Ordering A Kindle

[sleepwalker999]

Bangkok is a pain in the arse for finding books. There seems to be one good bookshop in the entire city (Kinokuniya in Paragon) which is an hour from where I live and then a whole bunch of half-assed second hand shops, so I have decided to take the plunge and try a Kindle. Ordering books off the Internet is a decent solution to the problem, but it can be annoying waiting two weeks for a book to arrive that you fancy reading now, and also if I ever go home bringing a library of books with me is going to to be bloody expensive.

So ordering from amazon.com they have an estimated import fee deposit which comes to $32 does anyone know should this cover the costs of imports or could I be looking at some extra charges when I get it delivered to my house?

All together I'm looking at 5,070 baht for this model including all fees and it will be delivered within 2-4 days. anybody have any experience with buying a Kindle on-line?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051QVESA/ref=sa_menu_kdptqso3

[Phil Conners]

I've never heard of anyone being charged more than the deposit, and some even report that they had it refunded. Not me unfortunately. Still well worth the money though! Never look back!

[tutsiwarrior]

when I was in Vietnam I bought one off the internet from a VN supplier called Halobuy and there are local kindle suppliers in Thailand from what I've read on this forum...costs about the same as ordering from amazon.com with shipping and local taxes included...

I recently bought a wrist watch from amazon for USD193 and shipping and handling to Thailand was USD40 using the US Postal Service...try using the same proportion with the kindle base price (luxury item for tax purposes) and you might get an idea of the total cost...

[dddave]

In reference to your adverse assessment of used book stores in Bangkok; I'd hardly call DASA BOOKS on Sukhumvit "half assed".

Well organized, comprehensive and customer friendly come more to mind.

[ThaiRich]

I will sell you my kindle. It is 1 year old, similaar to theone you are looking at. I will also include about 500 books. All for 2,500 baht. PM me if interested.

[CNF55]

Agree with Phil that I never heard of any additional charges more than the deposit.

Ordered my Kindle online on a Sunday and it arrived on my desk on a Thursday. Best $150 I spent in a long time.

[rogerdee123]

Go ahead and buy the Kindle and pay the shipping and customs whatever it may be.

You will more than cover these expenses with what you save on book prices and time wasted running around bangkok looking for books.

[ricklev]

I will sell you my kindle. It is 1 year old, similaar to theone you are looking at. I will also include about 500 books. All for 2,500 baht. PM me if interested.

That seems like a very fair price!

[JSixpack]

You people know that you don't need a Kindle to read ebooks, right? Ebook readers for Windows can read Kindle files and others. I just use my PC or netbook.

[ThaiRich]

Yes, but the kindle is very mobil and can fit in a small pack can read on the bus or anywhere.

[jybkk]

I bought one 2 months ago (somehow wish I waited a bit more, the price of the new models is really interesting), and a friend of mine did the same a week later.

Amazon.com redirects you to the appropriate page to order for Thailand, they include the cost of tax import and the delivery was flawless (using DHL, delivered to Bangkok).

[dec]

was about to buy one but saw the kindle fire, maybe i'll wait... or anyone use Galaxy phone for books ?

[keeniau96]

Used to shop at used-book stores. Yes, Dasa in BKK is very good. But got my Kindle early this year and have not bought a dead-tree book since. Tried several ebook readers but found the Kindle is simply the best book reader. Stop.FULL!

[sleepwalker999]

Thanks for all of the replies.

Yes Dasa is very well organized and customer friendly but I wouldn't describe it as comprehensive. I have been in there a few times but can never get exactly what I want which I suppose is to be expected in a second hand book shop.

2,500 baht for a 1 year old Kindle is very tempting but i would have to check through the differences between this new generation of models and previous ones to see if it's worth the gamble. I would have to say for now I'd be happier just buying myself a brand new 4th generation model.

[thaicbr]

Buy it in Thailand.. the prices have come down..

http://kindle-thailand.in.th/

[shriah]

The new kindle 3g don't have unlimited internet like the older version and the new version have no physical keyboard.

Get the wifi only Kindle if you don't buy books or magazines outside you home .

