Shipping a Kindle to Argentina

[orwellian]

Anyone done this without it getting hold up in customs?

 

[lindsaylake]

Unfortunately, I've only had luck with documents making it through. Everything else gets held at customs for some sort of fee.

I have had better luck with private shipping companies, e.g. DHL, than a national postal service, e.g. USPS.

Just beware, any clothing will be taxed 80% of the value of the goods. I've also been taxed on a jar of holiday jam...nothing is safe! lol - good luck!

 

[Denver]

Now, this is really completely off topic, but I really have to ask someone.

I mean no disrespect to those people who have and like their electronic book readers, but to me; electronic gadgets like the Kindle is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen.

Me thinks as follows:

You use to buy a book, read it, then lend it to a friend or sell/trade it at the used book store.

-Now, you have to first buy an electronic device that costs $259 plus tax.
-Then you have to buy the actual electronic books. (Which costs about the same as a paperback).
-Instead of carrying a book, you are now carrying a rigid, small computer with a large screen that can break.
-You now have to charge your device before you can read your book.
-You are stuck with an extraordinary small number of option when it comes to books you can read. No publisher is interested in turning anything other than a popular book into digital format, because they need to recoup their investment.
-Amazon has full control over 'your' kindle. They can go in and change/erase books in your personal property without your consent. This has happened. -Look it up.
-No one talks of this, but does anyone for one second believe that Amazon is going to resist the temptation to put advertising on your Kindle? It has WiFi built in and Amazon has control over it as previously demonstrated. It's only a matter of time before ads start popping up on 'your' kindle when you flip the page.
-When you are done reading your book, you can't lend it to a friend, nor can you sell it.

I just don't get it. Could those who have one please let me know what all the fuzz is about? Does it matter that it holds 1,500 books? How many are you reading at any one time? Do you all of a sudden have an urge to go back and immediately reread a book you read 5 years ago and therefore need to 'carry your library with you' as the ad says?

Please educate me.

Thanks
Neil

 

[fedecc]

True, electronic book readers are unpractical if you give them the same use you do to regular books.But i would seriously consider buying one when they are cheaper and able to read pdf files. my main reason would be having a gazillion papers, academic books and other stuff that i just would not be able to have in paper for different reasons.

 

[Maikito]

If I had the money and if I was an avid reader I would definitely buy one. Its a way to help the environment.

 

[iStar]

Just beware, any clothing will be taxed 80% of the value of the goods. I've also been taxed on a jar of holiday jam...nothing is safe! lol - good luck!

WOW! Jam... that's ridiculous

I've only had one thing shipped to Argentina by FedEX ... NEVER AGAIN.

It was a Braun shaver cord. I had forgotten it and no store in BA would sell me just the cord. I'd have to buy the complete shaver at some outrageous price.

By the time I had pay to get to EZE and back plus all the fees and taxes... I was out $80USD plus $62 for shipping... still cheaper than buying a new shaver here.

Bottom line... have someone bring it into the country for you. That's what I had to do with my iPhone.

 

[Denver]

That would be an interesting comparison. Are there any economists on this forum that can crunch the numbers for us?

Chopping down trees to make books.
Shipping the books to your house in a diesel-powered truck.
(Hopefully) recycling the old book into the pulp for new books.

vs.

Mining minerals for all the Kindle's electronic parts.
Using huge amounts of electricity to melt sand into glass for the Kindle's screen.
Power (from coal-fired plants, mostly) to run the Kindle, run the server farms that distribute the ebooks. (Did you hear Google uses so much power they have applied to become their own power broker).
Dealing with old Kindles on the scrap heap with all their heavy metal components, lithium-ion batteries, etc.

-Anyone...?

Neil

 

[objectiveous]

I just don't get it. Could those who have one please let me know what all the fuzz is about? Does it matter that it holds 1,500 books? How many are you reading at any one time? Do you all of a sudden have an urge to go back and immediately reread a book you read 5 years ago and therefore need to 'carry your library with you' as the ad says?

Please educate me.

Thanks
Neil

Let's see, where to begin? For the english speaking expat that wants a broad selection of reasonably priced English titles, it's an obvious choice.

Some of use make our living via the word and having easy access to books, journals and papers is critical. Also, the display technology is noticeably easier on the eyes and the experience is more calm than reading from, say, a laptop.

I used to print out papers and journal articles on my office printer but here in Argentina, I find the cost of paper, ink and binding clips to be prohibitive.

That said, I prefer paper.

To sum up: Accessibility & Price.

 

[orwellian]

I just don't get it. Could those who have one please let me know what all the fuzz is about? Does it matter that it holds 1,500 books? How many are you reading at any one time? Do you all of a sudden have an urge to go back and immediately reread a book you read 5 years ago and therefore need to 'carry your library with you' as the ad says?

Please educate me.

Thanks
Neil

* Don't have to wait for the book to show up
* Don't have to pay shipping
* You do get the book from Amazon slightly cheaper
* You can read any book that is in PDF format for free
* You can use Wikipedia from anywhere
* You can bring your books with you where ever you go

some more features i just noticed:
* Mark text in any book and review it later/transfer to your computer
* Bookmark a page
* Add notes and comments to a specific text
* Read newspapers
* Text to speech
* mp3 player
* Contains an Oxford Dictionary
* Search the book
* Change font size
* Browse the web (doesn't work in Argentina)

Although I agree that Amazon and their TOS is way bad. Which is exactly why I can't stand Apple products.

 

[objectiveous]

* Don't have to wait for the book to show up
* Don't have to pay shipping
* You do get the book from Amazon slightly cheaper
* You can read any book that is in PDF format for free
* You can use Wikipedia from anywhere
* You can bring your books with you where ever you go

Although I agree that Amazon and their TOS is way bad. Which is exactly why I can't stand Apple products.

My understanding [1] is that whispernet for Kindle International will not be rolled out in Argentina, so I don't think reading Wikipedia from anywhere will be available. Would really like to be wrong about this tho.

[1] http://ireaderreview.com/2009/10/08/kindle-us-vs-kindle-international/