Now, you have the Kindle by following the guide of buying Kindle 2 from outside US. There are couple of things you need to know on using Kindle in your homestead.
- Don’t charge your Kindle with your home power supply – unless at home you have the same voltage and US two-pronge plug. Instead, use the USB cable and charge it with your computer.
- Amazon use Whispernet to send the book to your Kindle, and it consumes lots of battery power of your Kindle as it needs to search / connect to Whispernet constantly. But since there is no Whispernet outside US, you shall switch off the Whispernet (from the Kindle menu) as soon as you get your hands on it.
- With your Kindle account, you need to set up a Kindle email address such as xxxx.xxxx@kindle.com. You can send files to that account and Amazon.com will convert the files for Kindle reading.
- On the other hand, Amazon will send the converted file to your Kindle directly via Whispernet. Since you don’t have Whispernet in your country. What you need to do is to send the files to a different address – xxxx.xxxx@free.kindle.com. Amazon will then convert the file and send you an email with a link to the converted file. You can then save the converted file and transfer to your Kindle.
- Kindle is beautiful, but make sure you buy a cover to protect it.
- Register to www.mobileread.com, it provides lots of support to mobile readers like us … outside Amazon.com.
Update : Since the screen saver picture also consumes power, therefore switch off your Kindle, instead of turning it to sleep mode before you go to bed. That will make your Kindle battery last for two, three weeks; instead of just a few days.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 66 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi, I just received my kindle 2 from DHL in Hong Kong. but when I slide the top button, the black bar simply slides 8/10 of the way across and then stops. Nothing happens after that, none of the HOME or MENU buttons respond. What do I do please? I have already registered my Kindle2 online at amazon.com but my PC won’t recognize it as yet.
William, sorry to hear that. But I am not sure I understand your “black bar” problem.
I think what you can possibly do are:
1. Reset / power off your Kindle 2 by slide the switch to right and hold 5 to 10 seconds. The screen should go blank.
2. Connect the USB cable between your Kindle and PC. You shall see the charge light to orange and some text on screen.
3. Check also whether by doing that, you can see a new drive in your PC (K drive).
Charge it for an hour or two. Then safely reject the device from your PC. And see whether you can access the documents in your Kindle (e.g. the manual) and check the home / menu button is working again or not.
Hope it helps.
I recieved the Kindle 2 in Afghanistan. I work here as NGO. I tried to register it through internet. Amazon asked me the kindle name which I gave anything I like and Serial number. But it says with geographical problem I cannot register it. What can I do? I asked my friend to buy it when she visit the US a few weeks ago.
Can I buy and use the ebooks without registeration? How?
Thank you very much.
Paul,
If your Kindle 2 was a gift, your friend had to choose the gift option available in Amazon’s checkout process, the Kindle then would not be attached to your friend’s Amazon account. And you will be able to register the Kindle to your Amazon account directly from the device or from the Manage Your Kindle page found here: http://www.amazon.com/manageyourkindle.
If your friend did not chose the gift option, she will need to “deregister” it first from Amazon. And you can then register the Kindle to your account, but I think you still need a US address to pass the geographic check.
Once you get thru this web site registration, you can buy ebooks.
Hope it helps.
- I am french (and live in france) and i bought a used kindle on Ebay yesterday. But what you said scares me a little!
The seller sold it because he found it in a train and had no use of it. So does it mean that if the original owner hasn’t deregister the kindle, i won’t be able to register it and buy some kindle books? Or is there any hope?
- I have no personal adress in the US: is it possible to register an aquaintance’s adress in the US? If it is simply an administrativ formility i think it’s ok, but does Amazon send some documents to the US address?
Thanks a lot for your help (i know it sounds desperate…)
Hi Floriane,
For your first question … The best case scenario will be someone just left a brand new Kindle in a train, and it’s a gift & therefore not yet registered to any Amazon account. Then you can register it to your account and start buying books (you still need to have US address tie to your account though, or you can use the Gift coupon approach – please check my other blog posts).
The worst case scenario will be the Kindle was already registered and not de-registered by the owner. You will have a Kindle with whatever ebooks in it … and you cannot buy new ones. However, you still can use it to read unprotected Mobipocket books (.mobi, .prc) and text files (.txt) … provided you have the original Kindle USB cable.
For your second question, yes I think an aquaintance’s address is fine as nothing will send to it – unless you later on use that Amazon account to buy other things and those will ship there.
Hope it helps !!
Yes thanks!
But i fear your first scenario is not the good one, because if someone brought his/her kindle in a train, it was to read, therefore the kindle must have been already registered to buy kindle books.
But i wrote an email to Amazon explaining the situation and asking if they can contact the previous owner.
I keep my fingers crossed!
