Cycling UK Forum

My daughter left a kindle at our house long ago which she didn't want. I'm thinking of using it for touring , mainly in France, but I wonder how long the charge lasts and whether i need to take chargers and adaptors etc? I guess even with chargers it takes less space and no more weight than a paperback.

Depends which model it is ... but, from experience, I took mine on holiday and it lasted two weeks with reading at least 4 hours every day [Note: make sure you turn off the wireless (WiFi and 3G) otherwise it consumes battery hunting for a signal and checking for updates]

If you are taking a phone on your trip then a charger with a micro-usb (that's the little flat one) will charge it up (you can also get converters to get from most phone charger plugs to micro-usb)

If you can identify the Kindle model Amazon's site will have the (theoretical) spec for battery consumption.

Rob

My kindle gets a great deal of use when at home or touring. It is an early model, not the latest touch screen one. I have never turned the wireless off, but it still lasts at least two weeks before recharging, often more. It is wi-fi only, not 3G, so I load it up before travelling. I have over 100 books on it so far, although I am uncertain how to check how much memory has been used

I have the Kindle Paperwhite. It has a backlit touch screen so uses more power than the original. I got it for my birthday on 19th January and so far have charged it twice. I probably use it for 1 hour per day plus the odd couple of extra hours at weekends.

Note to Jezer: don't worry, it can hold over 1000 books. I keep most of mine in Cloud and just download them when I need them. As long as you download all you need for your tour before you leave home.

I think I am on my millionth or so... Keep breaking the bloomin' things- I'd suggest a case or silicon sleeve, which is what I now use to great success. They are a life-saver for the offshore/travelling life- the weight of my luggage previously was getting silly!

Not sure if it's why, but I found early on that if I put too many books in, the battery runs out quicker. I came to the conclusion that they do indexing or something that takes up power. May just have been other abuses though.

I keep all my books on my laptop, and transfer a bunch at a time- usually have 3-4 pages of index, however many that is.

I was an early adopter to Paperwhite, buying one of the 1st batch (pre-release order), and after some time with it, made use of Amazon's return's policy, and am now back on a keyboard 3g version:
1)The blotchiness on the screen was distracting when using the light.
2)The light settings were so that all my use for it was in a few % of the minimum (mine did have an off, which was odd, considering all the initial reviews said it didn't, unless that was US only), and the rest of the settings were too bright/pointless.
3)Without the light on/at minimum, the basic screen was not any clearer than a normal one, despite the sales bumf. Perhaps even less clear/bright (due to the extra layers on the display I believe, having heard since of others seeing the same).
4)Not getting on without physical page-turning buttons. Largely due to reading at the dinner table, with greasy fingers, and single-handed whilst walking or whatever.

Some of the visual factors could be down to my eyesight- since having the paperwhite I've started wearing glasses; I've certainly reduced the font size, which is great!

I have one of the early keyboard models. With wifi turned off and reading a couple of hours each day mine lasts a good 3-4 weeks.

ian

I need to charge mine every 4-5 days ..........

But I will use it 10-12 hours a day when on tour.
Plus I've got over a couple of thousand books on it and it's just over half full.

To find out how full it is just plug it into a computer using a USB cable.
Then right click on the kindle drive and look at disk properties.
It will show you a nice picture of how full it is.

Because it will also store pdf files I carry the full travel insurance policy and copies of any ferry tickets as back ups. This means I only need a single sheet short form of my insurance in paper format should it be needed quickly.

When I am not using my Kindle I turn it off, really off, by holding teh button down so tehre is no screen save no nothing on display. How long it lasts I do not know because I might top it up from campsite toilet blocks while I am having a shower.

Tigerbiten wrote:But I will use it 10-12 hours a day when on tour.

Holey shamoley!

Do you strap it to your handlebar bag?!

As for the original question, I usually get 2 weeksish on 1-3 or more hours a day, lots of page turns and no wifi or 3g on.

I just recharged mine having charged it at the beginning of Feb. To give you some idea, it's the WiFi model with keyboard, I only turn the WiFi on to actually download (seconds each time) and I've just archived the books I read in Feb - 9 of them... It was half run down.

The Amazon website says it's about 30 hours, although that's going to depend quite a bit on page turns per hour. I reckon it's about right for a normal reading speed without any going back and forth too much.

The Paperwhite is worth the extra over a non-lit version. The lighting in many pubs is rather dim for reading an unlit e-Ink display. It also avoids the irritating reflections that you can get when using an external light source (eg head torch in your tent).

For covers, the official Amazon version is best. Most other versions hold the kindle with elastic across the corners, which is less secure, less durable, and which makes the whole thing bulkier. For travel, just using a sleeve would leave the screen vulnerable to being cracked by some other bit of luggage pressing in the middle of it.

For charging you can get pretty small USB/mains plugs now - eg UK folding plug, Euro plug. The extra packing is minimal.

The Mechanic wrote:I have the Kindle Paperwhite. It has a backlit touch screen so uses more power than the original. I got it for my birthday on 19th January and so far have charged it twice. I probably use it for 1 hour per day plus the odd couple of extra hours at weekends.

Note to Jezer: don't worry, it can hold over 1000 books. I keep most of mine in Cloud and just download them when I need them. As long as you download all you need for your tour before you leave home.

Good tip, I must learn how to use Cloud

jezer wrote:

The Mechanic wrote:I have the Kindle Paperwhite. It has a backlit touch screen so uses more power than the original. I got it for my birthday on 19th January and so far have charged it twice. I probably use it for 1 hour per day plus the odd couple of extra hours at weekends.

Note to Jezer: don't worry, it can hold over 1000 books. I keep most of mine in Cloud and just download them when I need them. As long as you download all you need for your tour before you leave home.

Good tip, I must learn how to use Cloud

I keep a copy of all my books on my computer.
I download all my new books from Amazon straight onto the computer.
Then I copy them both to the Kindle and a backup folder on my spare hard drive.
Plus it's easy enough to backup the Kindles drive onto my computer.

Of the 2,440 books on my Kindle, I've paid for less than 100.
The rest are free book downloads .........

Turn off wireless and it will last ~6000 pages ( time is pretty much irrelevant)

I charge mine once a month. It's the basic model. On tour I've never charged it, but the charger from my Blackberry fits it anyway. I carry it in a Jiffy bag on tour. Light,cheap and very protective.