Amazon Kindle DX review
By Nilay Patel 
posted Jun 19th 2009 4:15PM
posted Jun 19th 2009 4:15PM
First things first -- yep, the screen's bigger. At 9.7 inches, it's basically the size of the entire Kindle 2, which allows for some adorable family photos, but also means that it's the size of most paperback books -- reading a book on the DX feels entirely more like reading a novel, because you're seeing the same amount of content on each page. It's actually quite noticeable. All that added screen real estate ain't free, of course: the DX is also distinctly heavier than the Kindle 2. We're not saying it's a clunker, just that it's weighty -- your natural instinct is to hold it with two hands.
Which is a good thing, because if you're one-handing it you're likely to lean it to one side or another and kick in the orientation sensor, which is apparently set to high alert. Unlike, say, the iPhone, which requires a full 90-degree turn to trigger a screen rotation, the DX will go off at just about 45 degrees, which is right where we'd want to hold it lying on a couch or in bed. Yes, you can lock the orientation, but it takes a trip to the menus and some more clicking around, and it seems like all that work defeats the purpose. Like so many things about the DX, we just find ourselves wondering how much thought went into this -- we were fed up with it after a day of use.
On top of that, we have no idea why Amazon got rid of the left-side previous / next page buttons from the Kindle 2 -- if anything, the DX should have page controls on all four sides, since the screen can flip 360 degrees. With the page controls located on just one side, turning pages in landscape mode requires an awkward reach to the top or bottom, which makes using it sideways for any period of time somewhat tedious.
And then there's the keyboard.
It's hard to say if we've ever used a keyboard this bad, and hell, we've used the Kindle 2's keyboard. Not only does the increased width of the DX make for some awkward thumb reaches, the keys themselves are tiny, placed poorly, and have so little travel and feel so gummy that it's almost impossible to tell if you've actually pressed one if you try and go quickly -- combined with the glacial screen refresh, you're basically forced to peck it out one letter at a time. On top of that, any symbol beyond a period requires a trip to a menu navigated by the five-way rocker. We understand that the Kindle is about reading, not writing, but the DX is targeted at students, and and there's no way you can take notes with this disaster. We'll stick with the hard copy and a laptop for now, thanks.
Another puzzling design choice involves PDF support. For the most part it works well with standard size pages, but there's no zoom, so you're stuck with however the DX decides to display your file -- the only way to get things bigger is to switch to landscape. Since not all PDF pages fit on the screen, that means you often end up with a weird jumble of page breaks and cut-off content -- it's easy to totally lose the structure of a document or slide deck after a while.
Again, the slow refresh rate of the E Ink screen just aggravates this issue -- this would be fine if we could scroll along, but sitting there clicking and waiting for the screen to update just made us long for our laptops.
Wrap-up
In the end, we're just not sure Amazon put enough thought into the Kindle DX to justify the launch hype -- fundamentally, it really is just a Kindle 2 with a larger screen and more storage, and while that means the core experience of simply reading a book is somewhat more pleasant, all of the Kindle 2's limitations are still front and center, and in some ways made worse. We'd probably feel a lot differently if the $489 pricetag was lowered through newspaper subscription subsidy or cheaper content fees, but unless you're one of the very few students at a school piloting the DX or you happen to live outside of a New York Times delivery area, you're stuck with the full bill. Hopefully Amazon's move to open up Kindle content to other devices will light a fire under the Kindle hardware team and the next rev will offer some bright new ideas in the e-reader space, but for right now we'd say the same thing about the DX as we did the Kindle 2: it's nice if it meets your needs and you have the cash, but for everyone else it's not such a dramatic improvement over an actual book or newspaper that you have to have it.
It's an e-book reader, not a smartphone/netbook/laptop/somethingelsemeantfortyping.
Actually I think the review was quite fair.. I mean:
*Flips screen after 45 degrees, what's up with that? I even think the iPhone can be annoying in bed (see what I did there?)
I will tell you that as a student with textbooks on this thing, I would make heavy use of the keyboard. Especially with school books, I'm always putting post-its and notes throughout the pages for the inevitable essay that is to follow finishing the book. The only thing stopping me from getting a kindle is the price, and I'm hoping for one for a birthday or something so I can digitally annotate the books and use text-search to find annotations or passages in the book relating to the essay topic. A good keyboard is a must on my kindle especially for textbooks because when it comes to school, I have trained myself to be an active reader.
