Comments on: Amazon's big-screen Kindle DX makes its debut

The e-commerce giant unveils its new, larger-screen Kindle e-reader at a press conference in New York.

[CodyJensen]

And I just bought a Kindle 2 for my wife.... dang. I am excited about the possibility of school books on the kindle though.

[Thelmerfud]

I have a kindle and I love it. It is fabulous for buying and reading books. It really irritates me when peopel who do not own complain about its shortcomings. For reading books it has few shortcomings. For being used to surf the web, check email and other function it has many shortcomings(buy a 7 lb laptop if you want that) . I do not care about those functions i just wanted to read books and to not have to carry so many books while I travel. Again the Kindle is a great total solution for reading books.

However, it will NOT be good for use a textbook replacement because it is not easy and way too slow to flip back and forth to different sections of a textbook. I have found it very difficult to go to different passages in my bible in church. I think the need to flip back and forth in a textbook will require textbooks to hang around.

[xanpyzz]

This was obviously ready when the K2 was announced. It should have been offered at that time as an option -- even if it would have been a delay in shipment. This has been very poorly handled on Amazon's part. They had treated their customers better in the past. Bad ccutomer handling.

[PhyllisC]

I must agree. As much as I appreciate my K2, I am disappointed that I did not have the option to make the decision between the devices. I would think that this must have been ready on 2-24-09 when the K2 was released. I am buying the new one because I will find the larger device better, I think, for my visual acuity, but rather am disappointed that I must buy two where one would have been fantastic.

[clarsen7]

$400 device means the 3 billion potential readers out there won't be using it any time soon -- unlike cellphones.

I tried kindle version 1 and returned it -- DRM was too restrictive, no market for reselling "used" digital content. How many times can you read the same piece of fiction anyway? Maybe kindle version 5 with change of DRM policy will hit the mark.

unlike a paper newspaper, you can't recycle your digital newspaper by leaving it behind in a coffeeshop or loaning it to your friends. that makes a full price newspaper subscription less valuable on the kindle than in paper form.

[tebanc]

Also, how about the money alot of students save with textbooks buy-backs? That obviously would not be an option with the Kindle.

[fokkwp]

Seems like a $300 netbook could easily be configured to do everything this does - plus being a full-fledged Windows PC, browser with no compromise, etc. Not as convenient for reading to be sure, but you probably already have one . . .

[kmslogic]

The very long battery life of the kindles makes a big difference--most netbooks are good for a couple of hours which won't get you through a school or work day.

[gbreed07]

Way over price. Why would any pay almost $500 when you could by a PC or an iPod touch for less or almost the same cost. Plus if Apple or another company should release a larger portable touch screen device. Kindle will will done.

[anonfromed]

$500 for a stripped-down black and white sales kiosk that only allows me to purchase more products from Amazon?

This is market skimming my friends.

No thank you.

At best, I will wait for when Amazon starts offering them for $50 or for free, which they will do when they see a competitor come along.

One can buy a laptop or the highest end netbook for $500 and download countless classic books for free. And at the end of the day, you have a computer that can do everything a kindle cannot. I can't think of anything less sexy than a kindle.

[ralfthedog]

The advantage of the Kindle is Digital Ink (They call it Digital Paper). LCD is blurry. Digital print is very sharp. Those of us who spend all day reading for work will pay any amount for a large format display that does not cause eye strain.

Another advantage is the 3:00 AM panic. If you are working at 3:00 AM on a crash project and you need a reference book, you don't need to drive to the bookstore that is closed to get a book they don't have anyway. This is much faster than trying to look the information up on the web. Readability, availability and speed are worth any amount of money.

PS. Digital paper costs quite a bit and Amazon pays for your cellular data. The only way to drop the price would be to have sprint charge a subscription and drop down to LCD.

[JoeD1979]

I think I'll keep reading my books the old fashioned way...from the library...FOR FREE.

You gotta be kidding me with this Amazon. This is a very cool gadget, but c'mon, it's hard to compare a $400-500 Kindle to FREE. I just don't see how these types of products will become mainstream when, again, books are offered FREE at a local library. So what if I don't own the books? IT'S FREE!

The textbook thing sounds intriguing, but I would not be surprised if the books were still amazingly expensive, and the textbooks would now have the included hassle of not being able to sell them back. The price of this is still ridiculously high. Pay for the Kindle, THEN pay more for books that you cannot sell or share with anybody. I just don't get it.

[PhyllisC]

Yes, free is nice and libraries are wonderful. Except when you live in a rural area and the library is not convenient, not open during my non-work hours, and it takes 3-4 months to get something on inter-library loan. The classics are available for free--via the Gutenberg Project and many other sites--and can be downloaded via ISB. I've also gotten over 20 (25?) free books from various publishers making free Kindle content available. This device is not for everyone, but for those of us who enjoy it--and those of us to whom it offers a lot either in terms of ease of handling (bad hands) or ease of viewing (variable font sizes and text-to-speech), please remember than one size does not fit all. Pun intended.

[pentest]

If you bought this POS, you wouldn't own the digital copies either so no difference there.

[MatthewKlees]

I can't stop laughing at it .... Hold on a second ... Let me put down my all-in one- tablet pc and pickup a "Kindle" and carry around 35,000 plus digital books and documents (in gray scale) .

[ralfthedog]

The gray scale you are talking about is a gray scale that has 10 times the image quality of the best LCD. Digital Paper has a very flat image. LCD has a very fuzzy 3d image that is somewhat hard to focus on. Digital Paper does have some disadvantages, You can't back light it and the refresh rate is slow. I will gladly face those two problems for a technology that is easier to read than paper.

PS, check out the contrast ratio of Digital Paper VS LCD.

