Kindle DX - your mini-reviews!

[meljackson]

Gives "ratty looking thing" a gentle tap to the right.

Melissa

[Patrizia]

Ann.. yep about a dozen times

[Rasputina]

Great reviews!

[Ann in Arlington]

My DX is not getting past two bars.. hitting 1X and timing out.. I got one of the lead tech girls.. she put me on hold a while but she had what sounds like a good answer.. she said because I was downloading so much (126 items) that sprint automaticallly reduced my band width to make room for other people (there are other people who use this??)Once the downloads were complete it should be back up to par.. she is going to call me in two hours to see what the situation is.. I give them this, they do have good CS

That makes sense. . . .so the lesson for everyone else is:  don't try to download your whole library at once!  

[Jesslyn]

MINI-REVIEW 4:

I just put my K1 and K2 next to each other ,, the DX is MUCH sharper text

MUCH

Screen Contrast Improvement - The first think I can tell everyone is that it looks like Amazon addressed some contrast issues.  Side-by-side, the text on the DX is noticably darker.  I could tell as soon as I hit the Menu key, but got out my Kindle 2 just to verify.
Navigation - Its nice to have the Previous page button on the right, but I would have appreciated the full set of nav buttons on both sides.  I'm a lefty, but like many old-school lefties, use my right hand for a lot of things (since they where still trying to turn lefties into righties in the 60's).  Not too happy about having to turn it upside down to read with the left hand.  That is going to be fine for reading, but any annotations or web browsing is gonna be pretty painful.
Screen Refresh - This seems to be slower in a side-by-side test, maybe because the DX has more to refresh? I uploaded an image heavy 86MB PDF and page refresh was slow.  It was quicker, but still a little off on a smaller PDF.  The text doubled weirdly before settling into the next page's text.
Kindle Store - I finally can see the book cover images under the recommendations section; a nice change, but a dropped ball just went bouncing by.  I couldn't get landscape mode for the Kindle Store.
Final Dilemma - PDFs
Do I want to lose full text search in PDF documents just so I can navigate by page numbers?  Just verified no search and no highlighting.
Last quick note.  I didn't think that I would like the size, but its looking like I'm going to have to find a bigger purse.

[Patrizia]

LOL Ann, I hate to tell you but thats not even 1/4 of my Library

HOWEVER seems to be good news and she was right.. I am now done downloading and have been for a little bit and I have a nice four bar signal, like Leslie there is an area around my desk that does not work well.. go figure.

Okay I admit it, I can't wait to dress this naked thing and get a real skin and cover on it and I hope beyond HOPE I can change this horrid screensaver.. Jane Austin looks creepy this big.. LOL.. of course the pretty ones do look even nicer.. it is much crisper!

But it seems my wireless is on track.. !

[rho]

has anyone read in bed with it yet?  And if I do read in bed and usually use my left hand to change pages - do you just rotate it until the page reads right for the buttons to be on the left side?

thanks

[Patrizia]

thats the one thing I an not thrilled about is the one side of the pages.. you can rotate it all four ways and keep it there or let it auto rotate so yes you can do it where the buttons are on top and may I suggest do NOT spend 50 bucks on that amazon cover.. its horrid and the Medge ones are the same price.. this one really bugs me.. no loops on it so its only the hinge which seems to me can put a strain on the device itself.

[vg]

MUCH

Screen Contrast Improvement - The first think I can tell everyone is that it looks like Amazon addressed some contrast issues.  Side-by-side, the text on the DX is noticably darker.  I could tell as soon as I hit the Menu key, but got out my Kindle 2 just to verify.
Navigation - Its nice to have the Previous page button on the right, but I would have appreciated the full set of nav buttons on both sides.  I'm a lefty, but like many old-school lefties, use my right hand for a lot of things (since they where still trying to turn lefties into righties in the 60's).  Not too happy about having to turn it upside down to read with the left hand.  That is going to be fine for reading, but any annotations or web browsing is gonna be pretty painful.
Screen Refresh - This seems to be slower in a side-by-side test, maybe because the DX has more to refresh? I uploaded an image heavy 86MB PDF and page refresh was slow.  It was quicker, but still a little off on a smaller PDF.  The text doubled weirdly before settling into the next page's text.
Kindle Store - I finally can see the book cover images under the recommendations section; a nice change, but a dropped ball just went bouncing by.  I couldn't get landscape mode for the Kindle Store.
Final Dilemma - PDFs
Do I want to lose full text search in PDF documents just so I can navigate by page numbers?  Just verified no search and no highlighting.
Last quick note.  I didn't think that I would like the size, but its looking like I'm going to have to find a bigger purse.

So do you think the rest of us stand any chance of having our K2 contrast improved with an update?  Guess its time for an email to amazon....

[Ann in Arlington]

Last quick note.  I didn't think that I would like the size, but its looking like I'm going to have to find a bigger purse.

LOL!  Well, you might check in accessories for some help there!  

Patrizia, glad to hear your download is sorted. . . .

[Annie]

Mine is here also! I was so happy to come home from a long day of classes, and see it sitting on my porch. I'm off to play now!