If you are a student, an ability to undeline and make notes is essential. Kindle DX targets students and those who read not just for pleasure but for work - and from the review it looks like it does an extremely poor job of providing support for the note-taking side of reading. I feel good about my decision to stick with my Sony PRS-505 - it doesnt do notes, but at least I didn't pay 450 bucks to carry a notebook and a pen with me.
It actually took me a while to make the decision on this one, but after reading extensive reviews I decided that $150 off Kindle 2 and a full $250 off the DX are worth the whispernet and the cleaner PDF support. Note-taking couold have been a deal-breaker here, but given its current for I would have to stick with a notebook/pencil method anyway. The only thing I would still love to have on my Sony is access to Kindle content - some books that are available through it are missing from Sony's store. Can't wait for that compatibility expansion!
If you are a student, get a Tablet PC and a scanner for your textbooks. It's expensive, but it's well worth the slight price premium IMHO.
Alex, maybe so, but no reason to make a crappy keyboard. If you buy something, wouldn't you want every feature working well, no matter how rarely you use it?
Was holding it for 10 minutes reading and my wrist hurt. Immediatley switched back to kindle 2 and setup the return. Sorry Amazon, no go with the DX.
i would have waited for an asus mod of the t101h with a pixel qi screen... tablet capability, note taking capable and sunlit legibility though chunky but much better than kindle dx.
I like the Kindle Dx.
is this work with international consument ? for asian people maybe ?
How often do you really need to use the keyboards on these things?
I have a kindle2, and think I've only used the keyboard a couple times. At most I'll use it for a quick author/title search, and maybe look up something on wikipedia.
When news of this first came out, I was mad that I bought the 2, but thanks to this review, I feel much better.
I never use the keyboard on my Kindle 2 except when browsing the store. However, seeing that Amazon is trying to market this to college students in place of taking notes in the margins of real textbooks, you would think keyboard design would be a bit more important.
I basically never use the keyboard on my Kindle 2. At most to search a for a title or author in the store. And if the keyboard on the DX is like the Kindle 2, it's not nearly as bad the reviewer here indicates. There's no way you're going to be able to type as fast as on a standard keyboard, but I find it very easy to tell if I've pressed the key... it even makes a clicking noise. Also, the author is a bit misleading when saying you have to type a key and then wait for the screen refresh before hitting another key. That's not true. You can type faster than that and the screen will simply refresh and show the last few you typed since the previous refresh.
BUT the author is right to say that the keyboard would be a concern for students. I wouldn't want to use the Kindle 2's keyboard for lengthy notes. And if this one is basically the same or worse then that should be taken into consideration if you plan to use one for school. If you just want one for reading then it is a near non-issue IMO.
@Vidikron Dude, I have a Kindle 2 -- see those pictures of it next to the DX? The 2's keyboard is a joke, the DX is a joke that isn't funny anymore.
I'm not a full time college student anymore, but I am taking a class right now, and I've managed to get my textbook on my kindle2. I find the ability to highlight passages to be great. I wouldn't consider using it to input my own notes, that's not what it's designed to do. One nice feature they have now, however, is the ability to access all your highlighted notes online. So for me, the keyboard problems remains a non-issue. Even if I had the DX, I still think I would be using it in the same way that I'm using the 2, and not using it to take notes. Besides, I never wrote down notes in an actual textbook, I always used a notebook. Being able to look through all your highlights without have to flip through a book, is a win.
I've never used the keyboard on my kindle 2 or DX.
I don't see how I could ever use the DX for textbooks though. I like to make notes and highlight quickly in my MBA program. We also have one class that's open book for tests and it would be impossible to flip through fast enough on this thing.
@Nilay
Well, I don't have a DX for direct comparison so I really can't vouch for its keyboard, I was just going by my experiences with the Kindle 2. Is the keyboard really that much worse? For example, you say that the key are "gummy" and when typing fast you can't tell if you clicked them or not. The Kindle 2 isn't like that at all. They keyboard isn't great, but I can easily tell if I've fully pressed one. There's a literal mechanical clicking sound when you press the keys. And, yes, the screen refresh is slow, but it is inno way tied to your ability to type. On the Kindle 2 I can type as fast I possibly can (using a two-thumb method) and the screen eventually catches up. If the DX is remotely like the Kindle 2 then I stand by my statement that you exaggerate when you state that you are limited to pecking a single key at a time.