Good luck then, Floriane. BTW, if the Kindle is not a brand new one (in a box), then you will need to buy the Kindle USB cable to transfer books …
I am based in Singapore and bought the Kindle 2 through VPOST a local service who bought on my behalf in the US. I bought the KIndle using my own Amazon account but I changed the address from my Singapore to US collection address of VPOST. When I was registering my KIndle , it kept on failing because there is no Whispernet in Singapore. So I switched of the whispernet function and connected it to the laptop with the USB cable. But I still could not register even though I have*******@kindle.com account. Can you help? Thanks.
Hi Edward,
Glad that you got a Kindle. Yes indeed you cannot register the Kindle device with USB connection. However, you don’t need to get it registered to buy Kindle books. And it will work fine, so don’t worry. For more details of registering your Kindle, check my other blog post.
http://www.michaelyung.com/blog/services-and-products/2009/04/18/registering-kindle-2-from-outside-us/
Hi Michael,
Thanks for the advice. I bought my kindle through One Now and it arrived in HK yesterday. I cannot buy books through Amazon as it will not let me progress without registering even though I have a US amazon account and have been topping it up with gift vouchers which I can download to my iphone. The only option I seem to have is downloading to iphone or registering. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Laura
Hi Laura,
Great you bought your Kindle, but sorry I am lost in your email … what do you mean by you have “… gift vouchers which I can download to my iphone …” ?
Also, in the “Manage Your Kindle” page, did you find your Kindle registered ? And for you “US amazon account”, is it tied to an US address (the one you got from OneNow) ? Let me know and see how we can proceed from there …
Sorry that I do not solve your problem immediately.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for such a quite answer. I sent up an amazon account using the One Now address and I e-mail amazon gift vouchers to this account as I don’t have a US credit card. This has worked successfully with my iPhone Kindle. When I try to buy books using 1 click it will only allow me to buy books for my iphone or register my Kindle (which I can’t). My kindle says that it is unregistered but when I put the serial number into Amazon it says that it is already registered; I assume that this was done by One Now. Thanks for your help.
Laura
Hi Laura,
OneNow will not register the Kindle for you, instead I believe that new Amazon account you set up (the one with OneNow address) has registered your Kindle. Therefore, try login with this new account and check the “Manage Your Kindle” page again. And from that new account to buy Kindle books.
Hope this helps.
Cheers, Michael
Hi Michael,
I’m was thinking of purchasing a kindle 2 when i heard this little device may not work outside U.S. I lived in Hong Kong, would there be any problems when I register it. How can i bypass the geographical problem?
Your advice would be much appreciated.
Susan
Hi Susan,
In fact you can buy Kindle 2, and Kindle books with no problems. Many friends of mine in Hong Kong already got it. The major geographical issue is probably you cannot directly download the ebooks thru the wireless Amazon Whispernet, and you have to save the ebooks to your PC first, and then transfer to the Kindle 2. Another things you need to aware of is how to make use of a US address to buy the device and how to buy ebooks via AE credit cards or gift certificates.
Please feel free to check other steps, tips and tricks in my blog posts for details. Give me a yell if you need more helps.
Cheers, Michael
living in Singapore and like Edward above, got my Kindle 2 sent to me via VPOST. Set up a separate US Amazon account just for my Kindle with no credit cards attached and used the US address given to me by VPOST as my own. Easily buy books from Amazon and then just download them from Amazon to my pc and upload them to my Kindle via the cable…only problem is register the Kindle itself which is not that big a deal, just means I can’t access the settings like how it sorts by home page but that’s not too major a thing…as for the clock…I figured out an easy way to set that to my correct timing…just wait till midnight and do a reset…the Kindle will keep all your stuff but reset the clock to midnight.
Hi Sandra, glad that you have everything working … Enjoy your Kindle !!
Hi Michael, thanks for sharing your knowledge on Kindle with us.
I am currently working oversea in Taiwan, but I have a US credit card with valide US address.
I plan to buy a Kindle 2 with that card to a relative, and have him registered for me, before he will send the device to me.
Then, I intend to follow what you have written on your post:
1. Purchase Kindle ebook at amazon.com using my NEW Kindle account
2. Since the wireless transfer function won’t work outside of US, I will “ask amazon” to allow me to download the file to my pc (?)
3. Save the file on my pc
4. Upload contents to my Kindle 2, through “special” Kindle USB (?)
Can you tell me if this plan is foul-proof?
I don’t think i will have problem purchasing or registereing in the US…
I’m MOST CONCERNED that I will have trouble downloading books to my pc, and then uploading to my Kindle 2
Please help me.
Thanks, Phil
Hi Phillip,
Glad that you find the information useful. If I understand you correctly, you intended to create a new Amazon account with your US credit card and your relative’s address. And once your relative get the Kindle he will register the hardware and then ship it to you.
I think that will work perfectly. And for your points:
#1 – OK
#2 – You don’t need to “ask Amazon” for that, as the download function is available as part of the option in the “Manage Your Kindle” page
#3 – Yes, you can do it.