[Annie]

Just did a sun fade test, since it's EXTREMELY sunny here. No sun fading! I'm happy to report that. Another thing to add, the screensaver is a nice change of pace. No dead authors looking at me.

[MarthaT]

Just did a sun fade test, since it's EXTREMELY sunny here. No sun fading! I'm happy to report that. Another thing to add, the screensaver is a nice change of pace. No dead authors looking at me.

thats awesome

[Captain]

MINI-REVIEW 5:

Mini review of Dx & Dx cover:

I got my first Kindle, Kindle 2 about 10 days ago. And now I also have a Kindle Dx. So in one way, its easier for me to compare both the machines side by side without being much attached much to kindle 2 as yet.

Three things stands out.

aa) Dx is much much heavier than K2

bb) Dx has a much much larger screen than K2

cc) Dx has the screen auto rotate facility which is NOT in K2


The weight factor clearly makes Dx out of favor with the older people. Its like a big load in case one is older and weak. Also, not good for carrying when traveling!

If you are a big screen fan, yes, Dx is good for you but mind you k2 screen is more than adequate.

The screen auto rotate facility is good but NOT as smooth as it appeared in the pre-release videos. The auto-rotate will only work if the orientation is perfect as per the programmed machine. It will not just rotate as soon as we rotate the screen. The orientation needs to be perfect and the machine takes its time to think and change screen.

Other than that Dx is MUCH costlier than Kindle2.

I personally did not find any obvious difference in the contrast of the two machines as claimed by the other senior esteemed members of the forum.

Dx Cover :-

A ditto copy of k2 cover. One plus factor is that its light and does not add much to the already heavy weight of dx. This may not be so with the Oberon. The Oberon would perhaps be better for K2 than for Dx cos its weight factor.

Summary :

In my opinion, comparing Dx with k2 is like comparing mac air with max book pro. Both machines have their own plus points and serve the same purpose in different ways.

I would recommend k2 to older people, people with limited budget, people who do only simple bedroom reading or people traveling often

I would recommend Dx to students who want to use textbooks, people who want to own Dx ALONG with K2 or people who want to carry lot of official personal docs for meetings, people who want to enjoy reading newspapers on a bigger screen.

Hope my review is helpful for people contemplating between a k2 and Dx.

Cheers

[Patrizia]

No Dead Authors??? what screen savers do you have.. I have seen three dead authors as we speak.. oh they are coming.. start scrolling girl.. they are all they...JUST LURKING

[SusanCassidy]

Similarly, I downloaded a sample of The Languages of the World, which is listed as being "optimized for the DX." It appears that they have changed the font for the text (so that I can change the font size, eg) but tables and such are still in PDF/Topaz format. L

The tables and pictures are images, not a different format.  You can only have one format in a book: either regular Kindle format, PDF, or Topaz.  The whole file is going to be just one of those - you can't mix and match.

[Annie]

No Dead Authors??? what screen savers do you have.. I have seen three dead authors as we speak.. oh they are coming.. start scrolling girl.. they are all they...JUST LURKING

Maybe that's it. I haven't scrolled. I'm not sure I want to see them. Anybody have the hack yet?

[Leslie]

has anyone read in bed with it yet?  And if I do read in bed and usually use my left hand to change pages - do you just rotate it until the page reads right for the buttons to be on the left side?

thanks

I did that (rotate upside down) while I was eating my lunch so I could push the buttons with my left hand and keep having to put the fork down.

L

[Leslie]

No Dead Authors??? what screen savers do you have.. I have seen three dead authors as we speak.. oh they are coming.. start scrolling girl.. they are all they...JUST LURKING

Yes, Jules Verne looks almost life size. LOL.

L

[Leslie]

The tables and pictures are images, not a different format.  You can only have one format in a book: either regular Kindle format, PDF, or Topaz.  The whole file is going to be just one of those - you can't mix and match.

Yes, that makes sense. That is sort of what I was thinking, I just didn't express it properly.  And, since I realized they are images, you can zoom in on the them. Just click the 5-way, move the cursor to the middle, click again...it says "zooming" and voila, the table is much more readable. I can do the same thing on my K2. The print is still pretty small but at least I can read it and not need a magnifying glass (which I would have before).

L

[Jesslyn]

To change the orientation, just pretend you are a robot with limited movement  
hold flat first, then tilt up.  The orientation will change everytime.

Also, I just tweeted the following.  I have not seen this in the manual, but I haven't read, more like skimmed it.
"Kindle DX allows PDF searching if the PDF contains renderable text. This is not noted in DX Help Guide"

Last but not least, there are gonna be a few new keyboard shortcuts, I'm sure.  Line spacing no longer work

[Leslie]

Last but not least, there are gonna be a few new keyboard shortcuts, I'm sure.  Line spacing no longer work

Yes, but did you see, you can change the number of words on a line? Fewest, fewer, or default. It is a choice on the font menu.

L

[LibraryGirl]

This the text justifiable like it is on the KK?

[Leslie]

Gives "ratty looking thing" a gentle tap to the right.

Melissa

Hahahah, took me a minute to realize what you meant and then I went back and looked at the picture. Yikes! You can bet I moved it. LOL.

L

[Kind]

Thanks for the review. I'm sure CS will be busy all day today.