and the background, which makes it easier on the eyes. There's none of the screen "flash" that so many people hated in earlier versions. And it's much faster. Sometimes, with the old Kindle, I would give it a command-- click the Home button for instance-- and then I'd sit and wait. And wait. And WAIT for it to finally take me there. There's no waiting with the Penny. I hit the Home button, and I'm on the Home screen. No waiting. It's lovely. Even transferring stuff is faster. The K2 was on Whispernet (Sprint, I believe), and signal strength isn't always so great. Penny operates off of my home wifi, and so far it's worked like a dream.
To wrap up, there are some things that are different, and I'm adjusting. There are some other things that work really well-- better than my original-- and I'm thrilled about that. At 24 hours into our relationship (or 36-40 hours, whatever) I'm very happy with my purchase. And at $79 I feel it was an excellent deal.
Oh, and the lip balm of the day is: Gummy Bear. Yum!
Showing posts with label ereaders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ereaders. Show all posts
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
Today Was a Good Day
I had an excellent day today. First of all, I had the house to myself all day long. Mom and Dad went with their Sunday School class to some sort of Jesus museum. (It had dinosaurs. I don't even pretend to understand that one.) Anyway, this place was a couple hours away, so between driving there, touring, having lunch and dinner, and driving home again, I didn't see them until 9pm. It was lovely and peaceful.
And then the thing that I'd been waiting for since Wednesday finally happened. My brand new Kindle arrived! It's light and little and adorable. I spent some time loading books for the quarterly reading challenge that started at midnight, and then I started a library book that I was able to download wirelessly onto the new Kindle.
As if all of that wasn't happy making enough, my name was drawn in a contest on twitter. I got a free advance copy of Carina Press's holiday m/m anthology! In it is a new story by one of my very favorite authors-- Josh Lanyon. Woo hoo!
Some craft supplies that I'd ordered were delivered, and I ate queso dip and tortilla chips for dinner. (I'm a grown up, I can eat whatever I want for dinner. Also, my mommy wasn't here to say no.)
After that, Mom and Dad came home, and we talked about their trip, and then we watched about half an episode of Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, which happened to feature a place here in Indianapolis and another place in Bucks County, PA (which is where we're from originally). And then we all retreated to our rooms, Mom and Dad to zonk out in exhaustion, and me to watch some random stuff off the dvr and write this post.
Really, it was a fantastic day!
And then the thing that I'd been waiting for since Wednesday finally happened. My brand new Kindle arrived! It's light and little and adorable. I spent some time loading books for the quarterly reading challenge that started at midnight, and then I started a library book that I was able to download wirelessly onto the new Kindle.
As if all of that wasn't happy making enough, my name was drawn in a contest on twitter. I got a free advance copy of Carina Press's holiday m/m anthology! In it is a new story by one of my very favorite authors-- Josh Lanyon. Woo hoo!
Some craft supplies that I'd ordered were delivered, and I ate queso dip and tortilla chips for dinner. (I'm a grown up, I can eat whatever I want for dinner. Also, my mommy wasn't here to say no.)
After that, Mom and Dad came home, and we talked about their trip, and then we watched about half an episode of Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, which happened to feature a place here in Indianapolis and another place in Bucks County, PA (which is where we're from originally). And then we all retreated to our rooms, Mom and Dad to zonk out in exhaustion, and me to watch some random stuff off the dvr and write this post.
Really, it was a fantastic day!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Windows!
Today was a very busy day. After over a week of rain outs and rescheduling, the work crew came today and replaced every window in the house. It was noisy and weird, having a half dozen strangers traipsing in and out of the house all day. But it was supposed to take two days, and they finished in one. This was an inexpressible relief to me. Also, we never got out of the 70s today, so the house stayed nice and cool while big holes were opened up all over the place. We took Trouble to "summer camp" to keep him out from under foot, and he's still there until tomorrow. Which means I get to sleep in the middle of the bed tonight! Yay me! (Trouble is a total bed hog.)
While the crew was here banging around, Mom and I went out to run errands. Mostly I sat in the car and read while she did stuff, but still. At least I left the house for a little while. The one place I did go in was Target. I needed Midol (sexy!), plus I wanted to get a sleep mask. And I discovered that Dr. Bronner's was on sale, so I bought a bucket full of soap. Dr. Bronner might have been... interesting, but his soap is good stuff. I'm less rashy now that I'm using it, and less smelly. Well, less smelly in a bad way. I get the lavender scented kind, and while it's not heavy, the scent lingers nicely.