But, again, I agree that if wouldn't to take lengthy notes with the Kindle. If you're anything but a student though then I don't think the keyboard really hinders anything as it will be rarely used... not to say that I wouldn't welcome a better keyboard or even a keyboard-less touch screen model.
Bah... I got caught changing what I wanted to say mid-sentence and ended up with a mash-up of two sentences. The start of the second paragraph should say, "But, again, I agree that I wouldn't want to take lengthy notes with the Kindle."
I sat next to a guy on the plane yesterday who had one of these things. At first I gave him a hard time for how much he paid for it and said it should atleast include a couple dozen free book downloads....then I started to read over his shoulder and realized how paperlike the screen looked. If I had the money to buy one...and a book. I would.
Harassing fellow passengers and then reading over their shoulders? You are the worst airplane passenger ever.
Do you always talk to (and harass) people on the bus? I hate people who don't mind their own business on public transportation.
Ass
I hope you told him you changed your view somewhat, would be the nice thing to do.
Interesting testimonial though, and nicely to the point: too expensive but e-paper has its charms.
@jay
not only are you an ass, you're stupid too. the kindle (and basically every other ebook reader) has hundreds to thousands of free ebooks available. look up: gutenberg project. there are also numerous websites, such as feedbooks which have repackaged gutenberg's ebooks into other formats, such as those needed on the kindle, and other creative commons licensed books. furthermore, if you try to sort by price: low to high, you'll see that there are many books with the amazing price of $0.00. i believe there's also a "starter pack" of free books available on amazon for the kindle.
i don't even own a kindle, but your stupidity compelled me to write this.
I'm a Mac user, and I don't give PC users a hard time for using their laptop and operating system of choice on a plane.
I bet you're the type of person who would...
Amazon should stick to selling things, not manufacturing them.
Unlike Apple who can sell things but their manufacturing sucks.
Jon: No, I think that's what Jason was saying about Amazon...
I ordered one when it came out. It was great for pdf...
How about scientific PDFs? Do charts, diagrams, and tables display correctly in both portrait and landscape modes?
Yes. A PDF is a page description language like (actually, derived from) PostScript. It displays on the DX just like on Acrobat Reader. If the document is graphics-heavy (or one large image, like a scanned document), it can be a bit slow.
Yep! I've got some datasheets for electronic parts that I'm using, and they come out great. The only way to zoom is to rotate the screen (making it expand to the width), but I usually don't need that - can read the whole page just fine.
Million dollar question....Is it worth buying Dx over Kindle 2?
Personally, I like the small size of the 2, I'm happy with it. I just wish it had direct pdf support.
Yes.
OK, now where's my million dollars?
I'm still very very happy that I jumped on the Kindle 1 bandwagon weeks before the Kindle 2 was released, and got it madd cheap. The first Kindle is still the best design. It may not be nearly as thin as the K2, but in terms of button layout and holdability, it's perfect for me. *thanks the Oprah coupon code*
I ordered a DX a few weeks after it launched, and I've had it for a week. Some impressions:
- I'm a science nerd and read a lot of technical documents, so the PDF reader is the killer app. I would appreciate being able to zoom in beyond the ~1.5x that I get by switching to landscape, but overall I like it. It beats the pants off of trying to read PDFs on a monitor - much less eye strain, and I can keep my entire PDF library with me. The metadata support (title, author, etc) support is iffy, though, and it's not searchable. I hope they fix this with a software release.
- Reading actual books on it is lovely. I don't have any other e-ink reader experiences (Kindle or Sony) to compare it with, but I really enjoy reading for pleasure - I've burned through a couple of paperback novels already.
- The keyboard stinks - but if you're doing much in the way of text entry, you're doing it wrong. It makes the annotation feature kind of worthless, though.
- I think Farhad Manjoo got it right in his Slate.com review - http://www.slate.com/id/2220793/ - reading newspaper content isn't nearly the same on the DX as it is on a real paper. I would extend that to most of the rest of the content you can get over Whispernet on the webbrowser: in WAP mode, most websites just aren't formatted for a screen this size. Wikipedia is a notable exception - it works well, looks great, and I love having it in my (oversized, cargo-pants) pocket.
- I havn't tried the text-to-speech except for briefly, so no comments there.
Overall, I think it's a really slick piece of hardware (except for that keyboard!). It was expensive, and I've never really been an early adopter, but I've been filled with lust for this device since it was launched. After a week, I'm glad I jumped on it.
