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10 Useful Kindle Tips
Amazon's Kindle is an extraordinary bit of kit whose users genuinely love it - but the chances are you'd love it even more if you knew some of the better tricks it's got up its sleeve. Here we list top 10 useful Kindle tips to help you use Kindle device better.
Kindle Tips - Adding a non-Amazon ebook to your Kindle
1. Is the file DRM-free? If it's locked by the retailer or publisher with copy protection, you can't legally remove the DRM to put it on your Kindle in the U.S.
2. Is the file in a format that already works on the Kindle? Formats of Kindle are:
Original Kindle: Unprotected MOBI or PRC, TXT, Topaz format books (TPZ), and AZW.
Kindle 2 and 3: PDF, Unprotected MOBI or PRC, TXT, Topaz format books (TPZ), and AZW.
Kindle Touch and Touch 3G: AZW, TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, and PRC files natively. HTML, DOC, DOCX.
Kindle Fire: Kindle Format 8 (KF8), Kindle Mobi (.azw), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, DOC, DOCX
3. If not, convert it into an acceptable format.
Kindle Tricks - Search and Indexing
Immediately after adding books to Kindle you will notice that the battery meter drops very quickly. This is because after your books have been added to the Kindle, it will start indexing the text inside all the books. This is useful when you want to use the search feature. To check if the indexing has completed, search for a random word (e.g. "qwerty") and you will see the number of items that are yet to be indexed.
Kindle Tips - Refresh the screen
From time to time your Kindle's screen may become corrupted. Not to worry: a swift Alt-G refreshes the display. If that doesn't work, sliding the power switch to the right and keeping it there until the screen goes completely blank turns your Kindle off completely.
Kindle Tricks - Subscribe to magazines and newspapers for early delivery
If you sign up to receive subscriptions to print products on your Kindle, you'll often get access to them before they hit the newsstands.
Kindle Tips - Print screen
Make a screenshot by pressing Alt-Shift-G. And the screen will flash momentarily. To retrieve your screenshots browse to the root directory of your Kindle and navigate to the “documents” folder. This folder contains all your saved books and the screenshots will be saved as GIF files.
Kindle Tricks - Preserve your book collection
Keep a digital copy of your literature in case of fire, flood, or theft.
Kindle Tips - Avoid hitting the "Next Page" button
Try pressing a key on the keyboard to keep your crip, or slide a rubber band into the slit behind the page turning bar.
Kindle Tricks - Configure Your Kindle Email Address
Your Kindle has an email address. Unfortunately, the default address given is usually unhelpful and difficult to remember. Visit Manage Your Kindle > Manage Your Devices and click ‘edit' next to your current Kindle Email Address. Set it to something you can easily remember. Don't worry, it doesn't have to be secretive either as only authorized email addresses can send emails to it.
Kindle Tips - Make your Kindle talk
If the publisher hasn't disabled it, you can get your Kindle to read your book aloud by pressing the Text menu button (the one with the upper and lower case letter A on it) and selecting Text-to-Speech: Turn On. Shift-Sym then starts and stops the reading feature and the space bar pauses and resumes.
Kindle Tricks - Save battery life
Since the eInk display doesn't use a lot of juice, your Kindle can last for days on a charge. Still, there are times when the battery may drain quickly, usually due to the wireless radio. If you're in an area where the integrated 3G technology can't find a signal—on an airplane, or in an area with low or non-existent 3G coverage—the radio will constantly search for one, thus draining the battery much faster. To turn wireless off, press Menu > Wireless Off. Or you can turn the Kindle completely off by holding the power slide to the right for about five seconds until the screen goes blank.
Related Links: Free Kindle Touch Books Download
