Kindle Paperwhite for Dummies (25 page)

Files purchased outside Amazon are
not
stored in your Cloud. You need to back up the files on your computer. Some e-booksellers offer a digital archive of purchases you’ve made. Read the terms of service to see whether this is a feature that’s offered. You may want to check whether there’s any restriction on the number of files that can be stored and the length of time that your digital library will remain active.

An e-bookseller might go out of business, so it’s a good idea to back up content you purchase from sources other than Amazon.

Choosing a compatible file format for purchased e-books

The following formats are compatible with the Kindle Paperwhite:

AZW, AZW1, AZW2, AZW3
are the various iterations of the proprietary format developed by Amazon for its Kindle-compatible e-books. Content purchased from Amazon has one of these extensions.

MOBI
is a file format developed by Mobipocket; it’s widely used and compatible with the Kindle Paperwhite. Note, however, that secure Mobipocket or secure MOBI files do
not
work on a Kindle Paperwhite.

PRC,
which stands for
Palm Resource Compiler,
is equivalent to MOBI and is the standard file format for the Kindle family of e-readers.

TXT
is a simple text file.

PDF
is the Adobe Portable Document Format. The newest generation Kindle e-readers, including the Kindle Paperwhite, have a built-in PDF reader. You can send or e-mail the file to your Kindle Paperwhite or copy it to the Kindle Paperwhite via USB. Details on sending files are discussed in Chapter 7.

DOC
and
DOCX
are files created by Microsoft Word, a word-processing program. A Word document can be converted to work on the Kindle Paperwhite. The easiest method for conversion is to send the file to your Kindle Paperwhite using the Send to Kindle app from Amazon. You can also e-mail the file to your Kindle e-mail address. We discuss these options in Chapter 7.

Transferring files from your computer to the Kindle Paperwhite

Although e-mailing or sending a document to your Kindle Paperwhite is fast and easy (see Chapter 7), connecting your Kindle via USB cable and transferring books via drag-and-drop is simple too.

Both Macintosh and Windows users can download and transfer Kindle content and personal documents from their computers to their Kindles through the USB connection. When the Kindle is plugged into a computer, it appears as a removable mass-storage device.

To transfer files via USB cable, your computer must meet the following system requirements:

PC:
Windows 2000 or later

Macintosh:
Mac OS X 10.2 or later

USB port:
An available port or an attached USB hub with an available port

To connect your Kindle Paperwhite to your computer:

1. Plug the larger end of the USB cable into an available USB port or a powered USB hub connected to your computer, and connect the other end of the USB cable to the micro-USB port on the bottom of the Kindle Paperwhite.

When connected to the PC, the Kindle Paperwhite goes into USB drive mode and its battery is recharged by the computer. Wireless service is temporarily shut off. The Kindle isn’t usable as a reading device while in USB drive mode but returns to your reading location when you eject the device from your computer.

2. When your Kindle Paperwhite is connected, simply drag and drop (or copy and paste) the file from your computer’s hard drive to the Kindle Paperwhite.

For e-books, make sure to place the file in the Documents folder on the Kindle Paperwhite. If you put the file in the root drive, it won’t appear on the Home screen of your Kindle Paperwhite.

Discovering Sources of Free Content

You can find many sources of free content. The quickest and easiest way to find free e-books, games, and other offers that are available at Amazon is to search the Top 100 Free category. Not all the free e-books are restricted to classics; various publishers run special promotions to entice readers to try new authors — often on the eve of a new e-book release. You need to be quick, though — many times the freebie is available only for a few days before it goes back to the regular price.

Another option is to visit KindleBoards at
www.kindleboards.com
. Members there maintain a monthly thread that lists free e-books from a variety of sites. The list is updated regularly to show when the e-book is no longer free.