If it was Apple Engadget wouldn't complain about the keyboard, instead they would excuse it as a design decision
... or whinge about the glossy screen!
you my friend are just a tool ..
Well every computer I own is from Apple so I blame Engadget for convincing me plus there awesome computers, I'm not gonna lie
they're*
@CarpeD1em500 & Kain:
Third time's the charm.
"their".
http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/english_grammar_style/difference_between_their_there.html
@BadCyborg
I'm pretty sure "They're" is correct. As in a contraction of "they" and "are". "They are good computers" referring to apple computers being good. Good day sir.
Cyborg wtf are you talking about? It's clearly "they're" as the guy below you said...
"Unlike, say, the iPhone, which requires a full 90-degree turn to trigger a screen rotation, the DX will go off at just about 45 degrees, which is right where we'd want to hold it lying on a couch or in bed. Like so many things about the DX, we just find ourselves wondering how much thought went into this -- we were fed up with it after a day of use."
Maybe if you took the time to explore all the features of the Kindle DX, you would know you can lock the orientation.
I know that, but it makes the feature useless. Point taken, though -- I've updated with that.
Your solution to the problem is simply not solving the problem.
Maybe we can rid the world of hunger by simply ignoring our need for food.
Well, the one comment that seemed to have actual experience with it poo pooed the keyboard as well. But it is the price tag that stops me. Although, price tags are a stopper on most things lately.
loleconomy
It sounds like Amazon is trying to do the equivalent of (going back a little here), taking the 20 pound "luggables" that were the first portable computers and trying to sell them to students on the idea that they can take 30 pounds worth of notes with it in class. It's an idea that's poorly executed and before it's time in it's implementation.
Students will have much better luck with a Tablet PC and a sheet-fed scanner for them to feed their textbooks into - color LCD screen, decent battery life, notes taken in the traditional pen and highlighter style, etc. etc. with all the benefits of digital. Don't knock digital note-taking, but Amazon's implementation is just a mockery.
I agree with Brian. The ability to read PDFs is the killer app for me. No more paper printouts! That alone is worth the price, imo. The auto-rotate is easy to lock (you don't need to go through the menu; the option appears with the font-size key) so that's a non-issue for me. Yes, the keyboard is horrible. The K1's was orders of magnitude better and easier to use. Still, I'm not writing on the thing - I'm reading! And it lets me do that extraordinarily well. No more eye strain than with paper.
I still like Google's iphone app release notes "new version number" "ninja"
I have one and have upgraded from Kindle 1. I read books mainly on it and appreciate the larger screen size.
And it has gotten me laid twice since purchase.
In addition to this review here's some more extra annoyances
1. no read to me on your PDF's
2. no annotations on your PDF's
I've owned every Kindle since they came out and am a fan. But the DX is not my cup of tea. I use the Kindle mostly for reading fiction. I wanted the DX so I could expand and put technical books on it. It displays PDFs well, but there is no internal hyperlinking from a Table of Contents or other links. So for a long book, it's impossible because you either have to read the doc from page one or know what page to go to. I can't believe they didn't implement this one important thing!
For fiction I found the DX to heavy and unwieldy. It's hard to hold in your hand for a long time, my hand cramps and I find myself moving the DX and shifting my position a lot. If it had some kind of hand holds or better ergonomics it would be better. The screen surface is the same as the Kindle 2 but the larger surface had glare problems in the bright direct light I like to read in. Also for me with fiction the default text size created a page that was too large, I got lost on the page a lot, enlarging the text kind of defeats the purpose of such a big display.
I'll keep my Kindle 2 for now, I prefer to push that Next Page button more ofter than deal with the other DX problems. If Amazon improves the PDF experience, I may get one later.
i have the Kindle 2 and the DX. the reviewer's whining about the orientation sensor is fairly over the top... you set it on the preferences screen where you set type size, very easy to get to, and it's not like you're going to want to change your preference every other page.
the keyboard isn't that godawful, but if you're planning/wanting to type massive notes as a student, i would look elsewhere, this isn't the device. a little store searching or light web browsing isn't that bad, for how much i actually use it i'm not up in arms.
the size is the thing that got me. totally prefer it over the Kindle2 but it is heavier. for some reason i was thinking the DX screen seemed more contrasty/sharper for a couple hours but I figured out what it was... I'm one of those people that use pretty small fonts as I like a lot of info on a page for any kind of device/monitor. the DX screen is so big I was using a slightly larger font but still getting more words per page... just seemed more contrasty, definitely a better reading experience.
the remaining issue for the kindle is content... newspapers need to format their content for the Kindle (or any ebook reader)... their current format is not ebook friendly, it quite frankly sucks. and the actual list of newspapers and magazines is pretty slim. i would dearly love to subscribe to some specialty or academic magazines like Foreign Affairs or Science... not available.