I'm going to have to call Amazon again tomorrow about my Kindle. It's not doing anything horrendous, but it's not acting quite right, either. Last night all my content disappeared for a little while, and then it didn't want to turn off or reset. I finally got it going again, but now it's not bringing the most recently opened books to the front of the file. Which doesn't sound like a big deal, but is annoying when you've got forty books in a file and you have to page through the whole file to find the one you're looking for every time you want to read again. It's still not time to replace it, but every time it does something screwy like this, that time gets a little bit closer.
So, that's what's going on for me right now. Nothing thrilling, just the every day blah, blah, blah of life.
While the crew was here banging around, Mom and I went out to run errands. Mostly I sat in the car and read while she did stuff, but still. At least I left the house for a little while. The one place I did go in was Target. I needed Midol (sexy!), plus I wanted to get a sleep mask. And I discovered that Dr. Bronner's was on sale, so I bought a bucket full of soap. Dr. Bronner might have been... interesting, but his soap is good stuff. I'm less rashy now that I'm using it, and less smelly. Well, less smelly in a bad way. I get the lavender scented kind, and while it's not heavy, the scent lingers nicely.
I'm going to have to call Amazon again tomorrow about my Kindle. It's not doing anything horrendous, but it's not acting quite right, either. Last night all my content disappeared for a little while, and then it didn't want to turn off or reset. I finally got it going again, but now it's not bringing the most recently opened books to the front of the file. Which doesn't sound like a big deal, but is annoying when you've got forty books in a file and you have to page through the whole file to find the one you're looking for every time you want to read again. It's still not time to replace it, but every time it does something screwy like this, that time gets a little bit closer.
So, that's what's going on for me right now. Nothing thrilling, just the every day blah, blah, blah of life.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Happy Days Are Here Again!
Another round of good news on the medication front. My doctor's office called this morning. The makers of Savella (my other Fibro medication) approved my patient assistance, and there was 3 months worth of free meds waiting for me at the office! Yay! My Fibro meds are the only ones I take that are too new to have a generic, which means they are the most expensive. Now that I'm getting both of them for free, my monthly med costs have gone down by about 3/4. That's huge-- a significant line item in the monthly budget slashed.
In other news, I've got the Kindle down to 724 items. So far it hasn't made a bit of difference. In fact, the battery is dying even faster. But that might be because of all the clicking around to delete stuff. I'll go back to more normal usage for the next couple of days and see if there's any improvement.
And more good news-- I have a solid story idea to work on. Last night I was thinking about a story I started almost 15 years ago and abandoned. The actual pages are long gone at this point (trust me, it's no loss), but the idea lingered. As I was falling asleep last night it fused with another scrap of an idea, and suddenly I have a viable story idea. In the next few days I'm going to work on Kelley Armstrong's Outlining 101, and then I want to start writing March 1st. I'm not going to push myself to NaNo it. I'm afraid I'll flame out in a couple of days at that kind of pace. But I'd definitely like to finish March with a nice chunk of pages. I've also had a little bit of a brain wave about the story I was working on last fall during Discovery. So I think I may end up outlining both at the same time. We'll see how confused I get.
Lip Balm Flavor of the Day: Gingerale
In other news, I've got the Kindle down to 724 items. So far it hasn't made a bit of difference. In fact, the battery is dying even faster. But that might be because of all the clicking around to delete stuff. I'll go back to more normal usage for the next couple of days and see if there's any improvement.
And more good news-- I have a solid story idea to work on. Last night I was thinking about a story I started almost 15 years ago and abandoned. The actual pages are long gone at this point (trust me, it's no loss), but the idea lingered. As I was falling asleep last night it fused with another scrap of an idea, and suddenly I have a viable story idea. In the next few days I'm going to work on Kelley Armstrong's Outlining 101, and then I want to start writing March 1st. I'm not going to push myself to NaNo it. I'm afraid I'll flame out in a couple of days at that kind of pace. But I'd definitely like to finish March with a nice chunk of pages. I've also had a little bit of a brain wave about the story I was working on last fall during Discovery. So I think I may end up outlining both at the same time. We'll see how confused I get.
