Kindles

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Kindles

Postby MARTIN RIPLEY » 22 Feb 2012, 13:28

I have finally joined the 21st century and bought a Kindle. Does anyone have any experience of problems using a Kindle in the baking heat of a Symi July? The instructions state that the upper operating temperature is only 36 degrees Centigrade and as we all know, in July this is probably going to be the lowest temperature outdoors!
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Postby Allan » 22 Feb 2012, 14:35

Welcome to the 21st century Martin :D

I haven't tried using the Kindle on Symi in July since I don't think I could survive those temperatures, let alone the Kindle!

But I have used it in June and September with shade temperatures in the mid 30s with no problems. In full sun I cover it with a towel or something to provide shade but that's about it.

As least with the Kindle you don't have the problem of the binding glue melting and all the pages falling out as has happened to many on my paperbacks on Symi.
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Postby snoopy2 » 22 Feb 2012, 15:46

8-) Last year was on holiday with someone who had their kindle but had forgotten their charger - in the words of the song TRAGEDY! :cry:
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Postby Allan » 22 Feb 2012, 15:52

That's the downside of the 21st century! Paperback books may fall apart in the Symi heat but at least they don't need charging. :D
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Postby Joe Le Taxi » 22 Feb 2012, 17:12

Hi Martin,
my wife took hers to Symi in June last year and had no problems whatsoever in sunshine or in shadow.(there's a song in there somewhere).
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Postby Andy W » 22 Feb 2012, 18:32

I've used a Kindle on Symi too, though again not in July. I've also heard a graphic description of a whole row of people sitting outside Lefteris' Kafenion reading Kindles each using the LED lights sold by Amazon.

For those who have left their charger behind, the Kindle uses the same micro-USB socket that modern smartphones and even low end mobile phones use, so the Symi mobile phone shop would almost certainly sell you a suitable charger.
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Postby MARTIN RIPLEY » 23 Feb 2012, 09:23

Many thanks for all your replies and I shall now buy my wife a Kindle also. We have previously spent many a happy hour chasing pages that have been blown out of paperbacks, so we will now have more time to sunbathe! It won't be the same when, having borrowed a book from the hotel, having got halfway through you find that the middle section is somewhere on Sesklia or some other beach! We really like the blistering heat of a Symi July. I recall Gerald Durrell once having written that the heat in Corfu was so strong you could almost hear it sing. Think it sums up Symi heat rather nicely!
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Postby snapperjon » 23 Feb 2012, 09:33

I had mine there for the first time in September, and I'm a total convert. I was not stuck with just the three books or whatever I usually take, plus any old books left where we were staying (which always include a Jeffery Archer, a Dan Brown, something worthy like Dickens or Tolstoy that someone has decided to get around to at last and which a book mark suggests were abandoned on page 17, plus something totally weird, like a tourist guide to Bradford, or the handbook for a 1972 Vauxhall Viva - how did that get there, and why? Make a good starting point for a novel, that would... ), but could take hundreds, and download new ones at will. The other thing I enjoyed was having all the daily papers delivered. These all have (or had) a free fourteen day trial, and even after that cost 99p per copy - much cheaper than the newsstand price. You can also get a huge number of magazine titles.(But bear in mind that you don't get much in the way of pictures with Kindle).

Worth every penny!
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Postby Allan » 23 Feb 2012, 10:01

So that's where my guide to Bradford went. I've been looking everywhere for it, had to buy another copy in the end.

Hope you found it as enjoyable as I did Jon.
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Postby Andy W » 23 Feb 2012, 12:38

What you will find is that the island's resident native English (or French, or German, or Italian and so on) speakers will be slightly less pleased with the spread of Kindles as they rely on books left behind by visitors to keep them in winter reading matter.
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Postby snoopy2 » 23 Feb 2012, 23:49

Andy W wrote:
I've used a Kindle on Symi too, though again not in July. I've also heard a graphic description of a whole row of people sitting outside Lefteris' Kafenion reading Kindles each using the LED lights sold by Amazon.

For those who have left their charger behind, the Kindle uses the same micro-USB socket that modern smartphones and even low end mobile phones use, so the Symi mobile phone shop would almost certainly sell you a suitable charger.

That's a hot tip Andy W - must note that one.
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Postby Olga » 24 Feb 2012, 18:53

Maybe there's scope for a wee book exchange on Simi, like the one in the laundry in Lindos, I'm sure some enterprising person has a bit of space somewhere.You do of course have to pay a nominal amount for the books, but most people just donate them back again.
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Postby Allan » 24 Feb 2012, 21:08

Quite a few bars and cafes on the island do that already Olga. They are very popular with visitors during the season and ex-pat residents during the winter.
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Postby Joe Le Taxi » 25 Feb 2012, 10:12

The Olive Tree in Horio always has a good selection to swap.Great grub too.
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Postby Colette » 25 Feb 2012, 15:30

I'm an avid book swapper when on holiday in Symi, from the Olive Tree and Sunrise bar.There used to be a book swap at Pat's in the harbour and Julie's in Pedi too in the old days. I've discovered authors that I would not normally have chosen from a book shop or library in the UK and read their other works when I got home.One memorable occasion was when for a Christmas present a friend of mine got in touch with an author in Australia (I'd read one of his books in Symi and loved it) who sent me one of his out of print books with a lovely dedication. I buy a couple of holiday reads at the airport on my way out and continually swap for the rest of my holiday. As others have said the locals are always happy to see new books so it'a a good job the likes of Kojak and myself are dinasaurs where the kindle is concerned :D
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Postby snoopy2 » 25 Feb 2012, 16:44

8-) Well put Colette. Exactly why i take books with me but leave them - swap all my holiday books for one for the way back. My son and daughter keep trying to get me to use a kindle but i like the pysicality of books. Plus if you fall asleep and a kindle drops to the floor = trouble - if you fall asleep and a book drops to the floor = b++++r i've lost my place! :)
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Postby snapperjon » 26 Feb 2012, 10:21

Don't get me wrong, I still prefer to read an actual book with pages and stuff - there are over 5,000 of the things in this house. We're planning another 40' or so of shelving...which is rather the problem with travelling. I have a very short attention span, and usually have about five books on the go at any one time. If I took enough keep my reading daemons in check, I wouldn't be able to bring 15kg of camera gear with me. And I need all that gear, OK?

So a Kindle, which slips into a pocket, solves this dilemma. If I could get one that took publication-quality photos, I'd marry it.
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Postby Olga » 27 Feb 2012, 21:17

I must have been wandering around with my brain in neutral all these years. This year I will take less books and swap, Thanks for the info everyone.
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Postby Olga » 28 Feb 2012, 20:35

Iv'e left lots of books at the Anastoula over the years, but I didn't realise there was so much more scope for swaps, I really must take more notice, I blame it on the distraction of the great views, or something.
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Postby Joanie » 28 Feb 2012, 23:24

I've used a Kindle in Australia in 42c and had no problems as for forgetting the charger, the Kindle keeps its charge for 2 months. Also the led lights for it are only 99p free P and P, from Ebay and Amazon are a lot more expensive
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