In a few weeks, I'm going to be "traveling internationally" (aka a 15hr flight on a C-17 to a not nice place). I can't bring a lot of stuff with me and was thinking about starting to read more frequently again. In preparation, I bought a Kindle Paperwhite 12th gen (newest one). I've never had an eReader before but I know the Kindles are a popular choice. I have a few books, mostly historical non-fiction and autobiographies. Is there a way to get those on the Kindle without purchasing them again? After some quick research, I see that Kindles are pretty locked down. It is possible to jailbreak them but I see there are other eReaders on the market that are more open.
Should I try and jailbreak my Kindle?
Should I return the Kindle and buy another eReader?
Or should I just bite the bullet and buy the Kindle version of the books I want?
I don't know if it will work internationally, but would it be possible to sign up with your local library? I sign tons of e-books out from mine, plus they also have a lot of magazines and newspapers. Since it's through a library everything is free of course. I do have to get on a waiting list for popular titles, but I can usually find something I want to read that I can sign out immediately.
j_tso
SuperDork
1/25/25 4:27 p.m.
I've got a really old one and am able to transfer books in .azw format manually. Can the new ones do that?
There is software to convert ereader files to something appropriate to your reader. The important part is the DRM- if you can get that turned off, you can read it anywhere. If the file does not have that, plug the kindle into your computer, move the files over, and enjoy reading them.
No idea which is the best software, but I could not do that for my nook files. May try again later. but I was pretty frustrated that I could not do that.
No need to "jailbreak", just plug the Kindle into your computer and it shows up like a usb drive. Copy your ebooks over.
As Alfa said, if there's DRM you may have to screw around to break it. Calibre is likely to be your best bet with various plugins. It'll also convert formats for you - plug in the reader, select a book in your library and tell it to send that to your reader.
Now, if you have purchased books in print and want an ebook copy of them, you're either going to have to find a pirate copy or pay again. It's like records and CDs.
Kindle integration with local libraries is pretty seamless. I've never tried to borrow something when out of the country, but since it all goes through the library and Amazon I'll bet it would work.
Keith Tanner said:
No need to "jailbreak", just plug the Kindle into your computer and it shows up like a usb drive. Copy your ebooks over.
You can also use the web and amazon will convert and send you anything you own to your new kindle. WIFI is all it takes. I buy big batches of 40k books on charity events.
Also if you have a library card you can get download what you want. Go into airplane mode and it will just sit there until you reconnect to the net it will just stay there.
wearymicrobe said:
Keith Tanner said:
No need to "jailbreak", just plug the Kindle into your computer and it shows up like a usb drive. Copy your ebooks over.
You can also use the web and amazon will convert and send you anything you own to your new kindle. WIFI is all it takes. I buy big batches of 40k books on charity events.
Also if you have a library card you can get download what you want. Go into airplane mode and it will just sit there until you reconnect to the net it will just stay there.
Just tried this with some B&N epubs and it did not convert, if anyone else is curious.
Using the web interface to upload will not remove third party DRM, alas.
