Using my Kindle Wireless Reading Device (aka Kindle 3)

It took 22 days for my Kindle 3 (Wi-fi) to arrive at my doorstep. Mind you, it was quite a painful wait. If I were to live in the US, I would have received it around a week after I had placed my order.

So, since Amazon does not ship the Kindle to Malaysia, I used vPost in which they provided me a US address. (Click here to sign up for a vPost account.) It's a Singaporean service, if I'm not mistaken. Anyway, I paid vPost SGD30.50 (RM73++) to have the Kindle sent to me in Malaysia. I got my Kindle ten days after I paid them.

What a joyful moment it was when my mom said there was a parcel for me on the evening of Nov 11 as I got home from work. The unboxing was exciting. The Kindle greeted me as I lifted the lid of the box. Under it were the 'Quick Start Guide' and the USB cable.

In using the Kindle for the first time, I followed all the steps laid out in the Quick Start Guide. The device was already registered under my Amazon account so I need not register again. The wireless also worked perfectly. I even downloaded some free e-books from Amazon via Whispernet though I received this e-mail the next day!

Dear xxx,

I see that you attempted to purchase "xxx [Kindle Edition]" while in a different country than the United States listed on your Amazon account. Certain Kindle titles are not available everywhere. We are reaching out to you to ensure the best possible service for your account.

Dang. Then I followed some steps provided by this guy who claimed to have successfully bought e-books from Amazon. Bought a gift card for myself to buy an e-book, Jellicoe Road (Kindle edition) by Melina Marchetta.

But yesterday, a message popped up in my Kindle, telling me to change the location of my country! I de-registered the Kindle from my Amazon account, created a new Amazon account with a different e-mail and linked the Kindle to it. Downloaded more books after that. Today, I got the same e-mail again! I can still download free e-books from Amazon but not sure for how long. See what happens tomorrow.

I like having the books downloaded right away to the Kindle though because it's easy and takes a short while. :)

Here are some useful links:
Kindle Content Outside the US
Buy Kindle books from outside US
Buying Amazon kindle books from overseas?
Amazon Kindle 3 In Singapore (this blog writer insists that users do not buy free e-books from Amazon via Whispernet/Wifi/3G! Great. Should have read this blog before using my Kindle! Guess I'll have to always transfer the e-books from my computer to the Kindle via USB cable.)
International Kindle users: change your country to avoid additional fees
How to Do (Almost) Everything With a Kindle 3

Check out this screensaver on the Kindle:

There are more cool-looking screensavers on the Kindle actually. This is only one of them.

I *heart* my Kindle but I need to stop receiving those e-mails from Amazon!