My Kindle DX is with my friend in Seattle and have had a chance to discuss its features at length with him. Also the kindle dx reviews and thoughts from owners have helped to answer most of the questions in my mind.
Top 7 Kindle DX Questions
Q: Do the owners feel its worth the price?
A: Price is the biggest drawback at the moment.
If you read a lot of technical PDFs or you really need a bigger screen and bigger font size – definitely. Otherwise, depends on your budget and interest level. The Kindle 2 is a better value if you read mostly books.
T. Tim, the first owner to put up a kindle dx review, felt it was better suited to PDFs, documents, newspapers, magazines, and not worth the price if you just read books.
Q: Will there be Folders? Is the rumor of a new organisational system called ‘Groupings’ true?
A: No. There are no folders. Take a look at this simple folder workaround using tags (not a full solution).
Q: Have Amazon addressed the Screen Contrast Issue the Kindle 2 had?
A: Yes, it certainly seems so. The screen contrast on the Kindle DX is better than it was on the Kindle 2 and people love the screen.
Q: Where can I find Videos and Photos showing Landscape Mode in more detail, showing reading technical PDFs and also PDFs with charts?
A: Pictures at Brent Newhall’s Kindle DX PDF Page and at Jef’s tech blog. Videos – once my kindle dx gets to vancouver.
Q: Do Kindle 2 owners think its a big enough upgrade?
A: This is tough to say. The average rating at Amazon across dx reviews from actual owners is 4.24 stars. So owners are happy.
However, you really should consider what you find important. Feel free to leave a question in the comments section.
Q: How portable and easy to handle is the Kindle DX?
A: Not Very.
After reading a bunch of reviews and talking to my friend – the Kindle DX is not very portable. The screen itself is as big as a whole Kindle 2. Plus the borders and keyboard (which are narrower relatively).
It won’t fit in smaller purses. It weights more so carrying it is a bit of a pain. Its tough to hold it in one hand for long.
Size comparison -
Kindle DX Screen almost as big as Kindle 1 (which is same size as Kindle 2)
Q: How fast is the screen refresh?
A: Screen refresh is fast.
When you start it for the first time screen refresh will be slow for the first 2-5 hours as the kindle dx is indexing your books.
My friend compared screen refresh speed with a Kindle 1 and found it faster. As compared to a Kindle 2 – The general opinion seems to be as fast.
More Kindle DX Questions
You can get the amazon kindle dx at Amazon.
Q: Where can I find a Video of the same book, preferably one with figures, read side by side on Kindle 2 and Kindle DX.
A: Open. Once my dx gets to canada.
Q: Do Kindle 2 owners who got a Kindle DX like it more?
A: Yes and No.
There are some owners who felt that way. They loved the larger screen, and better contrast, and support for PDFs and landscape mode.
Owners who read only books (and not PDFs) and those who value portability a lot preferred the Kindle 2.
Q: How is the browser different? (There have been rumors of an improved browser).
A: The bigger screen and especially using the browser in landscape mode makes the Kindle DX better suited for web browsing because of being able to see webpages well. The browser functionality is still limited though.
Q: Are left handed people comfortable using the upside down mode?
A: Steven Levy’s review at Wired magazine says that it was inconvenient even for him as a right handed person and he missed the left side navigation buttons. So its almost certainly a pain for left handed people.
Q: Mr. Bezos said (regarding PDFs) - No Panning, No Zooming, No Scrolling. Is that really true?
A: Yes. You cannot use the 5-way controller when in PDFs. So – no scrolling, no panning. Also, you cannot change font sizes.
Q: What do college students think of it?
A: There’s no touchscreen, and you can’t take notes in PDFs or highlight or take clippings. So if the ability to add notes and highlights is a must for you then it’s not the textbook reader for you. You can bookmark a whole page in a PDF – however, that’s pretty much it.
Q: What do school children think of it?
A: Not enough reviews from school children yet.
Q: Is the screen size almost equal to the page size of a paperback? Slightly bigger?
A: People are comparing a Kindle DX to a hardcover and a Kindle 2 to a paperback in terms of size and weight. The DX’s screen size is the same as the full size of the Kindle 2.
Q: Can you really not make notes in PDF files?
A: No. you cannot.
Q: Is there a faster processor – do books seem to open quicker or slower?
A: Not sure. This is open until I can review them side by side and do comparison videos.
Q: Does the increased weight seem uncomfortable?
A: According to my friend – it’s annoying. Steven Levy from Wired said no, Walt Mossberg said yes. Majority of people find the weight to be more than they expected.
Q: How convenient is one handed reading? Does the larger size make it awkward?
A: It does.
Leave a comment and will find you an answer. Here’s a thread at the official Amazon Kindle Forum where people list Kindle DX questions and dx owners answer them.
Filed under: kindle dx Tagged: | dx faq, kindle dx faq
I’m holding off my judgement as to whether “the DX is worth it” until I have a few days to play around with the one I recieve.
However, I can say that as a Kindle 2 owner, I decided to pick up a DX to serve as my primary reading device – leaving my Kindle 2 for use at the office and on travel. I had actually been considering picking up a used Kindle 1 for this purpose, but the promise of a larger screen and native PDF capabilities (this *the* killer feature for me) influenced me to take the plunge.
I do have some reservations though:
- I’m really hoping the text contrast is higher than it is on the Kindle 2. Contrast on the Kindle 2 hasn’t been a showstopper for me, but it’s definitely a pet peeve with the device.
- My second concern is with PDF functionality. If it works as advertised I’ll be a happy camper. I just have this gut feeling it’s not going to work as well as I’m hoping. Please prove me wrong Amazon, I won’t be upset at all!
Can you give us any updates on your experience yet? I’ve been contemplating between the 2 of them, and while native Pdf support is the main reason I want the device there are free tools to convert PDF into native kindle format. The only problem people were having was the scalibility which some people have created solutions for by clipping pages.
My main concern when arriving to your blog was the refresh rate. Now I am a bit satisfied with that. But with the Dx on backorder and no real advantages on using native PDF formats (no notes) I can’t justify screen size for another $100.
My other question is, are there word bookmarking/definitions in any ereader?
what exactly do you mean by word bookmarking/definitions. If you place the cursor in front of any word the Kindle’s in-built dictionary automatically lists the meaning at the bottom of the page and you can go into the full definition.
you can bookmark a single word – however, not sure what you mean by word bookmarking.
take a look at the kindle review videos page – there is a video comparing the kindle 1 with the kindle dx and that gives an idea of the screen size. So its screen size and pdf support that you get for $100.
Kindle 2 is also better for portability and one handed reading.
The PDf conversion is somewhat spotty. If you read a lot of PDFs I’d go with the DX – else with the Kindle 2.