SewingSew

I wanted to tell those of you who have new Kindles and are planning to purchase covers for them, be careful to get the correct cover made for your particular Kindle. I have two Kindle Fires--the first generation and the $500 hdx. I love my Kindles. But here is something that bothers me tremendously; I had downloaded an app from the Audubon Society that was amazing! It had birdsongs and a thorough library of everything I could possibly want to know about birds. When I bought my new HDX Kindle, I was not able to download it. Then one day, as if by magic, I was able to download it, but it updated, and the entire app was changed to the point of being useless and unrecognizable. And... my original Kindle had to be set back to factory defaults, and when I went to retrieve my Audubon app from the cloud, I got a message saying that it was incompatible with my device. So now my favorite app is lost forever. I have had several other similar instances. So just know that, when you download something, just because you can access the app from the cloud doesn't mean it will always be available to you. Technology marches on and no matter how you may try to keep up, you will always be one or two steps behind...

ManiacQuilter2

Thanks for the post. Right now, I am at least a mile behind technology. Very hard to catch up.

SewingSew

A couple of weeks ago my daughter told me that her Kindle had finally died. So I asked her if she had tried to reset her device. She didn't know what I was talking about. I asked her to give the Kindle to me and I held down the power button for about 60 seconds (but I think 20 seconds would have worked.) Then I pushed the power button again and the Kindle came back to life. I find that many devices are designed to be reset in case of problems. As an example, recently my SansaClip Mp3 player malfunctioned and I applied reset it in the same way, and magically it worked again. So keep this in mind if you have a problem with your Kindle.


And for those of you who love to read and live in the US, I also wanted to share with you how I went about getting library books from my public library onto my Kindle. I live in NH and use the NH public library online, but I suspect that the process is mostly the same for all 50 states. The first step is to go to your public library and ask for a digital library card number. The next step is to download the Overdrive app and also the EPub app (Adobe Reader)to your Kindle. They are both free in the Amazon app store. Once you open the Overdrive app on your Kindle, there will be a menu (I think it is at the top left-hand side) and one of the options with be to go to your library. Click on it and it will ask you the name of your public library and also for your digital library card number. Once that is entered in, you're there. You will have the option to download audio- books, Kindle books, Epub books, and magazines. Some libraries have the option of downloading videos as well. Scout around at the site and see what is available to you and how long you can check it out. I can check out three books at a time, and also 3 magazines at a time. Once my lending period is up, my library books disappear and I am eligible to check more out. If I have a book on hold, and it becomes available, from within the Overdrive app, I can return one of my books that have yet to expire, and check out my book that was on hold. If I choose a Kindle book, I have to retrieve that book from the Amazon website and then it is automatically downloaded to my Kindle Fire.


Magazines are not available from the NH library online to my Kindle Fire. However, I have purchased a Barnes and Noble Nook in order to check out magazines and I love it. I bought a refurbished Nook for $100. I can check out three magazines a week on it. That is 12 magazines a month. Once I download them, they don't disappear from my Nook unless I delete them. I can download Threads, Interweave Knits, Photography, Taste of Home, Southern Living, etc.


So, let's say that you choose an audio-book or an EPub book. You click on the "account" icon at the top right hand side of the page. Then you click on your bookshelf. Once at your bookshelf, you will see the book you checked out. Click on the "add to app button" and at the bottom left hand corner you will see a downloading button. Open it. That button will lead you to overdrive where you will be able to listen to your MP3 audio-book or read your Adobe EPub book. It is worth noting that different books are available in different formats. For example, a book may be available to you as an audio-book and also a Kindle book. Another book may be available as a Kindle book and also as an EPub book, but not as an audio-book.


One other thing about audio books--you can also download them to certain MP3 players. I download audio-books to my Sansa Clip MP3. Look under the help section of the library and it will give you a list of which devices are supported.


And finally, if you go to your state's public library online (from your computer), there will be a place within the site to download Overdrive and also EPub (Adobe book app). FYI, I also have both of these apps downloaded to my computer. I think the Kindle app for your computer may be located there as well. If not, you can download it to your computer from the Amazon website. And if you are wondering, you can download an audio-book to several devices. You are not limited to having it on only one device. I believe the same is true for Kindle books. But the EPub book that I checked out would only let me have it on one device.


I hope this will be helpful information to some of you. Happy reading. Sharon

ManiacQuilter2

I had a similar problem with my android tablet. It got hung up with the power up sequence so I finally let the battery drain, charged it again and everything has worked perfectly since.

Prism99

Wow, thanks for all the great info, SewingSew! I got two Kindles -- one for my sister and one for me, so I can help my sister figure out how to use it. I hope to get hers set up for library use. Have to admit, though, that compared to my iPad Air, the Kindle Fire (I got the 6") feels and acts like a brick. Hopefully I will learn how to utilize it better so it doesn't seem like such a mistake.

One thing I am wondering about is games, as I think my sister would enjoy playing games on it. I downloaded a couple of free ones but they seem rather boring, plus they give only a couple of turns of playing and then you have to wait to get additional free plays. Can someone recommend ***good*** games for the Kindle Fire? My sister likes jigsaw puzzle games on her desktop computer, but I'd like to give her a little more variety in the handheld -- preferably before Christmas so this Kindle does not become an expensive paperweight in her apartment.

Onetomatoplant

I read almost exclusively on my iPad with the Nook and the Kindle apps, and with Overdrive for library books. When I first began reading ebooks, my library selection wasn't great, so I did some research. Free Library of Philadelphia will give you a library card, for an annual fee, even if you're not a resident. And if you're military, they waive the fee. I love having the extra selection for library books.

quiltin-nannie

My iPhone 6 died last week. Took it to the Verizon store and they told me it was toast, but still under manufacturers warranty and gave me a number to call. I came home and called the number and the gal on the phone said to press the on/off button at the same time I press the round one on the front of the phone (don't know what it's called). She said to just hold them in for a little bit and it would reset my phone. Sure enough, it did the job, and my phone was back to working.

Sandra-P

Thank you for all the great tips and info!

ladydukes

If you join BookBub (I think that's the name), you can receive a daily email listing FREE books to download.

Onebyone

My first Kindle Fire won't take a charge anymore. The charge port came loose. I could get it repaired but the service charge is more then the cost of a new one so the service guy told me to go to youtube and there is a video how to replace the charger myself. The charger can be bought from Amazon or Ebay for a few dollars. Always check youtube how to handle phone or tablet problems before giving up.