Toadfish Monastery

http://www.irextechnologies.com/ are no longer trading.

Quote from: Griffin NoName on September 22, 2010, 02:50:01 AM
http://www.irextechnologies.com/ are no longer trading.

Okay.  Who is/was 'irex tech"?

Hmmm.... never mind, Google to the rescue.  I'd never heard of these things, must've been a European thing.

Damn apple/Jobs anyhoo ...

Quote from: Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith on September 22, 2010, 03:00:47 PM

Quote from: Griffin NoName on September 22, 2010, 02:50:01 AM
http://www.irextechnologies.com/ are no longer trading.

Okay.  Who is/was 'irex tech"? )

Aggie was looking at them in a previous post in this thread.

Boo.

In any case, I'm not looking at an e-reader any time soon.  But I did find out that my library has many talking books available for download and even allows them to be burned to CD. Good for long drives, which I have plenty of. 

Related tech issue:  I seem to remember that my old computer allowed conversion from .wma to .mp3 with a right-click command - this now would seem to require a bit of freeware to do.  Was this ever a feature of Windows Media Player (or can it still be done some other way?), or am I completely nuts? 

Dunno about that, did you have a brand computer? Sometimes they bundle software with their HW that on rare occasion may be useful, but nor M$ wants his proprietary format changed nor is a straight thing to do.

Personally I never use windows media player, nor do I convert to wma. You can use Audiograbber with Lame to convert CDs to mp3, though.

Ah, perhaps that was it - it was an HP/Compaq, and newer than my 'new' machine.

Media player is - meh, it's OK.  I don't use WMA, but lacked an onboard conversion function.  I'll probably grab some freeware.  I want to use the CDs in the truck, but not sure about the ability to read WMA discs.

My MS media player does CD => .mp3. What I need is a .flv => .mp3 (free) tool.

Does something like this work for you?

http://www.vidtomp3.com/

Resurrecting this thread.

I found out that The Guardian newspaper provides a Kindle version each day. Really cheap compared to the paper version. Thought this might be a good solution for me as I desperately need to reduce my outgoings.

Had a look at the Kindle in more detail than I had before and got very tempted to buy it.

But......... further in depth investigation revealed that the Kindle version of The Guardian is pretty basic, lots of content missing, plus no crossword, no puzzles etc etc. ............ disappointing.

The Guardian do a much better version for the iPad - but I don't want to be locked into the Apple Store, and the iPad is not designed as a dedicated e-reader so not so good for the purpose I am wanting.

Guess I need to wait a bit longer and see how the field develops. What I really want is a cross between a Kindle and an iPad I guess.

Don't forget you can try for free-- there is Kindle software on the PC

I got a Kindle for Christmas and I'm absolutely hooked - I've spent £10.10 of a £20 voucher and now have over 150 books on it, there being so much free stuff around.   A few dozen old favourites and all sorts of odd stuff I always meant to look at.

Sorry to say, Griffin, that when we were abroad and my daughter got The Times on her Kindle, I found that it wasn't very suitable for newspapers.  Maybe one would get used to it in time.

I agree-- Kindles don't do pictures very well.

I was given a Kindle by Mrs Blue for my birthday in November (which was only fair since I had given her one for her birthday in August).  I find that I do most of my reading (of books) on it now.  I read a mixture of the free stuff as well as newly released books.  Overall I have found that the experience is very much like reading a paper book, that is, I become absorbed in the story and the media becomes transparent.  In fact I have found a few situations where the kindle has a major advantage over a paper book (apart from the obvious things like proce etc) for example when I travel into the city to service my customers in there I usually go on the train.  Because the station I usually use at that end is not the main city station on the way home it is common that I have to stand at least for the first 20 minutes or so of the journey.  With the Kindle I can hang on to the overhead straps to keep my balance and happily read with the kindle in my other hand much more easily than tyring to read a book single handed (especially when turning pages).

Other advantages include the ability to travel with a library's worth of books in such a small and light package - great when on holiday.  Long battery life, I have only just had to charge my battery for the second time since getting it in early November.  All in all a very neat package and I love it!

I'll second Blue's experience with regards to Kindling.

I was an early adopter, and had a Kindle one, a Kindle 3, and through an accident, a Kindle 2.  I was also given a lovely used Kindle DX, which was the last Kindle-specific device I used frequently.  (I still have that).

But I found my Android tablet, with the Kindle app, the one I read all the time, now.  Since I prefer the flexibility of the Android tablet over a Kindle, that's what I have when I'm out and about.  And when I'm at home, habit sends me to the Android more often than not, rather than the venerable DX in the bedroom.

I'm looking at magazine subscriptions on it, via another app it came with.  True, the dedicated Kindle 3 is lighter than the Android tablet, but I rarely find that an issue-- I'm typically reading while sitting down (and eating more than not).

And the color screen is better at doing PDF files, using an Office-type application.   And for my job, I have an ever increasing library of PDF instruction sets.  With color.

Can't believe this thread goes back 4 years!

Am thinking of using money saved by not smoking so far to buy a kindle. (ok I dont actually have the money as the reason for stopping smoking was I cant afford it but I deserve a treat).

Been looking at the kindle wifi 3g keyboard. Which I like. Was decided on this til saw Kindle Fire. Any comments?

..... ewait for the Kindle Fire to be released in the UK, apparently they are brining it forward and should be soon. But the Fire does not have 3g or keyboard. 3g useful as can get stuff anywhere, although I'd use wifi mostly I guess. Also stick-in-the-mud, like the keybaord which Fire doesn't have either. Must say colour is v.exciting.  Comments please.

One other point. Re wifi. Unlike mosrt devices, Kindle seems to be like Apple devices which are stupid........ if you dont broadcast your SSID, Kindle won't connect (first connect obviously broadcast necessary). Can't for the life of me see why after initial connect it isn't designed so can always connect therafter with no broadcast - as I said all my other wireless devises do not need SSID broadcast after initial connect.

So, the question. There is a body of opinon that not broadcasting SSID is unecessary for secuirty, ie. waste of time ie. may as well broadcast it - some IT secuirty sites say it even makes systems more insecure not to broadcast it! Personally I don't broadcast mine, I just feel safer with my neoghbours not knowing it's there (unless they are hackers in which case they wiill find it regardless). Purely emotional really.  Comments?

And finally, is the Kindle 3G Keyboard better for reading books than Kindle Fire? ie. has being fabulous for Books been compromized by that changes incorporated into Fire (which does looking very appealing). Comments?