What is a kindle ?

The Amazon Kindle DX was released with a lot of hype. Some wanted to call it the savior of the newspaper industry while others were lauding it as the perfect textbook replacement. The Kindle DX is our TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award because it’s a whole lot easier to read for extended periods of time than smaller devices, especially for those of us whose eyes are weaker than they once were or, frankly, for anyone who reads a lot and the smaller type of most devices just becomes somewhat tiresome.

Deciding which Kindle is better for any given user is a matter of how much priority is placed on screen and text size versus weight and price. This reviewer and several colleagues find the larger model more usable while many of our equally judicious peers prefer the sleeker, lighter version. Either way, the Kindles are great eBook readers.

Design:

The key selling point of the Kindle DX over the top rated Kindle 2 is its 9.7-inch, diagonal measure, viewing screen. That compares with the 6-inch screen for the smaller model. You may be tempted to think that 3.7 inches isn’t terribly significant but, doing a little geometry, we see that it translates to a screen that is more than 2.6 times as large. That’s a tremendous difference in terms of readability and eye fatigue. Like the Kindle 2, font size is adjustable but can be made even larger on the DX. Owing to the larger screen size, you can get a comparatively large amount of text on a single page of the Kindle DX without feeling like you’re turn the page incessantly.

On the other hand, the size difference isn’t great enough to really create a revolution in the newspaper world. It’s still not big enough to comfortably hold a full news page. Given that the eBook reader screen can comfortably handle a news column, that improvement is less than anticipated. Also, the feature allowing adjustment of the number of words per line doesn’t function for all formats so PDFs are still a little awkward on the DX, despite the larger screen.

Predictably, the larger screen sized dictates that the Kindle DX be an overall larger and heavier package than its more diminutive cousin. The Kindle DX is 10.2-inches high and 7.2-inches wide compared to 8-inches and 5.3-inches for the Kindle 2. The thickness difference is insignificant. More importantly, the DX weighs in at 17.6 ounces compared to just 9.6 ounces for the Kindle 2 – that’s half a pound difference. Some people will be bothered by that, others won’t. Either way, the devices are notably lighter than most hard back books and are feather weight compared to typical text books.

Navigation was really simple through the entire eBook reader. It’s pretty intuitive and, as always, we really appreciated the simple one-step set up out of the box. We can't tell you how nice it is to be able to just use a product we bought without having to go through a complicated set up. We also liked the cool screen savers Amazon has on the DX, it was fun to see pictures of famous authors and literary heroes and thought it was a nice touch on Amazon’s part.

Auto rotating from landscape to portrait works well despite a relatively slow reaction time. You just have make sure you have the Kindle upright when you make the switch - if it's lying flat on a desk or table, it won't recognize the change in orientation. That, of course, is characteristic of screens using accelerometers, like cell phones. The landscape mode is cool, but it likely won't be something you'll want to stick with for very long. With all the page buttons at the top and the keyboard on the side, it's more awkward to control while turning the page or highlighting any text.

Content:

As always, the Kindle Store is phenomenal and makes buying the Kindle worth it in just about every way. The easy access via 3G from anywhere also makes the DX a worthy opponent to any eBook reader. Until recently, wireless download for the Kindle DX was only available in the United States but a recent upgraded version allows for wireless downloads in over 100 countries, just like the Kindle 2. The international Kindle DX costs $489.00 which had previously been the price for the U.S. only version. Content can also be obtained by first downloading to a computer then transferring it to the device via USB port.

The Kindle DX is touted as a textbook device, but it still has a way to go before it can really replace a student’s books entirely. The high price and the fact that not all textbooks are available for the device makes it difficult to justify buying it if text books are the main focus. Additionally, the textbooks expire. So, if for some reason you want to save your book for future generations or reference, you won’t be able to. We’re not sure how that affects notes and other things you’ve written on the book, but you don’t want to have to buy it again if you want to keep it. And finally, while there are some eTextbooks that are cheaper than the dead-tree versions, the price difference often isn’t enough to justify the price of the Kindle DX.

Memory/Battery Life:

The other larger aspect of the Kindle DX is the amount of available storage – 3,500 typical eBooks compared to an already very respectable 1,500 for the Kindle 2.

Additional Features:

As always, there are a number of features that set the Kindle apart and above other eBook readers. The ability to highlight and save sections of the book, as well as the ability to save notes makes it more like reading a real book. It also makes it nice for the textbook support. However, there are a few quirks that make these features less powerful than they could be. For instance, the keyboard isn’t as comfortable to use as might be expected. You certainly won’t be flying through notes as quickly as you can type on your phone. And even though Amazon ditched the scroll wheel interface from the first Kindle, the new interface still takes a little patience to use in this world where we’re used to the simple point-and-click of a mouse to get content.

The browser is very basic and the internet connection was painfully slow for most sites. Wikipedia works well, but you won't have the patience to do more than try it out. Equipped with just basic HTML, i.e. no Flash, site rendering is slow. Navigation is awkward absent a mouse, so you must use the joystick to methodically click through every link, image or section of a web page to get to the place you want to click. No one accustomed to using the internet on a computer is likely to put up with this surfing medium for long. After waiting for five or so minutes for our TopTenREVIEWS home page to load, we got only its most basic form. We tired quickly of using the connection to do more than buy books. Fortunately, the Amazon Kindle Store runs quickly on the 3G network. The onboard dictionary did more to answer our questions than any jaunt to the internet over this 3G connection could.

Another major benefit to owning any Kindle is the tremendous support options Amazon has in place. There are many different ways to get your questions answered or even get tech support. There are several different ways to contact Amazon, but you may not even need to contact the company for most questions because there is so much information available through FAQs and tutorials.

Summary:

Amazon Kindles are the clear leaders in our reviews of eBook Readers. We really like the large-screen, highly readable text and flexibility provided by the Kindle DX compared to the Kindle 2. Lots of people will argue, however, that those advantages don’t make up for the substantially higher price. The decision will come down to what an individual needs in an eBook reader and the contents of his wallet. The size and weight differences will also be worth considering for some people. The Kindle DX is likely too large to be carried comfortably in most purses but it fits fine in a brief case, backpack or laptop case. The half-pound weight difference shouldn’t make much difference for carrying it around but could make it a two-handed reader for many people.

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