Portable Ebook Reader

If you were on the fence about purchasing an Amazon Kindle 2 before because you considered it to be too pricey, well we have some good news for ya!

Amazon must have heard the complaints because they’ve recently reduced the price of the of the Kindle 2 to a much more reasonable $299!   It was previously $359 so that’s a $60 discount (17%).  Weeeeeeee! 

Read more about the Kindle 2 or purchase this popular device…

For you Amazon Kindle 2 owners, here’s a list of many tips & tricks that you should find useful. These were compiled from many sources – let us know if any of them aren’t as helpful as we think!

Access Free eBooks @ Amazon

1. After you sign into Amazon and choose the Kindle store to search in
2. Type “-domain” (no quotes) into the search field.
3. This will give you a list of free books offered by Amazon!

Helpful Shortcuts

1. Bookmark: Alt-B. Alternate: Press 5-way up or down to go to cursor mode, and then press 5-way twice.
2. Kindle Store: Alt-Home.
3. Top Screen Icons: Press Menu button to see Wireless Network on top of the screen (top right), Time on top of the screen (top center) and Memory Remaining on your Kindle 2 on Top of the screen (top left).
4. Screenshots: Alt+Shift+G. Hold down Alt and Shift buttons and then press G.
5. MineSweeper: Alt+Shift+M.
6. Refresh Screen: Alt-G to refresh the screen and eliminate Ghosting.
7. Reload in Web Mode: Alt+R = reload when in web mode

Restart Kindle 2 in Two Seconds

1. Go to the Home Page.
2. Press the Menu button to go to the Menu.
3. Navigate to Settings and press 5-way to go to Settings.
4. Press Menu button Again.
5. Navigate to the Restart option, and press 5-way to select it.

Navigate within Magazines and Newspapers

1. 5-way controller to the left = previous article.
2. 5-way controller to the right = next article.
3. Press the 5-way = A list of sections within the periodical will appear.
4. On this Sections List page = Selecting the Number to the right of the Section Title will take you to a list of Articles within a section.

Read-To-Me Shortcuts

There shortcuts can be used with the “Text To Speech” functionality:

1. Shift + Sym button to start and to stop TTS. You have to keep Shift pressed down and then press Sym.
2. While TTS is on – Use Shift button to Pause or Resume it. Note: this might be Space (spacebar).
3. While TTS is on – you can switch between male and female voices, and change voice speed by using Alt + Aa keys and then using the 5 way controller.
4. To start TTS at a particular place on a page, move the cursor to the spot BEFORE starting TTS.

Mp3 Player Shortcuts

1. Alt+Space = play or stop background audio.
2. Alt-F = skip to the next audio track.
3. Space – starts or pauses an audio book

Change Spacing & Number of Lines Per Page

By using the Alt+Shift+ numbers 1 through 9 buttons you can change the spacing between the lines on the Kindle 2 and also the number of lines per page.

1. Press down the Alt and Shift buttons.
2. Keeping Alt+Shift pressed, Press a number button like 1, or 2, right up to 9 to cycle through the various spacing options.

Delete an Item or Book from Your Kindle 2

1. Press the Menu button to go to the Kindle 2 Home Page.
2. Use the 5-way to go to the item you want to delete.
3. Press Left on the 5-way to bring up the Delete selection.
4. Press the 5-way to confirm that you want to delete the item.

Note: Books you have purchased are still available in the Archive selection even after deletion you can reload them!

Load Pictures onto your Kindle 2

1. Connect Kindle 2 via USB to your PC.
2. Go to the Kindle 2.
3. Create pictures folder on your Kindle 2.
4. Now create sub-folders for your photo albums.
5. Put in images into these sub-folders.
6. The images that you put into a sub-folder will become part of the photo album.
7. Unplug your Kindle 2 and go to the Home Page.
8. Press Alt-Z on home page to see photo albums among books.
9. When you select one of these photo albums, the experimental Image Viewer starts.

Picture Viewing Tips

While you are viewing pictures in the Image Viewer:

1. Zoom In on the Picture = Q key.
2. Zoom Out = W key.
3. Reset Zoom Level for the Image = E key.
4. Toggle Picture to Actual Size = C key.
5. Toggle Picture to Full Screen Mode = F key.
6. Pan Photo if its larger than the Kindle 2s screen with 5-way controller.
7. Rotate the Image = R key.

Text Entry Shortcuts

These are helpful shortcuts when entering Text -

• Alt-6 for question mark ?
• Alt-7 for comma ,
• Alt-8 for colon :
• Alt-9 for quotation marks
• Alt-0 for single quotation marks

Change the Default Dictionary

You can change the default dictionary used by Kindle 2 from the New Oxford American Dictionary to another Kindle 2 supported dictionary, such as the Merriam Webster. Please check before buying any other dictionary as it might not be supported.

1. First, press the Home button to go to the Home Page.
2. Press the Menu button.
3. Move the 5-way to underline Settings and press 5-way to select.
4. Press the Menu button.
5. Move the 5-way to underline Change Primary Dictionary and press 5-way to select.
6. Move 5-way to select the dictionary you want as your primary dictionary, when its underlined press 5-way to select it.

