Amazon has released its latest generation of Kindle e-book readers – the Kindle DX International, the international version of the DX range of e-book readers that was released last year. It seems to be the best of the three generations launched so far.
The best part about this latest generation e-book device is that it goes all for broke on implementing wireless technology and has a larger screen size.
The re-vamped device looks to add more to its basket of positives. It comes with native PDF file format support – meaning that a larger chunk of e-books, newspapers, blogs etc can be loaded on to this gizmo and read on the fly. You can just flip the device to alter the reading mode from portrait to landscape. The Kindle DX makes use of a 9.7 inch Monochrome E Ink display and gives display resolutions of up to 1200 x 824 pels.
It comes built in with a wireless network dubbed the “Whispernet”; this allows the device to download content from Amazon over a wireless internet connection.
The Kindle DX makes use of the LINUX kernel and comes with storage capacity of around 4GB. It uses flash memory cards to provide internal storage allowing 3500 e-books to be loaded into it. It measures 264 × 183 × 9.7 mm and weighs 540 grams; slightly on the higher side when compared to the other generations of e-book readers offered by Amazon. It comes with a 3.5 inch headphone jack and digital, stereo speakers supporting audio in MP3 format.
It supports e-book formats such as DOC, RTF, HTML, PRC and comes with a cellular wireless modem(Sorry, No WiFi Connectivity in this device).It supports still image formats like BMP , GIF , PNG , JPEG.
A negative aspect about this device is that the battery is integrated into the device and cannot be removed. This makes the device somewhat redundant – kind of like use once and throw when done models that have made it to the market. It is equipped with a monochrome display unit which means that full color support is yet to be provided in this device. GPS support is not provided in kindle – a fact that could serve to its disadvantage.
For all the features offered, it is priced at $489 and comes with a limited 1 year warranty. The cost is way too expensive – definitely a big negative.
I don’t think that saying: “Kindle Dx priced at $489 and comes with a limited 1 year warranty as too expensive” is a definite big negative. You have to weigh this against the portability and convenience you get – a big PLUS to me.
I don’t yet own an ebook reader but I’m leaning toward the KindleDX, as it has all the functionality that is needed in a reader and thankfully doesn’t have all the other bullsh*t accessories that the others claim are such necessities. When I want to read a book, I don’t want to surf, play games, etc., etc. — I just want to read. The KindleDX (and Kindle in general) seems to be a serious machine for the serious reader. The weight of the DX is certainly in line with others of its same size; no issue there. While I personally find the locked battery to be a minor negative, the DX cannot be classified as a “disposable” machine — quite the opposite: it can be sent back to Amazon for a battery changeout. Hardly disposable. On that note I haven’t seen ANY models brought to market that are “use once and throw when done” — can you provide an example? And I’m not sure how GPS would be beneficial to an ebook reader, nor how not having it is a disadvantage. You’ve made this claim without any facts to support your argument. I agree with John Kindle above; “too expensive” is a relative term. If you compare with other readers of its size, it’s right in line, although I personally believe that we will see a price reduction this year. Compare to a similar model of iPad (not the cheapest version) and KindleDX is about $200 less expensive, and I don’t have to pay $30-$60 per month for connectivity. Kindle DX wins in every category for my money.
I just wanted to add my review to confirm that PDF support works great. One thing I love about the PDF on the Kindle DX is that it shows page numbers rather than the units of measure the regular ebooks use that I still don’t understand.