Despite what Amazon claims, an academic-oriented reader is a little more complicated than that. At the very minimum, one needs:
* True Letter / A4 display
* Zooming
* Good search
* Page thumbnail view
* Tablet-like annotation
* Working hyperlinks in PDF
* Faster page turning
You realize that books only have only 2 of your 7 "very minimum" criteria?
I got a Kindle DX and like it. I don't mind the size because it's as big as a hard cover book, and from the look of comments I've seen recently I guess most people avoid hard cover books due to traumatic wrist strain, fractures, or their hands falling off from the -immense- weight. I plan to use it for textbooks and the keyboard does indeed suck but I don't really care. I never write in my textbooks because I always tried selling them back at the end of the semester (on the off chance the bookstore took them) and I'd much rather have all my notes centralized on my laptop or on paper than all over and inside the book. Other than using the bookmark feature I never plan to annotate in my Kindle.
Outlaw. Think for a second how you hold a hardback one handed. Now think how you hold a DX one handed. Its called weight distribution and it works for hardbacks, but as far as I can tell from reviews it does not on the DX. You aren't holding it in the center by the spine.
I'm still a bit on the fence about my DX as well. I got it specifically for reading PDFs, mostly technical books and journal articles. It's challenging to get into the habit of using it instead of a laptop, but I'm trying to force a change to see if it's usable enough to grow into a full-time gadgetry addition. I do wish it functioned as fast as the alternatives. It's hard to slow back down in today's world. The wireless data is extremely handy for on-the-go research. I mean, if you're just doing Google searches, who cares about the shoddy keyboard? The slow refresh makes it a no-go for note taking anyway. I also think it might have a little potential for tutorials, where you need to navigate an app while reading. Saves you from flipping back and forth.
I had also hoped to use it for looking at old, digitized music scores. We'll see how that goes. I'm sure it won't be long before classical musicians have an e-book page turner during performances.
I have a kindle DX, and I really don't think that it's as bad as it's made out to be. Even if the keyboard was better (I'll admit, it's not wonderful) I don't think its really mean for taking full notes for your textbooks. I got a livescribe notebook to accompany my kindle, I like to have paper copies of my notes to look though. "Underlining" or bookmarking a passage is really simple, so I use that. Having the search is great, and the keyboard works to hammer out a few words just fine. The DX is not as nice to cuddle up with in bed as the Kindle 2, but so far I am really pleased with it.
Well hey, at least it has SD card sup^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h
Quote:
"...It's not like the iPhone.."
No... I don't think that was the point of the Kindle DX.
Quote:
"...I don't think.."
See, I can use quotes that were taken out of context and mid-sentence too.
That wasn't even a quote, even though he used quotation marks, it actually only says:
"..Unlike, say, the iPhone,.."
So it's a made-up non existing quote in a made-up context.
Good job there.. FOX-news management would say at this point ;)
Oopz. =)
Except for the apparent keyboard issue, I believe everything that has been marked as "needs improvement" can be handled with a software update.
Does anyone know how frequent Amazon pushed software updates for the Kindle devices? ... If any at all?
Just answered my own question. I haz failed to check the Amazon help pages on the Kindles before posting.
Also noticed that Amazon released the source code so I suppose that a Kindle.Hack community is growing already. So software related issues are bound to be fixed rather sooner than later. Now I really can't wait to get my Kindle DX when I get to San Francisco next week.
Software can add page-turn buttons on the side now too?
My personal view on the side-buttons is that I'll actually appreciate not having any side-buttons on the left hand side. I'm left handed and will mostly hold the Kindle DX on the left side and I reckon that having buttons there would cause a few accidental page-changes thus annoying me. Alternatively I may have the Kindle DX on my left lower arm with my hand wrapping around its RHS were I can either hold it by the corner or operate the page-change buttons.
