I'm wondering if there are any ebook reader experts out there who could advise me of what's available in Bangkok.

I've got my eyes on the Kindle wifi, as I've got tons of .mobi books and am tired of using my htc phone to read them. It seems to be a well-received product with a reasonable price tag.

Would I be able to find a legit one somewhere here? Are there cheaper and relatively decent alternatives to be had at MBK or elsewhere?

If anyone has any expertise to share, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Hi,

I'm definitely not an expert, I just learned about a month ago what an eReader is. It is apparently becoming "the" form of reading books in the future! I was looking for my 89year old mother for used German books in Thailand, but someone in Khon Kaen contacted me and asked me why I wouldn't consider buying a Kindle eReader. He said he has about 30'000 (!) books (all German) and would be willing to put them on a big enough (32GB) stick. He already did that and I'm getting my flash drive full of ebooks back at the end of this week.

In the meantime I have bought a Kindle eReader on Amazon Germany for 99 Euro and a member of the German Isaan Forum is bringing us the eReader next week to Thailand. He lives in Ubon and will send it to us after his arrival.

I had before talked with the manager of the Apple store at Tuckom in Pattaya about this and she told me that these Kindle eReaders are hard to get in Thailand. Maybe another member knows more about it...

Anyway, great what can be done with the help of fellow forum members!

Amazon's Kindle eReader is the go !

I ordered one from Amazon last year and it arrived within four days and it is great.

The MOBI format is only used by Kindle, So, unless you're prepared to convert all your books into another e-book format, you're stuck with Amazon (not a bad choice!).

You can buy a Kindle in BKK . 'Read Online Store ' (google "Kindle Thailand")It is approx 600 THB more expensive than ordering from Amazon US.

Converting can be very easy, unless you've got to mess with pdf format.

Calibre is the way to go for converting from many formats to many others. I've recently changed a .mobi to .epub for my Kobo.

The MOBI format is only used by Kindle, So, unless you're prepared to convert all your books into another e-book format, you're stuck with Amazon (not a bad choice!).

You can buy a Kindle in BKK . 'Read Online Store ' (google "Kindle Thailand")It is approx 600 THB more expensive than ordering from Amazon US.

There are lots of sites from where you can download eBooks for the Kindle (and other eReaders) - http://www.gutenberg.org/ is one.

Also of course there are lots of Torrents out there.

Patrick

I must say that although I still think the Kindle is a good product. I've had 2 and the screen went funny on both...I didn't drop them or anything but they became unreadable.

Amazon replaced the first but I can't be bothered sending the second back. Even one I saw on display at a dealer the screen was unreadable. So make sure it's under warranty.

Though if you buy in Thailand they'll probably say you dropped it. Safest is to buy from Amazon...They know about this problem.

I must say that although I still think the Kindle is a good product. I've had 2 and the screen went funny on both...I didn't drop them or anything but they became unreadable.

Amazon replaced the first but I can't be bothered sending the second back. Even one I saw on display at a dealer the screen was unreadable. So make sure it's under warranty.

Though if you buy in Thailand they'll probably say you dropped it. Safest is to buy from Amazon...They know about this problem.

The new Kindle fire is out in USA. It looks far superior but there may be compatibility issues in Thailand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9PeNeV0RWE&feature=related

I must say that although I still think the Kindle is a good product. I've had 2 and the screen went funny on both...I didn't drop them or anything but they became unreadable.

Amazon replaced the first but I can't be bothered sending the second back. Even one I saw on display at a dealer the screen was unreadable. So make sure it's under warranty.

Though if you buy in Thailand they'll probably say you dropped it. Safest is to buy from Amazon...They know about this problem.

There have been reports that Airport X-Ray Scanners have damaged Kindle screens but Amazon deny this should be a problem - others say however that Static Electricity may adversely affect the the little particles which make up the display.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/amazon/8900034/Amazon-Kindles-damaged-by-airport-scanners.html

Patrick

Edit : spelling

You don't need a Kindle reader to read the e-books from Amazon. Just open an Amazon account and then download the Windows application to your laptop. Similar applications exist for Android and iOS.

I did buy a Kindle reader though, mostly because its superb battery life. Easy 2 weeks reading. And the charger is the same as for my Galaxy S2 (or any USB charger).

Having the Kindle software installed on different location is no problem, synchronization easy and quick, provided you have Internet access (WiFi or 3G).

You don't need a Kindle reader to read the e-books from Amazon. Just open an Amazon account and then download the Windows application to your laptop. Similar applications exist for Android and iOS.

I did buy a Kindle reader though, mostly because its superb battery life. Easy 2 weeks reading. And the charger is the same as for my Galaxy S2 (or any USB charger).

Having the Kindle software installed on different location is no problem, synchronization easy and quick, provided you have Internet access (WiFi or 3G).

Reading eBooks on a backlit Laptop screen causes far more eyestrain than reading on a Kindle, which is one of the main reasons for the popularity of the dedicated eReaders.

Also, battery life depends on how often you turn a page - there is no power consumption on the static display, only when you change the display. I am a very fast reader and the battery in my Kindle DX lasts about 4 days. Still longer than a Laptop of course.

Patrick