Lip Balm Flavor of the Day: Gingerale
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Why Can't They All Be Ebooks?
Small pet peeve time, folks. As I'm sure I've mentioned 8,000 times around here, I love my ebooks. Now that I've moved into a tiny room with no bookshelves and no storage, they are vital to my existence. That's not hyperbole, y'all. If it weren't for ebooks there'd be no books at all. And I can't live like that.
So why, oh why, must so there be so many books I want to read that don't have a digital edition? In the last week I've been all over Josh Lanyon (in the metaphorical sense), and now I want to try some f/f fiction. (Apparently it's Gay Week here in The Little Bedroom in Indiana.) I've done some research. I found a title that comes highly recommended. It looks like it has a lot of humor. Score! Except that it doesn't have a digital version. No score! No score!
The problem isn't so much that I want to buy, download, and begin reading an ebook while never leaving my bed (the only sitting surface in my bedroom), because I could buy it off Amazon and have it delivered right to the house without having to risk contamination by any of that icky ice and snow that's going around right now. The problem is, once I have it, what do I do with it? It's gone beyond a little scary and right into "call the EPA" at the moment. I desperately need to CLEAN ALL THE THINGS! Or more realistically, CLEAN SOME OF THE THINGS! If one more thing comes into this room, it may just pop like a zit. (Now there's an image for you.)
So all that means, no lovely, funny f/f story to read. It makes me very sad. The moral of this story? (My mother would say it's "clean your room," but that is never the moral of any of my stories.) Publishers, put out digital versions, please. Because those of us with small living spaces and snow allergies want to read your books, too.
So why, oh why, must so there be so many books I want to read that don't have a digital edition? In the last week I've been all over Josh Lanyon (in the metaphorical sense), and now I want to try some f/f fiction. (Apparently it's Gay Week here in The Little Bedroom in Indiana.) I've done some research. I found a title that comes highly recommended. It looks like it has a lot of humor. Score! Except that it doesn't have a digital version. No score! No score!
The problem isn't so much that I want to buy, download, and begin reading an ebook while never leaving my bed (the only sitting surface in my bedroom), because I could buy it off Amazon and have it delivered right to the house without having to risk contamination by any of that icky ice and snow that's going around right now. The problem is, once I have it, what do I do with it? It's gone beyond a little scary and right into "call the EPA" at the moment. I desperately need to CLEAN ALL THE THINGS! Or more realistically, CLEAN SOME OF THE THINGS! If one more thing comes into this room, it may just pop like a zit. (Now there's an image for you.)
So all that means, no lovely, funny f/f story to read. It makes me very sad. The moral of this story? (My mother would say it's "clean your room," but that is never the moral of any of my stories.) Publishers, put out digital versions, please. Because those of us with small living spaces and snow allergies want to read your books, too.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart
Today is my anniversary. It's been one year since I purchased my Kindle. I can't believe it's been a year already!
I wanted a Kindle because I thought they were cool. I've never been a big gadget person, but I've always been a reader, and after listening to Sarah over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books go on and on about ereaders, I was ready to take the plunge.
But what really made the decision for me was J.R Ward's chracktastickh Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I read the first two books while lying on the couch, too miserably sick to move. I finished those books and wanted DESPERATELY to move on to the third book, Z's story. But I couldn't. I didn't have it on my shelf, and I didn't have the physical strength to get up off the couch, go to the bookstore, and buy a copy. I lived by myself at the time (and still will for the next 26 days), so there was no one to send out to the store on an emergency book run. Friends were occasionally helping out by picking up groceries and such for me, and I have a few reader friends who totally would have understood the concept of book as urgent necessity. But I was struggling to accept the grocery thing at that point. I couldn't call up a friend and ask them to go to the bookstore for me. And ordering online would have taken DAYS. At that moment I knew. Someday I was going to have an ereader.
It took another 7 or 8 months for the dream to become reality. I did a TON of research, trying to make sure I picked exactly the right one. I made a pros and cons list between Sony and Kindle. They came up exactly even. (No decision this important is ever easy.) Finally, I went with the Kindle, because that's the one I really, really wanted. I've never regretted my decision.