#4 – Yes, you can transfer the contents to your Kindle 2 – the USB cable come with the package, so you don’t need to buy a special one.
One thing you may want to know is the steps / plan are ok for books, but not newspaper and magazine subscriptions as it requires the Whispernet.
Hope it helps and enjoy !!
Hi Micheal, I dont think your information is correct. I live in the Netherlands and I accidentaly deregisterd my Kindle. When I wanted to register it again it failed. I just hang up with cust. service from Amazon and they told me that in order to register the devica has to be in the US becouse it has to connect to wispernet. Since I cant do that, I asked her if I could continue buying Kindle 2 e-books. This was not possible, becouse you need to have a Kindle registerd. But she said I could order it (with a US credit Card) to my I-phone (which I dont have…). But I was wondering if I can read those on my Kindle aswell?
Hi Zor,
We are talking about two things – One is register your Kindle within Amazon website, such that your Amazon account can buy books for it. The other is register the Kindle hardware, that have to go thru Whispernet in US – that helps you to buy books directly from your Kindle 2 (again via Whispernet).
With your case, looks like once you deregistered from your Amazon account (?), you cannot re-register it again … but have you tried create a new Amazon account and register the Kindle again ? (Pretty much like you just got the Kindle as a gift from a friend)
Hope it helps.
Hi Micheal,
Thanx for your help. I tried to register it on an new amazon account, however it still doenst work. Somehow Amazon claims that the hardware has to go through the mobile network in the US in order to register. I’ll keep trying though. I” keep you updated. If you have any ideas let me know.
Thanks man. That’s a real confidence boost.
Two more questions, if i may.
1. So you mean that- the download function “Manage Your Kindle” is an option EVERY KINDLE USER has for his/her amazon account online?
For the files download there, can they only be uploaded to a designated kindle? Or is there a limit how many times you can upload to a e-book reader? Is it viewable on regular computer, or just a file for kindle device?
(Sorry this is like 5 questions in one)
2. Say if one day, I return to the U.S., can I re-activate my Whispernet function? Or do I lose it already?
Hi Phillip,
My answers below:
1.(a) Yes the download function is available for all Kindle users (since not all users, even in US, is covered by Whispernet). For the screen shot, check out here … http://www.michaelyung.com/blog/book/2009/03/21/buy-kindle-books-from-outside-us/
1.(b) I was told you can upload the file to Kindles registered to your account and up to 6 Kindles. But I have not tried it. I think it is for sharing a book within a family or close friends …
1.(c) There is no limit on uploading your book to the reader.
1.(d) The file is in .azw format, so is only viewable in your Kindle device.
1.(e) What’s the fifth question ?
2. Yes, you can “re-activate” your Whispernet function. I brought my Kindle in an US trip and activate the hardware, bought a book from within Kindle itself, sync a book with Kindle for iPhone … all without problem.
Hope it helps.
Hi Zor,
Sorry to hear that, but it is strange … as you just mimicing you received a Kindle as a gift from a friend and try to register it. May be Amazon changed that rule ?
Hi. There is a lot of great information here. Thank you. My mom lives on a boat and sails all over the world. I am going to visit her and was hoping to give her a kindle as a gift since there is not much room on a boat for a lot of books. I wanted to buy 20 or so books for her to already have on it before I gave it to her. It seems I need to register it to my account to put those books on it, but then she would need to re-register the kindle with her account when she gets it. Do you forsee any problem? Would she lose the books I put on when she re-registered it? Do I need to blow the secret so that I can download some books with her account before I go? Thanks.
Hi Wendy,
Thanks for visiting the site and for your question, to play safe, I think there are couple of possible ways to do it:
1. Assuming your mom doesn’t has an Amazon account, then you can create an account for your mom, buy a Kindle, and some books to store into the Kindle with your credit card. Then pass the Kindle and Amazon account information to your mom; and change the credit card information.
2. Or same as the above, but you use gift certificate to buy books for the Kindle, then you don’t need to change the credit card information at all.
3. If your mom already have an Amazon account, then you shall buy the Kindle as a gift, such that your mom can register it. I suggest to buy the books with gift certificates after the re-registration.
4. Last option is if you also have a Kindle already, then you can register your mom’s new Kindle under your account; buy the books and share it with the new Kindle. This option, you can read those 20 books as well.
Hope it helps.
Hi,
I live in Saudi Arabia and I have US adress via delivering company but I don’t have US c/card can I still download Kindle store books to the Kindle by cable?
Regds,
Hi Abdulaziz,
Yes, once you get your Kindle, try use your usual credit card to buy gift coupon / certificate to buy books. Once you have the ebooks with your Kindle account in Amazon, then you can download the books to your PC and then transfer to your Kindle device with the cable.
http://www.michaelyung.com/blog/book/2009/03/21/buy-kindle-books-from-outside-us/
Hope it helps.