Amazon Kindle DX V Amazon Kindle 2 - Which One is Best For You?

The latest in Amazon’s Kindle ebook reader family - the Kindle DX was announced in early May, just a few weeks after the launch of the Kindle 2 in February. Ever since then Kindle owners and prospective owners have been speculating about just how big the changes and enhancements in the Kindle DX in comparison with the Kindle 2 actually were. If you’re an existing Kindle owner or if you’re an avid reader wondering which of the two devices would be the best for your needs, then check out the comparison below:

Display

The Kindle DX has a 9.7″ screen (measured across the diagonal) - which is two and a half times larger than the Kindle 2’s 6″ screen. Apart from the obvious size advantage, the DX screen has an auto-rotate feature which allows you to switch from the standard portrait mode to landscape mode simply by rotating the device. This makes the Kindle DX better for reading newspapers, magazines and other text which contains graphics.

Overall Device Size

The DX has overall dimensions of 10.4″ X 7.2″ X 0.38″ and weighs in at 18.9 ounces. The Kindle 2 has overall dimensions of 8″ X 5.3″ X 0.36″ and a weight of 10.2 ounces. So, whilst the Kindle DX isn’t too large or heavy to carry around, the Kindle 2 is the more portable of the two devices.

On Board Memory Storage Capacity

The DX has 4 GB of internal memory - which equates to storage for approximately 3,500 books. The Kindle 2 has 2GB of memory, enough for about 1,500 books - not too shabby, and enough to keep most people supplied with reading material for a long while, but still some way short of the Kindle DX.

PDF Support

The Kindle 2 can read PDF files - but only after you e-mailed them to Amazon for conversion. There is a fee - very small admittedly - for the conversion. All in all, a bit of a hassle. The DX on the other hand has PDF support built in so you can just load up your PDF files and read them with no conversion, no fee and no fuss.

Price

The Kindle 2 is currently available for $359. When the Kindle DX ships on June 10th it will cost you $489. It’s hardly surprising that the price is somewhat higher than the Kindle 2, the larger screen is one of the most expensive items in the device so a higher price point is to be expected. If you compare the DX’s $489 ticket price with the $859 of the iRex Illiad - a comparable 10″ ebook reader device - the DX doesn’t look quite so pricey anymore.

Final Analysis

Although the Kindle 2 is relatively new, and was itself a big step forward in comparison with the original Kindle, the Kindle DX offers significant further enhancements. The larger display and the ability to handle pdf files is more than enough to justify you spending a little extra - especially when you consider the price of other similarly sized ebook readers on the market. Unless Amazon make a significant downward adjustment of the Kindle 2 following the launch of the DX, go for the DX option.

By Hamish Hayward 

Having used both Kindles 1 and 2, I thought it would helpful to list where the new Kindle excels and where it falters. The dead tree book will never die - I think it will even have more longevity and popularity than the boutique appreciation of vinyl records - but our generation will be the last to use “books” as our primary reading systems. Expect ebooks to hit colleges in perhaps five years and high schools and grade schools in about 7. That said, should you buy a Kindle now? Why and why not?

10 Reasons to buy a Kindle 2

1. It’s great if you travel. If you travel, the Kindle is a godsend. I’m the kind of guy who stocks up books for even short trips, fully expecting to finish War and Peace, Notes from Underground, and four Clive Cussler novels on a plane trip from Pittsburgh to Columbus. With the Kindle you have a full complement of books available at any time.

2. You can put anything you want on it. You can easily email DOC, TXT, and PDF files to your own Kindle email address for conversion to the Kindle - but that costs 10 cents.

3. It looks great. The Kindle 2 is an amazing improvement over the Kindle 1. If every manufacturer took cues on build quality and product life cycles from Amazon, we’d all be better off.

4. It feels great. This new version has excellent button placement and is thin enough to cut cheese. It’s eminently portable.

5. Almost any book at any time. Except for a few esoteric reference books I’ve found just about everything I need on the Kindle store. As more and more publishers go ebook - and I think an iPhone Kindle reader will truly blow the last bottlenecks out - this excuse will become ineffective.