I was so excited about buying my Kindle that I even sprang for next day shipping- something I never do. I stalked the UPS website all the next day, tracking my package over and over, afraid that it would be delivered to the apartment office and I wouldn't find out until after they'd locked up for the night. The UPS guy finally delivered it around 7 that evening, dumping it outside my door, knocking loudly, and then taking off. But I didn't care, my baby was here!
As much as I love the instant access to more or less any book I want, there's an even bigger benefit that I never would have realized if I hadn't started using an ereader. Holding a book puts stress on the hands and arms. The Kindle is lighter than a hardback and doesn't have to be held open like a paperback. It puts less stress on the body. That might not seem like such a big deal, but to those of us with joint issues, it's a lot. I was amazed at how much less pain I had when I made the switch. Ereaders have the potential to give books back to readers with arthritis, pain issues, or other conditions that affect manual dexterity. You have no idea how huge that is. Health problems can take so much away from you. To not even be able to do something as simple as hold a book can be devastating. Getting that back is worth more than you can imagine.
I celebrated today by reading on the Kindle in a doctor's office, hooked up to an IV. (No emergency- this is routine treatment for me.) I thought about using some of the Amazon gift card credit I have saved up to buy a new book wirelessly from the office, just because I could. But in the end I decided to read one of the 259 books I was carrying around in my purse, all on one little device. Happy Anniversary to me.
I wanted a Kindle because I thought they were cool. I've never been a big gadget person, but I've always been a reader, and after listening to Sarah over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books go on and on about ereaders, I was ready to take the plunge.
But what really made the decision for me was J.R Ward's chracktastickh Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I read the first two books while lying on the couch, too miserably sick to move. I finished those books and wanted DESPERATELY to move on to the third book, Z's story. But I couldn't. I didn't have it on my shelf, and I didn't have the physical strength to get up off the couch, go to the bookstore, and buy a copy. I lived by myself at the time (and still will for the next 26 days), so there was no one to send out to the store on an emergency book run. Friends were occasionally helping out by picking up groceries and such for me, and I have a few reader friends who totally would have understood the concept of book as urgent necessity. But I was struggling to accept the grocery thing at that point. I couldn't call up a friend and ask them to go to the bookstore for me. And ordering online would have taken DAYS. At that moment I knew. Someday I was going to have an ereader.
It took another 7 or 8 months for the dream to become reality. I did a TON of research, trying to make sure I picked exactly the right one. I made a pros and cons list between Sony and Kindle. They came up exactly even. (No decision this important is ever easy.) Finally, I went with the Kindle, because that's the one I really, really wanted. I've never regretted my decision.
I was so excited about buying my Kindle that I even sprang for next day shipping- something I never do. I stalked the UPS website all the next day, tracking my package over and over, afraid that it would be delivered to the apartment office and I wouldn't find out until after they'd locked up for the night. The UPS guy finally delivered it around 7 that evening, dumping it outside my door, knocking loudly, and then taking off. But I didn't care, my baby was here!
As much as I love the instant access to more or less any book I want, there's an even bigger benefit that I never would have realized if I hadn't started using an ereader. Holding a book puts stress on the hands and arms. The Kindle is lighter than a hardback and doesn't have to be held open like a paperback. It puts less stress on the body. That might not seem like such a big deal, but to those of us with joint issues, it's a lot. I was amazed at how much less pain I had when I made the switch. Ereaders have the potential to give books back to readers with arthritis, pain issues, or other conditions that affect manual dexterity. You have no idea how huge that is. Health problems can take so much away from you. To not even be able to do something as simple as hold a book can be devastating. Getting that back is worth more than you can imagine.
I celebrated today by reading on the Kindle in a doctor's office, hooked up to an IV. (No emergency- this is routine treatment for me.) I thought about using some of the Amazon gift card credit I have saved up to buy a new book wirelessly from the office, just because I could. But in the end I decided to read one of the 259 books I was carrying around in my purse, all on one little device. Happy Anniversary to me.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Book Binge
A couple weeks ago I broke down and bought my second ebook reader, a Sony Pocket. I love my Kindle, don't get me wrong. But there was this ebook sale, and, well.... If I wanted to read any of the books that I really, really wanted, it was either use the lap top (which has it's uses, but generally isn't a practical reading device for me), grow magical hacking skillz and strip and convert all these lovely new books into a format that would work with my existing ereader, or break down and buy something that would accept the formats the books were already in. And there was the Pocket. It was CHEAP (as these things go), and it was PINK (not usually a big draw for me, but I just loved that bright fuchsia from the first moment I saw it). So I gave in to my baser instincts and spent the money.
