Is there any kind of contract required with any of the 3G versions of the Kindle?

Kindle no, kindle fire yes.

No

Thanks how about the 3G Paperwhite?

Don’t think so but never owned one unlike other two

No contract fees with the Kindle Paperwhite 3G. Just the initial purchase price and that’s it.

Why do you want the 3G one, out of interest? Never saw the point personally.

i advised a mate to buy a 3G Kindle as he has no WIFI. He said he was glad he went down this route…..

Why do you want the 3G one, out of interest? Never saw the point personally.

Free internet access, pretty much anywhere in the world,,lets you pick up email or even buy a book where ever you are.

I have a Kindle 3G Touch, no contract. You can browse the Amazon store and download books with 3G, but not use the (very basic) browser (as you can with wifi).

I travel a fair amount so the 3G seemed important. Haven’t used it much though.

3G is a lot easier than farting about with public wifi with endless terms and conditions and welcome pages, even if you find a free one. 3G is pretty useful for people who travel.

Free internet access, pretty much anywhere in the world,,lets you pick up email or even buy a book where ever you are.

I wouldn’t want to use it for the web for anything except an absolute emergency, the browser is shit experimental. Can’t comment about email as I’ve never tried, but it’s presumably webmail and so won’t be particularly great either.

The Kindle can hold several thousand books. I can’t imagine ever needing to buy a book “anywhere in the world” unless I was overseas for six months at a time or something (and even then, WiFi?), just load it before you go.

I don’t mean to be contrary, just that if you’re looking at it going “hey, free web browser” you’re likely to be disappointed.

Sorry, got the impression you were asking why folks might want it. I see now it was a specific question for OP.

But given that you responded. It is webmail, it is not great but it does allow me to read and respond to a large chunk of my email from just about anywhere, when abroad.
It does hold thousands of books, but even then I cannot pre-empt the books i might want or the information on which I need to read up. Often reading one book triggers another that i might want to, or need to read. so downloading on-demand works very well for me. WiFi can be a procedural pain sometimes, but also it is not ubiquitous. You don’t get Wifi everywhere, not on a boat, not with a goat, not in the rain, not on a train.

if you’re looking at it going “hey, free web browser” you’re likely to be disappointed.

Perhaps, I couldn’t really say, but if you’re looking at it going “hey, free bananas and custard” you’re also likely to be disappointed.

I don’t mean to be contrary, just that it is very useful if you travel much. Admittedly if I went to from my home to the same place of work every single day. Spending most of my life in either one of the two places, save for the odd holiday here and there, then I probably wouldn’t see much use for it either, though I’d hope to have enough about me to see a world beyond, in which it might be useful.

<nods>

I think you’ve kinda proved my point whilst disagreeing, there. The 3G Kindle is useful in niche situations. For most people, not so much.

If I was globetrotting a lot as part of work or whatever, I’d be looking at a better solution for roaming data. Being away for a long time, I’d load it with books first.

One thing that it is useful for, apparently, is getting current UK newspapers whilst abroad. But I don’t read newspapers.

With my old Kindle 3G Keyboard (which was replaced with a Paperwhite 3G after I stupidly left it in the seat pocket of a KLM 777 at Singapore airport during a fuel stop) the browser “worked” on both wifi and 3G, which made it much more useful. The Paperwhite browser is only usable on a wifi connection.

As for loading up with books before you go, that’s fine unless there are books that are due to be released whilst you’re away. There have been a few occasions now where I’ve been able to read a new release in the sun thanks to the 3G, and for me I don’t begrudge the initial additional outlay to have that benefit. And as stated by others, I’ll often get to the end of a book, and want to find more by the same author that I hadn’t expected to want to read before setting off.

Sure, a wifi-only model would still serve it’s purpose fine, I just like the extra flexibility of having the 3G.

very popular in adhoc field work guys –

even the experimental browser can be very very useful when your stuck in the middle of no where and phone calls are 3quid a minute – handy to email home. 😉

I think you’ve kinda proved my point whilst disagreeing, there. The 3G Kindle is useful in niche situations. For most people, not so much.

I don’t think I was disagreeing. Yes, I and a few others have proved your point. The endorsement of the STW massive! What warmth! 3G is useful in the niche of being abroad and wanting some internet access when on the move, or being outside.