I do not, so I'm not help. Just wanted to say good to see you!

Do you want a Kindle tablet or an eReader? Kindle makes both.

I have a kindle fire (not an HD)- that's just over a year old, so the new ones are more advanced that mine. But I can read books, surf the web, read my e-mail( if I wanted), read magazines, and shop (again if I wanted). I'm sure there are other things that can be done but I don't. It's a color display My DH has my old kindle on which he can read books. It is black and white. We get books from Amazon and can download them from the library. The downside of the fire is that the battery life is shorter but it charges quickly. DH's battery lasts much longer but takes longer to charge also. Also his display is good in the sunlight, mine is not so good. Hope that helps a little.

I love my Kndle Fire. I'm using it now to post this! Mine is over two years old and I use the heck out of it. I use it for all of the purposes mentioned by Chessy and more.

I have a old kindle keyboard which I hardly ever use. It is good in the sunlight but I prefer reading on my iPad mini and little iPod.

I have the Kindle app on my Asus transformer android tablet.
Lots of various types of tablets available. What do you want to use it for. That will help.

I have the basic Kindle, for reading only. I love it!! It is light weight and easy to carry anywhere. I had the Kindle Fire but gave it to my son. I wanted something just to read. I have my iPad and iphone for anything else. It depends on what you want to do with it as to which one you want to purchase.

Welcome back! You've been missed!

Maybe you can rank, for us, what things you want to be able to do with it? This will help determine which one might be better for you (and Raven can share alternative tablets that might fit the bill, too, especially if what you really want is just a good e-reader for books, because that requires just an app that you can add to any brand of tablet).

Start with what Chessey mentions:

Reading e-mail
Reading books from Amazon (either paid or during their free offerings) or from your local library
Playing games
Watching movies/TV episodes
Surf the Web (including watching YouTube stuff)
Building a portable music library on it
Using Skype
Listening to recorded books
Taking photos
(among other things)

For only reading, look at the 4 types of Kindle e-Readers. Some are better in full sunlight than others.

But remember that there are other pared-down e-Readers on the market, too, that might work for you (I'll leave that part to Raven!)

I have the Kindle Fire HD and use it to play solitaire and surf the web when my PC is down. I can do about anything on it, that I can do on my PC, except it isn't hooked to a printer. I don't use it often. I have 2 laptops, which I don't use unless I travel.

I have an original Kindle that is just a reader. As said above, it's thin and light...fits in my handbag and has a non-glare screen that makes it great for the pool and the beach,

I have no want or need for a kindle fire....i have smart phone for messages and web browsing.

I use the Kindle app on my iPad. I was looking at Kindles and was planning to go with the Fire because it's color and I was going to be looking at magazines as well as reading books. I decided to just go with the app on the iPad instead of buying an additional device.

I have a medium size backpack purse and the iPad doesn't quite fit. If I were going to be carrying it around on a regular basis, I'd seriously consider getting a Kindle because it's smaller and lighter. As it is, I seldom carry it except when I travel and for going to the pool.

When I was looking at the Kindles, DH and his brother (both IT guys who know all about computer displays) recommended the black and white for just reading, especially in sunlight. The color display apparently is not as easy to read in sunlight. BIL has both and said the black and white is much easier for just reading.

This post was edited by kittiemom on Fri, Mar 14, 14 at 8:41

DGS received a Kindle for his 9th birthday. DS said he bought that one because it had parental controls. DGS can *read* on it any time, but he can only play games for 30 minutes twice a day.

I have a 7" Samsung tablet onto which I mostly download library books. It does everything my laptop can do, and more. I don't like its' reflective screen, and I find it heavy -- but I found all of these tablets heavy.

What's the lightest old-fashioned, read-only tablet, and what should I pay for one?

I have a Kindle Fire HD 8.9" and my husband has a Kindle Fire 7". We both read books on them, connect to the web, play games etc. We watch movies while travelling on mine because it's a bigger screen and has higher resolution. I use mine for a few more things (work) and it works great!

If you are looking for a reader only, the Paperwhite is wonderful. Reading outside when it's sunny can be difficult with the color tablets; there is reflection to deal with, backlighting etc. The paper white mimics a newspaper or book page so the contrast is nice.

I have both an original kindle, one with the keypad (forget what it's called) which is ok..letters on the keyboard are a bit hard to see for me; and also a paperwhite which is backlit and is fantastic. Both for reading only. Would highly recommend the paperwhite.