I am LOVING this thing. Not so much the unit itself, although it is adequate. It's not terribly difficult to use. I'm not loving the button placement (spoiled by convenient page turns on both the left and right sides of the Kindle), and the screen is a bit smaller than I'd prefer. But it's quite a bit lighter than the Kindle, so big points in it's favor there. (I always feel it when the Kindle is in my purse. It makes the damn thing so much heavier.)
What I really, really love about the Pocket is that my local library has expanded their service, and now I can access ebooks through Overdrive! Before all they had were scholarly works, and I am so not the scholarly type. I'm working diligently to rot what's left of my brain with works of pure entertainment. And now I can, for free! I was just using my city library, which has a kind of small subscription to Overdrive. Certainly enough to keep me happily reading for quite some time. I even have one not-completely-brain-rotting book on my wishlist- it's about Egyptian history, which is one of the few topics that could tempt me to read non-fiction.
And then, I hit the jackpot. In several places lately I've seen people talking about maintaining non-resident library cards, usually by paying a fee for the card. So I started checking around to see what it would cost me to get a library card in some of the other major cities in Texas and if it would be worth it to pay the fee to have access to their online ebook services. Which is when I discovered that not only do we have a major city library with dozens of branches around town, we also have a county library with many fewer branches but a much larger ebook collection. Much. Like, literally 10x the size of the city library's collection. Ka ching!
I spent the last two evenings working my way through the fiction list on the county library's website. (It takes a long time to go through a list of over 2000 ebook titles and pick what looks interesting.) I now have 9 new titles waiting patiently on my pretty pink Pocket, a half dozen books on hold, and 149 books on my wishlist. Between what I bought in those last two sales, what I've grabbed for free off Amazon, and all the ebooks available to me now through my county library, I probably won't have to buy another book for two years, maybe more! (Of course, there are a few favorite authors whose books I'll be buying anyway, just because I Must Have Them Now.) Even if you assume used book prices, the Pocket will pay for itself three times over, just with the books on my list now. And that list will only grow as new titles are added to the database.
I love my little Pocket!
I am LOVING this thing. Not so much the unit itself, although it is adequate. It's not terribly difficult to use. I'm not loving the button placement (spoiled by convenient page turns on both the left and right sides of the Kindle), and the screen is a bit smaller than I'd prefer. But it's quite a bit lighter than the Kindle, so big points in it's favor there. (I always feel it when the Kindle is in my purse. It makes the damn thing so much heavier.)
What I really, really love about the Pocket is that my local library has expanded their service, and now I can access ebooks through Overdrive! Before all they had were scholarly works, and I am so not the scholarly type. I'm working diligently to rot what's left of my brain with works of pure entertainment. And now I can, for free! I was just using my city library, which has a kind of small subscription to Overdrive. Certainly enough to keep me happily reading for quite some time. I even have one not-completely-brain-rotting book on my wishlist- it's about Egyptian history, which is one of the few topics that could tempt me to read non-fiction.
And then, I hit the jackpot. In several places lately I've seen people talking about maintaining non-resident library cards, usually by paying a fee for the card. So I started checking around to see what it would cost me to get a library card in some of the other major cities in Texas and if it would be worth it to pay the fee to have access to their online ebook services. Which is when I discovered that not only do we have a major city library with dozens of branches around town, we also have a county library with many fewer branches but a much larger ebook collection. Much. Like, literally 10x the size of the city library's collection. Ka ching!
I spent the last two evenings working my way through the fiction list on the county library's website. (It takes a long time to go through a list of over 2000 ebook titles and pick what looks interesting.) I now have 9 new titles waiting patiently on my pretty pink Pocket, a half dozen books on hold, and 149 books on my wishlist. Between what I bought in those last two sales, what I've grabbed for free off Amazon, and all the ebooks available to me now through my county library, I probably won't have to buy another book for two years, maybe more! (Of course, there are a few favorite authors whose books I'll be buying anyway, just because I Must Have Them Now.) Even if you assume used book prices, the Pocket will pay for itself three times over, just with the books on my list now. And that list will only grow as new titles are added to the database.
I love my little Pocket!
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