Navigate Through the Home Screens Pages

1. Jump to page x on the Home Screen Press the number x on the keypad and then press the 5-way.
2. Also you can use the Next Page and Previous Page buttons to circle through the pages.

Search Shortcuts

These shortcuts can be used while using search (simply enter @help in the search box) -

• @help will show a list of supported commands.
• Instead of pressing your 5-way on find you can move the 5-way right to bring up other search options i.e. Kindle Store, Wikipedia, Google, Dictionary, etc.
• @author Narrow a search in the kindle store to a particular author by using the authors name.

Recharge your Kindle Battery when it’s at 20%

1. You can re-charge your Kindle 2 battery at any time, without using up its life. There is no memory and there is no let it drain completely before charging rule.
2. You should maximize by re-charging your Kindle 2′s battery when it’s at 20% charge left. The worst thing you can do is let the battery completely drain out.
3. Do not recharge it to full every day. The battery is happiest in the >20% charge, <80% charge range (close to 80% is better than close to 20%).

Many people have been asking lately -“Which is a better choice for me, the tried-and-true Amazon Kindle 2 or the brand new Kindle DX?”.

Well…today we plan on helping you answer that question!

The Kindle 2 is Amazon’s 2nd generation Kindle device and was released on February 23, 2009.  It had many improvements over the original Kindle, but due to its smallish size, it was still not ideal for reading larger print media like newspapers or magazines.

Amazon’s solution to this problem came shortly after, with the May 6, 2009 announcement of the Kindle DX.  It has a much larger screen (2.5x the size of the Kindle 2), can natively display PDF files, and is the first Kindle device to come with an accelerometer so pages can be viewed in either landscape or portrait by simply rotating the unit.  (If you’re familiar with the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch, these also come with an accelerometer.)

Note:  The Kindle DX won’t be shipped until sometime in the summer of 2009, so if you need a portable ebook reader ASAP you’ll want to look elsewhere.

Below is a detailed comparison of many of the features of these two popular devices.  We want to give you as much information as possible so you can make an educated decision about your purchase.

* Red text denotes the “winner” for each feature

As you can see, it’s neck-and-neck between these two Amazon electronic reading devices.  Each one has its own set of strengths and weaknesses.  The best way to decide which one is best for you, is to ask yourself these questions:

• Is price important?  (Kindle 2)
• Is screen size important – ie. will I be reading a lot of magazines and newspapers, rather than novels?  (Kindle DX)
• Is portability important?  (Kindle 2)
• Do I plan on reading a lot of PDFs? (Kindle DX)

Hopefully that was helpful and you now know which Kindle is right for you!  If not, please let us know how else we might be able to help you decide.

Having had much success with the Kindle 2 (in part thanks to Oprah’s recommendation), Amazon is rumored to be releasing a new widescreen version soon.

Apparently the new device will have dimensions closer to a standard newspaper, and it’s expected that several large newspapers (such as The New York Times) will partner with Amazon and implement a system to charge for content.

Over the weekend invites were sent out for a press conference later this week.  It’s possible that this conference could be the anticipated announcement of the Kindle 2 Widescreen!

Editor’s Note: the image to the right is the original Kindle 2; no sneak preview is available of the widescreen version yet, so you’ll have to use your imagination for now

The Kindle 2 was released by Amazon on Feb 23, 2009 and has many improvements over the original Kindle.

These improvements include:

• Better battery life
• 20% faster page refresh speed
• Text-to-speech
• Thickness reduced from 0.8 to 0.36 inches
• Storage; can hold 1500 books compared to 200

Details:

The Kindle 2 would be suitable for you, if:

1. You commute to work on a train or bus and enjoy spending time reading
2. You travel a lot and are fed up with having to purchase printed books at the airport (not to mention how much space they take up)
3. You just plain read a lot of books!
4. You’re a student and want to save money on textbooks (who wouldn’t? )

Various opinions from Amazon users:

Ben C. Hobson - I love reading the newspaper every day, but reporters love to push the boundaries of our vocabularies, but the Kindle 2 dictionary is right there to keep us reading, and make sure we know exactly what we are reading so we don’t misinterpret anything. The improved dictionary lookup is amazing.

Gadget Queen – I have a tremendous volume of Kindle content (public domain and Amazon). I discovered that I could not directly transfer from my computer backup for Kindle 1 to the new K2 (why my backup is on the computer is addressed later in this review). All my content had to be reformatted by Amazon and re-downloaded from their site specifically for and to the Kindle 2 (I am NOT in a Whispernet area). Major pain. Major time-investment. Major inconvenience. Major turn-off.

Kacheek – Sleeker look and feel (it feels solid in your hands), sharper screen, no longer accidentally depressing the next page button by accident and having to find your place in the book again…you can read about these from various sources)
- Page loads are much faster. I can feel that the delay between pages is much less. Only issue is I need to recalibrate now–in general, I try to anticipate how much time it will take the next page to load, and when I’m two lines from the bottom, I would hit the next page button. Now I need to push the button later.
- Dictionary is improved. Now you can highlight a word and it automatically gives you a definition at the bottom of the screen.

I hope this review was helpful!  I personally like reading as many reviews as I can before purchasing a product, so I’d recommend you find out more by reading Kindle 2 reviews at Amazon.

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