Amazon Kindle DX Review
Posted by Sandy Berger on July 11th, 2009
Kindle DX
Bigger is not always better. Although Amazon has added some new features to it’s over-sized Kindle, I found several things that I didn’t like about it. Most noticeably is the fact that it is not as easy to handle as the smaller Kindle 2. Second (which may be first to many), it is very expensive. Third, it has a really crummy keyboard that’s difficult to use and even harder to see the letters on. Here’s a chart that compares the Kindle DX to the Kindle 2.
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Kindle DX |
Kindle 2 |
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| Size | 10.4″ x 7.2″ x 0.38″ | 8″ x 5.3″ x 0.36″ | |
| Display | 9.7ā€¯ diagonal | 6ā€¯ diagonal | |
| Storage | 3,500 books | 1,500 books | |
| Weight | 18.9 ounces | 10.2 ounces | |
| Price | $489 | $299 | |
Everything that was great about the Kindle 2 is still great in the Kindle DX. The device is sleek, thin, and attractive. The Amazon’s Whispernet service allows you to download books (and browse the Internet) over the Sprint cellular network without any monthly fee. The screen is bright, clear, and easy-to-read. It has excellent battery life. You can make the text larger or smaller. There is a speech-to-text option that can read the text to you. You can play music while you read. There are over 300,000 books and periodicals available in the Kindle Store.
Although the larger screen is great and it requires less page turning, the device itself must be held with two hands and is a bit heavy for extended reading. Where the Kindle 2 could be handled and read like a paperback book, I found the DX gave a whole different feel.
The DX does have native support for PDFs and you can turn it to read the text horizontally as well as vertically. Yet the auto-turn mechanism is a bit too touchy and it often turns when you don’t want it to.
Amazon has lowered the price of the smaller Kindle 2 to $299 while the DX is $489. Even $299 is expensive for an ebook device. I can buy a whole netbook computer for that price. As you know, I am usually the first one to fall in love with a new device, but if I were to purchase a Kindle right now, I would go for the Kindle 2 rather than the pricer DX. Here are my pros and cons of the Kindle DX:
Pros
- Excellent design
- Large screen
- Less page turning necessary
- Good Ā battery life
- No monthly fees for wireless
- Excellent text quality
- Large library of content
- Good in bright light
- Easy to buy books, magazines and newspapers
- Speakers and headphone jack for audio
- Compatible with PCs and Macs
- Can be used without a computer
- Native support for PDFs
- Useful text-to-speech feature
Cons
- Very expensive
- Not as portable as the Kindle 2 with 6ā€¯ screen
- Very poor keyboard
- Grayscale only. No color.
- You cannot change the size of the type in the Kindle Store
- Stiff scroll button
- Somewhat heavy and slightly awkward for lengthy reading
- No zoom for PDFs
You can read my detailed review of the Kindle DX with pictures on HardwareSecrets.com.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Thanks for talking about the Kindle. I was reading about it on Amazon over the weekend, and would just love to have one. I had a mailing from Harlequin, and they sell e books, but not for Kindle. Do you own the Kindle 2 personally? That’s the one I would love to own. Keep up the good work…see you on Facebook!
July 27th, 2009 at 1:01 am
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October 1st, 2009 at 9:13 am
Hi.
Thanks for this review. I have bought a Kindle DX at Revolution Store after reading it (and some more). I’m really impressed with it. My Kindle is really wonderful. I love it!