I've had my Kindle Fire HD for about 2 years, and it can do everything described above. The only problem is the short battery charge life, and that it takes 3 to 5 hours to charge it. I think the newer ones are better with that. Also, I get small ads on mine, and I learned recently that I could have paid slightly more to get one without ads.

I have a Kindle Fire that I bought a year ago. I don't use it much. At first I used it a lot for reading books. Now I mainly use the police & fire app when I hear lots of sirens near my house. I am 3 houses from an arterial street and 3 blocks from another arterial. It is fun to know what is going on in town.

Sounds like I need a Kindle Paperwhite! How much do they weigh? My hand gets tired holding this Samsung. Oh, I wonder if there's a sort of 'film' I could put over this to reduce glare?

Sheigal - do you get ad any time other than when you turn it on? Once I swipe it open, I never see ads again. I would have bought it without the ads, but it was a a gift.

Very good friends of mine gave me a Kindle (base model) for Christmas this past year.

I never seriously thought about getting one because I'm one of those luddites who things he has to have the book in his hands.

Boy have I come around! I LOVE this thing!

I download primarily free books (there are a number of services that will send you lists of discounted/free books that you can download from Amazon and other places), but I have paid for a lot of books.

So far I think I've downloaded something like 35 books?

I just know that I have a TON of reading to do!

Chessey24, I see the ads on the bottom (small) when I click on books at the top, and when I want to play solitaire or free cell, I have to clear the ads each time in order to play. Even so, I love my Kindle. I just wish the battery would hold a charge a little longer.

I have the one with the keyboard on the bottom. If you want to download books from the website directly from the Kindle itself, it helps to have a real keyboard. But you can always just go to Amazon and download from there instead. I love my Kindle. I also have the app on my phone and tablet.

I have a Kindle Paperwhite and LOVE it! I have a smartphone, tablet and laptop so no need for a kindle Fire. I just wanted a reader. Kindle has so many free books and you can connect with your local library to borrow Kindle books too. The ability to adjust the font is a fantastic option for when I am tired and have no contacts in. I also love the backlight. You can read in the dark and in the bright sun too.

Highly recommend! And this is from a person who said they would never want to give up holding a "real" book in my hands! LOL

If the main thing that you are planning to do with it is reading books, my advise would be to get just an ereader.
Kindle or Nook.
I have a Nook Color and I can use it for lots of things and I do use it to read books on but it's heavy to hold in one hand. The simple ereaders aren't nearly as heavy.

sorry it took me so long to reply.

I just want to be able to download books for reading. just something simple without all the bells and whistles. My other question is I don't have WiFi at my apartment. Do i need that?

SamKaren
your resident DJ

If it works like my tablet, I download the book onto the tablet and then I don't need an internet connection. But I download it where I have wifi/3G (some people probalby have 4G), at home or work, Then I can take the tablet wherever, like the doctor's office (which sometimes does and sometimes doesn't have a connection).

But to read it directly from my library online (not downloaded, more like streaming), I have to have internet. Does that make sense?

Some tablets you can download books to your computer then just put them onto a memory card and insert card into tablet and read them from the memory card so in that case you would not need wifi. For a tablet to download right to the tablet you will need wifi to get the actual download then you can just have it on the tablet in memory and read it anytime.
Some of the early Kindles you did not need wifi it had it's own built in that would connect only to the Amazon book store. I am not sure which ones still do that. My brother in law had one of the first Kindles and his was that way so he did not need wifi to get books.

To do the memory card thing you must have a tablet that is able to use a memory card so has the slot for one. All of mine which are Android tablets do have memory card slots.
I actually prefer to save the downloads to my pc and put them on memory cards so I have a back up copy. Now for the kindle books I get I download those from Amazon directly to my tablet and read using my Kindle app.

So to answer your question it all depends on what you are getting and what features it has.

To download books via the internet to a Kindle, I'd think any public wifi connection would work for you. Free wifi seems to be everywhere, including at most public libraries, coffee stores like Starbucks and others, McDonalds, car dealerships and repair shops, shopping centers, etc., etc.

I have downloaded to my old, original Kindle from a blanket close to the water, on the beach at Ocean City, NJ.

Just chiming in that before you start buying reading material... check out the 'free' books listing from Amazon, generally search for others; Gutenburg.org.. Bookbub, pixel of ink, www.ereadernewstoday.com....

Have never seen one so can't help.