[infernalman7]

I bought the Kindle 3 a year ago .. didn't remember how much it costed but 2 months after purchase they refunded me an amount of money on the credit card. Don't know and don't remember why.

[endure]

The new kindle 3g don't have unlimited internet like the older version and the new version have no physical keyboard.

Get the wifi only Kindle if you don't buy books or magazines outside you home .

The new Kindle Touch 3G has exactly the same free worldwide 3G access as the previous model.

[TongueThaied]

I ordered a Kindle with a leather cover with integrated book light online -- for delivery to my sister in the US. She put it in a padded envelope and sent it to me by USPS Priority Mail. “CONTENTS: One Book.” Using this method, it came right to my house, no taxes or duty. I would strongly urge you to buy the 3G model. I did with a view to the future, as I live in a place with no 3G. I was pleasantly surprised when I ordered books from Amazon and they started automatically downloading – via 2G (EDGE), which covers most of Thailand. The EDGE downloads were slow, but absolutely free. I have no idea how it works as it had nothing to do with my phone or phone plan. The lighted book cover is wonderful as you can read books when riding the bus or train at night or in bed without annoying your wife or girlfriend. I am a person who said NEVER to electronic books. Then for the same reasons cited by the OP, I gave in and bought one. I love the thing. There are 10’s of thousands of free books you can download, many from Amazon. I have been reading out of print classics like Jules Verne, all free.

[CNF55]

I ordered a Kindle with a leather cover with integrated book light online -- for delivery to my sister in the US. She put it in a padded envelope and sent it to me by USPS Priority Mail. "CONTENTS: One Book." Using this method, it came right to my house, no taxes or duty. I would strongly urge you to buy the 3G model. I did with a view to the future, as I live in a place with no 3G. I was pleasantly surprised when I ordered books from Amazon and they started automatically downloading – via 2G (EDGE), which covers most of Thailand. The EDGE downloads were slow, but absolutely free. I have no idea how it works as it had nothing to do with my phone or phone plan. The lighted book cover is wonderful as you can read books when riding the bus or train at night or in bed without annoying your wife or girlfriend. I am a person who said NEVER to electronic books. Then for the same reasons cited by the OP, I gave in and bought one. I love the thing. There are 10's of thousands of free books you can download, many from Amazon. I have been reading out of print classics like Jules Verne, all free.

Not a 100 % sure - but you might soon get a mail from Amazon telling you that need to pay additional roaming charges for your 3G.

The 3G is free in the US but not internationally and since Amazon can detect that you order/download your books from outside the US they will soon get in touch with you for additional (monthly) payments.

[Zolt]

Alternatively, there are Kindle apps for iphone and Android. A smartphone isn't as nice to read on as a Kindle, but having my book collection in my pocket anytime I want it is great (although not for making me a more sociable person, but there was never much hope for that, really)

Side effect: It feels weird to ready anything with more than 5 words per line now.

[h90]

In reference to your adverse assessment of used book stores in Bangkok; I'd hardly call DASA BOOKS on Sukhumvit "half assed".

Well organized, comprehensive and customer friendly come more to mind.

In Siam Paragon are also 2 very nice and big book stores.

[h90]

Alternatively, there are Kindle apps for iphone and Android. A smartphone isn't as nice to read on as a Kindle, but having my book collection in my pocket anytime I want it is great (although not for making me a more sociable person, but there was never much hope for that, really)

Side effect: It feels weird to ready anything with more than 5 words per line now.

I use my laptop....but not very comfortable...but OK no investment.

[MrJohnson]

Actually i have ordered two of them over the last couple of years. One for myself about two years ago and then one for my wife about six months ago. No hassles whatsoever. I really like my kindle. Lots of books and mags to choose from and much cheaper than buying hard copy books. There is a new tablet called a Kinfle Fire but I have not seen one but they are supposed to be the Amazon answer to I-Pad. They would have to be pretty hot to be better than an I-Pad I think. My wife has one of those as well and they are fantastic! Anyway, enjoy the Kindle

Cheers

[shriah]

The new kindle 3g don't have unlimited internet like the older version and the new version have no physical keyboard.