6. It works in inclement conditions. I was in Mexico with the wife and kids and I wanted to test the Kindle out near the pool. Three books later and I felt like the laziest high-tech maven in the world. The ladies next to me brought twenty softcover novels with them and all of them got wet and messy. The Kindle worked like a dream.

7. The bookmarking and highlighting systems are vastly improved. The original Kindle had two methods for note-taking: you could select text and add a note or you could add a book mark. The new system refines those considerably and adds visual feedback whenever you take a note.

8. The dictionary is now in-line. When you move to a word, its definition appears at the bottom of the page. If you wanted a definition before, you had to pop out to a separate page.

9. You can almost see and understand the illustrations in 16 greyscale shades. Note the “almost.” However, it’s better than 4 shades, which was abysmal.

10. It is the future. Sorry, it is. Amazon nailed the ebook and they’re going to own the space for the next few years. Maybe they’ll pull a Netflix and sell the software to OEMs, which is fine by me. But ebooks are what we’ll be reading while we rocket to Mars in 2050. Or we’ll have our robotic concubines read them to us.

10 reasons not to buy a Kindle 2

1. It’s bad for research. I’m working on a book right now and I wanted to use the Kindle for all of my research. Sadly, this is almost impossible. The book is a physical object - you can move through it, skimming for notes and important points - and there is something in our education that gives us a sense of space inside a book. I don’t quite know how to explain it, but you know how you can pick up a book and show someone what you’re looking for in a few page turns? You know it was halfway through, maybe a third of the way down the page, and it was near another set of words. The Kindle is not conducive to that kind of mental map-making… yet.

2. It’s horrible for reference. Don’t buy a Kindle of you just read programming manuals. Programming manuals offer something different. While it seems counterintuitive that a document you can search programatically wouldn’t be good as reference material, you’re better off looking up function calls on a website and using the physical book as a guide to building your programs. This is a corallary of point 1, above, so this could change.

3. The Kindle is flimsy. You’ll go through your day thinking you will break your Kindle. You don’t fit that much screen on a thin device that is meant to be thrown into a bag without a care and not risk cracking it. There will come a day when you open your bag and see that your Kindle is dead, even in its case. It’s not your fault. Say it with me: it’s not your fault.

4. It’s not ready for students. Add points 1, 2, and 3 together and you come to the conclusion that this is not ready for students. This may be a good device for English classes requiring lots of long novel reading, but as an education tool it isn’t quite there.

5. The net connection doesn’t work internationally. For some reason last year I was convinced the Kindle had Wi-Fi built-in. I was trying to get on the Internet in Warsaw, Poland and I kept looking for that Wi-Fi button. Then I remembered - no Wi-Fi. And I cried. How I cried, my friends. Then I downloaded the Kindle book onto my desktop and dragged it over via the USB cable. So that’s, in essence, your international solution.

6. No SD slot. While the Kindle can easily hold 1,500 books, what if you’re the kind of person who likes to keep everything in its right place? Maybe you want to make a book playlist? Maybe you have 1,501 books? I don’t know. Sadly, the Kindle doesn’t allow for memory expansion. Not a big deal, but to some it’s a bad thing.

7. Flight attendants will tell you to turn it off on take off and landing. You can’t explain that it’s epaper and uses no current. You just can’t. It’s like explaining heaven to bears.

8. It contains a battery. Remember, Reader, the Kindle is mortal. It will die on you when you don’t have your charger.

9. It’s bottom heavy. The internal battery makes the device want to plop face down on your chest. I read it last night when I was sleepy and it kept getting ready to fall on me.

10. There’s just something about a dead tree book, isn’t there? It’s nice to pop into the airport news stand and pick up a novel. It just is. I’m sorry.

