Save your laptop battery: Read documents on your Kindle

Need to review a document while you're on the go? The time-tested way to do this is to read it on your laptop, but that's increasingly out of step with today's modern lifestyle. Perhaps you want to save your laptop's battery for something that's really important, or maybe you're not even carrying a laptop at all. No worries: It's now a snap to copy virtually any kind of document -- from Word to Excel to PowerPoint to an AutoCAD drawing file -- to your Kindle.

In fact, let me point out that you don't even need to own an actual Kindle. I don't -- I use the Kindle app on my iPad, and this technique works perfectly either way.

Just install Amazon's Send to Kindle app on your PC. After a short installation, this free program adds the option to send your documents to your Kindle (or the Kindle app on your designated mobile device).

There are two ways to send stuff to your Kindle:

For supported file formats, like Word and PDF files, just right-click the document's icon and choose Send to Kindle from the context menu.

For all other file formats, print the document. But instead of printing it on your local printer, choose the Send to Kindle option, which will now appear in your list of printers.

Moments later, your document will appear on your Kindle's home screen and you can read it like any other book or magazine that's installed on the device.

Send to Kindle works with Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows Vista. It's a powerfully handy way to leverage your Kindle (or Kindle app) for doing business on the road.

Dave Johnson

View all articles by Dave Johnson on CBS MoneyWatch »
Dave Johnson is editor of eHow Tech and author of three dozen books, including the best-selling How to Do Everything with Your Digital Camera. Dave has previously worked at Microsoft and has written about technology for a long list of magazines that include PC World and Wired.

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