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cvbmom
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| Posted: Nov 08 2011 at 9:53am | IP Logged
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We were considering purchasing a Nook or Kindle or other e-reader (still trying to figure that one out) for our daughter. One concern we have is the ability for the device to access the internet. Can this feature be turned off or disconnected? We really would like our daughter to have an e-reader, but not if that gives her the ability to access the internet at any time. Does anyone have any experience or advice about this?
Thanks and God bless,
Christine
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MicheleQ
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| Posted: Nov 08 2011 at 11:10am | IP Logged
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She's only going to have access if there is a wireless connection available (unless you get the 3G). We don't keep our wireless turned on (for other reasons) and the neighbor's is security protected.
If you do keep your wireless turned on there should be a way to limit who accesses it but I am not techy enough to know how to explain that.
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Courtney
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| Posted: Nov 08 2011 at 11:46am | IP Logged
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I contacted Amazon about the kindle and they said there is no way to turn off access to the internet at this time and there are no parental controls. That is what has kept us from getting our son one so far. I asked at Barnes and Noble about the Nook as well and they said the same thing.
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MicheleQ
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Courtney wrote:
| I contacted Amazon about the kindle and they said there is no way to turn off access to the internet at this time and there are no parental controls. That is what has kept us from getting our son one so far. I asked at Barnes and Noble about the Nook as well and they said the same thing. |
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Were they talking about the 3G Kindle? Because the others have the option of turning the wireless off (thus turning off the internet). Now there's no way to lock it but again if there's no wireless access there's no internet.
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Mary Chris
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I'm confused! We have a Kindle, 13ds got it for Christmas last year. When the wireless is on, he can purchase books from Amazon. He can't browse the web or get to emails. At least not that any of us have figured out. And we did try because we wanted to make sure that was not an option! His Kindle is attached to my Amazon account, whenever he downloads a book, even a free one, I receive an email.
Now the Kindle Fire, I think you can browse the web and you can have Apps.
I have heard that the $79.00 Kindle has adds though out the books. We were going to get one, but I don't want random adds coming up while I read. I would like the Kindle Fire myself.
Also, it looks like you can get a Kindle or a Kindle Touch without 3G.
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MicheleQ
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Mary Chris wrote:
| I'm confused! We have a Kindle, 13ds got it for Christmas last year. When the wireless is on, he can purchase books from Amazon. He can't browse the web or get to emails. At least not that any of us have figured out. And we did try because we wanted to make sure that was not an option! His Kindle is attached to my Amazon account, whenever he downloads a book, even a free one, I receive an email. |
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It's actually rather clumsy for the internet. Very slow and not easy to maneuver. To get to the internet you go to the menu and down to Experimental then Launch web browser. Give it a try and you'll see what I mean. It's hardly worth the effort.
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ShannonJ
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MicheleQ wrote:
It's actually rather clumsy for the internet. Very slow and not easy to maneuver. To get to the internet you go to the menu and down to Experimental then Launch web browser. Give it a try and you'll see what I mean. It's hardly worth the effort. |
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I agree. The Kindle is really not worth it to browse the web. I can't really see it being a big draw for a kid as it is so slow and not very intuitive to navigate.
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cvbmom
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MicheleQ wrote:
Were they talking about the 3G Kindle? Because the others have the option of turning the wireless off (thus turning off the internet). Now there's no way to lock it but again if there's no wireless access there's no internet. |
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That makes sense to me, and makes dh and I more comfortable. Also, the fact that the device has "clunky" internet access anyway helps. I do trust dd, it's just that I also am aware of temptation and want to help her avoid it if/when I can. We'll look into that.
Another related question...
The Kindle is MUCH cheaper if you allow ads on it. I am VERY hesitant to do that, but am wondering if anyone does and if it's been problematic. If we disconnect wireless for the above reasons, will ads even be possible? I didn't realize when we were comparing e-reader prices that the advertized Kindle price included advertizements from Amazon on your e-reader! Without the advertizements is significantly more money.  Yet another thing to consider...
Thanks for your help with this,
Christine
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MicheleQ
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cvbmom wrote:
Also, the fact that the device has "clunky" internet access anyway helps. I do trust dd, it's just that I also am aware of temptation and want to help her avoid it if/when I can. We'll look into that.
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It really is. I was reminded again last night when I had it with me out and there was WiFi. It's great for shopping in the Kindle store but accessing the web is hardly worth the effort. I was trying to look something up on our library's site, which is usually quite fast and easy, and just got frustrated because the kindle can't open multiple tabs and the website is set up that way.
And I just read this review:
Quote:
| Users can take advantage of a WebKit-based browser, however the feature is appropriately listed as an "experimental" add-on. The browser is particularly difficult to manage on the new Kindle, due to the keyboard limitation, though it might find more use on the upcoming Kindle Touch. |
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cvbmom wrote:
Another related question...
The Kindle is MUCH cheaper if you allow ads on it. I am VERY hesitant to do that, but am wondering if anyone does and if it's been problematic. If we disconnect wireless for the above reasons, will ads even be possible? I didn't realize when we were comparing e-reader prices that the advertized Kindle price included advertizements from Amazon on your e-reader! Without the advertizements is significantly more money. Yet another thing to consider... |
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Quoting the same review:
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| the $79 Kindle "with special offers" is sold as an ad-supported platform. We were curious to see if the banner ads detracted from the experience, but we found the ads to be easily ignored. The sponsored ads are only presented on the screensaver and home screen, rather than interrupting pages in books. |
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Based in that we are definitely getting the $79 Kindles for our teens for Christmas.