Product Description

Sleek & Trim Kindle DX is as thin as most magazines. Just over a third of an inch in profile, you’ll find Kindle DX fits perfectly in your hands. Beautiful Large Display Kindle DX’s large display is ideal for a broad range of reading material, including graphic-rich books, PDFs, newspapers, magazines, and blogs. Kindle DX’s display is two and a half times the size of the Kindle display. Whether you’re reading the latest bestseller or a financial report, text and images are amazingly sharp on the 9.7″ screen. Auto-Rotating Screen By simply turning the device, you can immediately see full-width landscape views of maps, graphs, tables and Web pages. Built-In PDF Reader Unload the loose documents from your briefcase or backpack, and put them all on Kindle DX. From neighborhood newsletters to financial statements to case studies and product manuals–you can take them all with you on Kindle DX. Native PDF support allows you to carry and read all of your personal and professional documents on the go. With Amazon’s Whispernet service, you can send your documents directly to your Kindle DX and read them anytime, anywhere. 5-Way Controller Kindle DX has an easy-to-use 5-way controller, enabling precise on-screen navigation for selecting text to highlight or looking up words. Simple to Use, No Computer Required Kindle DX is completely wireless and ready to use right out of the box–no setup, no cables, no computer required. Long Battery Life - Read for Days Without Recharging With Kindle DX’s long battery life, you can read on a single charge for up to 4 days with wireless on. Turn wireless off and read for up to 2 weeks. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as shopping the Kindle Store and downloading content. In low coverage areas or in 1xRTT only coverage, wireless usage will consume battery power more quickly.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2 in Amazon Devices
• Color: Bisque
• Brand: Amazon
• Model: D00611
• Dimensions: .38″ h x 7.20″ w x 10.40″ l, 1.18 pounds

Five INNOVATIVE Stars!! My newest FAVORITE ebook reader!! I am an avid eBook reader with a large ebook library split between home computers and on-line eBook company bookshelves using four different eBook readers: the original Adobe Reader (and the new Digital Editions), Palm, and eReader systems. So Kindle 2 is revealed as an evolutionary, versatile reader that will solve the old eBook platform problems for the future (those who had ebooks that were ‘fenced off’ by the original Adobe reader know what I’m talking about) with other features. My first Kindle 2 purchase was “Accountable” by Tavis Smiley and the process was “one click” easy, downloading in 15 seconds (with no computer between me and the book) because my Kindle 2 already ‘knew’ my Amazon account. And the book reads great. Add to this the wireless delivery of magazines & newspapers and other capabilities such as speech and MP3 music and the attraction was immediate. So far I’m a happy camper. Here’s what I like and dislike among its many capabilities:

Pros:

• Kindle is an “out of the box” reading-ready unit that immediately addressed me by my nickname, no log-in necessary, and could have begun downloading whatever I wanted over the 3G Whispernet within seconds as the battery was charging,
• ‘Easy-on-the-eyes’ reading with adjustable fonts and 16 shades of gray capability using digital ink: bright sunlight doesn’t ‘fade’ the reading experience, it enhances it,
• it matches ‘the eReader/eBook advantage’ by having some ‘just published’ books available at midnight (12:01 PT of each Tuesday’s/Thursday’s new book publishing day) for immediate download, but it has MORE choices available from Amazon.com, not an intermediary online ebook company with less choices. Plus it’s portable: your library is always with you,
• fast downloads with economical costs of many Kindle books that beat other eBooks, Hardcover, and Audiobooks by 1/2 to 1/3rd normal costs: e.g. my first purchase saved me at least $10.00, so the price of Kindle effectively dropped to $349.00 with one purchase, $329.00 with the next, and so on. Savings trump purchase price with Kindle’s low book price advantages.
• very thin, light-weight, and attractive-looking with more data storage and faster battery charges with longer usage compared to Kindle 1,
• “Text-to-speech” with auto-page turning, allows ‘transitional usage’: read at home/office, then listen in the car through built-in speakers or use the headphone jack, then continue reading at home/office. (I love shopping at Wal-Mart for 2 hours with Kindle & earphones in my coat pocket listening to a Danish-accented lady reading a book in English: 2 pleasant, fast hours!! Trust me, normal audiobooks are VERY expensive-try $39 to Kindle’s $10 in one case). Audiobooks, however, can be downloaded from sources such as ‘Audible.com’ (membership required) via computer and placed on Kindle via USB. The volume range of the two internal speakers is excellent. The male/female speaking voices are somewhat stilted in pronunciation, but passable (as I said slightly Danish-accent but the technology will advance in time) even though some words are difficult.
• also has wireless access to ‘before the newstands’ newspapers & magazines (either individually or by subscription), blogs, emailed personal documents, pictures and the web,
• It can receive and view e-mailed documents: when I e-mailed a message with 2 attachments (a JPEG and a PNG) from my computer to my Amazon-provided Kindle email address, Kindle displayed them individually on the “Home” list without the email header, just as I needed,
• 2 year extended warranty is available, but remember some credit cards automatically double the 1 year
• warranty with purchase,
• Previous version Kindle: Amazon’s Wireless Reading Device ebook purchases can be downloaded free to Kindle 2 & books deleted to free up space are “backed up” at Amazon.com.
• Built-in dictionary and web access to Wikipedia and other resource sites,
• “Basic Web”-browsing (nothing fancy), “Text-to-speech” (male or female voices), and “Play MP3″ are “experimental” prototypes: all three work well and Amazon is collecting comments from owners on their effectiveness. My advice: they are keepers, but the music doesn’t automatically loop, as continuous background music to the reader. You must manually restart the music.
• The power cord has a USB connector in series behind the power plug head: separate the two pieces of the power plug and the USB mini-plug is revealed for insertion into a computer which will display the “Kindle” folder containing its four sub-folders: “audible”, “documents”, “music”, and “system”. “Music” allows putting MP3 music directly on the Kindle. (Thanks to Leo Navoichick for the clarification). And I’m learning more of Kindle 2’s capabilities every day through use since I’ve already bought 5 books, the LA times, and Technology Review magazine.