I've had the Kindle 2 since launch. I use it every day on the train, and I love it. I generally read several books at a time, and this allows me to bring them all with me and read whatever I want to read whenever I want to read it. 2 or 3 800 pages books don't fit well in my laptop bag. That being said, I wouldn't want the DX. I like the Kindle 2's size for carrying around with me.
As for the keyboard, I use it regularly for annotation and notes. It's a little slow (obviously slower than a real keyboard), but it works well enough for my purposes. If I was a student taking lengthy notes, it would be awful. And sometimes I do wish there was a Notepad app included so I could write in a larger space, but, as mentioned, it's not a computer.
I own hundreds of hard cover books and never thought I'd like an e-reader. I was wrong.
Just buy a paper book ffs
One thing need to happen before this idea is ready for prime time.
Price change!
This needs to come way down in price before most people and even authors jump onto the bandwagon.
If they hit about $100 to $150 with it then this thing will fly off shelfs and they will make their money in volume sales.
http://www.renogeek.com
I have a Kindle, Kindle 2, and Kindle DX. The keyboard is fine. I use it rarely, but it works for me.
Just wish the screen were bigger. My ideal LARGE e-book reader would have a screen the size of a sheet of paper, 8 1/2 by 11. The Plastic logic screen is only 7 by 9 1/2 (11.7 inch diagonal), donno what the larger Kindle is.
Until there is a screen big enough for full sized magazines and textbooks, just not good enough for graphics and picture heavy e-books.
No reason to have a larger screen if I still have to squint or have stuff cropped.
Do have the SONY reader and that is great for just text...
Love the Kindle 2 and can't see why I wouldn't love this one. I would have preferred this instead of the Kindle 2
http://ziggytek.com/
@ JohnPombrio: "Just wish the screen were bigger. My ideal LARGE e-book reader would have a screen the size of a sheet of paper, 8 1/2 by 11. The Plastic logic screen is only 7 by 9 1/2 (11.7 inch diagonal), donno what the larger Kindle is."
From the Plastic's web site:
"The Largest Screen in the Industry. At a whopping 8.5 x 11 inches, our letter-sized eReader makes reading business documents, newspapers and periodicals effortless..."
http://www.plasticlogic.com/ereader/index.php
When it comes to digital readers this device is definitely a step backwards. The Kindle DX as an academic device has really never made sense to me. I own a sony 505 digital reader and if I could use it for the insane amounts of reading then I would. But being a student means having that hard copy to highlight and take with you to class. I'm a graduate student and when thesis time rolls around I need books, journal articles, and online sources for my research.
As to the device itself, I am no longer surprised at how little common sense goes into making a technological device that will used by so many people.
I like the KindleDx... it works for me.
I don't understand hating on the keyboard. It's like bitching about the placement of the seat adjustments in a car. Sure, you want them handy and easy to use, but you wouldn't not buy a car you otherwise like because of it. The Kindle is for reading and minor annotations at most.
Could the keyboard be easier to use? Absolutely. But we need to compare apples to apples. Annotating in a book is awkward at best too. Anytime I write in a book, it's typically lying flat on a desk and I'm scribbling in the margins at odd, uncomfortable angles. As a lefty who writes with a hook, there's nothing more difficult than trying to write the left margin of the left page of a book. Typing on the Kindle DX when it's lying on the desk isn't all that bad. If your hands are small enough, you can just about treat it like a qwerty keyboard and use both hands (assuming you know how to actually type). The worse part of the keyboard is that the buttons aren't sensitive enough. They should make the keys easier to trigger and put a keypad lock on the side to prevent accidental entries.
While it would be nice to have the page buttons on both sides (like the K2), it's not a big deal. I'm a lefty and I have no problems with the right handed buttons. Again, let's compare apples to apples. You know what else requires you to use your right hand when advancing the page - a book. It turns out that I've found reading on the KDX to be so much like reading a book that I find myself unconsciously moving my hand to the top in preparation to flip the page before pushing the button. For what it's worth, I can read faster on a Kindle by pushing the page button just before getting to the end of the last line. By the time I finish the line, the page is refreshed and my reading is virtually uninterrupted by "turning" the page.
