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Kindle lands at The Carphone Warehouse

by Sarah Griffiths on 14 March 2011, 16:45

Tags: Carphone Warehouse, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)

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Amazon's best-selling Kindle e-reader arrives at The Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy shops in the UK this week.

The Wi-Fi version will retail for £111 and the 3G model for £152, but it is the notion of getting the e-reader bundled as part of a phone contract that seems more interesting.

Of course ‘free' TVs and games consoles bundled with a slightly less desirable handset on contract are nothing new but now it appears that a ‘free' Kindle could be thrown in as a sweetener with certain contracts at the 2 stores, according to Electric Pig.

According to the website, consumers signing up to a £15 a month contract on specific handsets for 2 years could receive a ‘free' Kindle. There will also apparently be an option to upgrade to a 3G model for a fee of £15.

It is reportedly not clear when the free Kindle offer will be released as yet but it is in the pipeline.

According to TechRadar, Graham Stapleton, COO for Best Buy Europe, said: "Since its launch, Kindle has been hugely popular and has revolutionised the way people can enjoy reading. Kindle wirelessly downloads books, magazines, newspapers, blogs and more on a high-resolution Pearl E Ink screen that looks and reads just like real paper, even in bright sunlight."

Gordon Willoughby, European Director of Kindle reportedly added: "The reach and appeal of both these first in class retailers combined with the excellent level of personalised service provided by its people gives customers a great new place to discover Kindle and Kindle 3G."

HEXUS Forums :: 8 Comments

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Posted by miniyazz - Mon 14 Mar 2011 19:30
TBH I think I'd rather have a WiFi only version - at least that way I can turn off WiFi unless I specifically want to download something and not worry about amazon unexpectedly deleting something at any time of the day.
Posted by burble - Mon 14 Mar 2011 20:38
miniyazz
TBH I think I'd rather have a WiFi only version - at least that way I can turn off WiFi unless I specifically want to download something and not worry about amazon unexpectedly deleting something at any time of the day.

You can turn the 3G off too.
Posted by miniyazz - Tue 15 Mar 2011 00:11
burble
You can turn the 3G off too.

So you end up paying per month for something that's turned off :p

I stand by my statement.
Posted by Saracen - Tue 15 Mar 2011 03:09
miniyazz
So you end up paying per month for something that's turned off :p

I stand by my statement.
Unless I'm misreading it …. no.

The £15/month relates to a phone contract, and service. The 3G in the Kindle relates to the service to connect you to Amazon and there are NO monthly charges for that.

There's two Kindles in the current generation, with about £40 difference in price. The Wifi only one connects to your PC, and then to the internet and/or Amazon via Wifi, or via USB cable. The more expensive one adds 3G but it still only costs about £150, with zero monthly charges.

So as I understand it, buy a phone with a £15 monthly contract for 24 months and you get a free kindle, but the £15/month relates to phone service, not Kindle connectivity.

So, £15 * 24 = £360.

Is £360 a good deal for whatever phone that gets you, and whatever the £15/month contract gives in minutes etc, if you get a free £111 Kindle thrown in, or pay another £15 (one-off) for the 3G model, which would normally be £41 more than the basic model.

At least, that's how I read the offer. And I guess the answer depends on what phone you can get, what you get in that contract and what your monthly phone usage is. I'd guess it might be very appealing to some, if they happen to be wanting a Kindle, and the phone deal appeals. My problem is that the phone deal doesn't appeal to me, so I'd rather just buy the Kindle.


As for preferring the Wifi only version, that I entirely agree with. The 3G option doesn't appeal to me at all, even if it's just £41 more.
Posted by Lucio - Tue 15 Mar 2011 08:41
It's definitely a tempting offer, particularly if you can get it via an upgrade path. For example, if you're happy with your current phone model and are coming up for renewal, then value added enhancements are definitely worth it.

Not to mention, the WiFi model could be tethered to any decent smartphone to use their 3G connection if ever necessary.

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