Cons:

• Kindle 2 is expensive to buy; memory is not expandable but larger than before, no 2-page capability; no color capability, some rare but pronounced pauses when transitioning on the Whispernet between functions.
• could benefit from a hand-held remote page-turning device, but auto page turning is available via the text-to-speech: you can turn down the volume and let Kindle turn the pages. (Thanks to Heather for the info),
• an upgrade is needed to “Background Music” to provide continuous music play, instead of a single pass through the music list. Holding the “Alt” key and hitting “space” restarts the music.
• the “now-now” answer factory has been discontinued, unfortunately.
• does not come with a protective cover, so an owner needs to get one. (Many are available separately)
• There is little doubt that future Kindle capabilities may include optional back-lighting, a larger screen for two-page capability, and landscape & portrait aspects, but at this point in time thanks to the speedy 3G Whispernet, very diverse high-quality services, and a greatly enhanced Kindle 2 device, it blows the competition away. My Highest Recommendation!! Five HUGE Stars
• (Kindle 2 reading device, combination battery charger & USB cable (without the usual big power brick), and “getting started” booklet (the full “User’s Guide” is on the Kindle device under “Home”.)

Product Description

At 10.2 ounces, Kindle is lighter than a typical paperback and as thin as most magazines. Barely a third of an inch in profile, you’ll find Kindle fits perfectly in your hands. Kindle is as easy to hold and use as a book. We designed it with long-form reading in mind. When reading for long periods of time, people naturally shift positions and often like to read with one hand. Kindle’s page-turning buttons are located on both sides, allowing you to read and turn pages comfortably with one hand from any position. The page-turn buttons now flex inward to prevent any accidental page turns when picking up or handling Kindle. Kindle has a new easy-to-use 5-way controller, enabling precise on-screen navigation for selecting text to highlight or looking up words. Kindle is completely wireless and ready to use right out of the box–no setup, no cables, no computer required. With Kindle’s 25% longer battery life, you can read on a single charge for up to 4 days with wireless on. Turn wireless off and read for up to 2 weeks. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as shopping the Kindle Store and downloading content. In low coverage areas or in 1xRTT only coverage, wireless usage will consume battery power more quickly. Whispernet utilizes Amazon’s optimized technology plus Sprint’s national high-speed (3G) data network to enable you to wirelessly search, discover, and download content on the go. Your books and periodicals are delivered via Whispernet in less than 60 seconds. And unlike WiFi, you never have to hunt for a hotspot.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1 in Amazon Devices
• Color: Bisque
• Brand: Amazon
• Model: D00511
• Released on: 2009-02-23
• Dimensions: .36″ h x 5.30″ w x 8.00″ l, .64 pounds