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MicheleQ
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One more thing. The $79 Kindle doesn't have audio so no audio books or text to speech. I am fine with that because my teens have their own mp# players for audio books but for some that might be a consideration.
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cvbmom
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Audio isn't important to us right now, so that's no big deal. I'll have to talk to dh more about the ads. I am VERY glad they don't interrupt the book reading!
So much to ponder, but I am leaning toward the Kindle $79 or $99 touch version, but as I said, I have to discuss the ads with dh.
Thanks so much for the help!
Christine
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after months of mourning my beloved Kindle2's death by toddler, and after much back-and-forth-ing, I finally replaced it with the $79 version. it's only been a week, so maybe this is premature, but I must admit I'm still a little conflicted. on the one hand, I am THRILLED to have an e-reader back. I even love its smaller size and lack of keyboard (which I never used). I didn't need audio or web browsing (although the so-called "experimental" setting is supposed to be better; I haven't even tried it), so the bare-bones model appealed to me. and yes, it was cheap, and yes, the ads really are fairly unobtrusive, and maybe even I'll use them to save money someday. but all that being said, they still annoy me on a philosophical level. I told my DH, is my price point really $20? how degrading! 
so I'm just tossing that out there, for what it's worth. because the ads won't go away; my only hope is that eventually I'll stop noticing (and being mildly annoyed by) them. in fairness, I am the type of person who, back when I watched TV, always muted the commercials, so perhaps I should have thought harder about the consequences of buying something that's ad supported. 
ah well. in the meantime, I am relishing my "BabyKin," as I've dubbed it. I even discovered the perfect, cost-effective waterproof cover for bathtime: a quart-sized Ziploc baggie!  it works like a charm and you can't beat the price!
good luck deciding. btw, the KindleFire comes out this week ...
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I have to say that I'd get tired of the ads, too. Just being honest with myself on that one. I noticed that the Nook (seems to be comparable to the Kindle Touch) is now $99 and has NO ads, whereas the Kindle is $99 with ads. That might sway us. Dh and I are STILL trying to figure this one out...
God bless,
Christine
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KauaiCatholic wrote:
| I told my DH, is my price point really $20? how degrading! |
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No it's $69. To get a Kindle that doesn't have ads you'd have to go up to the $139 one at least. The $99 Kindle Touch still has ads.
Feel better?
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I have had too many thing die that way too! 
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MicheleQ wrote:
KauaiCatholic wrote:
| I told my DH, is my price point really $20? how degrading! |
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No it's $69. To get a Kindle that doesn't have ads you'd have to go up to the $139 one at least. The $99 Kindle Touch still has ads.
Feel better?
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YES! yes, I do! thanks so much for that! good to know this about myself ...
hey, today I saw my first Kindle ad that tempted me enough to click for more details: it was a voucher for 50 percent off tea. my DH suspects I'll stop minding the ads as soon as one of them saves me money.
in case anybody is interested, here are the ads I've seen so far: ATT, "Breaking Dawn" tickets and DVD package, "Glee" CDs, Mastercard (I think; it may have been Amazon and MC?), and the ESP Tea Emporium. most of the ads have been variations of Amazon gift cards and promos, actually. and they keep reminding me about the monthly e-book specials and asking me to rate books I've finished. so, not too bad, really. my annoyance level will probably subside ... especially now that I know my time is worth $69. 
oh, I forgot: when you click on the ad option, it automatically turns your wireless on. (I generally keep it off, so that stumped me this morning when I realized I was connected.) anyway, I thought I'd mention it since the original intent of this thread was the Internet accessibility.
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cvbmom
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KauaiCatholic wrote:
oh, I forgot: when you click on the ad option, it automatically turns your wireless on. (I generally keep it off, so that stumped me this morning when I realized I was connected.) anyway, I thought I'd mention it since the original intent of this thread was the Internet accessibility. |
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Now that IS a consideration. I wasn't really thrilled with the idea of the ads floating around in front of my children (not knowing exactly what the ads were). But now knowing that the Wi-Fi would be on though I was wanting to keep it off on the kids' e-readers adds even more to consider. Hmmm.
Thanks for the info!
Christine
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cvbmom wrote:
KauaiCatholic wrote:
oh, I forgot: when you click on the ad option, it automatically turns your wireless on. (I generally keep it off, so that stumped me this morning when I realized I was connected.) anyway, I thought I'd mention it since the original intent of this thread was the Internet accessibility. |
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Now that IS a consideration. I wasn't really thrilled with the idea of the ads floating around in front of my children (not knowing exactly what the ads were). But now knowing that the Wi-Fi would be on though I was wanting to keep it off on the kids' e-readers adds even more to consider. Hmmm.
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Yes but it can only connect if there's a WiFi connection available (unless it's the 3 G). We don't keeps ours on here so it may try to connect but it won't be able to.
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cvbmom
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MicheleQ wrote:
Yes but it can only connect if there's a WiFi connection available (unless it's the 3 G). We don't keeps ours on here so it may try to connect but it won't be able to. |
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We have WiFi on at home all the time for our laptop and dh's laptop from work, so it is something to think about. I wish we could turn it off, but don't think it's an option here from the WiFi side. It would have to be turned off from the device (e-reader) side.
Thanks everyone for the wonderful suggestions and help you are giving about this!
God bless,
Christine
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I find Kim Kommando's advice to be helpful.
What I want to know, if you have no wireless, will there be screens or something to keep nagging you to turn it on for the ads?
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Parental Locks/Controls on E-Readers?