It's true the Kindle DX is a bit hefty. It's heavier than I was expected, but it's no worse than holding 400+ page hardcover. If you use the Kindle cover (really should be included - especially to encourage early adoption), there are plenty of ways to hold the Kindle that are analogous to holding a book with one important and beneficial difference - you don't have to hold the pages open. For example, reading a book while eating is always a pain. E-readers like the Kindle make this a snap. It's not like reading a fullpage newspaper, but the KDX does mean fewer page turns while your hands are busy stuffing your face.
It's true the KDX isn't perfect. It's true that it's pricey. But, picking on the keyboard really does seem silly to me especially when you consider that other ereaders don't have a keyboard at all. Botton line: if you've got the cash, get the KDX because of the bigger screen and the ability to hold books and pdfs galore on the thing. If you decide against the KDX because it's keyboard won't help you win any texting contests then you're passing by an excellent e-reader for the absolutely wrong reason.
*slow clap*
I have a Kindle DX, and got over its foibles within the first couple hours. Yeah, the keyboard is not great, but damn, this thing lets you browse the web FOR FREE people! FREE! I'm not going to use it to write a novel any time soon, but the keyboard is useable, at least, enough to type in URLs or short messages. And reading books, blogs, and PDFs is an absolute pleasure. The cost of saving your eye sight alone makes it well worth the price of entry. Engadget got this review wrong.
You mean you can browse the web via cell network (or whatever it uses) and you don't have a monthly fee? That's pretty nice if so. That might actually get me to buy one. How well does the browser work, though? Does it display web pages properly?
The best keyboard was on the first Kindle, not that it was perfect, but the buttons were easier to press and just worked better. With the Kindle 2 and DX the press is much harder. Hard enough that I have totally change the way I hold it so that I can absorb the pressure I put on the front panel with my fingers. That's just stupid design really. Also the buttons on the DX don't really give you feedback well enough to know if the button is pressed until you wait the half second or so it takes screen to refresh, so it is very slow going.
Also on the DX you need to use the numerical keyboard more than the others because there is no hyperlinking in PDFs, you have to enter the page number you want. So removing the number buttons and putting them as alt buttons is dumb. And holding down the alt button every time you press a number is hard -- that double pressure on the front makes holding the device really tough.
It would be better if they put an on/off key by the keyboard that you could turn on and enter text on a keyboard that had easy to press buttons, then you could turn the keyboard off when you were done or didn't want it. A button press sound that would come out of the speakers would also help so you would have instant confirmation that button was pressed would be welcome too.
I've owned my Kindle DX for a couple weeks now and have the following thoughts:
1) The eBook trend is coming on strong. Now that there is a 9.7" display, it really makes the product so much easier to hold and read. Congrats.
2) The interface is pretty bad. Apple's iPhone/iPod touch interface would blow this away with actual click n' drag page turning, software based keyboard, zoom in/out, etc. It's far slicker and leads me to believe that Apple is already on a path to make their own reader/movie player iPod Read product. Now I get why they opted out of the NetBook world, the eBook platform is much more complementary to a laptop and mobile phone.
3) Needs WiFi desperately. I went to Canada and couldn't access the 3G network to update the newspaper feeds.
4) Backlighting would be nice for reading in bed, on a night flight, etc. But I am sure it is a draw on battery power.
5) Gadgets. Little mini apps like an alarm clock, calendar, etc. would be a great little business model
6) Crossword/Sudoku capability. I know, corny as it sounds, I miss the crossword puzzles. What can I say?
7) Discounts on buying the hardcopy version later on. I like filling my shelves with books I've read, how about 30% off the hardcover price (from Amazon) after I buy the Kindle version?
8) Better layout of newspapers on the DX. NYTimes.com is one of the most beautifully designed Web sites and their iPhone app is pretty good, too. I would love to have a true Front Page instead of the first article and an index - just isn't the same.
9) Loose the keyboard for a software keyboard. The current one doesn't allow you to fast type so why not make it a soft version that supports multiple languages and reduces the overall footprint?
10) Color. Yeah, I know, it's a couple years off for a reasonably priced 9.7" color SmartBook, but it will make magazines and newspapers truly digital and worthy of such a platform.
There ya' go.
When they come up with one that has some sort of touch screen that will let you write notes on the book pages and highlight (much like you would do on a paper book) with a stylus and save that data, let me know. I will definitely want one of those ;P
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LMAO....all of you people who dumped on Voorhees are brutal. Yeah you have a point, but lighten up, he was just trying to make a point, I'm sure he didn't look over the guys' shoulder that long.
Signed,
The guy outside your window looking at your wife in the shower