Get the wifi only Kindle if you don't buy books or magazines outside you home .

The new Kindle Touch 3G has exactly the same free worldwide 3G access as the previous model.

You only use Wikipedia and Amazon Whispernet using the new Kindle Touch 3G - Source

[flemmie]

I ordered a Kindle with a leather cover with integrated book light online -- for delivery to my sister in the US. She put it in a padded envelope and sent it to me by USPS Priority Mail. "CONTENTS: One Book." Using this method, it came right to my house, no taxes or duty. I would strongly urge you to buy the 3G model. I did with a view to the future, as I live in a place with no 3G. I was pleasantly surprised when I ordered books from Amazon and they started automatically downloading – via 2G (EDGE), which covers most of Thailand. The EDGE downloads were slow, but absolutely free. I have no idea how it works as it had nothing to do with my phone or phone plan. The lighted book cover is wonderful as you can read books when riding the bus or train at night or in bed without annoying your wife or girlfriend. I am a person who said NEVER to electronic books. Then for the same reasons cited by the OP, I gave in and bought one. I love the thing. There are 10's of thousands of free books you can download, many from Amazon. I have been reading out of print classics like Jules Verne, all free.

Another good source is Project Gutenberg, many classics for free

www.gutenberg.org/

[Gary A]

A friend of mine just bought a Kindle from read.in.th/store. It is the basic model and the Thailand price has come down. The reason the price came down is because the basic model is now a different model.

The newest model has no keyboard, has half the memory, half the battery life and no audio function. I felt sorry for him so I traded my keyboard version for his new one. He is not very computer literate so the keyboard is better for him. I manage my Kindle with Calibre so other than the shorter battery life, I really didn't care about the memory, keyboard or the audio.

[BabySun]

I ordered a Kindle with a leather cover with integrated book light online -- for delivery to my sister in the US. She put it in a padded envelope and sent it to me by USPS Priority Mail. "CONTENTS: One Book." Using this method, it came right to my house, no taxes or duty. I would strongly urge you to buy the 3G model. I did with a view to the future, as I live in a place with no 3G. I was pleasantly surprised when I ordered books from Amazon and they started automatically downloading – via 2G (EDGE), which covers most of Thailand. The EDGE downloads were slow, but absolutely free. I have no idea how it works as it had nothing to do with my phone or phone plan. The lighted book cover is wonderful as you can read books when riding the bus or train at night or in bed without annoying your wife or girlfriend. I am a person who said NEVER to electronic books. Then for the same reasons cited by the OP, I gave in and bought one. I love the thing. There are 10's of thousands of free books you can download, many from Amazon. I have been reading out of print classics like Jules Verne, all free.

Not a 100 % sure - but you might soon get a mail from Amazon telling you that need to pay additional roaming charges for your 3G.

The 3G is free in the US but not internationally and since Amazon can detect that you order/download your books from outside the US they will soon get in touch with you for additional (monthly) payments.

Nobody contradicts you - but you are wrong - Whispernet is free worldwide and if you want to keep it this way - buy ebooks from Amazon wireless - through 3G.

[shriah]

3G is free worldwide but you will be charged 2$ extra for all books (including free books, so you will pay 2$ for all out of copyright books)when buying from outside US in the old Kindle.

Not a 100 % sure - but you might soon get a mail from Amazon telling you that need to pay additional roaming charges for your 3G.

The 3G is free in the US but not internationally and since Amazon can detect that you order/download your books from outside the US they will soon get in touch with you for additional (monthly) payments.

You get a notification when you register the Kindle to your US address and try to buy books from Thailand and syncing the purchased book using 3G or Edge or GPRS in Thailand. This is not legal because you are not paying 2$ extra charge for the book you just bought in Thailand

If you get a notification change the address registered with your Kindle to Thailand here

[phuketrichard]

Ordered my kindle last week $79 for the new one from Amazon and had it delivered to my friends house in Ca an he is flying over next week

WHY would anyone pay for books when there are so many places to get them online for free?

New touch is not out till mid nov