[pentest]

I guess you don't read many technical books ralf. Gray scale is worthless.

[teimll]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the "IPAD" in this whole conversation. Not to jump on the apple band wagon, but if Apple delivers on the rumors of a touch screen device bigger than the ipod touch, but smaller than the Macbook Air, then it will be a direct competitor with the new kindle dx since it should be able to use amazon's kindle software. Additionally, if the price point is around 699 for this new ipad, as many expect, those willing to shell out 500 for a kindle dx might just be willing to dig a little deeper and pay 200 more for a device with about 400% more functionality!

[BlogKindle]

I would disagree with most of the sentiment here.
1) Netbook doesn't replace Kindle. Reasons: much fewwer ebooks, can't run weeks without recharging, too large, etc
2) Kindle DX is not better or worse than Kindle 2 - it's different. Screen is larger - yes, but larger is not always better. K2 fits nicely in the pocket of my jacket, DX will not.

You can read my review of Kindle DX here: http://www.blogkindle.com/2009/05/kindle-dx-now-with-97-screen/

[pentest]

No color?

Can't easily reference other books and have more than 1 book open?

Can't sell the digital copy that was the same price as a physical copy?

With this new models stated audience, it sure doesn't do anything to try and appeal to them.

[5errr]

looking forward to trying it out!

[TonyV1963]

I'd like to read about the newest version of Kindle, but I can't stop yawning

[eternity21]

This is going to be more like the kindle I will eventually buy, BUT it still needs to be in color. That is when I will be buying it. I basically want it for magazines that I will eventually through away. Books I keep and share with others. The fact that newspapers are so poplular on it is the same reason, people through them away when done.

[cristianodiaz]

The price is way too high - the price on the Kindle 2 was bad enough. There are way too many devices at that price that do a lot more - it is in netbook territory and approaching the price of a laptop. The lack of color is also a hinderance. Amazon could have a killer device on their hand, but they need to get the price down and the specs up.

[cnet=techpimp]

OOOOOHHH, WOW! Nuthin' sez "sucker" more than a $489 monochrome, format exclusive book reader. You'll be the envy of your friends 'cause you gotta have more money than you know what to do with.

[PhyllisC]

Yes, I'm the envy of my friends.
Also my clients.
The K2 is only part of it.
Maybe part is the decent income I have because I busted my butt going to grad school.
I don't have a lot of money, but I do have the independence to decide how I spend it.
Most envy that independence, in point of fact.
And if I choose to spend some (or all) OF WHAT I EARN buying a device that makes reading the pleasure it was before I could not comfortably hold a physical book, I would be somewhat more pleased if you would give me the courtesy of NOT calling me a sucker. In turn, I will not call you short-sighted or judgmental because of your statements, but would rather suggest you try on my shoes for comfort before applying your labels. Or maybe just say that you don't know what you've got until you've lost it.

[pentest]

The Kindle has value, it points out the people with a low brains/money ratio, and helps others know who to avoid.

Of course, how many people have actually seen someone with this monstrosity? It is like the Zune, but worse.

[Dominick]

I agree whole-heartedly. It took technology years (seemed like centuries) to get a high res color screen. Power was the big issue as well as speed. Have that one "locked". Now ... PDF's ... at least in Acrobat, have the ability for markups/notes/etc. Just what a student needs. Many publishers for college texts now have electronic versions that you can buy outright or "lease" for a semester to which you no longer have access after the semester. Keeps students from "passing on" their "textbooks". A much better option as it's WAY MORE cost effective for the student. With the iPhone and its high quality screen, I can't figure the "draw" of a low quality grey scale screen. Being a professor at a local university "American University" I can't see ANY of the students "dummying-down" to a Kindle. Sorry folks. They're into bells, whistles and bright colors. I personally can't imagine "slogging through" a bunch of charts/graphs/models in B&W!!!

[wildthought]

This would be worth $500 if they handled handwriting recognition, so students could take notes and have their textbook. I could see buying one if I was studying for some series of technical exams for certification.

[DerBieber]

A few points that I didn't mentioned.
1. I haven't heard of any kindle viruses , trojans, or other malware so that's a plus. (I haven't checked wither)
2. The Kindle or other ebook reader would be available when the computer was busy.
3. To the best of my knowledge, I think that the kindle would be admissbale in a court room where other electronic devices are not (laptops, phones, cameras, recorders) - I think it would be handly for an attorney if the appropriate legal texts were available on the thing (and search able)
4. The quick download w/o the requirement for an internet or broad band data connecttion and service. trumps the laptop or netbook.


Things I think would make the unit even better would be:
more memory some sort of memory expansion slot like used to be in the kindle 1.
USB charging and connectivity.
in the wish list category would be a dual page device that would allow me to look at two "books" side by side for reference purposes.
The ability to export the collection and bibliography information to another device such as a computer.
the ability to hook a keyboard, mouse, or electronic pen to the device for navigation and or annotation.

OTOH I don't own one, but I have been looking at them for a few months now.

[PhyllisC]

The K2 and the new device have USB charging and connectivity. The plug is a dual one--it looks like a normal plug, albeit a tiny bit bigger, and the USB connector plugs into that.

[lilykudrow]

I waited for this for a long time.
# Display -9.7" diagonal e-ink
# Size -10.4" x 7.2" x 0.38"
# Storage -3,500 books
# PDF Support -native PDF reader
# Rotating Display -Yes
# 3G Wireless -Yes
# Books in Under 60 Seconds -Yes
# Text-to-Speech -Yes
# Whispersync -Yes
Cant wait to have it.
A good read:
http://www.techunits.com/content/2242/amazon_plans_to_sell_the_kindle_dx_later_this_summer_for_$489